Comments on: Reducing the Grocery Budget - Meat

By: Festival of Frugality #103 | My Good Cents

Festival of Frugality #103 | My Good Cents — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:53:47 +0000

[...] shares part five of Reducing The Grocery Budget focusing on [...]

By: lightening

lightening — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:47:31 +0000

Hi livingalmostlarge and welcome.

Here are a few thoughts:

* while seafood sounds expensive for it’s weight, you don’t need huge amounts. Do you work on a certain amount per meal or per week for your meat budget that would allow you to have at least some meals of what you like?

* have you considered meals that use very small amounts of meat to give you the flavour you enjoy without as much cost?

* what about using a slow cooker with cheaper cuts of steak? I think it tastes as good if not better than some of the more expensive cuts of meat.

* can you catch your own fish anywhere close to where you live?

* what about something like canned tuna or salmon occasionally?

* what about farming some fish in a tank? Something like aquaponics (I think that’s what it’s called) - it’s a set up where you have fish in a tank and grow hydroponic vegetables in the top. I’m not sure how well it would go though if you live in an area that gets snow in winter.

Not sure if any of these ideas would be much help to you. It can be a real dilemma I know.

By: Livingalmostlarge

Livingalmostlarge — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:48:40 +0000

Another thing, at least for me, the meat I prefer is expensive period. I am a fish and seafood eater. My mom claim from in utero, all she craved was fish. I love, love, love sushi, cooked fish, and any seafood. I’ll eat pretty much only seafood if given a choice. But I can’t afford it. So my DH is real steak eater (alberta beef), and between us we love good meat.

So I find it really hard to decrease meat $. I have to do basically all vegetarian meals. I mean even 1 lb of sockeye salmon is $9.99/lb on sale. Also if I want scallops the same. Also I love wild caught fish (it’s what I’m used to at home), and that’s easily $9-10/lb. So suggestions other than what I’ve done in giving up fish?

DH loves steak and lamb. So we compromise and buy steak from costco and leg of lamb. But growing up he had tons of cheap beef. Still loves it. I eat it because it’s cheaper than what I like.

By: 103rd festival of frugality : plonkee money

103rd festival of frugality : plonkee money — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:17:05 +0000

[...] presents Reducing the Grocery Budget - Meat posted at Lightening. Meat can really into into your food money, so here are some ideas for cutting [...]

By: lightening

lightening — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:53:00 +0000

Hi Chocoholic - thanks for your comments. Your experiences with top quality meats are interesting. I LOVE your username!!!!

By: Chocoholic

Chocoholic — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:51:00 +0000

I just found your site and read all this and thought I’d comment. For the most part, I buy organic or pastured meat. While it’s more expensive, I think it ends up saving you money. When the farmer’s market here in the US was in season, I would stop at a meat stand there and buy things, now that it’s going into winter, I stop at the natural/health food store for meat. I’ve found that, by spending more on a good quality meat, I eat less. It tastes better so I savor it more and by spending more on it, I think of it as more of a “treat” so eat it less often than if I were buying a cheap meat.

That being said, there are certain things I either can’t find as organic here or it just isn’t feasible for them. One is stew meat. I’ve found that Aldi’s has the cheapest and the most tender in town. When I want boneless chicken breasts, I try to stock up when I see them at a price around $2/lb or less at the grocery store. Then I freeze them in portions of two breasts per pack. (It’s just me in the house) That way, even if I eat a whole chicken breast, I still have one leftover that I can take for lunch or eat another night during the week if I don’t have the time to cook dinner. That saves me from picking up food from a restaurant. I also try to have large portions of veggies on the side and if I am still hungry, get seconds on the veggies first.

By: lightening

lightening — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:24:00 +0000

One thing I did a few times was to mash up the beans so they weren’t so obvious. You could even blend them to a paste. I think they are a bit of an aquired taste and texture.

Zucchini is great because it cooks down to pretty much being invisible. The silverbeet was a little more obvious - next time I’m going to whizz that first with my stab mixer so it “disappears”. LOL.

Thanks for commenting Precious - I was starting to feel a little “friendless”. LOL. Perhaps people are busy at the moment? Either that or I’ve somehow upset everyone!

By: Precious_1

Precious_1 — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:50:00 +0000

I add grated zuchini and carrot to spag bol. I once added a tin of 4 bean mix, but that produced a few “don”t do that again mum”s.

I also put grated zuchini into rissoles. A g/f uses two crushed weetbix instead of breadcrumbs. I personally like to use stuffing mix- no need to add more herbs.

Diced bacon…… lolol - I use it in so many things. Zuchini slice, egg & bacon pie, omletes, added in with mince for pies, on melts. so many uses.