Cheap Dinner - Souvlaki & Peppers with Couscous or Rice

Derek is 17, a growing boy, and he craves meat.  And having a big Greek component in his heritage, he asked for gyros & souvlaki to be on the grocery list.  Well, gyro meat is kind of a specialty item but souvlaki is very easy and very affordable.  The secret is to keep an eye on Kroger's meat markdowns and grab all the "City Chicken" they have.  It's really pork cut into nice chunks and put on a stick.  Kroger cuts the price in half when it's near expiration.  No problem, just freeze it until you need it.

To make souvlaki, marinate the city chicken in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and oregano.  Poke a bunch of holes with a fork so the flavor penetrates.  You don't need to marinate too long, no more than 2 hours in the fridge or the lemon juice will tenderize the meat to mush.  In good weather, it's so much better to cook your souvlaki on a charcoal grill.  However, a little over an hour in the oven preheated to 325 will make you happy.

Our dinner tonight was souvlaki made with Kroger's half-price city chicken, a big serving of Kroger quick cook rice, some stir-fried multi-colored pepper strips from the freezer (given to us by a friend).  We also tried for the first time couscous, a mediterranean side dish made with cracked wheat.  The box of Hodgson Mill Parmesan Couscous that we had was marked down under a buck as a discontinued item by Kroger.  Couscous cooks in about 5 minutes pretty much like the quick rice.  It wasn't real exciting but drenched with the souvlaki drippins it was mighty tasty.  In all the excitement I forgot to serve the bag of Fresh Selection salad bought - you guessed it - marked down to $1.49 at Kroger.