Frugal Living Series: Three Meals in One-Beef Roast

Being on a tight budget, for whatever reason, means you need to make the most of your food usage, limiting waste and cutting down on portions of the more expensive parts of the meal. By being creative with your use of leftovers and recipes, you can cut down on your overall food budget, without your family getting tired of having the same food several times during the week.

On Sundays, we generally have what I call "Big Hunks of Meat Night". That means instead of our usual casserole or some dish that uses less meat, I cook what most of America considers a regular dinner. Beef or pork roast, chicken, meat loaf, etc. I use more meat on those nights, but then try to use less throughout the week, supplementing protein with beans, cheeses and eggs to keep the protein levels up while being more frugal. However, even on those nights when we have a lot of meat, I try to make the most of what I'm preparing. Those two extra pieces of chicken will get frozen with some side dish for work week lunches. If we're doing hamburgers on the grill, I will make some extra for lunches, or for my oldest daughter to pack for far away sports events. It's much cheaper to take our own lunches and snacks than to buy them.

Beef roast presents many unique opportunities (by the way, I often use beef brisket as a substitute for roast-it's usually half the price of what I can get roast for even on sale, and while it's a small bit dryer, it's just as tasty-just cut a large brisket {not corned beef brisket} into thirds for roast sized portions-if you have a smaller family you can cut it even smaller, making it a very frugal food choice). When I cook a roast (or brisket), I do it in the crock pot with enough water to cover. I add salt, pepper, garlic and onion, and let it do its thing all day. When it's done cooking, I take two cups of the very flavorful beef broth to make gravy with cornstarch. I take about half the meat out for serving that night. I remove the rest immediately-if it's still in the crock pot, someone will try to eat it! If I have time, I process a bit that night, if not, I put it in a large bowl and put it in the fridge to process the next morning.

When I process it, I take half the remaining meat, and one cup of broth, and set aside for stroganoff. The recipe for my stroganoff is simple and cheap. I buy sliced mushrooms on sale (always look for unannounced sales or clearance specials when grocery shopping!) and then dry them in my dehydrator. Then I put about a handful of the dried mushrooms into two cups of water with some onion, carrots, celery, a bit of salt and some parsley, letting it simmer for about 90 minutes, to make mushroom broth. I will add the meat and beef broth to the mushroom broth, thicken with cornstarch, add sour cream and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and then serve with noodles. This recipe makes enough to feed my family of seven, and occasionally allows enough leftovers for a lunch or two the next day. If you have a smaller family, you can cut the recipe in half.

The remainder is set aside for soup or stew. When I've let it sit in the fridge overnight, I'm able to skim the fat off, making it a much healthier meal. I usually freeze the broth and meat together in two quart canning jars. Two, two quart canning jars of beef and broth are a good start for a hearty stew, with added carrots, potatoes, barley and any other vegetables that we're in the mood for. It's nice, and very convenient, to have almost ready-made soup waiting in the freezer for that first cold snap! By doing the hour of work (some of it ahead of time) needed to process the beef roast and broth into stew, I've made a much healthier alternative to anything I could buy at the store.

Where I live, beef roast on sale is usually over $6.00 per pound-not a very frugal choice for a family on a tight budget, especially if it's all going to be consumed in one night. Substituting beef brisket is much more frugal, it's usually around $1.60 per pound, and less on sale (usually around Memorial day, as it's commonly used for barbecue). Beef brisket is a large cut of meat, but for around $20.00, I generally get enough meat for nine meals, and if you have a smaller family, your meal yield per dollar spent will be greater. Your per person meat servings may be smaller, but the lack of protein can easily be accommodated by adding beans to your stew, or by serving another higher protein side dish with the stroganoff.

It's not always easy to put your family on a frugal budget, but tips like these will certainly make things easier!