Monday, November 22, 2010

7 meals for $17.00

I guess my subject line is incorrect. I'm actually talking about 7 meals worth of meat for $17. Matt found a ham on sale for $17 -- it was a 9lb ham with the bone in. We had a nice dinner tonight, ate our fill, and barely made a dent in it.

There are now 3 ziplocks (not large, but enough meat for us, since we need about 3 adult portions per meal) full of ham pieces, a large ham hock that I'll put into bean soup or baked beans, plus enough ham for a casserole I plan to make tomorrow, and a large piece to put through my mother-in-law's slicer to make ham for sandwiches (or so we hope --- we haven't tried it before).

So that's:
#1 Tonight
#2 Ziplock in freezer
#3 Ziplock in freezer
#4 Ziplock in freezer
#5 Ham hock for soup in freezer
#6 Tomorrow night's dinner
#7 Another meal or ham for sandwiches

All for $17. That's pretty decent, I must say! I'm all for cutting corners --- but ther'es only so much ground turkey I can handle. (If you have secrets for ground turkey that make them taste *less like* turkey, please share them in the comments! So far I do Sloppy Joes (or Sloppy Toms as my aunt calls them) and tacos because of the extra flavorings --- then I can't really tell it's turkey vs ground beef.

It's always hard for me to buy a large portion of meat like that, so it's good Matt bought it. I'd have passed it by --- budget over savings is hard for me to reconcile sometimes.

And while you're at it, if you have a great ham casserole'ish recipe to share - pop it in the comments. Always looking for a new idea that we might like. :)

13 comments:

  1. Not a casserole, but an easy breakfast for dinner leftover!
    Chop cooked ham into bite size pieces (about 2 slices worth) and grill in frying pan. Drain grease, add two tablespoons maple syrup, cover, let simmer on lowest heat 7-10 minutes. Use in an omelet with cheese and a side of fruit. Or, because I'm just lazy about omelets, make scramed eggs and throw the ham and cheese in at the end. :)

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  2. how about a breakfast-y casserole? some eggs, some bread, some ham, what ever veggies you have on hand... a little milk and some cheese on top and you have a yummy bread pudding type dinner.

    also, for turkey, try meatballs and spagetti. Or make baguette and have meatball subs. or just fry it up and use it in liew of beef in spaghetti sauce. All recipes.com baby!

    meatloaf?

    umm....


    Hawaiian pizza? Cheap jar of sauce, homemade dough, a can of chopped pineapple, and you're done. Oh right... except the cheese. But THEN you're done.

    or a calzone type deal? pizza dough, some cheese, and whatever is in your fridge.

    I'll keep brainstorming. Love you!

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  3. I use ground Turkey for Meatloaf... I have to admit though at first I had to mix the Turkey with half ground beef.. and I put in onions, garlic, oregano.
    I also use the ground turkey in spaghetti.. I am with you it just doesn't have a lot of flavor you really have to season it good.
    Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!
    Enjoy the ham!

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  4. Mixing the ground turkey with a bit of other meat will help reduce the turkey flavor. Sure, you have to use another meat but, it works.

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  5. A "famous" dish in my family is called "worms" (Grandpa actually got sent home from school for telling his teacher he ate worms for lunch..) It's noodles with tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce, though), ham and cheddar cheese layered like lasagna. I use elbow macaroni, but you can really use whatever kind of pasta you like. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

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  6. Chili, regular --or I love white chili with ground turkey or ground chicken, white/northern beans, spinach, etc. My husband was more put off by the color (it's not dark brown like beef when cooked) than the taste, once he got past that he likes it just fine.

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  7. We use ground turkey alot. Tonight we made mini turkey burgers on Hawaiian Sweet rolls. They were sooo good. They are the perfect size for the little ones and the sweet roll makes a perfect bun! We usually cook them in a pan on the stove since they don't stick together well on the grill, but that's ok it's too cold here to grill out. Good luck!

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  8. Oh and the best EVER sloppy joe recipe is Rachel Ray's super sloppy joes.. (something like that) .... google it.. it's soooo good. Although I haven't tried it with turkey meat yet... I'm sure it would be yummy!

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  9. I make Mexican burgers also with ground turkey...use cooked brown rice (about 1 cup) and 2Tbsp taco seasoning (i use hot). Mix rice and seasoning with the ground turkey and mold into hamburger patties. Cook on stove top in a skillet, not on the grill because it will fall apart. I buy packaged slaw and mix it with about 2 tbsp ranch dressing to put on top instead of ketchup/mustard etc. It cuts the heat of the spicy taco seasoning. My kids GOBBLE this up, and they are pretty picky eaters!

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  10. Ground Turkey - use it in chili - get a chili spice packet from the store, about $1.00, a can of diced tomatoes,can of tomatoe sauce, can of beans and the ground turkey, browned, simmer it all together - you got chili - for cheap!

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  11. potatoes, broccoli florets, ham pieces with a sauce made from cream of mushroom(or other flavor) soup and cheese. boil potatoes, toss in ham and broccoli at the end to heat. In another pot mix cream soup with cheese and some of the liquid from the pot of potatoes to thin the soup. Drain potatoes,ham,broccoli mixture then cover with the sauce. you can add extra cheese over the top and bake to melt it or just eat it as is.

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  12. Susie,
    I make a potato ham soup.
    1 can cream of mushroom soup,
    3 cups milk
    2 cups hashbrowns
    Ham
    Served with warm cronbread this rocks.

    My sister adds cream corn.
    I double my batch add salt and pepper and cheese on the top :)

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  13. Susie, you could modify this http://changinglifestylelifewithdiabetes.blogspot.com/2009/07/pizza-joes.html

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