Every two weeks I come up with a meal plan for dinners for our family of four. As of lately I have tried to become more and more resourceful when I plan out our meals.
For instance, when using ground beef you can add in "fillers" to stretch out the meat into at least two dishes that would normally call for a pound of meat each. These fillers include: cooked rice, uncooked oats, bran cereal, cracker crumbs, bread crumbs, and crushed croutons. Add in after you've browned the meat, and cook on low. Use one or many and you'll find that your family won't even know the difference.
This concept can be applied to other meats as well. One tip that I got, that I thought really helped us, was buying a whole chicken (usually no more than $5), and taking all of cooked meat (which will give you up to 5 cups of chicken) using it for several dishes and casseroles.
How about something we may overlook-meatless dishes. Before you get all "I'm not a vegetarian" on me, think about it. If we use meat on all of our nightly dishes, this can cost us up to $50 a week with just the meat alone. If you add just one meatless dish a week, you can save yourself some money and add important nutrients, including fiber!
Look at these:
Meatless Quesadillas: layer refried beans, black beans, shredded cheese and green onions on a flour tortilla. Place another tortilla on top and heat on a skillet. Filling and fast-can't get much better than that!
Vegetable Omelet: use a variety of seasonal vegetables like squash and zucchini paired with tomato and cheese on an omelet made from egg mixed with a tablespoon of water for a fluffy protein dish.
Stuffed Baked Potatoes: now this is a truly versatile dish-use steamed broccoli and cauliflower topped with cheese on a baked potato, or use vegetarian chili to top instead. You can get really creative with a baked potato and you won't have to give up flavor!
Pasta: Go Italian! Pasta is also a very versatile dish. Grilled vegetables such as red pepper, eggplant, onion, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes tossed in thin spaghetti makes a tasty alternative to traditional meaty sauce.
Just a few ideas to get you started. Feel free to share any other meatless recipes that you've tried or have heard of! A big advantage to not using meat is that it forces us to get creative and in most cases include more healthy options, like vegetables, to our dishes. Most Americans do not include enough vegetables in their diets. It's meatless dishes like these, that really help us get closer to our suggested daily servings.
