How to Barbecue on a Budget!

For those of us who wouldn't dare let a little snow and cold get in the way of outdoor grilling or smoking, we're now faced with an even more daunting adversary; a tightened food budget! With all the sad economic news on television, it's no wonder that folks are afraid to spend extra money in such troubled times.

Barbeque though, is not one of those things we should cut back on, because great tasting meat cooked on a smoker or barbeque grill actually improves your mental health. It's a fantastic morale booster in that you have once again stood up against the elements and was successful in bringing home the grilled bacon.

Usually leftovers leave me cold, but by using some of the meat from your grilling, you can turn sad, unappetizing dishes into something unique. I've used the following recipes for years and they are easy to make and wonderful to eat, simply by using a little of the barbeque from the day before.

We all have to make meals go a little farther these days. Here's how I do that with chicken for instance. You can find a barbecue chicken recipe easily on the internet, so I won't include one here. After cooking the chickens thoroughly on the grill, I set aside about 1 ½ pounds of the freshly cooked meat and put it in a storage bag for the next day when I will make a chicken stew.

There are many chicken stew recipes on the internet, but I like the simple one that I threw together for the family one day:

1 ½ lbs of chicken cut into cubes, a mixture of white and dark meat. Leave the barbeque sauce on the meat.

2 cans of chicken broth
3 cups of Potatoes; cube and peeled.
1 cup Celery; diced 1 cup of Onion; chopped
1 cup Carrots; chopped
1 ts Paprika
1/2 ts Pepper
1 teaspoon Rubbed sage
6 ounce tomato paste
3 tablespoon flour, dissolved in one cup of cold water, then stirred into stew.

Mix all of the ingredients except the flour into a large cooking pot and stir. I use a slow cooker that I set for four hours. At that point I add the flour and cook for another 30 minutes. You will have such a unique taste due to the smoke and barbeque sauce, you will have to bar the door to keep everyone out of the kitchen. It's that good!

One of my favorite dishes made with leftover barbecue pork is Pinto beans. After I have cooked a Boston Butt for nine to eleven hours in the smoker, I pull it from the bone, hence the name pulled pork. I set aside about ½ pounds of lean meat for the beans, complete with barbecue sauce.

I'm too impatient to let the dried beans sit in water overnight, so I put a 2 lb bag of Pintos in a pot of boiling water and let them cook for 10 minutes. Then they'll sit in the water for an hour, after which I will pour off the old liquid and add enough new water to cover the beans about 2 inches. To this I will add the following:

2 chopped onions
2 tablespoons of granulated garlic
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning
Salt to taste
Add water if necessary
Cook until the beans are tender.

The transformation of the Pinto bean into a gourmet dish is due to the smoky flavor of the barbecue pork and the barbecue sauce. These are just two ways to stretch your food dollar and enjoy a southern delicacy at the same time.

I buy most of the meat I cook on Mondays. Most grocery stores get their meats toward the last of the week. Any that hasn't sold over the weekend usually goes on sale at the beginning of the new week. You have to save money where ever you can these days.