Well, I decided it was better to just stock up for the month and be done with it. I had the cash, and well, you never know how things might be later on, and I just hate to shop for the most part, so having this done for a good month or so is really appealing!

I managed to score a nice variety as well. And just for the heck of it, Maggie and I wrote down the poundage and what we predicted each bit would be in the way of meals…. we bought 55 pounds of meat. From chicken to pork, beef, a few steaks, some cheap stuff, hot dogs, and some bacon, that kind of thing. And we managed to get 12 different variations, so like it’s not ALL hamburger! And we paid $120 for it all… so that is a whopping $2.18 a pound. Which is not bad considering that there are 3 pork loin roasts and one beautiful ribeye steak that is over 1.5 pounds! (We’ll cook it for us three….) and 10 pounds of fancy marinated boneless chicken breast.

I actually did not get but 2 pounds of hamburger because we’re not really hamburger eaters! So it was all good stuff. And from our local butcher shop as well… and all individually wrapped in freezer paper and IDed and all that… in single use packages!

We figure it out to be about 45 meals. Most of the time we try to budget about 1/4 or 1/3 a pound of meat for a person. That seems to be plenty for the way we eat. We do a lot of cooking in pots, like chicken and noodles, or rice, or pot roasts, or like spaghetti or other noodle dishes to make meat go further. Every so often we might do a little more, like with little steaks or like a fancy Sunday meal, but we do try to stay around that a pound of meat for a dinner. Sometimes we’ll do a roast that is 2 or 3 pounds and that will be left overs or even another dinner the next day, perhaps in a different way.

We are not big meat eaters for lunch or breakfast… eggs, maybe, pancackes, hash browns… and lunch seems to be a lot of soups or ramen noodles, left-overs or like cheese sandwiches or mac and cheese. So I think this haul should provide about 45 meals. That means well into October. I’m going to really watch and see if that is true! A bit of a challenge! That would be super cool to stretch $120 for meat nearly two months! Not bad.

Speaking of leftovers…. I’ve been trying really hard to watch left-overs. I have given the dog way too many left overs that just got forgotten in the frig. Since we’re not big left-over people… I have been trying to make sure that the portions of food we make, match our people! And if I have just a little bit left, not hardly a full portion for someone, then the dog gets it right away. She’s happier and I am because not only can I save a little on her feed, I don’t have some nasty thing dying in my frig, and taking up valuable space and storage ware or foil or whatever.

Now if I say, double a recipe, and make enough for a real second meal? That works out fine! Don’t know why… so I’m really trying to watch that I don’t over do meals. Obviously we’re not skinny-minnies, and I suspect that we overeat at times just because it’s there. I would like to try and watch the portions a lot closer. If a while later someone is hungry, then some fruit or a slice of bread and some homemade jam can solve that. But I’ve noticed that we’re content.

And so is the dog.

HAHA…. she likes that spoonful or two of mashed potatoes or chicken and rice… she thinks she’s been elevated to a higher member of the pack now! She even eats that little bit of corn left from a can. Afterall, she doesn’t want us to think she’s snubbing our gracious offerings. And she’s less likely to get sick when she’s offered that same corn like a week later and it’s a little gamey!

(Trust me… Gypsy is a very pampered pooch and only gets the very best in good dog food. I learned a long time ago that garbage cheap food in a dog usually results in a less than healthy dog and a LOT of excess ah, stuff…. she’s always got good IAMs and Pedigree and lots of lamb and rice dishes, etc. I used to make her food!!! Honest! She is a very very pampered gal. But I don’t think that a bit of veggies and rice or left over meat etc is a bad thing for a dog. It’s a bonding thing for her. She loves being one of the pack! Of course, she draws the line on bananas. And most fruit really. Ha ha ha….)

Well, that’s my little bit of wisdom, trying to make sense of things and work a little more efficiently in this whole life thing! If I can stay out of stores, I’m a happy camper! I must be a little weird, I am not a shopper. I’m going to be super happy when internet grocery shopping comes to town… that would be SO COOL….