Stretching Food Dollars the Grandma Way: How One Pot Roast Became 12-15 Meals for Two

Read Time:1 Minute, 50 Second

In a world where the cost of food is constantly rising, it’s more important than ever to find ways to make our dollars stretch further. For many of us, our grandmothers were experts at stretching food dollars and providing meals that were both nutritious and delicious. In this post, we’ll take a look at one of my grandmother’s favorite methods for stretching a single pot roast into 12-15 meals for two people.

Pot Roast Dinner:
The pot roast method is simple but effective. My grandmother would start by cooking a 2-3 pound beef pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, along with a side vegetable and bread. Before serving, she would set aside half of the roast prior to serving for subsequent meals.

Beef Pot Pie
For the second meal, she would make a delicious beef pot pie. She would use half of the leftover gravy as the base, then add beef broth and seasonings to make more gravy. This would be mixed with cooked potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, and frozen peas. My grandmother would make her own crust, which added a nice touch of homemade goodness.

Beef Barley Soup
For the last meal, she would use the remaining portion of the beef and gravy to make a hearty beef barley soup. She would add bouillon or broth to the gravy along with seasonings and cut the beef into cubes. She would then add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, barley, mushrooms, and anything else leftover in the fridge she thought would add substance and flavor. The result was an amazing soup that was both satisfying and economical. I add a 1/4 tsp of Chipotle Pepper, Garlic and Italian seasonings for a greater robust soup.

By using this simple method, my grandmother was able to turn a single pot roast into 12-15 meals for two people. Using today’s food prices, this would be approximately $2.08 per meal. While the cost of food has certainly gone up since the 1970s, the principles of stretching food dollars remain the same. By making the most of leftovers and being creative with ingredients, we can all enjoy nutritious and delicious meals while keeping our food budgets under control.