Cooking on a budget
Many of us will need to tighten our belt and not just because we are on a slimming diet. The tact that food prices have increased does not need to push us to a junk diet.
Long, slow braises can produce tender and juicy dishes from cheap cuts of meat.Try thyme flavored braised veal but substitute the veal meat with cheaper turkey meat, even the dark meat from thighs. Turkey meat adds depth and flavor.
This recipe for whiskey nut braised beef will result in tender beef even if the cut was not one of the noble ones. If you are cooking for the family and are concerned about the alcohol, omit whiskey and add more broth.
Instead of having only skinless and boneless breast meat, go for the whole chicken. If you wonder how to cook chicken, you will find some interesting recipes for braised and stwed chicken, apart from chicken recipes for the crock-pot, if you follow this link.
Soups are another great option for those who need to mind the food budget, especially bean soups. Beans in all fashions and lentils have a similar percentage of protein as meat and you can plan cheaper meatless days based on bean soups. Have always some beans soaking on the kitchen or have ready soaked beans in the frezer that you can cook from frozen, so you can prepare a soup any time you fancy.
As we speak about freezing, bean soups can be prepared ahead, they taste as good or better the next day and freeze extremely well, so they are the perfect dish to cook once and eat twice.
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