meat and savings

[luckyleftyme2]

many times you can buy a roast larger than you would normally use and save money.
often you can cut off a steak,make stew beef and it is cheaper than buying stew beef all cut or steak.
you can do the same with boneless pork roast. try cubed pork in a black frying pan cooked slow make a gravy with the meat in the pan,use this over rice or mashed potatoes.
a top round roast or face rump is often on sale for less than $2.oo a lb.
a whole pork loin is often on sale for less than $2.00 a lb
a fresh chicken (Purdue) is often on sale for $0.69 per lb
we have a big freezer so it helps as buying food for two and not getting tired of
the same thing is not a big deal.
the freezer also lets you take advantage of the sales.
when we make pasta sauce we make 6-8 quarts and freeze the left over in qt. containers.

[hobbit709]

1. My favorite cookbook is

Cutting Up In The Kitchen by Merle Ellis. It's all about taking a cheaper hunk of meat and turning it into more expensive cuts with about 10 minutes worth of knife work.

[Warpy]

2. I loved Alton Brown's "pismo" show

The pismo is the muscle that runs along the steer's spinal cord. It's long and has a lot of silverskin and other stuff that needs to be trimmed off, but yields the tenderest of filet mignons plus a bunch of scraps for stews and burger. It's the cut of meat that restauranteurs use for their "family" meals because it's one of the cheapest out there.

If you have a store with a butcher or a butcher shop (what luxury!) and you're a red meat eater, this is one of the cuts you need to ask for if you're on a budget. At the very least, it will improve your knife skills as you get rid of all the connective tissue to turn it into something special.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

4. I have that book. I bought it on line for 49 cents plus shipping.

I ended up getting an autographed copy.

I eat very little meat, but that book is invaluable for learning about meat for those times I want to serve it.

[kcass1954]

3. I occasionally buy a whole eye-of-round roast at a local Italian market

when they go on sale for $3-something a pound. It usually ends up costing around $25-35. They cut it into 3 pieces (sometimes 4 if it's a really big roast), and freezer-wrap it all separately. From each piece, we get two meals for 4 people, and a few sandwiches. The secret - I have a meat slicer, which enables me to make sure I have "enough" slices of meat for however many servings we need. I cut those puppies a little thin and serve tons of veggies.

[sandnsea]

5. When you have a limited income

You don't have the option of buying 20 lbs of meat to last until there's a spectacular sale on some particular cut 3 months down the road. You can buy a few things on sale, and try to build a stock, but there's rarely an opportunity to take full advantage of all the sales. Just sayin.

[luckyleftyme2]

6. it can be done

true it takes time and planning.the freezer is the biggest saver.a budget for food is a must.many times the papers advertise sales several days in advance.
by altering your menu for that week you can usually save a few bucks.set the savings aside,soon you will have a little extra to take advantage of a bargain.