Ideas for making meals go farther?

[PeachyDoodle]

Does anyone have a good meal plan for stretching one main ingredient over several days' worth of meals?

 

Meat is expensive, so we are trying to cut back on the amount we buy. I have successfully gotten five meals from a whole chicken, which worked great, but chicken gets old if that's all you've got. I haven't found any great ideas for stretching cuts of beef or pork for more than one or two meals. I am not what you'd call a creative cook. Would love some inspiration!

 

I don't mind bulking things up with extra veggies (especially the cheap kind, like carrots, celery and cabbage), but we try to stay away from meals where the main ingredient is carbs (e.g., spaghetti). Beans are a staple around here, but I can't serve them more than once a week without risking a mutiny...

 

I swear, if people in this house didn't have to eat or wear clothes, I could retire. Some days it seems like all I do is cook/think about cooking/clean up from cooking and wash/fold/put away laundry. :blink:

[Gil]

Rice. Lots and lots of rice.

 

Sorry, I'm not a very creative cook either.

[mathnerd]

Why don't you make a lot and freeze - that way, you can rotate the meals without the main ingredient boring your family. As an example, make a lot of Chili or Soup of some kind. Eat it on the day you make it and freeze the rest. You do this every day for a week or two and you will have a freezer stash of meals. That frozen soup will not look boring a few weeks later if you reheat it and add some fresh toppings. This is what I do to make my meals stretch farther. Saves me a lot of time too - I don't cook many days because my freezer is full of delicious frozen meals and I only make a smoothie to go with dinner. 

Edited December 8, 2015 by mathnerd

[Guest]

I don't stretch main meals, but I bulk them up with fat and fiber so even my littlest kids don't eat snacks. I make breakfasts from scratch. Not buying snack food and prepackaged food does indeed cut much out of the budget. If I need to stretch meat I make batches of soup out of it. Soup, bread, and salad.

[Slache]

I don't stretch main meals, but I bulk them up with fat and fiber so even my littlest kids don't eat snacks. I make breakfasts from scratch. Not buying snack food and prepackaged food does indeed cut much out of the budget. If I need to stretch meat I make batches of soup out of it. Soup, bread, and salad.

:iagree: This is exactly what we do.

[zoobie]

Mix ground beef with refried black beans and taco seasoning. You can make burritos or taco salad with a scoop of that and add extra whole beans, brown rice or cauliflower rice.

 

BBQ pork loin or shoulder--slow cook with bbq rub and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I usually get 3 meals out of one cooking of it, one as a topping for baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes. Giant pork loins are well-priced at Costco.

 

Cut one large beef roast into portions for stew, chili, and slow cooked Barbacoa style. Sometimes it's better to buy it as stew meat because it's already trimmed, but sometimes you can save on a whole one and DIY the labor.

[Annie G]

You've received some good suggestions and I have nothing to add...except to say that if you stretch a chicken to serve 4 people five meals....we should be taking lessons from you!  

[Laura Corin]

If you are making a gravy/sauce to go with your meat, use pureed beans as the base: they are full of protein, fibre and starch, they thicken things nicely, and they are very filling.

[Garga]

Sometimes I think to myself, "I have the solution! Let's just stop eating!" and for that tiniest bit of a split second I think I'm really on to something. Then reality slams back in.

 

I have no suggestions. We're all picky eaters here and no one likes anything so we're stuck with our limited roster of food and we can't deviate from it or the picky eaters won't eat anything and will get sick and starve. That includes me. I hate so many foods. It's exhausting trying to come up with stuff to eat.

 

If we weren't picky, there would be lots of beans mixed into lots of casseroles. And probably eggs thrown into things as well.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Garga

[Southern Ivy]

Mix ground beef with refried black beans and taco seasoning. You can make burritos or taco salad with a scoop of that and add extra whole beans, brown rice or cauliflower rice.

 

BBQ pork loin or shoulder--slow cook with bbq rub and a splash of apple cider vinegar. I usually get 3 meals out of one cooking of it, one as a topping for baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes. Giant pork loins are well-priced at Costco.

 

Cut one large beef roast into portions for stew, chili, and slow cooked Barbacoa style. Sometimes it's better to buy it as stew meat because it's already trimmed, but sometimes you can save on a whole one and DIY the labor.

