Budget Stretching Meals 3978

~patches~

I don't have specific recipes to offer at the moment, just some general observations.

Chuck roast makes a lovely and tender braised roast. It's an inexpensive and tasty cut of meat. The key is to slow cook it with liquid, be it water with some seasonings, broth, or stock. If you have a crock pot/slow cooker, throw it in there and let it cook all day on low while you're at work or off doing other things. (To me, it tastes better if you brown it in oil first.) You can add vegetables as you wish - onion, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, whatever. If you have a family of four, a 5 lb. chuck roast with veggies, either cooked with the roast or on the side, should offer a couple of meals.

Someone in another thread seemed to think the use of bay leaves require an education. Uh, not really... just throw them into the liquid and fish them out when the meal is done. Bay leaves are wonderful, simple things.

Another simple dish is roasted chicken. A whole chicken is very inexpensive, particularly when you compare it to the price of buying skinless/boneless (or even the bone-in) chicken breast halves. If you're worried about the fat from the skin on a chicken, get your fingers under it and peel the skin off. It's not that difficult (except you probably can't peel the wings LOL). However, I find the skin pretty much essential to a moist, roast chicken and you don't have to eat the skin itself.

The key is (and this harks back to the kitchen equipment thread) a pan to roast it in. When I was a bride I bought an roasting/broiler pan. It's basically a roasting pan with a slotted insert that fit over the top for when you want to broil stuff and have the fat drip down below. Looked similar to this:

You can pick something like this up at almost any discount or even a drug store like Walgreen's for under $10.

Back in the day, I didn't know a thing about roasting a chicken. I read a Betty Crocker recipe and it pretty much just said to sprinkle the chicken with salt & pepper (including inside the cavity of the chicken). It wasn't until much later I discovered the joys of tarragon (which I forgot to add to your seasoning list), lemon, etc.). I roasted the chicken in the pan without the rack and used a spoon to spoon the pan juices over it a few times as it roasted to make the skin golden brown. I don't pay much attention to specific recipes now, but I think I roasted a 3 lb. chicken at 375-400F for an hour and a half. The old test was to poke it with a fork between the leg and the breast and if the juices ran clear (rather than pink) it was done. Another test was to jiggle the leg. Maybe *that's* the stuff we need to teach the "I don't know how to cook" generation :)

At any rate, a whole chicken stretches a long way. The carcbutt and any meat which remains on the carcbutt (usually much more than people think) can be used to make broth or stock. Only takes an onion and a carrot or two with water to make broth or stock.

With the stock, you can make chicken & noodles or chicken and rice or chicken and dumplings.

Granted, I don't cook for a family of 3-4 people. But when I was at the grocery store last week I spent $70 and I got a LOT of food. Ground beef was on sale in these "family packs" larger than I'd ever seen; I got almost 6 lbs. for $6. I broke it up into 1 pound packages in freezer bags and made room in my freezer. I bought a lovely lean 4 lb. corned beef brisket for $6; it was probably priced for St. Patrick's day but for a family of four or even six people if served along with cabbage and maybe boiled potatoes, quite a nice meal for under $10. For someone like me (or for a family of 2 adults), 3-4 meals.

I also bought dried pasta (don't make my own; no room to roll it out) and jarred sauces which of course I'll enhance; frozen vegetables since I don't have any place to grow my own.

Fresh vegetables (yellow squash, which I love, is just coming into season and a straggler of acorn squash which is going out of season).

I got some nice (supermarket) bakery bread which I find is not only better tasting but often on sale (they get afraid it will have to be marked "day old" or "two day old") but also better in terms of ingredients if you read the label on Wonder Bread products. I wrap it up well and stick it in the freezer. No, I don't have a large freezer; just the one on top of my refrigerator. Somehow, I make things fit :)

Jill