Hot tip 'O the day: S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the meat budget

I made soup the other day & wanted to share a "meat stretching" tip with you.  This tip helps stretch the old budget by allowing you to use less ground meat in your meals because it distributes smaller bits of meat into every bite of whatever it is you're making.  Look at the picture below. 

{the after and before (left to right)}

The "before" half pound of meat wouldn't cover nearly as much ground in my soup recipe as the tiny, fine crumbles will.  I know how difficult it is to have to cut back your favorite ingredients because they might be a little too high in calories or fat.  Instead of ditching those ingredients....just use less and be creative with the way they go into your recipe.  Very few times has this "put a little in each bite" method failed me.  9 out of 10 times it's a fabulous hit!  Give it a try.  It's a win for the budget, and a win for your waistline. 

Step 1: Brown whatever ground meat being used in the recipe.  Divide it if need be.  What you see below is 1 pound (pre-cook weight) of ground beef total, but divided in half after browning.

Step 2: Run cooked meat through the food processor until it's the texture you desire.  Keep in mind, the smaller the crumble, the more meat you get per bite!  Of course, if you get it too fine, you won't be able to detect any meat in your soup (or whatever you're making) at all.  So don't get too carried away with hitting the "pulse" button. 

Step 3: If you divided your meat, bag & freeze the leftover in a zipper seal bag.  If you freeze items flat in the bag with all of the air squished out, you can fit more in your freezer on down the road. (I bag items this way all the time, from meat to tomato sauce, but ended up having to put all of the flat little baggies into old tupperware containers to keep from having a "freezer avalanche" each  time I opened the door.  Once whatever it is you're freezing has frozen, they're totally stackable horizontally or vertically.)

Hint: You can use this tip with other foods as well, not just ground meat!  Love nuts in muffins, but you're trying to create a lower calorie version of your old favorite?  Run those nuts through the food processor (just a few pulses should do the trick).  You'll be able to get away with half the amount of nuts, but still get that same great flavor & texture you so love.