Cheap Beef

Meat can be intimidating when you're on a very tight grocery budget. I have learned to appreciate the value of a whole chicken by stretching it over several meals, but even then, chicken is still expensive. While ground beef is definitely the cheapest way to get some red meat into your menu, I am learning to think ahead and make other cuts a good value.

Sirloin tip is a large cut of lean beef roast. If you get it on sale, it can actually compare to the price of ground beef! When you see a sirloin tip for a great price, BUY IT! You can cut it into cubes and use it in place of stew beef. Because it is so lean, it's best to cook it slow, so I wouldn't recommend it for stir-fries. Some store butchers might be willing to grind it for you and you'd have some lean ground beef at a great price. However you decide to cut your roast, package it into smaller portions (approximately 1lb. each), and freeze them.

My favorite way of using this meat is to place it in the slow cooker as soon as I get home, then shred it for BBQ Beef On Buns!

How To Make FREE Soup!

There are two methods I use to make soup at no extra cost.

1. I keep a large ziplock bag in my fridge. Throughout the week, all vegetable peelings, vegetable ends, etc. get tossed into the bag. The bag usually has a lot of carrot peel, potato peel, celery ends and leaves, onion peels and ends, garlic peel and ends, etc. (See note below.) I sometimes also have a jar in the fridge that I use to save all the vegetable cooking water from the week. If I cook frozen peas, I drain the cooking water into my “soup jar.”

At the end of the week, dump all your “savings” into a large pot. Cover it all with water and simmer it slowly for a few hours. You could also put it into a slow cooker and cook it for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-12 hours on low. Strain it and save the broth. This is the base of your soup.

Now you have a few options:

-Freeze the broth to use as a base for soups that you have recipes for, or make up your own.

-Turn it into a soup immediately by adding in cooked rice or lentils or beans or WHATEVER, and chop up some fresh veggies and add some seasonings and make a whole new soup.

-Use this liquid for the second Free Soup option below…

2. I have two or three empty ice cream buckets in my freezer. These are the big ones – 4L, I think. One is for chicken, one for beef, and if I have a third, I use it for ham or veggie. Whenever there are leftovers at the end of a meal, I put them into the appropriate bucket. If we have chicken stir fry and there are leftovers, they go into the chicken bucket. If we have shepherd’s pie with ground beef, those leftovers go into the beef bucket. Whenever I add new leftovers, I make sure they are covered with water or broth or leftover cooking liquid from veggies. Then the bucket goes back into the freezer. When a bucket is full, I let it thaw and pour it into my big soup pot. We reheat it and taste it. Sometimes we need to add some salt or other seasonings to give it more flavor, but usually, it is the most delicious soup ever!

These soups are different every time. But it’s like a taste adventure! And the best part is, it’s FREE! You’re making soup out of things you would have normally thrown away. For us, these soups are usually enough for two meals each. TWO MEALS FOR FREE!

Waste not, want not!

NOTE: It is recommended that you make sure your trimmings and leftovers are washed and relatively dry before putting them into your storage bag or container. This ensures that they stay as fresh as possible and don't go bad before you're able to make your soup. 

Also, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts generally do not make a good stock.

Getting 20 Meals Out of 1 Ham

Yes, I actually get 20 meals out of one ham. When ham is on sale, buy a big bone-in uncooked, but smoked, ham. (It’s possible around here to get a good size on sale for $20 or so, making this a source of protein for 20 meals at $1 per meal PER family. That’s cheap.) Bake it in your oven and use it for your first meal. Everyone gets a good slice. You might serve it with mashed potatoes and corn and applesauce for a traditional ham dinner. Use your favorite recipe and meal combination.

Let the ham cool. Then slice off the fat and discard it. Slice off all the meat. Leave a little bit on the bone. Use the ham bone to make Ham and Bean Soup. This soup is delicious! Make a big batch. This is good for about 3 hearty meals for us. Sometimes 4.

Now chop up all the rest of the ham. Cube it wherever possible. For oddly cut pieces, just chop it up into nice bite-sized chunks. Put these into ziplock freezer bags in portions of about 1-1/2 cups – 2 cups each. Use these portions for:

Quiche (one small package is enough for two regular quiche pies, making enough for two meals)

Scrambled Eggs (Use one small package and just add some ham to your scrambled eggs. You should be able to use one package for several breakfasts.)

Ham and Pineapple Pizza (One small package is enough for one hearty pizza and is enough for one supper and one lunch for my family. One large package can be stretched to cover two pizzas, making enough for two suppers and two lunches for my family, or for one meal when serving another family.)

Other soups

Macaroni and Cheese (Just add some ham for extra protein and a more gourmet flavor.)

Hash brown casserole (When you add ham, it makes a hearty main dish.)

Stuffed Corn Bread

Recipes to come….

The Rubber Chicken

For years and years, I have done what I thought almost miraculous by stretching one chicken into three or four meals for our family. I really thought this was quite an accomplishment. However, I had become quite bored with those meals. The ones I usually used were:

1) a basic chicken soup of some sort
2) a chicken casserole-type dish, like Chicken Pot Pie, or Chicken Broccoli Casserole
3) quesadillas or a green salad with chicken in it
4) maybe cold chicken salad sandwiches

Boring.

I am thrilled to inform you that, not only have I ceased to be bored with my rubber chicken endeavors, I have also now learned to stretch that ONE chicken into SIX meals for my family!!! All thanks to one of the new blogs I mentioned in my last post: Heavenly Homemakers.

Laura posted "How To Stretch A Chicken To Make Six Meals." Her suggestions for meals are:
1) Broth to make Chicken Tortilla Soup
2) Chicken Noodle Soup
3) Homemade Alfredo Sauce with Pasta
4) Black Bean Taco Salad
5) Three Cheese Garlic Chicken
6) and Chicken Veggie Quesadillas

While her soups are not my family's style, I am inspired to use my own Warrior Chicken Soup, and my mom's traditional homemade chicken noodle soup. (Recipes will come eventually!) I have tried the Homemade Alfredo Sauce on her blog and it is FANTASTIC! I also LOVED the Black Bean Taco Salad. The Three Cheese Garlic Chicken was good, but I think I'm going to play around with it a bit. The Chicken Veggie Quesadillas were also wonderful. My family loved every single one of these recipes. If I put these on a sort of "chicken rotation" with some of my other chicken recipes, I think I could make QUITE A FEW meals out of an order of Hutterite chickens. (A local colony sells excellent chickens at a great price. You buy a bag with a few chickens in it.) I'm going to experiment with this, as well, and see if I can make up some freezer meals using these recipes as a guideline. I can cook the soup one day, then next day, assemble a few freezer meals.

Other recipe ideas:
White Chicken Chili
Chinese Chicken Salad
Chicken and Rice Curry Casserole
Bread Bowl Chicken Stew
Mulligatawny Soup