By Kelley
By imaqt1962
To use these, thaw quickly under running warm water or on counter, cook to taste. The freezing changes the cell structure and the beans cook up really fast after being par-cooked and frozen.
Also, when I make tacos, enchiladas, or other Mexican food, I always add beans to the filling, using less meat.
By Linda
Don't forget eggs as a protein source! Try this when they are on sale next time: In greased muffin tins, break one whole egg into each hole. Add 1/2 slice of day old bread, broken into small pieces, to the top of each egg and cover the bread with milk as full as you can. Salt/pepper/butter and bake for about 35 mins at 325 degrees F. Test doneness with fork. Serve with salmon patties, green beans and maybe a salad! But, by themselves, these sometimes are plenty!
By Robin
I find that these packages are great bargains for me. Once I even managed to get over $15 worth of meat for about $5.50. As I have a freezer, I freeze all my meat for future use and thus extend the expiration date of the meat. By watching for these manager specials, I not only save money, but am also able to get a variety of fresh meat.
By Marlene
I've noticed that Mondays are a great day to find reduced meat at Wal-Mart. I asked the butcher about it and he agreed, that's when they do their markdowns. At least thats how it is where I live.
I work in the deli of a local market on weekends. At 7:00 p.m, our hot side sells meals at half price. At 7:30, everything in the hot case is half price. On the cold side (deli meats), we close at 9:00 p.m, so at 8:30 anything that is already sliced and in the case is half price. Ask at your local store and see what they do. I know that at a rival store, they just wrap their meat and sell it the next day.
By Ms April
By j8jackel
By Stephanie
By Robin
By SNIGDIBBLY
By BrookesMommy
By Willow2930
By Darijavan from Grant, MI
We wait until Ground Beef (called Mince Meat in Australia) is on sale then freeze in meal size lots. Another way is to make a Mince meat stew to which we add lots of different veggies and usually cook two meals worth of potatoes. We then have the vegetables in the stew and make a shepherds pie with the remainder, putting in and oven dish and covering with the remaining half of the potatoes. Run a fork over the top of the casserole and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake in medium oven until cheese is browned and melted.
By John
I save so much money this way. We also have incorporated many vegetarian meals which we think is healthier. We don't need meat every night. Our grandson so far, at one year old, won't touch meat so there is some savings there!
By frugalelf
On stew beef: I'd rather buy a chuck roast and cut it up myself, removing any gristles and such. It's cheaper, and I get it the way I want it. Also, I haven't seen this in a while but I used to buy boxes of bacon ends and pieces really cheaply. Seems like the supermarket had 4-lb boxes for three bucks or so. Some of the pieces were too thick to fry for breakfast but they worked great to season beans, soups, stews and such. The thinner pieces were fine to fry, and the fat could be ground up with beef chuck or deer meat. No waste!
By Alph
When I find round steaks on sale, I will purchase a full one and divide it into cubes for vegetable beef soup as well as cubes for beef stew. I cut the cubes for soup uniformly into small pieces but cut the meat for beef stew into larger pieces. If the round steak is large enough, I also slice the meat for beef stroganoff. Generally, I can get at least three meals from one full round steak by utilizing smaller pieces of meat instead of using the more traditional larger cubes.
By Ronsan from Southern Missouri
We have 3 grocery stores in our area that offer 5 family packages of meat for $20. I pick out the 5 biggest packages, take home and divide them up and freeze. This usually feeds my family (of 3) for almost 2 weeks. I get creative with different ways to prepare the meats so we don't get burned out on them. And for the veggies, and sides I shop at Aldi discount grocery, or the dollar store. This helps out greatly on our grocery budget.
By jmz2005 from illinois
By Alph
By Cheryl
Pork: Use less expensive cuts; sirloin chops are a good value and tender, pork steak has a trillion uses, you can even learn how to roll your own pork roast.
Beef: Use the tube hamburger vs. store ground. It is produced in ultra sanitary conditions, has better flavor, and it's cheaper. I've seen it produced in packing plants, it is excellent!
Don't buy 'thin cut' , 'tenderized', 'butterfly' or other such refined cutting methods, they charge 30 cents or more to process what you can do yourself.
Want a great steak cheap? Find 'Chuck Eye Steak' at your grocer, or at many WalMarts. This is a cut next to the ribeye. Less attractive but equally as good, very tender, great on the grill!
I was a meat cutter for 30 years, glad to answer any questions - just email me!
By Pops
By Lisa
By Jean
To save money, I take leftover meatballs and chop the meat to use for sloppy joes. That way you don't have to buy or use more hamburger.
By Pam from OH
I buy boneless/skinless breasts of chicken when on sale. Freeze each breast separately for a recipe for 2, or 2 breasts for 4 people.
Take the out chicken to thaw and when partially thawed I filet those thick breasts straight across, creating large plentiful servings sometimes they are so large you can cut them horizontally. WOW!
Great savings, Great food. Enjoy!
By Patricia Vrooman from Peoria, AZ
To save money on red meat, we use venison exclusively. With lots of hunters in the family, they kill the deer and we pay for the processing. We buy 5-7 deer a year and it feeds 7 of us for a whole year for about $400. Try doing that with red meat of any kind. I only buy fish and chicken once in a while and the venison is 3% fat so it is just as lean as can be.
By Kay Mathias from South Fulton, TN
Stock up on these meat items and store them in your freezer.
For example, if you use 2 pounds of ground beef to make a meal and you buy a 6 pound package of ground beef, that will make 3 meals for the cost of the package. This is a better way to look at it than the price per pound since the weight of meat (in the case of roasts, steaks, or chops) also includes any fat and bones that may be present.
Then after the meat is done I run it through my food processor with the grinding blade to make it like Taco Bell meat. I freeze it in 2 cup packages and it hurries up those nights of spaghetti, tacos, sloppy joes, etc. I usually do a package a day for a few days in a row and that'll keep us stocked until the next sale.
By Melanie Mom2_5 from IL
Our local restaurant supply store has specials on meat. We get Angus beef for less that $2.20 a pound. The catch is you need to cut your own steaks. We take the slab home, cut the steaks to our liking and then kryovac one or two steaks per package. We do the same thing with their chicken breasts. The breasts come as a frozen block. We thaw enough to pull apart, then kryovac them. Another way is when your local store has a mind blowing special on roasts, have them grind up some of it and cut the rest into steaks. Best burgers in town!
By Donald from Caldwell, ID
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Saving Money on Meat