(T I recently shared our big family monthly grocery run recently (click here to read) and I mentioned some of my family's purchases. I also promised to share what I do with all that food besides try unsuccessfully to shove it in my too small refrigerator. This last Costco run I purchased 2 rotisserie chickens ($4.95 each), a very large pork loin, and hamburger. I usually spend the day or two after coming home from a big grocery shop just repackaging and repurposing what I have purchased. The rotisserie chicken gets shredded off the bone and put into freezer bags. From this I make meals of chicken soup, chicken enchiladas, quesadillas, chicken salad, bbq chicken sandwiches, you get the picture...For us it is a quick go-to answer for when I have neglected my meal planning and dinner time comes up faster than planned.
The pork loin came home and was re-packaged into 3 meals worth of pork chops and a roast for some Sunday dinner. if you are in to numbers that translates into an $18 slab of pork loin creating 4 meals at $4.50 a meal for a family of 7.
The burger was packed into patties, then some of it was browned and seasoned with taco seasoning, and more still was browned and mixed with sausage for lasagna. I then freeze the pre-browned meat for later use as it is one less thing for me to have to worry about when preparing a meal. (thanks to grandma for that awesome idea!) The burger winds up costing me about $4.75 per meal by the time we divvy it up into 4 different packages. The nice thing about the Costco burger is that it is parted into 1/3 lb chunks so I can figure how many pounds per package I am putting up.
The pork loin came home and was re-packaged into 3 meals worth of pork chops and a roast for some Sunday dinner. if you are in to numbers that translates into an $18 slab of pork loin creating 4 meals at $4.50 a meal for a family of 7.
The burger was packed into patties, then some of it was browned and seasoned with taco seasoning, and more still was browned and mixed with sausage for lasagna. I then freeze the pre-browned meat for later use as it is one less thing for me to have to worry about when preparing a meal. (thanks to grandma for that awesome idea!) The burger winds up costing me about $4.75 per meal by the time we divvy it up into 4 different packages. The nice thing about the Costco burger is that it is parted into 1/3 lb chunks so I can figure how many pounds per package I am putting up.
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These ideas and way of doing a big shopping run once a month (with some additional quick trips to the store for milk and fresh fruit) work best with a deep freeze. It doesn't have to be new or even huge (though at this point I have 2 deep freezes, one for when we purchase a side of beef and a hog and the other for everything else!) You can often find a deep freeze on Craig's list pretty cheap, they don't have to be pretty as mine are out in my garage and no one even sees them. I prefer the stand up kind because it helps me be organized, but I have to admit that we have had food loss due to the door not getting completely closed (that is why kids are no longer allowed to get popsicles in the summer)
This way of doing a big shopping trip once a month saves me a ton of time and my sanity (because taking 5 kids grocery shopping is not my idea of a good time- nope I am not that mom). It is a BIG undertaking but it is only once a month that I am doing this, 3-4 hours of shopping for a month of knowing that I have most of what I need is a huge time and sanity saver for me. I know it will not always be like this but I have joked with my husband that I will have to learn how to re-cook all over again when the kids are grown because I don't think I could prepare a meal for just two people at this point, I have become a queen of making it stretch and cooking for a crowd.
How do you avoid too many trips to the store? Like what you see? (subscribe to my blog in the top right corner of the screen to avoid missing a post!)
This way of doing a big shopping trip once a month saves me a ton of time and my sanity (because taking 5 kids grocery shopping is not my idea of a good time- nope I am not that mom). It is a BIG undertaking but it is only once a month that I am doing this, 3-4 hours of shopping for a month of knowing that I have most of what I need is a huge time and sanity saver for me. I know it will not always be like this but I have joked with my husband that I will have to learn how to re-cook all over again when the kids are grown because I don't think I could prepare a meal for just two people at this point, I have become a queen of making it stretch and cooking for a crowd.
How do you avoid too many trips to the store? Like what you see? (subscribe to my blog in the top right corner of the screen to avoid missing a post!)
