Money-Saving Meat Purchase Tips
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Recipe-Stretching Ideas



Buy a good cookbook. Familiarize yourself with cheaper meat cuts. If prepared properly, they're tender and tasty!

Have at least one meatless day each week - Serve substitutes.

Trade budget-stretching meat recipes with friends, neighbors, relatives. Everybody has their own cooking techiques and recipes.

Avoid expensive canned and frozen "convenience" meats. They're not that healthy, anyway.

Watch ads and stock up on genuine meat bargains. Keep your freezer full.

Buy meats in economy family packs when possible. Divide and freeze for specific uses. More on freezing techniques down the list, by the way.

Stretch hamburger meat by adding bread crumbs, chopped onion, egg, and seasonings. Shape into patties and grill. A network television cooking chef even makes Mexican-style patties, as well as meatloaf patties. The possibilities are endless, here!

Buy beef by the half or quarter. Have it professionally cut and store in your freezer. Sell or trade the excess with your family, friends, or neighbors.

To avoid excessive shrinkage and waste, cook long-cooking meat over low or moderate heat or in a 325 degree oven.

Use a meat thermometer to determine doneness. This prevents overcooking, shrinkage and drying out of meat.

Well trimmed meat weight less and costs less. Shop around and find the markets that do the best trimming job.

Extend meat loaf and other ground-beef dishes with mixed vegetables, mashed white or sweet potatoes, rice or pasta.

Reduce the amount of meat in such recipes as stews, casseroles, chili and spaghetti sauce. Increase sauce and vegetables.

For freshest meats, shop early on days when stores are busy - Generally mid to end of week. Avoid mornings after long weekends or holidays.

Stir-frying stretches meat and it's fast too! To cut into thin slices, partially freeze the meat. Use round and flank steaks.

Use "chunky" style soups over potatoes or pasta in place of meat.

Substitute small bone chuck steak for sirloin or top round. Sprinkle with meat tenderizer before broiling or barbecuing. An overnight marinade will also help with tenderness.

Always get purchased meat into refrigerator or freezer - ASAP - to avoid spoilage.

To avoid wasting hamburger, freeze as patties instead of as a chunk. This is particularly cost-effective when purchased in family packs.

Save tough rinds from ham, bacon, or hocks. Tuck into potato, rice or noodle casseroles and bake for a meaty flavor. Discard before serving.

Unless you want to utilize the bone for soup, a boneless ham usually costs less.

Save and freeze all meat bones and trimmings. Use in soups and stews.

When on sale, purchase large cuts of meat (chuck and pork roasts, as well as thick steaks and ham. Cut up them up and freeze (for a variety of uses). Marinate, tenderize, or braise less tender cuts of meat before cooking. I find an overnight marinade to be the best.

Buy luncheon meats unsliced (in chunk form). Slice them yourself and save money over pre-packaged items, or meats sliced at your market's deli section.

Buy bacon ends in economy sizes when possible. Divide and freeze. Cook and combine with scrambled eggs. This is much cheaper than perfectly sliced pre-packaged bacon.

Get acquainted with your market's meat cutter. He or she can alert you to unadvertised specials, plus give you good cooking and saving tips. Sometimes, they will even cut meat to YOUR specifications (just like the old days of the butcher shops).

Slice roasts and ham thin. Two thin slices look like more on the plate than a single thick one.

Less ground meat mixture is required (per serving) if you use it to stuff tomatoes, green peppers, cabbage leaves, or any type of squashes.

To avoid "freezer burn", which dries out and toughens meat, re-wrap all market-packaged meats in airtight freezer wrap or freezer bags.

Save cooking liquids from various dinners, such as smoked pork shoulder or brisket. Its a great in stock for lentil, pea, potato or barley soup.

Save all scraps of meat leftovers. Grind or chop for mixing with salad dressing, relish, celery, and onion for sandwich spreads and dips.

Make gravy from drippings. Serve on biscuits, toast, pasta, rice, and the like.

Dice cooked meat leftovers, mix with barbecue sauce and serve in buns.

Shop in the "soon to be out-dated" meat bin at your local market. Always freeze (for later use) or serve as soon as possible.

Great savings on Popular Cookbooks!


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