Welcome to week four of the Frugal Food Series. So far we’ve talked about eggs, tuna and beans. This week we are highlighting Ground Meat!
Ground meat is a kitchen staple in America (and I’m sure in many other countries). It is typically made of beef here in the US, and is usually the most economical way to purchase that meat.
Of course beef isn’t the only kind of ground meat out there (which is why this week is not called ground beef!) You can buy ground pork, chicken and turkey. Most hunters have ground meat of various types such as venison or elk in their freezer.
note: any recipe that calls for ground beef can have venison, elk, pork, chicken or turkey substituted in!
A frugal benefit of ground beef is that it can easily be “stretched” in a recipe with various inexpensive fillers–which is why it was so popular in depression era cooking. Rice, breadcrumbs, oats, barley–all could be added to ground beef to make a small amount stretch to feed more people.
Now it’s time for you guys to share your favorite ground meat recipes!
Remember, you will always be able to find the all of the Frugal Food Series links at the Frugal Food Series Index!
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Quick comment on Jenn’s recipe for Cincinatti Chili, very good! I doubled the recipe, came out wonderful. I gave away a quart, we ate, ate, then ate some more, at the end I froze it into 4 (2 cup) portions for future chili dogs, chili chips and cheese, and frito pie! Yummy!
Hello Jen
This is a bit of an advertorial about a product and you may not think it is appropriate to publish.
We use a product from the UK Quorn that has Beef-Style Grounds (http://www.quorn.us/products/Beef-Style_Grounds.aspx) which is available in the USA. It is non-meat and non-soy product. It’s is low in fat, high in protein and has no cholesterol because it is from a plant (a mushroom variety). Super tasty and we use it on its own or to extend ground meat. Best thing is – the teenagers can’t tell!! Buy it from the freezer section.
You guys in the USA have a much wider variety of products available to you than we do in Australia. I can highly recommend them. Good for vegetarians or those who want to lead a more peaceful life alongside animals and much healthier to boot!
Maggie in Oz. 🙂