Tortoise - meat strecher ideas! Please share more :-)

[Bethanial]

You mentioned in the thread on making grocery store $ go further, about stretching meat, specifically about rice in sloppy joe meat. But you also said something about your Mom is the master of this, and has lots more ideas. Could you pretty please share these? Thanks!

 

[Wifezilla]

I use veggies to stretch the meat. Cauliflower is a favorite. It is pretty mild on its own so you still have good meaty flavor even with the cauliflower added.

As for replacing meat with starch, it may be good for the wallet, but it isn't good nutritionally.

 

[tortoise]

In general anything that you cut meat into smaller pieces with stretch it. stir fry, fajitas, soups, etc.

 

[Wifezilla]

Saute onions and a few mushroom pieces in butter until the onion is caramelized. Then add pieces of beef cut in to small pieces. The flavor of the onions and mushrooms is a great flavor booster. Then make this mix in to a stew. Thicken with pumpkin and spice with salt, pepper, sage, etc...

 

[ranchhand]

Saute onions and a few mushroom pieces in butter until the onion is caramelized. Then add pieces of beef cut in to small pieces. The flavor of the onions and mushrooms is a great flavor booster. Then make this mix in to a stew. Thicken with pumpkin and spice with salt, pepper, sage, etc...

Pumpkin? Like plain canned pumpkin?

I am really liking this idea, I can see it with a little curry powder if you want to tweak the flavor another direction... I could feed that to DH 4 times a week, just change the seasonings around each time.

I like the cauliflower, too.

ETA yep, I could feed it to him 4 times a week- but I'm not going to!

 

[FarmerJamie]

DW found a cookbook, Cheap. Fast. Good! that has a meatloaf recipe that you get 3 lbs of meatloaf from one pound of ground meat. Lots of veggies shredded and added in - it also gets the kids to eat those veggies without a fight!

 

[Wifezilla]

Yes...canned pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor really blends with the meat/savory flavor. Here is a good example...
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/beefy_mushroom_soup.html

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Homemade sausage over mashed sweet potatoes seasoned with salt and butter is a favorite here.

 

[freemotion]

And next year, scoop up as many free pumpkins as you can get your hands on, roast 'em, puree them, and freeze the puree in measured portions for your favorite recipes. Pumpkin puree goes in all my soups and stews. It adds a subtle flavor that no one guesses, but it does add a richness, especially if you roast the pumpkin a bit brown.

 

[ranchhand]

Great ideas. I didn't score any pumpkins this year, and the crop failure was epic.

What about ground peanuts? I'm thinking specifically of Groundnut African Stew, but I don't eat chicken so was thinking it might work with beef.