By Amanda and Ben Page

This week, we took the phrase “Eating In” very seriously. With those pesky credit card bills from the the holidays rolling in, we decided to forgo dining out for inspiration and turn instead to the cold hard cash in our wallets. We gave ourselves exactly $10* to purchase ingredients for a delectable meal for two. We wanted three components (protein, vegetable and starch) on our plates. And we still intended to shop at Whole Foods.

The task proved even more challenging than we anticipated, especially after our meat of choice — pork — consumed half our budget. After many revisions, we came up with a German-influenced menu that is both cost-efficient and time-friendly: Seared Pork with Garlic Spätzle and Red Cabbage “Sauerkraut.”

If you still have some cash in your pocket after paying off those credit card bills, treat yourself to a bottle of wine. In keeping with our budgetary interests, we chose one that mirrored our food spending: for $9.99 at Schneider’s of Capitol Hill (disclosure: Ben works at Schneider’s), we picked up a bottle of the 2004 “Grange des Rouquette” Marsanne/Viognier from Pays d’Oc. Its crisp acidity and lemon flavors pairs well with the tangy “sauerkraut,” while its underlying mineral notes complement the pork and spätzle.

* Our $10 budget assumes that you have a few basic pantry items: salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. If you’re missing one of these staples and need to purchase any or all, you will, of course, exceed the allotted $10.