Cooking with less meat ideas? (to save money)

[Zenbirder]

We are vegetarians, and used to eat quite a bit of the meat substitutes. Now the prices on some of my favorites have put them out of reach except for special occasions. So even vegetarians can be stretched and challenged these days! The TVP is quite cheap still, I would give it a try in spaghetti at least. Almost all the store bought products like burritos have TVP in them as a meat stretcher. Try adding a few drops of a natural smoke flavor (bottled) to give the impression of ham or bacon without much cost. Also as ScottyG said, go ethnic. Many places in the world have developed cuisines that use little meat because of cost. Plus if your family is not used to the dish they may not notice the lack of meat as much.

Dinner Ideas:
split pea soup and hot cornbread
cheese and bean enchiladas
vegetable lasagna
minestrone soup and home made biscuits
green chili and potato casserole with a crispy crumb topping

 

[patandchickens]

Oh, the vegetable lasagna reminded me -- what about canned tuna? Unless you have tunaphobes in the family, a can o' tuna can go a long way because it is so flavorful. Tuna lasagna is good (I use leftover cooked spaghetti squash in place of part of the cheese, and a white sauce instead of the usual tomato-based sauce), or any form of tuna casserole.

Which, by the way, thank you for helping me decide what to have for dinner tonight, as I was dithering

Pat, off to go start tuna casserole

 

[Cassandra]

Which, by the way, thank you for helping me decide what to have for dinner tonight, as I was dithering

Pat, off to go start tuna casserole

Funny!

I totally have fixings for tuna casserole. I bought some egg noodles for just such an eventuality. Won't be cooking tonight, tho. Having a Halloween weenie roast at my parents' house. Should be a blast.

Cassandra

 

[poppycat]

For a burger, I like sliced mushrooms sauteed in butter until they are brown and then add a splash of red wine to the pan. We used to put these on burgers but IMO you can just dispense with the patty. They are great on a bun with all the trimmings.

We have drastically cut back on our meat eating over the past few years. I just cooked the same old stuff with smaller portions of meat and increasing the veggies and other sides. I found that I had to re-think what a dinner is supposed to look like. Sometimes we'll have a big salad with one grilled chicken breast but it will have slice d hard boiled egg, black olives etc.

We just had to look at the things we already liked. My whole family likes nothing more than steak and baked potato, so I still make it. But we might all five share one steak an have a little more salad or an extra half potato.

My favorite lasagna replaces meat with spinach, yellow raisins and pine nuts. Sounds wacky but it tastes pretty good, you might just break even between the cost of the pine nuts and the meat though.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

My favorite lasagna replaces meat with spinach, yellow raisins and pine nuts. Sounds wacky but it tastes pretty good, you might just break even between the cost of the pine nuts and the meat though.

That sounds good! Does it have marinara sauce in it?

I wondered why being vegetarian didn't really seem like it was saving me any money. LOL I guess it did when I was in college, but my tastes have gotten a little pricey since.

 

[Henrietta23]

We don't eat a lot of meat here and I have eaten none for the past two months. I try to use whole wheat noodles for extra nutrition when I do pasta or brown rice when I serve rice. I can actually get the guys to eat tofu! I made a yummy vegetarian moussaka with eggplant and zucchini a few weeks ago. Incredibly filling. And I serve larger helpings of vegetables now.
In the summer I used to do grilled steak salads. Slice the meat really thin and serve on some nice greens with garden tomatoes and a balsamic dressing.

 

[ScottyG]

Scotty, you always seem to have it SO together.

HA! HAAAAA!!! I totally do NOT have it so together. I do love to cook, though. And I do have an absurd amount of education, for better or worse. But that's about it. Believe me, I have very little together. That's part of what I like about reading on this forum... seeing how people whose lives are more together than mine are able to make all that work for them.

I'm intrigued by your peanut butter soup. I have seen recipes that use peanut butter (like roasted chicken with peanut butter or something like that) But I have never cooked with it except for the obvious cookies. I am trying to imagine peanut butter mixed with tomatoes... I don't know if I dare!

Maybe try it when you have leftovers around as a backup? I like it a lot, but then I do have fairly adventurous tastes. Still, it's really not a peanut buttery soup... more like a thick tomatoey vegetable stew with a nutty spicy thing going on. The ginger helps cut the sweetness.

As far as the TVP goes, I don't have anything against it. I mainly meant it is not something that I have in my cupboard available to use. I don't know where I can buy it or how to use it. I have just never looked for it. Though, if I could find some cheap enough to experiment with, I would give it a try.

I don't know what stores are like by you... I have TVP around because it's SO much cheaper than many other protein sources. I used to get a huge gallon bag of it for 2 or 3 bucks. Looks kind of like packing material (and in fact I used it as such once for my vegetarian sister in law!) but is easy to use.

 

[miss_thenorth]

As a vegetarian who never really liked the taste of meat much, my opinion is that there are tons of dishes that taste way better with no meat in them!

Yeah, I don't expect any of you to agree.

Well, being a meat eater, I would have to agree with this statement. there are some foods out there that do taste better without meat. Or at the very least--just as good. Just make sure you get your protein from some other source.

Drake--do you make your own hummus? I have yet to make a great tasting hummus that compares to the storebought( which I try to avoid buying), so if you have a great recipe--please share!!!!
One day I bought some chick peas on sale so i tried three different recipes of hummus within a few weeks of each other. Some were good, but not comparable.

 

[PotterWatch]

I make my own hummus and I think it's pretty good! I think the mistake most people make is using too much tahini. Basically what I use is:

16oz chickpeas (reserve liquid)
1/4- 1/2 C liquid from chickpeas
3-5 Tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbs tahini
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil
fresh garlic or garlic powder to taste

Some people like their hummus thick, I prefer mine to be thinner so I add more liquid. I don't usually measure my lemon juice, just what tastes right. I use garlic powder until I like the taste, and I usually add some chili powder as well. Not overdoing it with the tahini is really crucial, though I'm sure some people like the flavor to be stronger than I do.

 

[Woodland Woman]

These are some meals I make if I only have a little meat. Eggs help add protein.

Egg foo yong Take leftover meat and cut into small pieces. Mix with bean sprouts and eggs. You can add other vegetables like mushrooms or peppers but its not necessary.
Fry in pan like a pancake and make some gravy to pour over.

Chicken pot pie- Chicken, sauce, and frozen mixed vegetables topped with biscuit mix.

Colorful Rice- Any leftover meat cut up small, rice, mixed vegetables, scrambled eggs and soy sauce.

Breakfast Burritos- Refried beans, scrambled eggs, cheese wrapped in tortillas with hot sauce.