Simple Marinades For Cheap Steak Cuts
How To Make A Cheap Steak Cut Tender and Tasty!
Even when we are struggling financially, it is great to celebrate with a good steak (unless you are a vegetarian). We know some great cooks with marinade recipes to make cheaper cuts of steak tender to cut and chew, and they also add a great taste!
You Need an Acid and an Emulsifier
A good marinade should enhance the meat’s natural flavor while making the meat more tender. Every good marinade needs an acid to break down connective tissue and tendorizer. It also needs an emulsifier which carries the marinade deeper into the meat so all of the action is not on the surface.
Coca Cola, citrus juice, vinegar, beer or wine are examples of popular acids that you may already have around the house.
Emulsifiers are oils, like sesame oil (Asian flavor), canola oil, and olive oil.
Some people say that acids do not really work, but I think that is because they do not also add the oil to their marinade. Be sure and let the meat soak in your mixture for 6 hours in order for it to work.
One of my favorite cheap steak marinades - 1 can of coca cola, 1 cup of oil, a pinch of ginger, and a clove of crushed garlic. I use this on flank steak or other cheaper cuts before I barbecue or broil the meat. If you are in a hurry, or just don’t want to mess with the grill, you can even saute thinly cut steaks in a frying pan. Just use a little extra oil to cook the marinaded meat until it is done the way you like it. Add some onion slices and mushrooms to the pan for extra flavor and a garnish.
This steak is great when served with broiled green pepper slices, a tossed salad, or any other side dish.
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Copycat Restaurant Recipes to Chilli’s, Applebees, And More….
Tight Budgets Mean Less Eating Out
Of course, we have been encouraging everybody, including our own family, to cut out restaurant meals in order to trim our budget. We know that we can feed 4 people at home with a very good meal for $10 to $20 or less, depending upon the meal, and that dinner at a restaurant will probably cost $10 a person or more!
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But we still miss our restaurant meals, and that’s why cookbooks like copycat restaurant meals are so popular these days! You can find secret recipes from Chilli’s, KFC, Applebees, Red Lobster, TGI Friday’s, and more. You will surprise and amaze your family when you can cook them pasta with an Olive Garden recipe or soup from Outback Steak House! Of course, we are really excited about the Rainforest Cafe crab cakes.
And you will not have to pay a high restaurant bill either. Who knows? Your family may even tip you!
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Fast N’ Easy Cheap Italian Casserole Recipe
Do you need a recipe that is simple, cheap, and still tastes great? Here is my quick Italian Baked Casserole which should cost less than $10 to make and will feed 8 people. Of course, it will also feed 4 people and provide you with leftovers you can freeze to reheat on another busy day!
You need: 2 lbs ground meat (i.e. hamburger, ground turkey, etc.) , 1/2 cup of macaroni or similar pasta (I like the high fiber kind), 1 26oz can of spaghettis sauce (any flavor you like), chopped up onions, green peppers or other veggies to taste, additional herbs to taste (i.e. rosemary, Italian season mix).
I like to brown and crumble the meat to reduce the fat content, but sometimes I just do that as part of the defrosting process if the meat is frozen. I have used hamburger or ground turkey, or sometimes I use 1 pound of each.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
That’s it. I like to coat the bototm of a casserole dish with a bit of cooking spray to make clean up easier, but you don’t need to do it. Then spread the uncooked macaroni on the bottom of the dish. Don’t worry, it will cook as the mixture is baking. Then mix up the meat, sauce, chopped up veggies, and additional herbs in a bowl, and spread the mixture on top of the pasta.
Cover the dish with foil or an oven safe cover, and let it bake for 1 hour. While it is cooking, you can take a break, do the dishes, surf the net, make a salad, or catch up on the cable news.
After you take it out, it will be hot, so take off the cover and let it cool for a few minutes before serving, especially if you are serving younger kids. I love to make a 1 dish meal with this because it has pasta, meat, and veggies, but a salad, fruit cup, or applesauce make a nice side dish too. As a mom and working woman, I am a big fan of simple, 1 dish meals!
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Frugal Cooks Use Stale Bread
Bread Is Expensive So Use it Stale Too!
Bread, along with all groceries, has gotten a lot more expensive lately. If your family runs through a loaf of bread as fast as my family does, this can really strain the budget. Of course, sometimes one loaf of bread gets eaten and another goes stale.
One of my favorite blogs, Cheapskate Living , has posted an article on the uses of stale bread, including a great recipe for bread pudding.
The bread pudding recipe looks yummy, and I doubt anybody’s family will turn up the nose at it. They will never realize it was made from stale bread. Make sure you check out the article because it also includes some other great uses for stale bread that you may not have thought of.
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SPAM LUNCH MEAT SALES ARE UP
Well, in this distressed economy, it is probably no surprise that sales of SPAM, at least, are surging. People are trying to trim their budget any way they can, and if they have to resort to including a few cans of the classic canned meat in the pantry, then that’s what they do.
SPAM is produced by Hormel Foods Corp., and they have reported increased sales of the pork product, even though the cost of a can has risen too. Right now, a 12 oz can, is about $2.62, up about 7 percent from last year.