Not sure about Costco, but at Sam's, if you buy the vacuum-packed pork loin, you can have it sliced into 2 roasts and some chops. I got 2 pork roasts and 6 chops for $13. 

[mamiof5]

Beef always goes a long ways for us if I make a big salad and just put a bit of meat and there. And yes, casseroles, freezing and what others suggested. I always wonder how much I can save if we ate pb and j sandwiches for dinner often :)

[mathnerd]

Sometimes I think to myself, "I have the solution! Let's just stop eating!" 

I have often thought of this too!

Edited December 8, 2015 by mathnerd

[medawyn]

A few meals where we tend to stretch the meat off the top of my head:

 

Shepherd's pie: I use 1 lb of ground beef and add 1 c lentils, peeled diced eggplant, chopped mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, onions, and peas.  This stretches the meat to at least 3, sometimes 4 meals.

 

I do the same for spaghetti sauce.  Basically any vegetable that will absorb the flavors of the meat and sauce (zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms) plus any vegetable that works with the spices of the sauce or gravy.  My DH is really, really not a vegetable person, but he loves both my spaghetti sauce and my shepherd's pie.  I just don't let him see what I put in them  :lol:

 

I coat a pork shoulder/butt with my favorite taco spice blend (homemade, not prepackaged, because you don't want too much salt), throw it in the crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours and then shred the meat into the resulting liquid.  From that I usually make enchiladas (I add diced sautéed onions, peppers, and frozen corn to the meat), tamale pie (layer black or red beans, meat, sautéed veggies, and cheese, cover the top with cornbread and bake), tacos or taco bowls (served with lots of vegetables and beans and rice).  The shredded meat freezes easily, and each of the above takes about 1.5-2 cups shredded meat.  I can get 8-10 meals out of a 4-5 lb roast.  For extra yummy results, rub the spice mix into the pork the night before and stick it in the refrigerator; extra flavor means you need less meat in a meal!  BBQ beef works well in many of these same dishes, too (cheap roast covered with your favorite bbq sauce and cooked on low in the crock pot).  If you make BBQ beef, it is also delicious on top of a baked potato or sweet potato.

 

And as PP have stated, any soup or chili works to stretch meat.  I definitely freeze a lot of chili and soups (without the pasta or starch) so that we aren't eating the same dish days in a row.

Edited December 8, 2015 by HOPE_Academy

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

 

Rice and beans

[Carol in Cal.]

If I were you I would focus on a greater variety of bean-based meals that tasted markedly different from each other.  That way the chances of mutiny should be lessened.

 

For instance, some kind of bean soup one day, bean burritos another, hummus-based protein on another, and a bean casserole with meat at a condiment level in it on another might be different enough to serve within, say, a two week period without risking mayhem.

[Rebel Yell]

Portion control.

 

Have plenty of extra sides/veggies/salad. Serve each person an appropriate portion of the meat/main dish, then PUT IT AWAY. Anyone who is truly hungry will eat the veggies and sides, but if they are just eating all of the main dish because it's delicious or it's "there" then this will go a long way toward stretching the meal.

 

DH will eat until the serving plate is empty whether or not he's hungry, and even if it's not the tasiest. But if I only give him a portion and the rest isn;t on the table, he won't go get it to eat more.

[Carol in Cal.]

Also, what can you forage for or grow or catch locally?  Focus on increasing that and you potentially will save a LOT of money.  Plus the freshest food is usually the best. 

 

For example, for a very long time I've been working toward having fruit from my garden available to me all year round.  I have October through February pretty well covered at this point, and a big crop in June/July, and I'm working toward getting late spring and late summer covered as well.  My fruits are so good that they have spoiled me for store bought, plus they are essentially free and extremely easy to grow, and I have great gifts for my neighbors also.  One lady who I give apricots to always returns some of them in the form of jam, a nice fringe benefit that is also free.

 

My inlaws garden in a much harsher climate, but they have a large upright freezer and freeze tomatoes, strawberries, and other fresh garden produce for use all year round, plus they make big batches of soup and freeze that as well.  That is cheap for them because the freezer is in the cool basement of their home, so it doesn't cost much to run it.

