Buying Meat on a Broke Foodie Budget

Even if the nation is in a recession, you don't need to eat like it. Finding the best deal on food, especially meat, can be tough.

With many people seeing smaller paychecks, there is less money to go to groceries. You don't have to eliminate meat to save a few bucks, though. Rachel Kolar, a student at WSU, shops for a deal on meat.

"I like it to be fresh, and cheaper, so I look for how much it weights, and pretty much the cheapest one I can find, that's the one I usually buy," Kolar says.

People don't need to stick to hamburger to say on their budgets. Certain cuts of beef, pork, and chicken can be quite economical. Gary Goettelman, a meat cutter at Buster's Country Meats in Ostrander, MN, gives us some advice on getting to know the meat counter.

"People don't need to be intimidated about buying groceries at all," Goettelman says. "The best thing they can do is go to a full-service market. Don't be scared to ask for help. That's what those guys are back there for."

Although steak sounds expensive, you don't need to completely cut it out of your diet. Goettelman says first-cut chuck steak is very similar to ribeye because they come from right next to each other on the muscle. Chuck steak is just 1/3 the price. I use chuck steak for pot roast and beef stew, but it's good just as a steak on the grill.

For pork, shoulder roast can be a great way to get a lot for your money. After roasting it, shred it and put some barbecue sauce on it. Bingo, you have barbecue sandwiches. You can easily feed a family of four with one of these roasts, and you aren't breaking the bank.

When using chicken, don't limit yourself to boneless, skinless chicken breast. Not only is it expensive, but it doesn't always have the best flavor. Sure, you're saving on fat, but come on, you deserve to taste something awesome.

I have a favorite recipe for chicken and dumplings, and I have made it with both chicken breast and thigh, and by far, the thigh version was better. It tasted more like chicken, and it gave off more fat that can be used in the sauce. If you are making a hot dish, try using dark meat instead of breast meat.

Going to the meat counter doesn't have to be intimidating. If you are, or even want to be, a good cook, you're going to need to know what meat you are using. There is a difference between ham and bacon, and T-bone and sirloin are different too. Get to know your meat, as well as your meat cutter.

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Warning: This Hot Dish is Addictive

Hi folks, this is a recipe recipe courtesy of my friend Laura (above right). She and I have been making it for a few years. She learned the recipe in a high school foods class.

Hash Brown Hot Dish

1 box hash brown squares
2 lbs ground beef/turkey/chicken/vegetable protein
2 cans cream of whatever you have on hand
1 cup milk
1 package American singles cheese
1 can French's onions

Preheat the oven to 375. Brown the meat until there is no pink left or brown the vegetable protein. Drain off the excess fat and set aside.
Layer the hash brown squares in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. They can still be frozen. If there is a few inches left, cut the hash browns to fit. Pour the meat over the hash browns.
Open the cans of soup and pour into a bowl. Add the milk and mix. Pour over the meat.
Layer the cheese slices over the soup. They can overlap a little.
Cover the pan in aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and sprinkle the onions on top in an even layer. Bake another 10 minutes and let rest about 10 minutes before enjoying.

This recipe is great for people who don't think they can cook. There isn't really any skill involved, except for browning the hamburger. You can use pretty much any ground meat, you could even use sausage. You could probably also use shredded cheese. The soup is also flexible, just use whatever cream soup you have on hand.

Easy as (Apple) Pie

Ahh autumn. The air is crisp, the leaves are colorful, and there are cheap apples everywhere. My parents have an orchard in their yard, and my dad makes apple cider most years. It's fun to help in the process, and of course drink the results.

I haven't been home in a few weeks, so I bought a bag of apples at the big box mart here in town and intended to eat them. Well, I didn't, and they were starting to head south. Apple pie time!

As much as I try, I'm awful at making crusts for pie. My mom has shown me a hundred times, and mine just never turn out. Fortunately, I found a recipe where I don't have to roll it out or even dirty a bowl to make it. You mix it right in the pie pan. I found this recipe online, but it is originally from the Pillsbury Cookbook. It makes one 9 inch pie.

Pat-in-Pan Apple Pie

Crust
1.5 cups unsifted AP flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
.5 cup vegetable oil
2 T milk (or in a pinch, coffee creamer)

Filling
6 cups sliced, peeled apples
.75 cup sugar
2 T flour
.75 tsp cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
2 T margarine

Streusel Topping
1 cup unsifted AP flour
.5 cup packed brown sugar
.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 cup margarine

Preheat oven to 425. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the pie pan, then add oil and milk and mix until dough forms. Pat into the pan, fluting the edges if you wish.
Combine the apples and the rest of the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix to coat. Pour into crust and top with pats of margarine.
In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon for streusel topping. Cut in the margarine until it is crumbly. Sprinkle on the apples.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until top is browned.

I had a few things happen with this recipe that you might want to look out for. First, I think the temperature is a little hot. That might just be my oven, but you might want to knock it down to 400 or even 375. The top got a little bit more brown than I wanted. Second, The streusel topping makes more than you will probably need, so you don't have to make all of it. I had about a handful or more left.

I really like this recipe because I don't have to make a traditional crust, and I had everything on hand (except the lemon juice, had to shell out $0.88 for that). It was really good topped with vanilla ice cream and a dash of cinnamon.

This recipe could easily be made vegan by substituting soy milk for the milk in the apple filling. You should definitely try this one out if you have extra apples laying around the house!

Fondue, or FUN-due?

Lame title, I know. But seriously, is there anything cheaper, more delicious, or more fun than fondue?

For those of you who aren't totally hip like me (or around for the 1970's), fondue is dipping stuff in hot, liquid stuff. Vague, I know, but that's essentially what it is. The liquid stuff can be oil, cheese, chocolate, white chocolate, anything dip-able.

Saturday night, instead of doing normal college homecoming activities, my friends Jessica, Rebecca, and I had chocolate fondue. Yeah, we're cool like that.

I've read a lot of recipes for chocolate fondue that require a lot of steps. Mine had three. Step one, remove chocolate frosting from tub and put in fondue bowl. Step two, melt in microwave. Step three, dip. Repeat until Nirvana is reached.

I use chocolate frosting for my fondue. It's cheap, and it tastes awesome. Rather than buying chocolate, cream, and everything else under the sun, I just buy off brand milk chocolate or any other kind of chocolate frosting. I paid a whole dollar for mine.

I saved some time, but not some money, for the things we dipped. The first item was a tub of frozen cream puffs ($4). They were mostly defrosted by the time we ate, and were so good dipped in the warm chocolate. I also bought a little container of fresh strawberries ($3.50). They were decent for the late time of year, but they tasted wonderful once they had a chocolate bath. The last thing I bought to dip was a fresh fruit tray ($12). It was expensive, but it saved me a lot of time. It had pineapple, grapes, granny smith apple slices, and a few other fruits. Pineapple and grapes were actually quite good dipped in the molten chocolate goodness.

The total cost, minus the fondue pot, was around $20. To feed 3 people beyond satisfied, I would consider this a really good price. If you cut up the fruit yourself, you would definitely save money. Since time was an option for me, I went the easy, expensive route.

If you are looking to entertain a few friends, definitely look into having a fondue party. A fondue pot can be picked up at most home goods stores, and are quite affordable. And if your friends have a good time, which mine did, you will get plenty of use out of it.