For This Monday's menu stretching tip, I'll share the recipe from a great book I found at our local library.


The following recipe is from the book Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month by Deborah Taylor-Hough (Champion Press, ISBN: 1891400614).

All-Purpose Ground Meat Mix
(Makes about 12 cups)

This is a basic ground meat mix that can be used in many casseroles and recipes.

5 pounds ground meat (beef or turkey)
2 cups celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt (optional)

Brown meat in a large pot. Drain. Stir in celery, garlic, onion, green pepper, salt and pepper; cover and simmer about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender but not soft. You can use this mixture immediately during your cooking session or freeze in two-cup portions for later use.

Suggested Uses (be creative):

Tacos:
Add one package taco seasoning to two cups All-Purpose Ground Meat Mix (follow package directions for amount of water). Freeze. To serve: thaw and heat taco mixture; prepare tacos as you would normally.

Taco Potatoes:
Follow instructions for taco mixture (above), but serve the mixture over baked potatoes instead of tortillas or taco shells. Top with grated cheese, diced tomatoes, sour cream, sliced green onions, sliced black olives and salsa.

Easy Taco Salads:
Follow instructions for taco mixture; place a layer of corn chips or tortilla chips on plate; spoon taco mixture over chips; add layer of shredded lettuce; add diced tomatoes, sliced green onions, sliced black olives, sour cream and salsa.

Sloppy Joes:
In a large skillet, place two cups Ground Meat Mix, one (10 3/4 ounce) can tomato soup, two tablespoons brown sugar, and one teaspoon prepared mustard. Stir. Cover and simmer ten minutes. Serve ladled onto hamburger buns.

The All-Purpose Ground Meat Mix can also be used for: stuffed peppers, chili, spaghetti, and baked ziti (further recipes can be found in the Frozen Assets book).

Menu Stretching Monday

I love a great Pot Roast. Roast and mashed potatoes is one of those meals that takes me back to my childhood. Is there really anything that says comfort food more than roast and potatoes? We don't have it often, because it's not one of those meats that I find on sale very often, but when I can get a hold of it, we try to stretch it as far as possible. Here are a few ways to make that happen.

To save money, buy a large roast beef.

Meal 1 Roast dinner

Roast beef with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. You can prepare this in the slow cooker.

Meal 2 Sandwiches

Make hot roast beef sandwiches on wheat bread with fresh corn. You can use some of the gravy from the roast the night before to place on sandwiches.

Meal 3 BBQ Roast Beef

Chop up the remaining roast beef. Mix with sauted onions and peppers and 1 cup catsup, 2 Tbsp vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp mustard to make barbecue sandwiches

This week on Menu Stretching Monday we are featuring Roasted Chicken. I believe this is one of our cheapest meals that we make. I will buy a Rotisserie chicken from Walmart for $4.99 and I can usually stretch it for 3 meals. You can really save some money if you roast your own chicken. Walmart sells raw whole chickens 2 in a pack for about the same price. Or you can buy them seperatly too.
Here are some of my favorite ways to use roasted chicken.

Meal 1 Roasted chicken

Roast a chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken. Serve chicken with a baked potato and some vegetables.

Meal 2 Chicken noodle soup

put the remaining chicken (the whole carcass) in a large pot and cover it with water just to the top of the chicken- adding a sprig of rosemary (optional), some carrots, an onion, celery- or whatever you have on hand. Cook it until the meat practically falls off the bone. Strain meat, bones and veggies. Place chicken on plate and throw out the rest. Save about 4 -5 cups of broth for future use. Place 2 cups of wide egg noodles into remaining broth with 2 cups chicken. Add vegetables of your choice I usually use onion, celery, carrots. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add thyme and any other seasonings you enjoy. Sometimes I throw in half a cup of uncooked rice.

Meal 3 Chicken potpie

In a medium mixing bowl, mix remaining chicken with 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of potato soup, 1 bag mixed vegetables and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Cover with pie crust, or make your own crust out of Bisquick. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. Or until crust is brown.

Menu Stretching Monday

We are starting a new series on our blog called Menu Stretching Mondays. Each Monday we will feature a recipe that you can stretch to two, three and sometimes four meals.
This weeks main recipe is:

Four-Bean Taco Chili

2 Pounds ground beef
3 cups tomato juice
1 jar salsa
1 can (16oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 can (8oz) tomato paste
1 can (4oz) chopped green chilies
1 envelope taco seasoning

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with Cornbread.


Chili Manicotti

10 uncooked manicotti shells
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1 carton ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg beaten
3 cups Four Bean taco chili
1 jar meatless spaghetti sauce

Cook manicotti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine 1 cup mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and egg; set aside. Combine the chili and spaghetti sauce; pour half into a greased 13"x9" baking dish. Rinse and drain manicotti shells; stuff with cheese mixture. Place over sauce. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered , at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until heated through.

Tip: If you like meat in your manicotti you can mix some of the meat mixture with the cheese before you stuff it. This recipe also freezes well.