Multipurpose Meals

 This month that is what we are focusing on. One of the best ways to save money is to use the same ingredients as much as possible. And oftentimes that seems like the same old food over and over again. But thinking out of the box can lead to easy addition that changes a meal completely.

Today, we are going to look at Ground Beef. Of course ground beef is so versatile that it is no surprise that you can take it and transform it into a million and one different dishes. Today specifically we are going to look at "Taco Meat". And the first dish is Tacos (or Nachos if you prefer). Plain and simple you take a taco kit, plus an extra taco seasoning package. You cook up a family (or value) package of meat and add the seasonings in. Once this meat is cooked, you have the bases for multiple meals.

Simply heating up the tacos and topping them with what you like, is one meal done. But there is a lot of meat left. In fact, enough meat for two more meals! The next meal we are going to look at can go two ways. You can add rice to the leftover meat and make Stuffed Cabbage or Stuffed Peppers! For Stuff Cabbage we use White Minute Rice, for Stuffed Peppers we use an Uncle Ben's Spice Rice Bag. You simply add the rice to the meat and you have the basics for the stuffing. (For Stuffed Cabbage we add a can of diced tomatoes - slightly drained, for Stuffed Peppers we add some tomato sauce - from the taco package, and cheese.)

Make sure to cook the peppers slightly first (not fully because they will go back in the oven again), top with cheese, and then cook until the cheese is melted (if you like it browned, try putting it under the broiler for a few minutes!). Finally, we have a Taco Salad. With the rest of the meat, or even if it has the rice in it. Add it to a salad. This could even use up some of the taco toppings from the first meal! A great salad dressing too uses sour cream, any leftover tomato sauce (from the kit) or salsa, or even guacamole!