On meat and groceries

A month or so ago, I realized that we had an awful lot of meat* and veggies in the freezers. This is not a bad thing. After all, the whole point of having a freezer in addition to the refrigerator freezer is so that we can buy bulk and/or stock up on sale items, freeze summer vegetables and fruits**, etc. But I didn't even know what some of it was (note to self: label the freezer bags!), let alone how long some of it had been in the freezers (note to self: and date the freezer bags too!). Oops. Time to start eating out the freezers.

A month later, the veggies stash is much reduced (and all the summer tomatoes are gone, sniffle) but we still have an awful lot of meat left. This is because we only eat meat twice a week, sometimes thrice a week if we're entertaining or have excessive leftovers -- and one of those meals is often a big batch of stew or soup that I portion out and freeze to have on hand for busy, no-time-to-cook nights. Or I'll do something like, if we have a whole roasted chicken one night, I'll make, say, chicken pot pie or fajitas from the leftovers a few nights later, and then there's often leftovers from that, so there's a third meal...So although we eat meat twice a week or so, there are often weeks when I only cook meat one night and we have a freezer or leftovers meal for the other night(s). At this rate it will take a while to clean out the freezer. Yet I am (perhaps stupidly) surprised and a little dismayed at how much meat we still have on hand:

1 15-lb turkey (yikes) (I did not buy this! My former employer gave Thanksgiving turkeys to all its employees. Which means it's probably from 2003 or 2004, because after the first year or two I opted to donate my turkey to a local food bank/homeless shelter. Oh, yikes, again.)
1 4-lb chicken
2 3-lb bags of chicken breasts
1 3-lb bag of chicken tenders
3 lbs of pepperoni
1 half-bag fish sticks
1 chuck roast
2 packages salmon
1 package sausage
1 half-package bacon
a couple of beef patties
and a few Mystery Meats (note to self: label and date the freezer bags!).

Oh my. That's enough for another month or two worth of meals, at least.

This has done wonders for our grocery bill. It's been hard, but I've passed on all meat-for-sale items. (Do I have a problem? Or am I channeling Grandma D. with this must-keep-freezer-stocked-at-all-times/can't-pass-on-a-bargain behavior?) Our weekly grocery bill average so far has been $60.36 for our family of four. Most of that is going for milk, yogurt, eggs, fresh fruits (nothing exotic, just apples, bananas, oranges -- which, I have to say, I'm getting awfully tired of; I can't wait for strawberries, peaches, blueberries, and all the other summer fruits!), stock veggies like carrots, celery, and potatoes, and pantry/baking items like flours, oatmeal, raisins, etc. Pete likes to make fun of me for buying things like organic milk from a local dairy*** and organics in general whenever possible, but clearly, we can afford it!

I'm starting to think that instead of stocking up on for-sale meats, maybe every three or four months -- or whenever the freezer's close to empty -- I should go the Von Hansons route and buy bundles or variety packs , or take a drive out to Cedar Summit Farm or the like. Does anyone know where Von Hansons gets their meats? Has anyone bought directly from Cedar Summit or a similar farm?

And would anyone like to come over for a turkey dinner?




*I'm including poultry and fish under the general category of "Meat."

**Alas, the summer fruits always go fast. A few weeks ago I pulled out my last package of August blueberries. It was very sad.

***Yes, at $8.38 per gallon it IS expensive, and yes, the jury is still out on the long-term effects of things like pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones on the human population. But hey, I've got two growing little people I'm feeding here. As long as we can afford it, I'm going to err on the side of caution with this stuff. Also, I like to support small, local farms as much as possible. Those big feedlots and dairy corporations, they scare me.