How I Beat Grocery Costs

 

Grocery prices seem to get higher every time I walk into the grocery store. What makes it even more difficult is buying for special diet needs for my husband that is medically necessary and not by choice. No noodles, rice, beans or potatoes that could nicely stretch the grocery bill, but a protein rich diet with quite a bit of meat. It makes things a little more interesting when it comes to stretching that paycheck! 

I went to the store yesterday after doing a few errands. It is quite disheartening seeing the cost of meat, especially when I can remember it so much cheaper - and not that long ago! It's hard seeing burger at the cost of what I used to pay for certain cuts of steak when it was on sale! It certainly makes for challenging shopping these days!

I hit the sales and got 3 different types of sausage, chicken, and even some prepared meatballs (never had them before, but they were 60% off on last day date on package). Even on sale, I spent $39 on meat alone. Then, because we are in a state that regulates prices on fluid dairy and select dairy items, milk ran $5.08 (just for the store brand), a block of cheese for $10 and a couple other items - all on sale, and and necessary, and I've spent $74!!! 

I never buy anything that is not on sale or unnecessary. No chips, soda or anything sweet anymore. The budget won't allow it. That's ok, as we don't need that stuff. Shoot - the only reason I got the meatballs was because a pound cost less than half the price of burger! 

I'm always watching adds for sales. I get a part of a cow from a local farmer and supplement veggies from our garden and try to have a decent amount put away for winter. That's not going to happen this year. Between the wildlife and weather, etc., there's not much to put up. It's really disheartening - especially with prices where they are. But we will make it through and hopefully next year will be a more productive season. 

This all keeps life interesting!

Cheaper Cuts & Nice Find!

 I never posted my thoughts on the cheaper cuts of meat. I did test it a few times just to make sure the outcome was correct. When one purchases a cheap cut of meat, expect it to be a tough cut. That's not a bad thing, but you really need to treat it differently. Depending on how you are going to use the meat in a meal, you will need to treat it differently, from marinating to low and slow cooking. The extra attention that the tougher cuts of meat need are well worth the effort with the money savings. You can shave quite a bit off of your monthly grocery bill by using them!

I use my crock pot for a lot of the roasts, although I've tried oven roasting - but one really needs to keep the temperature low and cook it for hours. Probably why I do it in the crock pot. I tried it for 8 hours, but found that 10 hours is better on some cuts. I also cook with veggies - especially tomatoes. They act as a natural tenderizer.

Hubby prefers to use the smoker and has great luck with that method. The cuts always come out nice and tender. And one always loves great smoked beef. 

I love to collect cookbooks - especially those put out by the Farm Journal from back in the 1950's to the 1970's. I've had to repair them over the years, because the bindings didn't hold, but the information inside is like gold to me. "The Thrifty Cook" was my go to. My aunt was cleaning out her cookbooks and gave me that as well as a couple other Farm Journal cookbooks. That was the beginning of my obsession with them and it hasn't changed. I love those books! So much so, that I have been picking them up recently to try to finish my collection.

Nice additions!

I was browsing eBay the other day and came across a set of 3. I had one, but it was a mass market paperback which is OK but the hardbound was a larger print and a larger book which means I'll be replacing the paperback with a nicer edition. The other 2 are new to me. This was a really nice find! I cooked my first recipe out of them called "Mixy Burger" which was pretty much a sloppy joe type meal. The buns were toasted, served open faced and were to be eaten with a fork. It was actually quite good, and hubby said he'd definitely want me to serve it again. This was an inexpensive meal - especially on homemade buns and a side of home grown veggies. The most expensive part was the meat, which was one pound of burger and it made 8-10 servings.

Cheaper Cuts of Meat

 Walking through the grocery store gave me sticker shock! The prices have gone up higher and higher for just normal ingredients, let alone prepackaged foods. I still buy milk and the occasional produce/meat but have decided to really make an effort to shop at the farmer's market and butcher shop. The farmer's market will be gone with the change in seasons, but the butcher shop is open year round.

Eye of Round

One of the cuts I got was Eye of Round. It's a tough cut with not much for marbling or fat. In fact, this piece was really quite lean, but at about $6 a pound, I figured I could just cook it low and slow for a more tender piece when finished. I will be putting it on a bed of potatoes, carrots, onions and celery and probably adding some tomato sauce and spices and cook it in the crockpot for 8 or so hours. I would have preferred the oven, but not in this heat. We'll be hitting near 100 today and tomorrow with killer humidity. Yes - another heat warning from the national weather service. Sigh...

There is a bright side for this warm weather. My basil has already sprouted! I planted it on Friday and was seeing green on Sunday evening. I had a hard time with the seeds, as they are about the size of poppy seeds, so I decided just to scatter a few and transplant as soon as they are ready to move. I purchased Lettuce Leaf Basil from Baker Creek Seeds. This is new basil for me. It's supposed to be a bit milder than Genovese and great for making pesto, etc. I'm excited to try this (new to me) variety.

 

Look at all the babies!