I know there have to be some good cooks out here! Help! I'm trying to make some budget meals this week with what I have in my pantry and freezer, without having to buy much to supplement it. (We're doing the Dave Ramsey envelope system and have $33 left for a week! Yikes! It's been a rough month.)

Anyway, we were given some meat awhile back, and I want to use it. I have tenderized round steak (like you make chicken fried steak with), pork cutlets and beef cutlets. I really would like to avoid chicken fried steak, as we are trying to be more healthy, so I need some healthier ideas.

I was thinking maybe I could use one of these for stir-fry. Think the round steak would be good for that? I have almost everything else I'd need for it, except some seasonings, but I'm not sure if that meat will taste ok in a stir fry.

What are some other healthy ways to prepare tenderized round steak, pork cutlets and beef cutlets?

Thanks!!

Round steak is excellent in a stirfry!! I actually use it all the time because it is a reasonably priced meat and tastes good.Also try kabobs with it!

I don't have any ides but check out www.allrecipes.com, maybe there are some ideas on there.

A good trick to remember when using "less expensive" cuts of beef is to marinate it. For a stir fry you could marinate in Terriyaki, garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper, brown sugar, dry mustard, orange or pineapple juice and a little oil. I don't have measurements because I'm an "eye ball it" type of cook. Just marinate over night or a few hrs until ready to use.

Any meat that has been marinated will be more tender. You can use the above on pork also.

I use the tenderized round steak for pepper steak and onions.

I slice it into strips, stir fry it in a skillet (no oil added) until it is browned nice. I add water and simmer the meat for a while to make it more tender. Then I add sliced green peppers and onions, cook until fork tender, then I thicken the liquid with corn starch. I season it with salt and pepper and serve over steamed rice.

Fijitas would also be great.

With the pork cutlets you could simmer them in chopped can tomatos and ortega chilis or the mexican seasoned can tomatos. You can just dump it in the crock pot. They're great in burritos or over white rice.

Thanks for all the great ideas! I love getting "tried-and-true" suggestions from people. I've used allrecipes.com before, but it's hard to narrow it down to the cheap cuts of meat I have. haha I'll be trying some of these out this week!

.....and don't forget to cut the meat against the grain (at an angle).....this keeps the meat from being so chewy (i.e., tough).