How to Frugally Stretch Ground Beef
I try very hard to be frugal, as a matter of fact one reason I put in the work into these videos and articles is so the ad revenue can partially pay for the materials in the projects – otherwise I could not afford to make all the stuff I do. (so please pardon the ads – I prefer them to asking for subscriptions)
One way I can be frugal is to use meat as a flavoring and not a main ingredient – to do so I like to add “taste neutral” things to stretch the meat by cooking them with the meat and letting them absorb the fat and flavor.
My friend and partner in Dual Homestead, James Burnette told me that when he watched this video he was screaming “NO DAVE!” because he is Paleo and thinks adding grains to meat is blasphemous. However, he did tell me he also uses food as a ground beef stretcher so he is not all bad…
Lots of Options to Stretch Ground Beef
I like to add oats, rice, or sometimes breadcrumbs to my meat when making things like meatloaf or hamburgers – I also do it when making spaghetti (but I don’t use breadcrumbs when I am making something with broken up ground beef – its too mushy).
Depending on how I am feeling – normally that depends on how long till payday – I use 1/3 to 1/2 rice or oatmeal in the meat.
However, when using oatmeal as a ground beef stretcher it can change the texture and make it more dense. (The way I deal with that is to let the meat sit with a little salt and make a loaf – I then call it Gyro meat – and people think I made it dense on purpose)…
That reminds me that gyro meat is on my list of articles and I really should get around to posting how I do that.
