Making the Most of Your Beef Dinner: Leftover Ideas to Stretch Any Budget

While there are tons of tips on how to stretch your grocery budget, this article approaches from another angle. How to make last night's dinner new and exciting and edible tonight! Using your meals and the leftovers effectively will save you money and cause less waste. With the current economy, many of us can benefit from learning how to recycle those leftovers instead of them going to waste in the refrigator.

Did you serve a beef pot roast last night? There are three ideas to reuse those leftovers into something even the finickest eater can enjoy.

Fajita's - Slice that roast into strips. Slice some onion. If you have peppers, these can be sliced now as well. If you don't use peppers or keep them around, this dish works without them. Before we do anything else with those slices, preheat your oven and lay out the tortilla's. You can be warming those as you stand at the stove for the next step. Toss your meat and vegetables into a skillet with a spoonful of oil and stir fry them. Keep stirring as it heats the meat throughly and cooks the peppers and onion. When the meat is hot, the vegetables done, remove from heat. Optional ingredients to serve this with are sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, and guacamole.

BBQ Shredded Beef - If your roast was not cooked in a heavy sauce, shred those tender leftovers and throw them in the crockpot. Add in a healthy amount of BBQ sauce. Set the crockpot on low for the day. By the evening you will have a nice warm BBQ shredded beef to spoon over some buns and enjoy. If you were in a time crunch for side dishes, add some pre made potato salad, chips, or salad to the plate.

Beef Stew - Stew meat can run five dollars or more a pack. Commonly it is just the scraps from cutting your pot roast and round steaks. So take that leftover roast and chop it into cubes. Toss this in a stew pot with two cans of tomato sauce, a can of corn, a can of greenbeans, a can of peas, a packet of stew seasoning, four peeled/chopped potatos and two cans of water. Bring to a boil, stirring occassionally. Then let simmer another hour or so, continuing to stir on occassion. Alternatively, if you are going to work, throw the ingredients into the crockpot on low all day. This is a great meal for those winter months to heat your bones.

Chili Leftovers - Boil some hotdogs. Shred some cheese. Heat up your chili. Home made chili dogs are easy and kids love them!

Frito pies are simple. Open a bag of Frito's or corn chips. Add some to each plate. Heat up your chili and spoon over the chips. Add garnishments of your choice such as cheese, lettuce, and sourcream. If you have taco shells or taco salad shells you can use the same ingredients with your chili to make spicy taco salads or taco's. Another alternative to this meal, is that sloppy joes can be used instead of chili. Instead of making spicy tacos or salads, the meat will be sweeter.

Chili Mac - This takes chili, cheese, and elbow macaroni. My mother used to make it with a few boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese mixed with chili. You can also use regular elbow macaroni and garnish with shredded cheese.

Extra Steaks- Did you have some leftover steak, not enough for everyone? Use it for an idea like fajita's or beef stew.

Extra Hamburgers - Make fun mini meatloafs! Line the bottom of a casserole dish with sliced, peeled potato's. Put your hamburger pattys on top. Pour a can of tomato sauce over the entire dish. Heat for an hour at 400 in the oven. You can also add some onions or bell peppers for flavoring.