Making it S-T-R-E-T-C-H….

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…. my pot roast that is!  On Thursday I cooked a 4 ½ lb pot roast and garlic roasted potatoes for dinner.  I had a good amount of roast leftover, which was my plan.  I had pot pie on my menu for today but in the end I had enough meat leftover to make a 3rd meal for my family.  I always have loved the challenge of seeing how I can make food stretch and help the grocery budget wherever I am able.

So today I made the beef pot pie.  I chopped up about 4 cups of beef…

I added 3 cups of my leftover potatoes and 2 cups of sliced cooked carrots. I took my leftover juices from the pot roast and added a little milk and water to make 5 cups.  Then I used this to make gravy.  I mixed the gravy, meat, potatoes and carrots altogether. 


I set this aside and made pie crust.  I used my favorite pie crust recipe for this.  You can find that recipe here:  http://thefamilyhomestead.com/wwpiecrustbosh.htm  With the picture tutorial for this recipe here: http://thefamilyhomestead.com/wholewheatpiecrusttutorial.htm   It makes 4 pie crusts. 
 

I was going to use 3 of them because I am making my pot pie in a 9x13 pan.  I rolled out two of them for the bottom crust….
 

Put my gravy/meat mixture in it…
 

And covered the top with the other pie crust. 

The 4th crust will be used this weekend to make apple pie.   I baked this at 350 for about an hour…
 

While this was baking I chopped up the rest of the roast beef.  I put it in a pot along with what was left of the potatoes..



I added 1 quart bag of frozen corn and 1 quart of green beans (drained).. both from last year’s garden.  I then added 1 quart bag of veggie broth and 1 quart bag of beef broth that I had in the freezer.  I simmered this for about 20 minutes and added some salt and pepper.  We will have this meal on Saturday or Sunday (depending on how long the beef pot pie lasts).  This did change my monthly menu by adding an extra meal.. but that is ok.. because I am saving money by stretching out my roast!  :)

The nice thing about making soup is that you can use whatever ingredients you have on hand to make a meal.  Canned and fresh vegetables are great, broth or water and bouillon cubes will add flavor and you can add potatoes, rice, or pasta to round it out. 


Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    Wow... I'm impressed. I try to stretch my main dishes out also, but your expertise is awe-inspiring. Makes me hungry also.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Galleon's Gold JewelryFebruary 4, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    technical question for your blog-- how do you add the social buttons at the bottom of your post for email, twitter, etc?

    Do love your blog! I often feel that reading your blog is like sitting down with a kindred spirit over morning cocoa.

    ReplyDelete
  3. billiFebruary 4, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    I love the way you make things stretch, but do you divide the food before the first meal is served or does everyone get their fill, then you use what's left. I never seem to have that much left over.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heather's Blog-o-ramaFebruary 4, 2011 at 6:14 PM

    There's something about beef and potatoes and gravy...I LOVE it ;) :) ): In fact , that is what my dad and I were going to have tonight, unbtil we saw that ground turkey was on sale...buy one package, get one free ) :) :) so we'll be making turkey cheeseburgers and potatoes. Very simple and very cheap :) :) Random question, one of my blogger friends posted a simp le/easy recipe for fried potato pancakes. Was that you, by any c hance? I want to make them, but can't remember where I saw the recipe!! Have a great weekend. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. CrystalFebruary 4, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    billi, I make extra for the purpose of having leftovers. I have a rough idea what my family will eat at a meal and then I make more than that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. CrystalFebruary 4, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Heather,
    No, it wasn't me.. but it sounds good! :) So do your turkey cheeseburgers! What a great deal you found..

    ReplyDelete
  7. CrystalFebruary 4, 2011 at 6:38 PM

    Galleon.. good question.. right off the top of my head I don't remember! LOL.. I will look around and see if I can find what I did..

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    I'm going from shopping every week to every two weeks starting this Monday. I was brainstorming about stretching the meat and your post was helpful. I want to check out some of your past posts and articles on your site.

    ReplyDelete
  9. pieFebruary 5, 2011 at 1:29 AM

    Now this is a certified comfort food! A hearty meal you'd be proud to feed your family. I have a similar recipe, (but of course I'll be trying yours for sure) and I feel simply proud when hubby and the four kids would sit around the table, munching noisily and chatting even noisier! lol! It's like, they are at their most comfortable place on earth, caring for nothing except their share of meat pie and their story of the week that was! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. AmyFebruary 10, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    YUMMY!! Now that my small children are eating more substantially and my brother-in-law often eats with us, I am having to learn to cook larger meals. It is quite interesting because I've never cooked for more than 2 plus one little before.

    ReplyDelete

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