A couple of the leading professional meat market operators in eastern Indiana were recently quoted talking about the price of meat.

Both said they couldn’t remember meat prices being so high.

Grocery shoppers are carefully choosing meats that are on sale for immediate use and also for freezing for future use. A tip to consumers is to compare the price per pound of cold cuts and other processed meats. A nice roast may be a better bargain.

Back in the day when families were trying to recover from the Great Depression, there were all sorts of “make do” recipes that were less costly and had good flavor. One of the most popular many families relied on was “poor man’s steak.”

This is a recipe that makes use of ground beef that can be stretched by adding oatmeal, crackers or breadcrumbs to make it go farther.

The one I’m giving out this week makes use of condensed cream of mushroom soup, which isn’t necessarily a poor folks’ food but helps make the flavor more enjoyable.

Poor Man’s Steak

1 cup water

1 cup cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

3 pounds ground beef

All-purpose flour

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (do not dilute)

Mix together the water, cracker crumbs, salt and ground beef. Line a casserole dish with foil, then press the beef mixture into the foil-lined dish.

Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The following day, slice the meat into squares, maybe 10-12 about 1-inch thick.

Dredge in the flour and brown in the vegetable oil in a skillet.

Get rid of the foil in the casserole dish and put the undiluted mushroom soup on the bottom of the dish. Put the meat squares over the soup in the dish and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, 10-15 minutes.

When serving the meat squares, spoon a little of the soup over each square. You can enjoy this along with vegetable sides and have a nice meal.

You also can use these meat squares in sandwiches.

It isn’t steak, but is almost as good – and you’ll count the savings.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.