Well, personally, I’d rather eat beans or tuna for about the same price or less when I need a cheap source of protein. And a dozen eggs would feed more people for less money too. But some people like SPAM. I even found a page with SPAM HAIKUS.
And yes, some people have taken a break from canned meat poetry to come up with some innovative ways to use the traditional canned meat product. If you are interesting on making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear (LITERALLY!), then check out these SPAM RECIPES.
Otherwise, if you have to get your protein from a can, try tuna or beans or chile.
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Cheap Recipe For Tuna Croquettes
Cheap Fish Recipe with Tuna
We are all told to eat more fish, but sometimes that seafood counter has some pretty expensive prices. In order to be healthy, and get our share of fish, we need to turn to good old canned tuna and salmon. But tuna with mayo gets old after awhile. So let’s dress it up with a great recipe for tuna cakes. These are very similar to crab cakes, but cheap and easy to make!
By the way, a good way to handle your grocery budget in a frugal way, is to look for tuna and salmon on sale.
We found this recipe on CheapSkateLiving.org — Tuna Croquettes Recipe So just visit that page, because we don’t see the need to waste time and repost it here.
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Cheap and Easy Tacos and Tortilla Recipe
Make Cheap and Easy Tacos and Tortillas
Most taco recipes do not include the tortillas. But I learned this from one of the most frugal cooks I ever met, and in my humble opinion, nothing tastes better then fresh tortilla right out of the pan. Compare fresh tortillas to packaged tortillas. Its like the difference between fresh bread and day old bread! And of course, it is much cheaper to make tortillas then it is to purchase them. On the other hand, time is money, and if you are pressed for time, don’t feel guilty about buying a package of tortillas either. Note: I added another cheap recipe for bisquick tortillas to the end of this post.
The recipe here is for 12 tacos, so this may be two meals. If that is too much for your family, you can freeze the rest in a a freezer bag or use them for lunches the next day.
Wheat Tortillas
You Need: 4 Cups Flour, 2 tsp. salt, 4 tsp baking powder, 2 tbl oil, approx. 1 1/2 cup warm water.
Stir all the dry ingredients together. Then knead in the oil and add the water until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough. Form about 1/4 cup of the dough and make a ball. Then flatten it out so it is about 1/8 inch thick. You can buy an inexpensive tortilla press, and I like mine. But a flat plate works too!
Heat a heavy skillet or griddle to a medium-high heat. Cook your tortillas until they are brown on each time. Trust me, it will be hard to keep your family from eating the warm and delicious fresh tortillas before you get the tacos done.
The Cheap and Easy Tacos
You Need: 2 LB ground beef or ground turkey. Salsa (Mild to Medium as You Prefer).
Brown the ground meat. Drain the oil, and then stir in the salsa to taste and cook until the flavors are blended and the meat is well done.
Extras
Serve with lettuce, tomatos, quacamole, etc. as you desire. The addition of the veggies makes this a pretty healthy one dish meal that everybody loves.
Bisquick Tortillas! You can also use bisquick to make tortillas. Use 1 cup of Bisquick, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 tsp. of salt. Mix up the ingredients, and then roll the dough up in box and brown them in a pan or griddle.
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Frugal Recipe For Spaghetti That Can Feed A Crowd
Eat Cheap and Healthy with Our Frugal Spaghetti Recipe
Everybody likes spaghetti, and its one of these best ways to feed a crowd. Or, if you don’t have a crowd, hold back some of the sauce to freeze in a convenient freezer bag, and then just make fresh pasta when you want to serve it.
Spaghetti has a bad rap with dieters, but when you make it yourself, it ban be of the healthiest complete meals. Yes, spaghetti can be diet food! I like to buy the high fiber pasta. This costs a bit more, but Frugal Pigs will Spend Money On Quality!
Now, this recipe is great, and it tastes like you’ve been cooking for days. But here’s how to make a generous serving for 8 people. If you need more, just get a bigger pan and multiply!
Ingredients: 1 Lb. ground beef or turkey (We spend more on lower fat cuts of beef.) , 1 package turkey sausage cut up into 1/2 inch slices, 1 8 oz. can of tomato pieces, 1 4 oz. can of tomato paste, dried italian spices, pinch of garlic (fresh or dried), dried onion or 1/4 cup diced fresh onion.
Brown the ground meat and turkey sausage, and then drain the fat. Then add the tomato pieces and tomato paste, a generous dash of Italian spices, pinch of garlic, and onion, and simmer until the onion is cooked through and everything is well blended.
While the sauce is cooking, start cooking the pasta you want to eat right away according to the package directions.
The whole process should take about 20 minutes, and is great with a salad and some garlic toast. Garlic toast can be made by toasting slices of bread, and spreading margarine or butter on it, and then sprinkling it lightly with dried garlic. If you want to skip the extras, the spaghetti alone provides a pretty balanced meal with protein, vitamin C, and more!
There, you have just fed 8 people a complete meal for $10
We also found a related article on Cheap Home Made Pizza
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