 

Think about local wild food also.

[busymotherof4]

We stretch a roast by making fried rice with the leftovers. We have even made it with brown rice. The number of eggs we add at the end depends on how much meat is in the dish. It works great to add lots of veggies to it also.

[foxbridgeacademy]

We put black beans, rice, and veggies like tomatoes, peppers, and onions in with the ground beef then season for tacos. 

 I'll cook a pork roast and shred for sandwiches with bbq then use the rest in a chinese style stir fry. 

 I buy smoked sausage (like polish kielbasas) slice thin, fry, then add chopped cabbage (this is done in a big stock pot so the cabbage steams more than fries)- it's probably one of the cheapest meal I make..... $2.50 for the meat and about $2 for the cabbage.  

I like to chop up pork or beef roasts and make soups, very little meat is needed for that.

Loaded Potato soup with bacon bits from a bag costs about $6 and makes enough for 2 different meals for 4 people.

 

Meat is almost never a main course.  We eat meat at every meal but it's always in something.

[justasque]

If I were you I would focus on a greater variety of bean-based meals that tasted markedly different from each other.  That way the chances of mutiny should be lessened.

 

For instance, some kind of bean soup one day, bean burritos another, hummus-based protein on another, and a bean casserole with meat at a condiment level in it on another might be different enough to serve within, say, a two week period without risking mayhem.

 

This.  Black beans in Cuban meals, small white beans in Italian dishes, kidney beans in chili, lentils in soup, chick peas in salads or hummus.  Then mix is up and do your "hummus" with black beans or white beans, your Italian dishes with the larger white beans, black beans in something Mexican, shepard's pie or pot pie with a bean-based filling.  There are a lot of great ethnic dishes to explore.

 

Also, whole grains are much more filling than their white/processed counterparts, so use brown rice instead of white, etc.  

[cjzimmer1]

My family isn't crazy about beans either but they are much more receptive to lentils.  I usually use a pound of dry brown lentils cooked with 1 pound hamburger.  I then season however I would normally for the meat, sloppy joes, tacos, chili, shepherd's pie, stuffed peppers etc.  Not a single member of my family has complained about it.  Even my dad when I've taken food to him and he is super picky about trying new things.  So that way I get 2-3 meals out of a single pound of hamburger (especially when I can work potatoes or rice into the meal).

 

Otherwise, I use meat on meal sized salads.  My kids are fanatics about salads and are happy to have them for meals, I throw a little meat, and some cheese or nuts and they are thrilled.  We have a meal salad almost every day and our meat consumption has dropped so much, I'm now trying to figure out what to do with the extra meat when I do roast a piece.

[Carol in Cal.]

Omelets and quiche are stretchy, especially if you have cheap eggs.

My most survivalist in the city friends have fowl in their yards.  One has ducks and the other has chickens.  They let them briefly into their veggie gardens each day to eat all the bugs off the plants, briefly so that they don't eat the plants ALSO.  They feed them all their kitchen scraps and don't have to spend much on grain feed.  They get tons of eggs.  And (I personally wouldn't be able to do this) one of them routinely butchers most of the ducks at a certain age and freezes them, then buys new duck chicks the next year, retaining the 4 that the city allows to be kept from one year to the next.  Seriously, this is a fantastic way to save money on eggs and to have a better garden.  The one with the chickens moves the chicken run around from time to time so that a new area of soil will be scratched up and fertilized and become full of earthworms, only to be planted with veggies the following year.  This is again in an urban setting, with small city lot sizes.

[Guest]

I have a friend who started viewing meat as a condiment, instead of a course.  So she stretched by having bacon bits in eggs for dinner.  Or bacon bits on baked potatoes.  I'm not very good at this, myself, but my dh does a lot of things like putting bits of chicken into some soup or chili...or cheese into chili and stuff like that.  I have too many food allergy issues to deal with too much other stuff...but the "meat as a condiment" comment was helpful to my friend.

 

[Junie]

I satisfy my steak cravings by making fajitas.  I only need a small amount of steak to feed the whole family.

