Have been having a difficult time sticking with my personal challenge with the low food budget and high quality meals. Besides the cost of food especially meat on the rise and my DB now being on a special diet and eats 6 times a day and all 6 meals have to have protein. Have made some good buys this week however. Was able to buy a whole top round for $2.71 a pound which is cheaper than I can buy ground meat around here by quite a bit. Still have to butcher that yet. It will be cut into thick steaks for London Broil and beef stir fry. There will also be some for stew meat and or ground beef. It weighs 29# so there will be lots of meals in it for the 2 of us. The only draw back of buying meat that way is you pay for more fat than you would at the supermarket. However it will not go to waste. Some will be used for the ground meat since the meat itself is very lean and the rest will be frozen for the birds next winter.
Also got a good by yesterday on 1/2 loins of center cut pork. Bought 2 of them which made 10 meals of boneless pork chops for the 2 of us plus 4 1/2 # of meat to make my next batch of breakfast sausage which will be soon. I have pork fat in the freezer to add to it as when I do Canadian bacon all fat is removed before brining so have it available for making sausage with the poor ends of a loin.
One day a week ground beef is on sale here but still over $3 a pound so yesterday was the day. Made 2# into meatballs that are headed for the freezer this morning. 8 meals.
Also made a pound of the ground meat into jerky for DB's snacks that he has to have. Here it is ready for the dehydrator. I don't actually have a recipe for it but make a pound at a time. Add a good quantity of Goyea Adobo seasoning and soy sauce. Mix it up and let it sit in the refrig overnight then put it into the dehydrator. He loves it and it gives him both a protein and a fat for one of his snacks.
Have a big pot of spaghetti sauce on cooking and did at least use something from my garden. My onions are doing great and am pulling a few as I need them now so into the spaghetti sauce they went.
Another expense I am struggling with is no time to bake so haven't been making bread. My bread now cost me more even to make since the whole grain flours are quite a bit more expensive but have been buying the bread and around here it goes for about $4 a loaf. Double what I can buy white bread for and fewer slices. I do use the light bread some which is 1/2 the carbs per slice. Has anyone ever seen a recipe where you can make that bread yourself?
Don't forget to stop by our host, The Gardener of Eden, of Thurdays's kitchen cupboard and see who else has a recipe to share or what they are stocking in their freezer or pantry for the winter from their garden.
I tend to spend a lot on meat here. I buy it all from the farmers markets and they always charge a premium.
ReplyDeleteWilderness - you have been very busy. That is an incredible amount of work to do for your brother's diet. When do you get a break and your other brother takes a turn hosting?
ReplyDeletesounds like you have been busy. Yummy looking pictures!
ReplyDeleteDaphne our supermarkets are bad enough on meat without even thinking of a farmers market. Not sure any of ours even have meat. There vegetable prices are so high that I will wait for mine or go without. Stopped at a roadside stand in the area yesterday and had to pay $.75 for a lonely cucumber.
ReplyDeleteMarcia, I am afraid with his demanding diet he won't be going to our younger DB's this summer for a month. Both he and his wife work all week and since he can't tell time or understand how much he gets for a meal, it is me. Thank goodness he goes to day hab 5 days a week so only my weekends are take up with feeding every 2 hours. I have had the same situation with my DS for almost 30 years but he was able to do it all for himself. I do set an alarm clock for him when I need to go somewhere and fix what ever he needs before I leave but I really need to get something that I can set more than one time and hopefully be able to teach him how to shut if off each time.
Mrs. P. Being busy is what keeps you young. Believe that and I will sell you ocean front property in Arizona. Food is good however and know exactly what it is made from.
Boy, no wonder you have no time to blog! You are one busy lady! We try to eat a low carb diet too. The two of us gain weight just looking at carbs.
ReplyDeleteThere is a farmer's market here which is only open Thursday through Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon they have a sell off. That's when I buy my meat. I buy whatever there is a good deal on from my two favorite butchers.
I need to shop around more as I generally spend way too much on food, especially considering I grow most of our vegetables. I am always so impreseed with what you do and are able to make. Hope things slow down a bit for you soon.
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration in how you maximize value while putting quality food on the table. You really have a very full life, it is not any wonder you sometimes have a hard time working blog updates into it.
ReplyDelete