Sentry Page Protection

Just Add another Spud and Other Meal Stretching Tricks 

I had no idea when I was growing up that when Mum added an equal quantity of rolled oats to the patty mixture that she was stretching the mince to invariably feed the extra mouths that were sitting around the kitchen table. No one ever went hungry and those patties were the most delicious dinner.

Now I have a family of my own, and we live on a strict budget, I have come to appreciate the inventive ways Mum and Grandma had of stretching food. These days I stretch ingredients to save money; back then it was out of necessity, but from that need some of our favourite meals were created.

Stretching Mince
  • When cooking with mince I always add an equal quantity of TVP*. Doing this I can stretch 500g of mince to make a spag bol for eight or hamburgers for six. I use my Tupperware Hamburger Press to make them all the same size.  Another neat trick to make burgers, patties and meatballs a uniform size is to use either an ice cream scoop or a melon baller to portion them.
  • For burgers and patties I also add an equal quantity of rolled oats to the mince/TVP mixture. The rolled oats add fibre to the recipe and are almost indiscernible once mixed and cooked.

Lentil as Anything
  • Using lentils in pasta and Mexican sauces to reduce the quantity of meat required. To use them in mince dishes I like to mash them, they are almost invisible when mixed with the mince. To use them in casseroles and pasta sauces I add them with the meat at the browning stage and let them cook slowly so the break down in the dish.

Zucchini Brothers
  • By adding one grated zucchini and one grated carrot to a pasta sauce it will stretch to an extra two or three serves. 
  • Grated zucchini can be added to casseroles, curries and stews to add bulk without changing the flavour.
  • Double a sausage roll recipe by adding mashed potato to the sausage mince. Texture and taste are the same for half the price.

Into the Soup Pot
  • The old adage of just adding another pint of water to the soup pot may make more soup, but it will be watery. Instead, add chicken or beef stock (homemade from bones) or a tin of diced tomatoes to stretch soup. 
  • Add extra soup mix or rice to soup along with the extra stock to make it a meal in itself.

Cheesy Does It
  • Grated cheese will go further for casserole and pasta bake toppings if you add dry breadcrumbs before spreading over the dish i.e. if the recipe calls for one cup of grated cheese  add a half cup of breadcrumbs to half a cup of cheese.
  • To make full cream milk go further add one third water to two thirds milk. No one will notice the difference, you'll get three litres of milk from two and you will have reduced the fat content too.

Just Add Water
  • Fill an empty Vegemite with water, shake and use to make gravy or a hot drink (don't screw your nose up, it's actually very tasty).
  • Pour half a cup of water into an almost empty jar of pasta sauce and giving it a good shake to get every last drop of sauce out. I also use a thin, silicone spatula to scrape the inside of the lid.
  • You can add a tablespoon or two of water to bottled tomato or steak sauce too. And once you've used it, turn the bottle upside down (lid on tight please) and let the remaining sauce drain to the lid to use it all.
  • *You can double the quantity of butter by adding olive oil, water and milk powder to 500g butter to make Better Butter.

Turn It on Its Head
Turn almost empty sauce bottles upside down and let the remaining sauce drain to the lid so you get every last drop from the bottle.
There are hundreds of ways you can stretch every day foods to make them go further; these are just a few ideas. I hope they inspire you to get creative with stretching. It's good for your health, good for the environment and good for your bank balance.

*TVP - Textured Vegetable Protein - a dry vegetarian meat substitute, available at health food shops and the health food aisle of some supermarkets.