[Grantmom]

If you can't do a lot of beans and don't want to bulk up the meal with too many carbs, a few things I do are: using spaghetti squash instead of pasta, making soup and adding extra veggies and bone broth, roast a big pan of veggies (these just really seem to fill my kids up), make salads (like taco salad, chicken on a salad, etc), also stuff like tuna fish, egg salad, etc.  But to be honest, I cannot stretch a single meal.  We rarely have leftovers.  I don't have a pot or a pan big enough to make enough food to fill my children up!  I have active, sports playing kids and they just seem to be hungry all the time.

[applethyme]

When making tacos, I add black beans and corn to my ground beef.  One pound of ground beef can be stretched to 2 or 3 meals this way.  I serve tacos with refried beans.  Often for lunch I feed the children "magic pockets" its refried beans, cheese and a little of the taco meat.  Its the childrens' favorite meal. When I make a roast, I pull out half of the roast and most of the broth and turn that into beef stew.  We usually get 4 meals out of a roast this way.  Two of roast and veggies and two of stew. When I make a pork roast I do the same thing but the left over pork becomes pulled pork for sandwiches.  I use diced ham to season scrambled eggs.  If I have just a little bit of any meat left I freeze it in baggies and pull it out for potato bar night. 

 

 

[PeachyDoodle]

When making tacos, I add black beans and corn to my ground beef.  One pound of ground beef can be stretched to 2 or 3 meals this way.  I serve tacos with refried beans.  Often for lunch I feed the children "magic pockets" its refried beans, cheese and a little of the taco meat.  Its the childrens' favorite meal. When I make a roast, I pull out half of the roast and most of the broth and turn that into beef stew.  We usually get 4 meals out of a roast this way.  Two of roast and veggies and two of stew. When I make a pork roast I do the same thing but the left over pork becomes pulled pork for sandwiches.  I use diced ham to season scrambled eggs.  If I have just a little bit of any meat left I freeze it in baggies and pull it out for potato bar night. 

 

What size pork and beef roasts do you buy when you stretch them like that, and how many people are you feeding?

 

[kewb]

I have tried the meat as a condiment method and it left everyone feeling unsatisfied and digging through the leftovers to find a piece of meat. I use less meat but it is far from condiment status.

 

I have successfully stretched ground beef with oat flour when making meatballs. A small portion of lentils with the meat because heaven forbid someone spots a lentil.

 

Some successful meatless meals in my house:

Black bean burgers

Chickpea patties

Grilled portobello mushrooms

 

I am envious of anyone who gets more than one meal out of a chicken. I get dinner and bones for making stock.

[FaithManor]

I make a lot of mexican meals in which ground beef is an embellishment but the main protein is pinto beans. It works well and is tasty. One much loved recipe is to take a half lb. of ground beef (there are five of us right now so this is slightly less than 2 oz. a piece), and create a filling for enchiladas that is heavy on cooked beans with some sauted red pepper, tomato, and onion and taco seasoning. I warm corn tortillas in a little bit of olive oil on the stove so they are soft and won't crack, ladle the filling in, roll, and place in a baking dish, and then once the dish is filled with the rolls, generously slather our favorite taco sauce over top and put a light sprinkle of shredded cheddar on top, bake at 350 for about a half hour - covered so the cheese doesn't burn.

 

This filling also works over rice instead of going to the work of heating and rolling tortillas. It is fast and yummy.

 

I also take an English roast and slow cook it, but instead of serving roast for dinner, shred it, and then freeze in small baggies. I use the beef for stews and soups or sometimes with beans and stock which I thicken with rice flour (I am allergic to wheat and find that I can make gravy with rice flour pretty readily) and serve over mashed potatoes. If I simply put the roast out for the boys to eat, they would descend on it like turkey vultures over road kill, and it would be picked clean in seconds...very primal there! LOL. No leftovers. So I don't serve roasts very often anymore.

[Laura Corin]

What size pork and beef roasts do you buy when you stretch them like that, and how many people are you feeding?

 

 

Not the PP, but if you work from a recommended serving of meat, which is around 100g (3 3/4 ounces), then you can serve a lot of people with little meat.  In my house when I was growing up, the roast lasted until Thursday (family of five). 

