Stretching It Out

One of the important aspects of saving money is cooking something that can be made into multiple meals. The classic answer? A whole chicken. You roast it, eat that...use leftover meats for a pot pie or sandwiches and then the carcass goes into a pot for soup.

But this is difficult, or more so, when you live alone, like I do. Or, if you feel like you don't have the time to roast an entire chicken (doesn't take that long, if you do it fast--an hour or so).

My local store has a 5 for $19.99 value--packs of meat in about double serving portions sold or $4 each. It's a great deal, and I partake about once every couple of months. I usually stock up on steak and chicken breast.

When I use these meats I generally apply the chicken roast theory to them. This last time I did this:

Sauteed garlic in oil and then sliced up the chicken breast and browned then in the garlic oil. ($4.10, including oil/garlic)

Removed from pan.

Added 1/2 slice of red pepper ($0.40) and sauteed until just starting tender. Removed from pan and placed with chicken (in an oven safe pan in the oven on warm).

Chopped up 1/2 of a bunch of kale ($0.25) and sauteed quickly until just tender.

Placed chicken, peppers and kale all in same pan and tossed together, then seasoned with salt and pepper ($0.05--if that much, but we'll just add that in for fun).

Total? $5.05

Over rice, this could serve two, if not four, fairly well. But I eat alone, mostly.

So the first night I added about $0.50 worth of additions--four corn tortillas ($0.32), a dollop of plain yogurt, splashes of hot sauce, cumin, dash of chili powder, and chopped up fresh cilantro.

For lunch I cooked some brown rice ($0.25) and added bean sprouts ($0.25) and another $0.50 or so of condiments--hot sauce, splash of fish sauce, fresh ginger.

That evening I cooked up some whole wheat pasta ($0.25) and the remainder of the kale with more garlic ($0.25) and a splash more olive oil ($0.10).

And I had another round of tacos the next day: $0.50.

So the grand total: $7.65 for four meals. Four very hearty meals, averaging $1.91 per meal--and that's a guess on my calculations, for the most part.

Much easier to go by my weekly grocery store bill; of which, today is a shopping day.

The point to this, though, is it's smart to make a 'base', especially out of protein. We eat, generally, more than we need to when it comes to protein. Most people would look at my small $4 portion of protein and think that's what they need, personally, for their one meal. Perhaps, if you're an extreme athlete. For the rest of us? Nope. And when combined with whole grains and certain vegetables, we're getting more protein from those sources.

Next time? Budget Gourmet; Sharing a work recipe.