Thursday, June 2, 2011

Ways to use Ground Beef!

I have shared before how to purchase meat on the cheap, and with the summer months upon us I thought it would be a great time to share different ways to use ground meat. I usually can't get ground beef on Manager's specials/markdowns so I usually will purchase it in bulk at Sam's. Sometimes though I able to find it in the grocery stores for cheap and with the summer grilling season upon us now will be the time to look for the sales at the grocery store.  I will get around 9-10 lbs all at once, sometimes more! When I first starting getting it in bulk, I thought what in the world am I going to make with all this meat! I thought I would end up having and making the same thing all time! Well I found several recipes that have become family favorites. I like to use ground beef for my recipes but you can use ground pork or ground turkey as well!

I cook all my ground meat and then divide it into one pound packages for the freezer so that I can just pull out what I need to make the following recipes...

Queso Dip (This makes a quick lunch or appetizer!)
One large Velveeta Cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes
½ pound of hamburger (approximately)

Slice up the Velveeta cheese in to a big bowl
Add ¼ cup milk
Melt in the microwave

Add ground beef and Rotel tomatoes
Stir and put in crock pot

Serve with the tortilla chips!

To make for large get-togethers I make 2 large Velveeta Cheese, 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes, and 1-1 ½ pound of hamburger.

Besides grilled burgers and queso dip, here is a list of other dishes that I make:

  1. Tacos--1lb ground meat, a can of refried beans(or make your own), and 2 tbsp. of taco seasoning. Or instead of using bean in the meat I'll use a can of tomato soup.
  2. Goulash--1lb ground meat, a can of tomato sauce, 1-2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard, 2 cups of elbow macaroni.
  3. Spaghetti--1 lb ground meat or meatballs and a jar of spaghetti sauce. I usually will add more spices(italian seasoning, garlic powder, and minced onions to the pot. Also instead of adding sugar to the pot, I add shredded carrots. I also put this in the crockpot and let it simmer all day!
  4. Hamburger gravy--1lb ground meat, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1-2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, and minced onions. Mix all together. Serve over egg noodles or rice.
  5. Chili--1lb ground meat, 1-150z can tomato sauce, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can red kidney beans, 2-3 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, minced onions. Mix all together. Simmer in crockpot all day.
  6. Sloppy Joes--1 lb ground meat, 1 can tomato soup, 1-2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. yellow mustard. Mix altogether. Simmer. Serve on hamburger buns. In my opinion, this is better than Manwich!
  7. Meatloaf--1lb. ground beef (I usually use ground chuck or ground round which is like 86%-91% lean meat)
    1 egg
    1/4- 1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed saltines or regular/quick oatmeal
    1 tsp. garlic powder
    2 TBSP. minced onion
    3-4 TBSP. ketchup
    1 TBSP bbq sauce
    1-2 tsp. yellow mustard
    1/2 green pepper, chopped(optional)
    1-2 medium size carrots, shredded(optional)

    Mix altogether. Form into mini meat loaves and stick on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper to "flash freeze". Once frozen, stick in a freezer bag and label!

    If you do not want to freeze them uncooked, place in a 9x13 pan and place in the oven at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until done. Let cool completely before freezing!

    Other notes: if the meat looks too wet add more bread crumbs/crushed saltines/oatmeal. This recipe makes tasty burger patties too! If you want to make an actual loaf, you can do that as well, I would let the loaf cool completely first then slice it into individual servings, wrap them and then stick in a freezer bag for later consumption.
  8. Salisbury Steak--take the meatloaf recipe and instead of forming loaves I make patties. Cook the patties. Once cooked, add beef gravy. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

What are some dishes that you make with ground beef?  Have you found any ground beef on sale lately?

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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Shopping Trip

This week's shopping trip was my major one for this pay period. I am actually so excited to share it with you because I got over $20 worth of groceries for FREE!  The items were either a "give me" when you bought so much of an item or free after a high value coupon.  I planned out my trip and I was actually pretty excited to be getting the free items. My free items for this trip were ketchup, baby formula, body wash, bagels and a gallon of milk.  The two ketchup bottles and baby formula were free after high value coupons.  Since I do not have any more babies, I am planning on donating the baby formula. The bagels was free with purchasing 3 lbs of I can't believe it's not butter.  The gallon of milk was free with 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal. The body wash was free after using a buy two get one free coupon.

