bats

I'm newly retired and newly skint so we're trying to eat more frugally but not by loading up on pasta, spuds, and rice. Tonight I'll be making bean burgers and hoping that this time I'll get the recipe right. They are usuall too dry and crumbly.

BristolUK

Don't know if this is any good to you...

I often buy the ridiculously cheap beef cuts - Inside Round @ $2.77 lb, that sort of thing - and I've been doing them in the slow cooker in various combinations of broth/beer and other things thrown in.

They come out well enough, albeit a bit stringy, and the taste is good.

Sunday I tried an experiment, as a sort of back up in case of emergency but spare meat otherwise.

I did nothing more than season it (Montreal steak spice for this one) and put it in the slow cooker. I normally do it for 6 or 7 hours by which time it's falling apart and tender in the nice sauce.

But I noticed it was cooked - perhaps too well - within 3 hours, with plenty of meat juices sitting in the pot.

Plan A worked out fine so the back up wasn't needed but I did steal the juices to add to the gravy.

The inside round looked really unappetising, but yesterday I got it out of the fridge and sliced some. It was fine.

I cut it it into small pieces, cooked cabbage in a pan full of broth, added leftover veggies, microwaved some spuds which I partly mashed to give some body, slung in the leftover gravy and added the meat.

Turned out to be a really good stew and astonishingly the meat came out super tender and tasty for a fraction of the price of stewing beef.

It may well be that I could have just cut up the meat and used it as stewing beef without the slow cooker. Maybe the meat juices I stole for the gravy would then have been part of the stew and made it even better.

Perhaps people already know this and I was too slow to realise.

Teaandtoday5

I enjoy a chick pea curry. With some spiced or curried cauliflower on the side you don't even need rice.

bats

Ah yes I did know of the results of slow cooking the cheaper cuts. A pot roast in fact. I now have an Instant Pot which us an electric pressure cooker and it's excellent for round roasts, pork butt, beans. Much better than a slow cooker.

dbd33

Much improved by the addition of potatoes I'd say.

Tuna burgers are cheap, tasty and nutritious (there's some animal cruelty and possibly some human slavery involved but one can't have everything).

bats

Chick peas are yummy, good with spinach in the mix.

I have a picky eater husband who won't eat yoghurt, sour cream, cauliflower, tuna, salmon, cilantro, lamb, duck, rabbit, venison..... I can't eat gluten.

Eggs are good, curries. I need new ideas.

BristolUK

I was sure you would, but - to me - this was more about the surprise of seeing this come out out like expensive stewing beef though.
The benefits of a slow cook, done quickly. Is this why slow cookers are all over the place cheaply priced?

not2old

Bats, I wouldn't know

Good luck with it & trust you can find a solution to eat healthy just to save a few shillings.

Only one tip from me. If you ever ate out or had a coffee out - stop that immediately, that should put your grocery budget back on track

bats

Maybe. I've never liked meat other than ground meats done in a slow cooker. The sauce is great but the meat seems to have the flavour sucked out of it and veggies had the texture of canned veggies.

The IP I like but It does mean using hydro when I could cook a pot roast in the gas oven. It cooks dried beans in 30 minutes though which is great. You get perfect boiled eggs, soups, apparently you can cook cheesecake in it but I haven't tried.

Oakvillian

If chick peas - and by extension other legumes - are a good option, and South Asian flavours are good, then there's little to beat a couple of Punjabi dishes like dal makhani or chana masala. I can't recall where my go-to recipe for dal came from, but I'll try and remember to find it at home and post it here. Dried lentils are pretty inexpensive and really quite filling (although they do tend to promote a bit of wind...) and the other ingredients are pretty much storecupboard basics like onions, garlic, ginger, spices, canned tomatoes.

Tangram

any homemade soup done in a slow cooker and added crusty bread

Oink

I second the legume family idea. Lots of recipes found here.

If that doesn't work well for you, maybe try a food bank or ask at a local church for help.

not2old

I cannot comment on meal plans, its a personal choice, others have made some very good comments up thread on meal plans

Do you have to change your meal plan?

OK, being a numbers person, always on the frugal & bargain, I figured that I was not half bad at 'frugal anything', grocery shopping at price match, buying from mark downs, as well as the seconds shelves, preparing & cooking each & every meal to make sure that there is always leftovers that would stretch across three meal days for three people (9 meals in total). We have two fridges + one vertical freezer stacked full as well as a 6'L x 4'W x 8'H pantry in the basement fully stocked with all the specials or markdowns.

Most everything is cooked from scratch (fresh) including bread & pasta, we never ever buy seriously expensive cuts of meat ever. Meats consist of mainly cheap cuts of Pork, Chicken, mince beef & some fish.

Staples are rice, pasta, potato, beans & any kind of greens on special or from the markdown rack. Eggs, porridge, cream of wheat, corn flakes

Then along came Shirtback our poster on here that is truly amazing what she does. n2o tips his hat

see post #1173 & #1175 in the following thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/maple...857019/page79/

To add, we don't do coffee take out's. Nor do we eat out - only, if and when it's a super special occasion, or we are given gift cards, or treated, no booze or soda pop in our grocery bill.

Is there anything in your monthly running costs that could be cut back that might add a few bucks to your grocery bill?




.

bats

I'm reassured by the suggestions given as they are The type of meals that I cook or shopping methods that I use. Legumes are the way to go. I was concerned I was missing a trick or two especially after reading Shirtback's $67 shop.

We've really only got this extra frugal phase for one year then another pension will kick in. Plus I need to get my website together, find some galleries who will sell my paintings etc, etc.

Eating out, we don't eat dinner in restaurants often but retirement is very sociable with constant invites to breakfast and lunch. I've become quite adept at choosing the cheesiest item, or suggesting meeting for coffee instead.

Siouxie

You could try using this too bats.

https://www.amazon.ca/Bobs-Red-Mill-...3E7YC06RM89QVR