I stretch meat when I can, since I’m feeding meat eaters here…But I do it for two reasons: get more meat for our hard-earned buck, and to boost flavour and nutrition.
Ground beef is an easy option to stretch. It’s versatile, everyone likes it, and whether you’re making meat loaf, burgers, meat balls, chili or sauce, you can add all sorts of interesting ingredients to your beef.
Yesterday, I made Bolognese sauce. Typically on a Tuesday, when the kids are both booked for evening activities, I make a pasta dish. It’s easy, quick and Spaghetti is a favorite.
Here’s what I did:
I used my electric little chopper and shredded celery, carrots, mushrooms, onion, swish chard with stems and fresh garlic.
Next, I added this mixture into the hot olive oil in my ceramic pot and sprinkled it with sea salt, cracked pepper and oregano.
Then I let it simmer for a bit as I unwrapped a large pack of grass-fed ground beef.
As I browned the beef with the veg and mushroom mixture until fully cooked, I seasoned with more salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion flakes and mustard powder.
Finally came a tin of crushed tomatoes plus a squirt or two of tomato paste from a tube.
It smelled delicious and I may or may not have tasted my sauce several times.
For pasta options, the family announced they only want long noodles with this type of sauce. Not Penne or Rigatoni or whatever. I checked what I had.
Spaghetti, Spaghettini, Capellini and Linguine.
But some packs were less than half full. Since they require different cooking times I opened a new pack. The started packs can go into soup.
For myself, trying to stay off gluten products for both weight management and digestive discomforts, I cut up some eggplant, brushed with oil, and baked in the oven. I poured sauce over that instead of the pasta.
Fresh shaved (not grated) Parmesan cheese is of course a must.
Bonus: I made enough sauce to be able to freeze an entire portion for another day.
Other options I use to stretch meat are beans or chickpeas (cooked until soft and mushed with a blender), kale, and occasionally quinoa (mostly for Mexican inspired dishes).
Do you do this too? Care to share?
See you in the comments.
Writer of Words, etc 
When you stretch it does it ever bounce back?
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ha. 🙂
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I brush the potato peelings with oil and bake until crispy! But I do peel them thicker than normal
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YUM!
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Yes they are, just with a little bit of salt or even some cheese
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I don’t have a teen boy in the house…..
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So what. Cooking ahead for days when you don’t feel like it works…
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Nah. I make exactly enough food for the night. I just might make an easier meal. I don’t have a large freezer either.
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I like leftovers but I understand. We didn’t have freezer space growing up either. 😉
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You had me humming along until I read “mustard powder”. It’s that a Swiss thing?
My Bolognese sauce is fairly traditional, and of course, tastes better a day or so after.
I’m a Reducetarian/Flexatarian/Metrotarian … so, my pantry is very Vegan friendly with a multitude of dried beans, lentils, whole grains … rice, quinoa, buckwheat (kasha) … plus, I don’t hate gluten and carbs are good friends of mine. Smart post. 😊🙏
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It was a choice between mustard powder and turmeric. Lol. It was an Italian chef on tv that once stated she adds mustard (from a jar) to her meatball mixture. I though hm…interesting. So I experimented with the powder. 😉
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Cool and tangy. Grazie. 😎 🇮🇹
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Yum, I love your ideas, especially the eggplant. I wrote it down! Recipe goddess 😉
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I live on my own – but I can make a chicken stretch to 7 meals (4 main meals, 3 lunches)! I wrote about it here – https://middleagedfreeandsingle.com/2019/05/24/rubber-chicken/
I think we in the west eat far too much meat (to be fair, I think we eat far too much of everything), so making the same amount stretch further makes perfect sense.
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Gonna check out your idea…
I’m happy with less meat, but teen boy and man here prefer Paleo diet…;)
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That is awesome! I too sprinkle sea salt on the skin of chicken. When my kids were little they called the crispy chicken skins “sparkly stuff”. 😉
When I was young and single I cooked for myself too. People were always astonished. Good for you to make Sunday dinner for yourself.
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Looks delicious.
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Breadcrumbs usually.
You must be serious about pasta if you have four different varieties in your pantry!
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Breadcrumbs work but I’m trying to stay off gluten…
Costco has this brand. 🙂
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Take ground pork and season like chop meat and make hamburgers and a pork loaf, even tacos.
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At my residence a few other edible items have found their way into the ground beef to make it stretch…rice, lentils, oatmeal, black or pinto beans…I haven’t met a mixture I didn’t like yet. LOL
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Oh yes I use oats in my hamburger patties or meatballs. 🙂
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