Along with the free items I also received a $5 off next shopping order coupon and $2 off next shopping order coupon! Those definitely will come in handy this coming up week to get milk, eggs, and produce in the house on the cheap.

Here is what I purchased this week:

Big Top Market(local store)
  • 16lbs potatoes
  • 2 lbs bacon
  • 15.65 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts
  • 7.80 lbs 85% ground beef
Total OOP: $56.62
Savings: $37.29

Duthler's Family Foods(local store)
  • 2 bags wavy potato chips
  • 2 bags Rold Gold pretzels
  • 3-2 liters Faygo pop
Total OOP: $10.46
Savings: $5.25

Family Fare: 
  • 3 bags frozen hash browns
  • 3 boxes 9ct Bagel Bites
  • 2-40 oz bottles Heinz Ketchup = FREE
  • 3 lbs margarine sticks
  • 3 pkgs Motts applesauce cups
  • 2 lbs Land O Lakes Butter
  • 2 bottles Miracle Whip
  • 2 bottles Kraft Ranch Dressing
  • 2 rolls Bob Evans Sausage
  • 4 lbs strawberries
  • 2.53 lbs bananas
  • 1 bottle St. Ives body wash
  • 1 Secret Deodorant (was $4.99 bought for $1.49!)
  • 2 Speed Stick Deodorants
Total OOP: $51.70
Savings: $38.03

Meijer

  • 3 bottles Suave body wash (1 bottle FREE)
  • 1 pkg Lender's bagels = FREE
  • 1 gallon Meijer milk = FREE
  • 1/2 Hormel Ham
  • 7.48 lbs turkey breast
  • 2 pkgs Freshlike frozen corn
  • 1 lb. shredded Kraft cheese
  • 2 pks. Kraft Swiss 2% Singles
  • 2 boxes Eggo Waffles
  • 2 cans Reddi Whip
  • 2 boxes Duncan Hines brownie Mix
  • 4 lbs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
  • 2 pkgs Warm Delight Brownies
  • 2 bags Tyson chicken nuggets
  • 4 bags Nestle chocolate chips
  • 1 bag Pepperidge goldfish grahams
  • 6 tubes Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
  • 6 tubes Pillsbury crescent rolls
  • 4 boxes Kellogg's cereal
  • 2 bags Easter M&Ms
  • 2 bottles Similac Formula = FREE
Total OOP: $85.42
Savings: $75.37

Summary of the trip: 

Grand Total OOP: $204.20
Grand Total Savings: $155.94
Grand Total if using no coupons or sales: $360.14

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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Shopping Trip

Lately, I have been working at just shopping the sales at the grocery stores. If there is not much in the sales worth getting I do not make a trip to all the stores. However, I will run into my corner grocery store, which happens to be Aldi's for milk.   Doing this kind of shopping is keeping my overall total per day for feeding my family of seven under $19/day!

Meijer: 
  • 4 pks Danimal smoothies
  • 4 containers Breakstone sour cream
  • 20 cartons Yoplait single serve yogurt
  • 2 bags Doritos
  • 18 oz. Hillshire Farms deli meat
Total after sales & coupons: $22.63
Total Savings: $20.25

Family Fare: 
  • 5 qt. vanilla ice cream
  • 2 boxes Life Cinnamon cereal
  • 2 bags Cheetos
  • 2 bags Fritos
  • 3-12 pks wild cherry Pepsi
  • 6-2 liters Pepsi products
  • 2 cans pizza sauce
  • 2 heads lettuce
Total after coupons & bottle deposit: $43.02
Total Savings: $18.50

Duthler's
  • 6.58 lbs ground beef from chuck
  • 2.02 lbs beef cube steak
  • 6 dozen eggs
Total: $28.97
Total Savings: $13.40

Aldi's
  • 3 gallons milk
Total: $6.27
Total Savings with buying milk here rather than at another store : $3.60

Grand Total: $100.89
Grand Total Savings: $55.75

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