Making Things Stretch

In our current situation, we're having to make food stretch to last us through the next couple of weeks before I can go to the grocery store.

It got me to thinking, what are all of the different ways you can make food stretch?

A favorite thing of mine to do is buy in bulk when something is on sale and break it down into smaller portions. Say a huge family pack of porkchops is on sale. Buy it, get it home, and break out the freezer bags! Soon enough you have several nights of porkchops stacked up in the freezer.

This works great too, for sales on cheese and other items that freeze well. The list is long, but includes tortillas, bread, meats, vegetables, and other things.

I love to buy big roasts when they are on sale. I cook them in the slow cooker and we have a nice roast one day. Then I either freeze the remainder, or I cut it up and we have beef stew another night. Add a bag of noodles and you've really got a hearty meal.

Instead of buying chicken breasts already deboned, I can usually catch chicken breast halves on sale for $1 a pound. From there it's fairly easy to debone and deskin them for my picky husband, and for far less the cost. There's no need to be "controlled" by convenience.

There are so many things that can be bought, cooked, and used for several meals. Hams, roasts, chickens.

Baking chickens are usually pretty inexpensive. Roast it for a dinner, then debone for chicken helper, chicken soup, or chicken tacos. Then boil the carcass with some seasonings and veggie scraps, and you've got lovely chicken broth you can use or freeze for the future.

And what about "cheap" meals? No one really likes ramen noodles, but add some frozen veggies to it and a bit more seasoning, and its something that can get you through a rough week. And you can do wonders with just eggs and potatoes. Trust me! I've had to live off of things before. It's not fun but you can do it, and come up with some amazing recipes in the meantime.

I'll even share my beef stew with you today. It's not very expensive, and its a big favorite around here. It makes a lot.

1 package beef stew meat
2 large cans mixed vegetables
2 cans beef broth
1 package onion soup mix
1-2 cans of vegetable of choice
1/2 stick of butter or equal
Seasonings to taste

Start by dumping, liquid and all, the vegetables in a big pot. Add the cans of beef brother. Stir in the onion soup mix. Bring to a boil. Add the meat and lower the temperature to medium-low. Stir in the butter, onion soup mix, and season. Here, you can add anything you like, be it mushrooms or other. Cover and cook until you can pull a tender piece of meat out, fully cooked.

Enjoy!