I read an article on CNN Money that the sale of Spam is up, alot of people are buying it to stretch out their groceries. Is anyone else purchasing certain items to stretch out their meals? Any tips on things you use up in your pantry to stretch things out? I don't really buy Spam very often, but I am interested in any info on how to be more creative in the kitchen to make more meals between my husband's paychecks, he gets paid every 2 weeks.

Plan your meals so you can use the same type of ingredients for the week.
Using leftovers to make another meal.
Doubling recipes and freezing half.
Use fillers (rice) or add only half the meat suggested for the recipe and use more pasta or whatever it calls for.

Ex. Make chili on the weekend then make Chili Macaroni (add macaroni & cheddar cheese), Stuffed Baked Potates (topped with chili), or Chili Pizzas (chili on english muffins, buns or bread w/cheese on top).

Ex. This week I took a leftover turkey burger, ground it up in the food processor and used that for the meat in the spaghetti sauce. It gave it a nice flavor! I have used that trick many times.

Ex. When I make turkey for burritos, I make 1 lb of turkey plus 1 cup of rice and cook it together. Otherwise my dh eats too much meat.

We use rice and pasta to help stretch. Also, for Mexican dishes, I add refried beans to the meat to help it go farther.
PS- Georgia Mom, I understand about stretching between paydays; my husband is paid twice a month.

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Michele

I say go meatless once or twice a week. It really makes a difference.

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A Family of 5's quest to forget the Joneses.

Rice, pasta, beans. Also, baking staples to make breads and desserts. I never was much of a dessert eater but I'm going to add it to add fullness. I like to make mine from scratch so I know what's in it. On sale fruit. Right now some melons are cheap as are strawberries. Also used as dessert.

I have a question about this. It's suggested often, and I wouldn't have a problem with it (it would have to be really good, tho, for dh to go for it, the carnivore!!) but it seems that vegetables are in many cases as expensive as meat. How do you make this effective? Replace the meat with cheap veggies? Make meals that just don't require meat, like spaghetti or lasagna?

Thanks for the advice, I think I will try to add more rice and beans to meals to round them out a bit more. I am wondering the same thing about the meatless meals though, because alot of veggies and cheese are pretty expensive.

We use all of those ideas--my dh only gets paid once per month--fun fun

Meatless meals -- we do these twice a week and they can be very cheap. ex:

A bag of dried ravioli or tortilini is 2-3 dollars and feeds 4-5
add a jar of sauce 1 dollar
add a loaf of garlic bread 1 dollar

Total 5 bucks

You can make beans and rice and/or beans and cornbread
both of these meals are under 5 bucks

The list goes on but don't think that all meatless meals need tons of cheese---use beans as a main ingredient it works great in my house

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"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."
~Unknown~

I have started to use beans (dried black beans 1 lb for $1) when I make taco meat. It does stretch out the meat more (I use the taco meat for two meals). No one noticed that I was adding beans to the meat and I figured besides making the meat go further, I was also adding in some protein.

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I add extra sides to the main part of the meal to make it more filling. I make lots of bread or garlic bread, or put out an extra veggie or some fruit.