Now that you have it......

Now that you have it...what to do with it.    

One concept of groceries on the cheap is to do a rotation of protein.    Most of the time, you can find a so called loss leader meat in the grocery ads.   Buying in bulk and buying enough to feed your family a months worth those meals saves time and money.    In other words, if you eat ground beef once a week, you will buy enough for four meals.  

What to do with .....

Ground beef : meatballs cooked on the oven.    Pinterest has a good recipe, or use your own.  Make your mix up, I use a portion scoop to form the balls and place them on a rack that is placed on a sheet pan.   The broiler pan works too.   The object is to drain the fat.   Place portion controlled ,eat balls on individual bags , label and freeze.   A regular fridge freezer can hold a months worth of meals.  

Baby meat loafs.   I usually do is the day I bring the meat home.  Small meat loafs cook faster and can be cooked on the microwave if it's hot outside or you are in a hurry.  

Hamburger crumbles : fry the meat in a large pan, break it up ( a pasta to masher works) and drain and defat it.   To defat, drain the meat into a colander,   using a catch bowl of you don't want the grease to go down the drain.  Pour boiling water over the filled colander and let drain.    Place in meal sized cartons or bags for the freezer.   Flat bags store well and take kess room.   Use for sloppy joes , or on red sauce.  
Taco meat:   Same as hambirger crumbles except return to the pan after defat ting and add taco seasoning.  Taco seasoning recipe is in another blog.   Add some water.  


PORK LOIN
Pork loin can be as low as 1.69 a pound.    I try for a half loin.    Cut 1/2 inch pork  chops off one end after you square up the end.  Save the end pieces that aren't as thick for pork cubes.   Leave a two pound or so section for roast.   Portion control the pork chops and cubes and freeze,   Cook the roast and slice the leftovers thin for BBQ pork sandwiches.  
That makes :
1)   pork stew or pie from the cubes or meat over rice or mashed potatoes.  
2) pork roast and sliced thin pieces for BBQ pork Sandwiches.
3) pork chops

Whole chicken :
Roast the chicken in the oven or pit in the slow cooker.  

1) to roast a chicken fast: clean the cavity, stuff it with anything you have hanging around the kitchen  : an onion, a lemon, a apple, a orange.....place chicken on a rack on a roasting pan , and massage it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and rosemary if you have it.    Bake at 375 until it's temperature is 170-180.  

2) to cook in slow cooker: clean the cavity, place a roughly cut onion in the bottom of your slow cooker, put the chicken on top, give it a spice rub, amd cook it on high a hour a pound.   Check three quarters of the way through.  

This makes : two dinners of chicken breast , a dinner of dark meat, and soup stock.  

SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST : Fred Meyers has them often for under a buck a pound.
Debone the chicken, saving the bones and meat attached onto a stock pot.    Portion control the breasts.   I put  each breast into a quart bag and put the quart bags into a gallon bag.  This makes it easier to find in the freezer and keeps it from getting freezer burn.  

Every cookbook or Betty Crocker in line cookbook has a host of chicken breast recipes.    Essentially you are getting boneless, skinless chicken breast for a buck instead of six bucks and have the added bonus of chicken soup and chicken pieces for a casserole or tacos.  

Other weeks, when one of the above are on sale :

1. Pepperoni is at the dollar store and dollar coupons are almost always at coupons,com  makes the packages .50 if you buy two.   
2. Cheese is around two dollars a pound at Costco.   Sometimes cheap at grocery outlet.   I got it cheap at Safeways this week.   Watch your price per pound.  Small packages are deceiving.    
3. Beans are cheap at the dollar tree and at Winco in bulk.    
4. Fish in frozen individually wrapped portions is cheap at Winco.    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.