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Tight-budget Cooking

The main meal expense always is meat. The good news is that Americans eat too much meat. We just have to retrain ourselves a bit on how to fill up with less per meal.

The first recipe below is the best meat stretcher I've found. It's tasty, filling and a half-pound of hamburger, ground turkey or venison feeds 6-8 people! All you need with it is a bit of a salad and bread and butter.

The second recipe is not quite as filling, so plan it with a heftier side dish. And because this article focuses on meat, meat needed is listed first even when it is not the first item cooked.

GROUND MEAT CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1/2# ground beef or turkey
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
3/4 Cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon flour
3/4 Cup chopped celery
1 Teaspoon curry powder
3/4 Cup chopped green (or other mild) onion
1/2 Cup chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Cup milk
1-3 medium hot chili peppers (chopped and to taste)
2 cans tomato sauce
4 Cups cooked brown rice (white is okay; brown is healthier and costs the same)
4 slices cheese, cut into squares

Instructions:

Saute onions in 3 tablespoons of butter until tender. Add celery, green pepper, garlic, hot pepper and ground meat. Cook, stirring until meat loses pink color. In a small saucepan, blend flour into 1 tablespoon of butter. Add curry powder, broth and milk. Place in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Add curry sauce, tomato sauce, brown rice and half of cheese to the vegetable mixture. Mix well. Pour into a casserole dish sprayed with a low-fat cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

CHINESE STUFFED PEPPERS

For a slightly different taste in stuffed peppers, try these. Delicious!
(The black mushrooms and star anise can be found in Chinese markets or in Ethnic sections of grocery stores - purchased in small quantities, both last a long time.)

Ingredients:

1 Cup cooked turkey or chicken, chopped fine
6 medium green peppers (tops, seeds & membranes removed)
1/4 Cups chicken broth
2 to 4 "star' anise
1 Cup wild rice
1/8 Cup Chinese black mushrooms, soaked and chopped
3 slices cheese
1/2 Cup mushrooms, chopped

Instructions:
Boil the amount of water called for by the rice you're using. Add rice, anise and black mushrooms. Cook according to directions on rice package. Meanwhile, steam peppers gently over low heat for 15-20 minutes until tender-crisp. Near the end of the rice cooking time, add turkey or chicken and broth. Add chopped mushrooms. Re-boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Stuff the peppers with rice and poultry mixture. Add 1/2 slice of cheese to each pepper top. Let cool until cheese melts down onto pepper. Serve.

Either of these recipes can be adapted for family taste. If your family hates hot peppers, leave them out of the first recipe. If you cannot get to a Chinese market, turn the stuffed peppers into an American version with bland items...or a Spanish one with some hot pepper instead of the anise. In that case, just increase the regular mushrooms by 1/8 cup.

Learn more about this author, Margaret Shauers.
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