Save money buying meat by stretching out meals

If you want to save money, read these quick tips on doing so by stretching out meat meals. Groceries are rising and the cost of getting a nice steak or roast on the table is becoming pricey for many consumers. You can stretch out meals in a healthy way rather than adding bulk carbohydrates that don’t add any nutritional value to your diet. By making a few simple changes to the way you shop for groceries, you can actually achieve the win-win of feeding your family on the cheap while eating a healthy and balanced diet.

Here are a few ways to save money buying meat by stretching out meals

Save money by reducing your meat intake

Meat is one of the most expensive grocery items. If you cut meat out of your diet once or twice a week you can drastically reduce your grocery budget while enjoying more vegetables. Cutting back on meat makes you eat more vegetables to bulk up a meal. So in terms of eating healthy and cheap meals, choosing vegetarian options is a real win-win. Vegetarian meals are very tasty and you will start to love them and get used to them. If you are like me you will even look forward to them!

Save money each week by stretching out meat portions across more meals

Another great weight-loss and money win-win is to distribute meat in a meal more thinly. For example, instead of cooking up a big Spaghetti Bolognese that you might use across two nights, you can spread that meat sauce across four nights by using it on a pizza or in a pita wrap or subs melted with cheese. You could have the meat sauce on nachos.

You can also cut other cuts of meat up finely. For example, you can slice one steak up thinly and use it in two beef salads. This is also great for weight-loss and feeling lighter and more refreshed in the morning. The body only has to digest half a steak overnight rather than a whole one.

Stretch out meat with lentils, cooked rice, barley, uncooked oats, bran cereal or breadcrumbs

These ingredients are another great way to bulk up a meat sauce (or any other type of mince meat) without anyone noticing. Mix one of the above ingredients well with the raw meat and then cook it up as normal. The key to others not finding out your secret is to mix it well! Try to achieve no lumps, bumps or evidence of anything other than mince in that mix.

I have been putting lentils in Spaghetti Bolognese for the past six months and no-one in my family has ever noticed! This means you can purchase a 500g packet of mince instead of a 1kg packet and achieve the same result but spending only half the money! Lentils are also packed with nutrients and so you know the family are getting goodness out of the meal.

If you are looking for other great ways to bulk up meals or hide ingredients in food be sure to check out 50 Sneaky Ways to Hide Fruit and Veggies in Food.
Got great tips for hiding veggies in food? Share them here…