 

A large whole chicken is about 1.7 kilos, including the bones.  If we add some non-meat protein (beans, egg, lentils, etc.) to make up for the weight of the bones, then you have 17 meals there.  You might have roast chicken one day (half a chicken breast, a thigh or a drumstick each) with potatoes and copious veg.  The next night you might have fried rice made with small cubes of chicken, egg, brown rice and corn, and veg.  Then you might have chicken, veg, brown pasta and bean soup made with stock from the carcass.  On the last night it might be chicken cooked with cumin, coriander and lentils, served with brown rice and a green veg. 

 

Meat is not necessarily the centre of the meal, and you don't need tons for adequate protein if you supplement with other cheaper sources.

 

So: four meals for four.

[KungFuPanda]

A pork shoulder roast is cheap and stretchable, but you have to cook it a long time. You can make the meat with some more common seasonings, then add BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches, Mexican seasoning for burritos, etc

[J-rap]

Day 1:  Meat served in small portions (and save out some altogether), with lots of sides like veggies, rice, potatoes, etc.

 

Day 2:  Take leftover and saved meat from day before, cut into bite size pieces along with any leftover sides, also cut into bite size pieces.  Add it all to a pot of water and flavor with broth, canned tomatoes, anything you have to flavor it.  :)  Add more veggies, spinach leaves, more potatoes or rice, or even a can of black beans or pinto beans, and make a thick soup/stew.  Serve with bread.

 

Day 3:  Take whatever soup is left over, drain out the broth, and make burritos with it.  You can add a slice of cheese to each, or sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, etc.  Serve with fruit or a salad, and maybe rice on the side.

 

 

**********

 

ETA:  Another favorite meal made from leftover meat/veggies for us is a pot pie!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by J-rap

[TammyinTN]

Ham and turkeys are on sale now....I can make tons of different stuff with them once they're cooked.    

[cjzimmer1]

 

I am envious of anyone who gets more than one meal out of a chicken. I get dinner and bones for making stock.

 

Around here they don't get a choice.  I put a serving of meat on their plates and that is all the meat they get.  They always ask for more meat even though they know there isn't seconds on meat.  They are welcome to all the veggies and starches and fruit they want but no more meat.  When presented with those options 9 times out of 10 they are not hungry anymore (except the oldest he is happy to eat more veggies, he loves them).

 

[applethyme]

What size pork and beef roasts do you buy when you stretch them like that, and how many people are you feeding?

 

 

There are 4 of us.  I usually buy about a 2lb roast.  The cost is a determining factor.  I usually set an amount I am willing to spend, if the roast is on sale then I get a little bigger one and if not, it will be a little smaller depending on the cost per pound.  If we are having a smaller roast then I up the veggies I cook with it, the same is true of the beef stew.

[lailasmum]

I tend to find things like beef that you can slice easily will stretch further than chicken. The chickens we buy never seem to do beyond 3 meals maximum including a soup from the carcass even with really stripping it. I don't use meat for making things like cottage pie, chilli or lasagna, we  use quorn or beans instead, mostly because none of us like minced beef. 

[PeachyDoodle]

I am envious of anyone who gets more than one meal out of a chicken. I get dinner and bones for making stock.

 

This week I'm actually using chicken leg quarters because they were on sale, but so far we've gotten: chicken with veggies (I roasted the chicken in the Crock-pot with a quick rub and carrots, celery, onion and potatoes) and chicken fried rice. I put all the bones and veggie scraps back in the Crock-pot on Monday, cooked it overnight, and got four spaghetti jars of a really rich broth. First time I've tried that but it was great. Tomorrow I'll use the broth as a starter for chicken noodle soup with more carrots and celery and some of the leftover chicken. I'll use whatever remains of the chicken for chicken salad sandwiches, with leftover carrot and celery sticks. I have a few potatoes left too, so I might make some homemade oven chips.

 

I will add that: 1) we have had to be strict on portion control this way, especially on the first night when we would have eaten more chicken if we could have (but that is not a bad thing for us), and 2) these are not meals that my kids just loooove, but then I have always been a pretty take-it-or-leave-it kind of mom when it comes to food.

 

Ham and turkeys are on sale now....I can make tons of different stuff with them once they're cooked.    

 

Ham was another one I have done in the past. I think I was getting three or maybe four meals out of a big ham. Want to share your favorite recipes for using up a ham or turkey?

