Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Several Meal Deal-Beef Roast

This is the first in a series of posts about stretching the dinner budget by using one main cut of meat and creating several meals out of it. In this case I am using a beef roast. Here is a price breakdown of what you will need to complete three separate meals. I am assuming in this case that you are a family of four and that you have some staple items, mainly salt, pepper, and water. This can be adjusted to suit more or less family members. I am giving the prices for my local grocery store, which may be different from yours. On the upside, I live in one of the most expensive areas of the country so it may be much less where you live. Also, some of these ingredients can be purchased using WIC checks, so if you receive those you already have a good head start. You are going to need a crock pot for this one.

1-Beef roast 5LBs or so at $2.99/LB=$14.95
1-Package carrots at $1.29
1-Package celery hearts at $1.00
1-Bag yellow onions at $1.99
1-Bag potatoes at $1.99
1-Carton generic beef stock at $1.99
1-Package roast seasoning (such as McCormick, or a generic equivalent) at $.99
2-Packages brown gravy mix at $.50 for a total of $1.00
1-Box instant rice, white or brown to suit your tastes, though brown is healthier, at $1.00
1-Bag lentils at $1.00
1-Loaf of bread at $1.50
1-Package of butter or margarine-whatever is cheaper and whichever you prefer at $1.30

For a total of $29.70

Okay, early in the morning of the night you wish to eat the roast, chop up 3 or 4 of the carrots (I assume here that you bought the regular size, if you got babies you can just toss a few in) and 4 or 5 stalks of celery. Wash the potatoes and slice them into a large dice. Dice up the onion and toss it all in the crock pot. Place the roast on top of the veggies and season with the roast seasoning mix. Pour in the stock and add water as necessary to mostly cover the roast. If you have any beef bullion, add a little of that as well. Cook on low for as long as possible, checking the meat every once and a while for doneness. It should be fall apart tender.
Take the roast out and place on a cutting board. Let your family eat as much as they want of the roast and veggies and let the roast sit out on the board to cool while you eat.
After supper, slice or shred the rest of the roast into a Tupperware and place in the fridge. Once the stock and veggies are cooled off, skim off some of the fat and further dice and large pieces of veggies. Put the veggies and broth into another container and clean up.

For the next meal, slice the rest of the carrots into rounds and place in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover them and cover with a lid, heat on medium until soft. Boil rice according to package directions and while you are doing that heat up a large deep skillet. Add the leftover beef to the pan and move around frequently to warm through. Measure out two cups of water pour into a decent sized bowl. Add the two packets of gravy mix and mix with a fork until all the lumps are gone. Add to the pan with the beef and heat to boiling. Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down and stir slowly until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Serve the beef and sauce on top of the rice and with the carrots on the side.

Onto the last meal. The night before soak your lentills according to package directions. Heat up your leftover veggies and broth in a large stockpot and add your lentils, cook until tender. Serve with bread and butter.

This should be plenty enough food to feed a family of four for three separate meals and perhaps some lunches. Each meal would cost $9.90 or about $2.50 per person. Not bad!

So there you have it! Three complete and different meals all from one roast. People don't like leftovers usually, especially kids, but if you make an effort to transform leftovers into a completely different meal it will be received much better.

5 comments:

  1. I love figuring out ways to stretch out leftovers, especially because as a working mom I yearn for quick-fix dinners. My family can't afford to eat out fast food, so I have to make home cooked meals fast.

    I bought a pricey turkey for Xmas, by our standards. It was a 10lb organic bird, $4.30/lb. Out of that turkey I got 30 servings including the original meal, next day sandwiches, soup, and I have meat in the freezer for at least two crock-pot suppers. Me and two kids are eating!

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  2. Thanks for the comment! Turkeys are usually a really good deal after the holidays so if you have a large freezer, and your family likes turkey, I would suggest buying a couple.

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  3. You are so right about turkeys being cheap after the holidays, although I'm not sure the organic variety ever goes on sale. I'm going to check it out and see. I don't buy organic as a general rule - can't afford it - but after I saw Michael Meyer's documentary FOOD,INC. I cringe every time I buy meat. In fact I was so affected by that movie that I have pretty much stopped eating meat, although I still serve it to my kids.

    You should do a top 10 list of your recommendations for food frugality. I'm totally into it. Right after my divorce I fed me and my two kids on $78/week, including household and paper goods. They now hate oatmeal.

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  4. P.S. I came here from Free Jinger!

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  5. I love the top 10 list idea! And great job on feeding the kiddos. I know it can be rough when you have little to no budget, and my hope is to help people stetch it just a little bit further.

    P.S. I <3 Free Jinger :)

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