Cheap meat tenderizer

Frugally priced beef and pork is often tough, but you can make it as tender as the most expensive roast or steak by marinating or cooking it with vinegar. That can taste a lot better than it sounds! Barbecue sauce made with vinegar or mustard sauces with vinegar will do the trick, as well as cooking pork with sauerkraut. For a nice roast, though, splash a little plain apple cider vinegar over it before you add spices or salt and pepper. The taste will go away, but the vinegar will nicely tenderize the meat.

Tenderize meat

You can make a cheap, tough cut of meat as tender as an expensive one by mixing a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water. Make as much as you need to barely cover the meat, pour it over and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, rinse the meat thoroughly and then cook.

Free meat for omelets or pizza

Save all the little bits of leftover sausage, bacon, or ham - even the tiniest - and keep it in the freezer. It doesn't matter if it's not all the same type (or even flavor) when you use it on a pizza or in an omelet. You can mix it into cornbread, too, and serve with beans or dried pea soup, but that's not as frugal as using it in the main course.

Freezer help

Freeze your own ground beef patties, or reportion steaks or chops? Cut sides from plastic milk or water jugs and place between them and they can be separated easily. You can wash and reuse them.

Sandwich meat

You can buy luncheon meat, but why would you? Instead, buy a package of chicken breasts, cook and slice them. You'll be surprised at how many sandwiches a pound of chicken breast makes. If you buy it in the large packages, you'll save quite a bit and you can freeze what you don't use within a few days. Other meats to slice at home: Turkey, ham, roasts (beef, pork).