Making Meat Stretch...

I'm always after a good way to stretch the food budget and this is something that I do often... find a way to stretch meat.

Meat tends to be one of the most expensive parts of a food budget and my Hubby would say one of the last to cut out. He loves his meat... I like to eat cheap.

Here's what I do...

Purchase meats only when they are on a rock bottom sale, or clearanced. Clearanced meat doesn't mean spoiled, although you'll want to look at it (maybe smell it- no one's looking are they?) & use your best judgement.

Often time I use the crockpot and cook the meat.

If I have chicken, last time I had a whole one, I cut up carrots, an onion, some celery, add the chicken and put it in my big crockpot and then fill it with water. I let it sit high for a few hours to get it good and hot and then turn it to low until the carrots are tender. When it's done, I strain and keep the broth, veggies and chicken.

The chicken can be used for all kinds of things. This last time I made chicken enchiladas, chicken noodles (I have enough left to make ckn noodle soup using broth from this chicken too) & I have enough chicken & veggies leftover to throw together another kind of soup.

That's 3 meals together & 2-3 lunches for Hubby & I... healthy and good!


If I have a roast, I add a jar of home canned tomatoes or carrots, potatoes & onions and let is sit on low all day. If I've added tomatoes I make mashed potatoes to go along with it. Then we often have a big salad & some hearty bread to help fill us prior to digging into the meat. With the meat that's left over we have BBQ Beef sandwiches or Veggie Soup for another meal.

You can do this with just about any kind of meat as the crockpot cooks slow and evenly enough that most meats become very tender. You don't have to buy expensive or large cuts of meat to eat well!