c/cheap-eats-swap

My neighbor taught me to stretch one pack of ground beef across 4 meals

Last month my neighbor Jan saw me buying a 2 pound pack of ground beef at the Kroger in downtown Portland. She pulled me aside and showed me how she mixes it with a can of black beans and rice to make it last. I tried it for taco night and got 4 servings out of what would have been 2. Now I add a chopped potato to stretch it even more for burritos. Has anyone else got good tricks for making meat go further?

2 comments

rodriguez.felix•11h ago

The bag of dried beans I bought for $1.49 made 7 meals, way more than I expected

I kept seeing people buy canned beans for 99 cents each, but a 1-pound bag of dried pintos for $1.49 gave me enough for burritos, soup, and refried beans across a whole week, plus no extra sodium. Has anyone else found a dried ingredient that stretches way further than the canned version for cheap meals?

2 comments

grantmartinez•13h ago

Unpopular opinion: canned tomatoes beat fresh for cheap pasta sauce

I used to think real Italian cooking meant using fresh tomatoes for sauce. That changed last year when I was at a friend's place in Portland and she made a pasta sauce using a $1 can of whole peeled tomatoes. I was skeptical at first but the sauce came out richer and way more consistent than anything I'd made with fresh ones. She told me her nonna taught her that canned tomatoes are picked at peak ripeness unlike the pale grocery store ones. Now I buy a 28 oz can of San Marzano style tomatoes for like $2.50 and it feeds me for three meals. Has anyone else made the switch and never looked back?

3 comments

henderson.oscar•19h ago

Frozen veggies are way better than fresh for cheap stir fry

I tried using fresh broccoli and bell peppers in my stir fry last week and it cost me nearly 8 bucks for one meal. Switched to a bag of frozen mixed vegetables from Aldi for 1.29 and honestly the texture was better after a quick pan fry. Learned that frozen veg is flash frozen at peak ripeness so it keeps more flavor than old fresh stuff sitting in a fridge. Anyone else find frozen stuff works better for certain recipes?

2 comments

kim.zara•1d ago

People keep throwing away perfectly good rice thinking it's bad

I saw my roommate toss a whole pot of rice after it sat out for 4 hours. She said it was dangerous. I've been leaving my rice on the counter overnight for like 15 years and never got sick. As long as you don't keep it more than 24 hours at room temp it's fine. Has anyone else had to argue with someone about this?

2 comments