Ways To Stretch Your Budget – Recipes Using Less Meat
September 19, 2012
I have received a handful of emails in the past couple of weeks about meal planning and budgeting. I know I have said it before – but, meal planning really is the best way to cut your spending. I thought I would touch on a few tricks to help you on those weeks when your grocery fund might be a bit tight.
Remember, just by shopping the sales you will easily save 30 – 50%. If you will create a menu based on what you have on hand and add in the sale items you can reduce your spending even further!
Another tip that you can do to help you save time and money is to find ways to stretch your meat. Meat can be the most expensive cost in a meal so why not look for recipes that will give your family the protein they want/need without requiring large portions!
Right now, you can pick up a whole chicken at Publix for $1.29/lb. That is not the lowest price we will see but I want you to see how you can use this low cost meat to your advantage.
Why not grab 2 whole chickens and turn them into 4 meals. With an estimate of around 4.65 pounds per bird, you will spend $12 for both birds. That is only $3 per meal for a family of four (or 75¢ per person)!
With those chickens and some pantry staples, you can cook them up and have 4 meals ready to serve when you need them. I decided to throw together some meals last night and I thought that you guys might find it useful too.
With my two chickens I whipped up the following in about an hour and a half. I did not use the exact recipes below – but, I wanted to give you guys some options to see what you can do with just a few ingredients. Use your favorite recipe or search for versions with items you have on hand.
I used a combination of fresh and frozen veggies and used the stock that was made when I boiled the chicken. All the other ingredients were things that most of us have on hand in our pantry and fridge!
Had I just roasted the chicken, we would have probably eaten one entire bird in one meal. Because I am pairing the meat with other items, I can use less and still have a meal that will satisfy all of my guys! What is even better is that on nights when I don’t have time to cook, I can grab one of these meals from my freezer. All I have to to is toss it in the oven to bake or heat it on the stove.
Tip – You can freeze these meals in throw away tins or in your baking dishes. If you use your baking dish, just spray the glass dish with some baking spray and then line with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Stick it in your freezer overnight. Once the meal is frozen, you can just lift the wrap and easily remove the big frozen meal. Throw it in a ziploc or use your Foodsaver to store in the freezer. That way you’ll still have your dish available for every day use. When it is time to cook the meal, you just place it back in the dish where it will fit perfectly. Then, defrost your meal and cook.
I’d love to hear what your favorite recipes are for freezer cooking or when you cook once and eat twice. Feel free to share them in the comments. I bet lots of folks can use the tips!
At our house, we love chicken enchiladas and beef stroganoff for meals that can be eaten twice. They don’t use a ton of meat, and it is easy to stock your pantry with the necessary ingredients when they are on sale. Oh, and a big batch of spaghetti sauce is always great to eat once and then freeze the other half–and I think by now we all know how cheap you can find noodles! As for keeping my budget down, I try to have a mexican night and a breakfast night once a week–two of the cheapest meals to prepare, and they make everyone happy!
http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/AllRecipes/SimpleMeal.do?mealId=130&mealGroupId=1000
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Campbells-Kitchen-Creamy-Chicken-Enchiladas/
We Love breakfast for dinner also Jessica!!
The best way to save on meat would be to buy it somewhere other than Publix. Just saying……
The meat at Publix is a better grade than I’ve found elsewhere, besides Whole Foods, which finacially is not an option for us weekly, but I love a marinated chicken breast treat from there!:) Where do you shop for meat?
I have Ingles Supermarkets in my area. They have better meat than Publix and at least 60% less on the sale prices. They also reduce meat from the day before first thing in the morning so if I can pick up meat that is on sale and reduced too I save big. Sam’s Club is another place that I buy meat and still cheaper than Publix without a sale.
I buy all my pre-cut chicken on clearance at Target. I recently got packages of boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1.25lbs for 74 cents! The meat is still good and not outdated. It just needs to be used or frozen within a few days.
The meat is great at Publix but it’s so expensive. I buy my lean ground beef and chicken at Aldi. It’s much cheaper than Publix. But I have found the pork and beef roasts at Aldi are not good so I will wait for a sale on those items at Publix.
