Make the most of what you buy and buy less meat
I may be aging myself a bit
here, but I remember these things called leftovers. They were nasty.
They had a weird texture, and their temperature was always wrong. Most
of the time, they became science experiments that got thrown in the
trash. So what's a thrifty girl to do when she has extra food? (First world problem, I know.) Use it,
but use it in a different way. Those left over green beans aren't going
to taste as good if you just microwave them, but they're delicious in
soup or casseroles.
Cutting down our meat consumption is a huge money saver, plus it's good
for health and environmental reasons. And if I may point out an
uncomfortable fact here, an animal gave its life for that meat to be on
our table. While we aren't vegans or even vegetarians, we do try to be conscious of the
other creatures on the planet. So when we do buy meat (about 5 or 6 times a year), we buy meat that goes a long way, such as whole chickens. They're cheaper per pound ($0.99 vs. $2.99 for
chicken breasts alone), and they go a long way. We have roast chicken one
night, then use the rest of the chicken in soup, chicken and rice,
chicken salad, etc. And don't forget to make broth from the bones! We like to buy large cuts of beef and cut them in half. Again, they're cheaper per pound than the cut up versions, and it isn't hard to cut them up yourself if you have a sharp knife and a game plan. Generally, we use once half of the cut for a roast and the other gets turned into little steaks, fajita strips, or stir-fry meat. When we use the fajita strips or stir-fry meat, we fill in the bulk of the meal with vegetables and/or beans and rice.
No comments:
Post a Comment