[TammyinTN]

This week I'm actually using chicken leg quarters because they were on sale, but so far we've gotten: chicken with veggies (I roasted the chicken in the Crock-pot with a quick rub and carrots, celery, onion and potatoes) and chicken fried rice. I put all the bones and veggie scraps back in the Crock-pot on Monday, cooked it overnight, and got four spaghetti jars of a really rich broth. First time I've tried that but it was great. Tomorrow I'll use the broth as a starter for chicken noodle soup with more carrots and celery and some of the leftover chicken. I'll use whatever remains of the chicken for chicken salad sandwiches, with leftover carrot and celery sticks. I have a few potatoes left too, so I might make some homemade oven chips.

 

I will add that: 1) we have had to be strict on portion control this way, especially on the first night when we would have eaten more chicken if we could have (but that is not a bad thing for us), and 2) these are not meals that my kids just loooove, but then I have always been a pretty take-it-or-leave-it kind of mom when it comes to food.

 

 

Ham was another one I have done in the past. I think I was getting three or maybe four meals out of a big ham. Want to share your favorite recipes for using up a ham or turkey?

When first cooked..everyone gets a nice slice with dinner.    Then ham biscuits for breakfast the next day--I usually make 20 biscuits for several breakfast meals during the week-served with cooked apples and cinnamon and brown sugar. 

Leftover meals...scalloped potatoes with ham in them and a nice salad.

Pinto bean w/ diced ham and cornbread.

Diced ham with onions,peppers and potatoes--sort of like a hash.

Split pea soup with ham.

Fried potato cakes with finely diced ham and cheese inside them...I always have leftover mashed potatoes. ;)

Sometimes I'll have stuffing leftover and I dice up the ham finely mix it with stuffing and cranberry and put it on toast for sandwiches with the kids all love.  

 

Hope this helps! :)

[hmvaughan4]

If you make a pork roast, eat as roast on day one (then split leftovers); pork tacos on day two; bbq sandwiches on day three.

We love rice bowls with black beans and rice. We use tortilla chips, lettuce, cheese, pico, rice, and beans. We also use refried beans in place of meat for a lot of Mexican meals.

[TammyinTN]

Turkey leftover recipes...

 

Turkey and black bean empanadas ---Robin Miller recipe...this was awesome.   I used Wal-mart band pie crust and made 24 with 4 boxes of crust $6 bucks and made ranch dressing w/ salsa to dip in.  Delicious and cheap.  I popped the leftovers in the freezer for lunches later.

 

Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie recipe...makes 2 huge pies...one to eat and one to freeze for later.  Absolutely the best pot pie!!

 

Turkey noodle soup--in place of chicken.  

 

Turkey tetrazzini

 

Turkey diced in place of chicken for turkey salad sandwiches on croissants.

 

Turkey and corn chowder

 

Turkey patty melts with stuffing and cranberry sauce and cheese.

 

 

[kewb]

Around here they don't get a choice. I put a serving of meat on their plates and that is all the meat they get. They always ask for more meat even though they know there isn't seconds on meat. They are welcome to all the veggies and starches and fruit they want but no more meat. When presented with those options 9 times out of 10 they are not hungry anymore (except the oldest he is happy to eat more veggies, he loves them).

 

The portioning worked when my kids were little. Two athletes, they inhale everything. And my insomniac dh grazes leftovers in the middle of the night.

 

I suspect I will suddenly have more food when oldest leaves for college next year.

[Ethel Mertz]

I often make what I call "Kitchen Sink Soup," using up whatever bits and pieces of food we have. Last week's soup (in the crockpot): vegetable broth (32 oz), equal amount of water, left over butternut squash, some Italian flavored tofu, a tired bag of cut up frozen tomatoes, a tired bag of pinto beans from the back of the freezer, one Eastham turnip, 2 purple carrots,, a couple of tired apples, and sauteed onion and two cloves of garlic. I added seasonings and we had a lovely soup.

 

Another week, "Kitchen Sink Soup" was a combination of sweet potatoes, dried apricots, apples, onion, and garbanzo beans. I usually make enough soup so that I can freeze the remainder for another meal. The point is that I use up whatever bits and pieces of food that we have around and then I have enough soup for at least two dinners and maybe a lunch or two.