Meat.

As the patriarch of a good-sized family (baby #5 due in May), I try to do my best to keep grocery and other bills in check, and one thing I've done is to start preferring chicken to beef. At 79 cents per pound for leg quarters, it seems a lot cheaper than chuck roast at $2.99 per pound.

Then something interesting happened. My family had another good-sized family over for dinner, and about 3 lbs of Italian beef fed all of us with leftovers. In contrast, it takes about 4-5 lbs of chicken to feed my family for one meal. Relative cost: about $4/meal for my family for chicken, and about $4/meal for my family for beef.

In other words, it's not just the cost per pound, but the cost to fill up a family. Since I prefer beef, here's the recipe:

3 lbs chuck roast
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp basil
1 tsp mustard powder (or use Italian dressing powder mix for salt, basil, and mustard)
6 pepperoncini

Cut roast into 2" cubes and place into dutch oven, cover & cook at 250F for 4-6 hours. Add pepperoncini (or jalapenos if you're adventurous) and cook another hour or two until meat can be shredded with a fork. Serve over a nice French loaf, preferably whole wheat, with side salad.

And a second recipe for decent, low-cost steaks. A local grocery store has sirloin tip roasts for $2.79/lb, and if you wet-age them for a week, you'll hardly know that you're eating an inexpensive cut. (warning; dry-aging will dry this cut out) Basic recipe courtesy of Ruth's Chris Steak House: cut roast into steaks of desired thickness, salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Cook quickly over high heat in a cast iron skillet, or on a grill over charcoal or hardwood fire.

One final note; if you're trying to control or lose weight, think about how much of a particular meat it takes before you're satisfied. You might find that the "low fat alternatives" are a great way to, um, "bulk up" in the wrong way.