Stocking Up on Meat

The weekly grocery ad featured a "Pick 5 for $25" sale on selected packages from the meat and fish counter, so I stocked the freezer.

In the Tetris puzzle: beef roast for the slow cooker, steaks with and without bone, boneless chicken breasts, ground beef, salmon fillets, tilapia fillets, lamb round shoulder chops, and a mess of boneless pork ribs. (Dunno what we'll do with that last, as I don't care for them, but my sweetie picked 'em out.) You can also see the last of the Grumpy Kitty soup, sorbet and coconut milk ice cream, some leftover curry, and Trader Joe's packets of confetti rice, samosas, and  multigrain mix.

One package of salmon is still in the fridge (we'll eat it Friday) along with some lamb shanks and a value-pack of ground beef that was marked down further for quick sale. That will become meatloaf (probably two loaves -- one for the table and one for the freezer) and browned ground beef to mix with the leftover pasta sauce and freeze tonight. There's still plenty of room! (In the freezer, if not in the grocery budget... but I expect that today's up-front costs will be balanced out over the next month or two.)

According to my receipt, I saved 35% on the regular cost of this meat. The salmon, for instance, would usually be $6.99/lb, and the 1lb. packages cost me $5 each. The largest steak would have been $9.52; again, $5. Obviously I had to buy a large amount (if I'd purchased only 3 or 4 packages, they would have been priced normally), but the variety of meat types was more attractive than, say, buying chicken breasts in bulk. Since I had both the freezer space and the cash available, I was able to take advantage of the sale.

I'll have to keep an eye out for new recipes! The lamb shanks can be put in the slow cooker, I think, with onion, tomatoes, and whole unpeeled garlic cloves. If my love will make a fresh loaf of bread (she's been experimenting with rustic sourdough), the cooked garlic will taste divine spread across a slice or two. There's an Easter recipe for you, or one for Passover if you skip the bread and opt for potatoes (mash with olive oil or non-dairy spread) or gluten-free noodles instead. We'll be celebrating Passover, Easter, and Ostara with special meals this weekend. Yum!