I’ve got several vegetarian dishes I’ve come up with:
Corn & Pesto Ravioli:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Corn_and_Pesto_Ravioli_with_Parmesan_Butter_Sauce.pdf
Eggplant Lasagna:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Eggplant_Lasagna.pdf
Lemon & Grilled Mushroom Pasta:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Lemon_and_Grilled_Mushroom_Pasta.pdf
Onion & Arugula Tart:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Onion_and_Arugula_Tart.pdf
Roasted Tomato Risotto:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Roasted_Tomato_Risotto.pdf
Corn Crepes with Scallion Dill Sauce:
http://www.gettogethergourmets.com/uploads/Sweet_Corn_Crepes_with_Scallion_Dill_Sauce.pdf
Wow, I’ve been looking over your recipes. They all look interesting, filling, and delicious. And they all have enough protein-rich ingredients to make a satisfying meal. My family doesn’t miss the meat when those requirements are met. Thank you for these!
Especially interesting that you used roasted eggplant IN PLACE of the lasagna noodles.
Thanks for the tips! I never thought about the freeze in the baking pan, take it out once it’s frozen, then cook in it when you’re ready trick! Genius! One time saver I use is to poach two whole chickens, save and freeze the broth in two or four cup portions for other recipes, then shred the chicken and freeze in four portions. When I’m making white chili with chicken, mexican casserole, chicken and rice, etc., I just take a bag of shredded chicken out of the freezer. It really makes a difference on a busy night!
I made a super quick and delish (not to mention cheap) dinner this week using the Buitoli (totally spelled that wrong!) pasta on bogo, a cup of shredded chicken from the whole chix on sale, fresh broccoli (Eat Smart veggies that were on sale a few weeks ago that I threw in the freezer) and Parmesan cheese that’s bogo.
1 lb pasta
1-2 cups chicken cooked, shredded
I-2 cups broccoli
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Garlic
Salt and pepper (or red pepper flakes)
2 cups pasta water, reserved before straining pasta
Boil pasta and broccoli together until cooked.
While pasta is boiling, heat chicken (I heated mine in a skillet).
Before straining broccoli and pasta, reserve 2 cups of the water, then strain pasta/broccoli. Add pasta and broccoli back into the pot, add chicken, garlic and Parmesan. Begin adding pasta water a little at a time, stirring as you go. You may not use all the water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Seve immediately.
I also added a little shredded mozzarella. This can easily be modified to suit your likes!
Yum! Thanks!
I’ve been using 1/2 ground beef & 1/2 bulgar wheat in my spaghetti, casseroles, etc. For example, if the recipe calls for 1 pound of ground beef, I use 1/2 pound of ground beef. Then, I cook up 1/4 cup dry bulgar wheat (which cooks up to equal about 3/4 cup)and mix it in with my cooked ground beef. The wheat is brown in color- same as the ground beef. It has a mild nutty flavor that actually accents most casseroles, but mostly any seasonings I use makes it pretty much undetectable. My children (4 and under) didn’t notice at all and I’m not sure my husband would have if he hadn’t already know what I was up to
do you cook the meals done and then freeze them or freeze them raw?
I go to Kroger later in the evenings and can find 8 pieces of their rotisserie chicken on sale for $4.19. When I get home I pull all the meat off the bones and measure them out into amounts for recipes (2 cups, 3 cups, etc). Then I put them in a ziplock bag (write the date and amount of chicken on the bag) and freeze them. This really cuts down on the time it takes to make some meals.
My favorite recipe to make with this chicken is Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Poppy-Seed-Chicken-II/Detail.aspx I made some modifications for my verision of this recipe. I add sauteed celery and onion to the sour cream/cream of chicken mixture. I also add an extra tablesppon of poppy seeds. I left out one of the cans of cream of chicken (doesn’t need it). This is one of my husband’s favorite recipes!
I know that Publix will cut meat to order, but do they do the same with chicken? I was wondering if I asked for a whole chicken to be cut up if they would do it. The price per pound for that whole chicken right now is a pretty good deal.
I think that asking to have a whole chicken cut up when they sell them that way is probably a stretch. It is so easy to cut up your own chickens and there are tutorials online to teach you.
They did for us this week!
Even when making something quick and easy like Hamburger Helper I add extra whole wheat pasta. This allows me to make enough for my family of 4 for 2 nights instead of it being gone in one. There is no need for us to each eat 1/4 pound of meat in one sitting! I started doing this a few years ago and my family does not think it effects the meal negatively. I also add extra frozen veggies when making Bird’s Eye Voila! When making a recipe I always add more veggies than wheat the recipe calls for. Anything to stretch a meal but also keep it healthy.
When cooking chicken breasts I cut them into pieces before serving instead of giving every person one whole breast. My family can eat about 1/2 a breast each and be satisfied. If I had given each person a whole breast they would have eaten it just because it was there. This also always me to get more meals out of the chicken.