Think differently when it comes to buying meat. When visiting a supermarket don’t look at the price of the item but how much per kg. You can pay $16.00 for sausages and $10.00 a kg for beef. Buy a piece of meat i.e. a beef bolar. From that one piece of meat you can cut it into: slices to slow roast in the oven or slow cooker; smaller pieces to casserole; or mince it and make burgers.
Same principle with pork. You may need someone to show you how to cut the meat correctly but it’s worth finding out as you will save yourself money. Maybe your friendly butcher will show you how to cut meat. I never buy chicken pieces – always a whole chicken.
From one chicken you can make – from the breast – butter chicken, or schnitzels to pan fry; legs can be slow cooked; wings can be fried Chinese style. The frame can be cooked with onions, carrots and celery then left overnight. Next day, skim off the fat, retain the meat and veggies and add a can of cream style corn to make chicken sweet corn soup, or add extra veggies and make a chicken vegetable soup. If you buy a fresh chicken you can then freeze the stock for another time.
If you don’t have a mincer, either borrow, or pool money with friends and buy one together. Same with the meat – sometimes it’s an outlay to buy a medium to large piece of meat, but again pool with your friends and distribute between you. Once you get the hang of it, the recipes are limitless and you’re saving a heap of money and eating well.