What Do I Do With That?

 

You've been cruising the grocery store, looking for protein bargains and clearance items that you can use in your meal plans as a way to stretch the budget.   What you find in the meat case is not what you'd call a sale.  

Have you considered checking the deli?

I've noted a few times while in Kroger that they often markdown factory sealed sliced deli meats as well as snack trays.  They also mark down cut wedges of bougie cheeses and sometimes you'll find a variety of dips and flavored tub cheeses on sale.  You might think to turn your back on those clearance deli items but let me share with you how I've used them in the past to create budget entrees for my household.

The most obvious thought when you look at deli sliced meats is to think, 'Sandwich' and that's a good thought.  I mean, most folks really like sandwiches.  You can make hero/sub sandwiches or hot sliders.  And bonus!  You can make up the sliders and freeze them then thaw and bake later.  

But you could also use those meats to make Pizza, or Stromboli.  Last summer, I enjoyed making 'Chopped Sub Salads', chopping deli meats and cheeses with tomatoes, lettuce, pepperoncini, onions, olives, well-seasoned with oregano, salt and pepper and dressed with a creamy Italian dressing.  I like to top with croutons (bread for my sub).

You can add deli meat to thin sliced chicken breast and roll up for a take on Cordon Bleu or Chicken Kiev.  You can add strips of meat to pasta dishes or to scrambled eggs to make a breakfast bowl.

Snack trays with summer sausage, pepperoni and cheese are great to toss into eggs.  Chop the meat and cheese a little and toss into muffin batter to serve for breakfast.   I've also chopped the meats and cheeses to throw on a pizza.  Summer sausage is an especially nice addition to a pot of red or black beans.  Ham works in the beans as well.

Use biscuit dough rolled in a rectangle and then spread with a mix of shredded cheese and finely chopped ham or roast beef or chicken then roll up and cut into rolls.  This works as well with pepperoni (serve with marinara sauce on the side.  You can also sub in puff pastry or phyllo doughs for the biscuit dough if you have those on hand.

Fancy cheeses can be challenging to use.  I always try to look up each variety on my phone to see what the characteristics of the cheeses are.  Emmental is quite like Swiss and is good in Fondue or sandwiches.   Edam is most like Gouda.  You can melt it but I find it lovely to shred and add to Mac and Cheese or to slice for sandwiches.  If you want your family to feel they've gotten some luxurious mac and Cheese shred smoked Gouda or another 'fancy' cheese and add to your basic macaroni and cheese.  You'd pay a high price at a restaurant it, why not treat yourself to it at home? Grana Padana is similar to Parmesan and the rind can be used to flavor soups and sauces.

I think Fondue is something we ought to bring back.  That's one thing I haven't tried yet, but I really think it would make a great supper one cold rainy night.  And don't forget nachos.  You can make nachos as fancy as you'd like.  It's just a matter of what you top it off with.

If what you find in the cheese department is a flavored cheese spread such as Alouette or Boursin, you can create a lovely pasta sauce (place in a casserole with 2 pints of baby tomatoes) such as you might make with a block of feta (also a good idea!).  You can spread on puff pastry and roll up and slice to bake as pinwheels.  Wouldn't that be lovely with a soup or salad for supper?  

I know I mentioned dips.  I'm thinking mostly of the meaty dips such as Buffalo Chicken dip.  Every now and then my grocery will sell Buffalo Chicken dip as a buy one get one free.  We don't eat it as a dip!  I can split the tub into half pound portions and then I use it to make Buffalo Chicken Pasta or I'll roll it up in tortillas and bake those like a Taquito.  You could make burritos with this as the feeling.  Spread it over pizza dough and top with mozzarella and blue cheese crumbles and top with green onion and diced celery just before serving.  Yum!

I've also purchased Spinach Artichoke dip and use that to top pizza or mix in with pasta for an entree.  You could also use the mixture to stuff Manicotti noodles.  You can mix a cooked chicken breast with it and layer with cooked lasagna noodles and homemade Bechamel Sauce.  You could stuff chicken breasts with.  I split bone in chicken breasts on the thicker side and then stuffed it in the breast.  Gosh but that's a great dish to make!

Bean dip makes a wonderful burrito, enchilada, or Quesadilla filling.  Black Bean hummus would work just as well.  You can spread the bean dip on a pizza crust and make a Mexican pizza.  So good!

These are just a few ideas of the ways I've used deli items to prepare entrees.  I hope you got a few ideas you could use.

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