How I feed my 4 meat-hungry men!!

Ok, so I promised you, my dear readers, how to save money on meat. I have 4 men in my house and they like to eat! Meat is not cheap and to be able to get a variety, well, sometimes I think I need an oil well to feed everyone!

 

Here's something I discovered...

 

the clearance aisle!

 

 Now, I've always shopped the clearance aisle for non foods, I mean, you can get some great after-season deals there. But I hadn't thought to shop for clearance at the grocery. And I get some great deals!

 

 

 

 One thing you have to remember when shopping clearance is expiration dates. Most clearance items are close to their expiration date. However, you can throw meat into the freezer and it keeps for awhile.

 

 I rarely pay over $2.50/lb of meat.

 

  I just look at the clearance meat every time I go into the store. Even on just a quick run. You never know when or what they will be putting out. I buy everything I can that we will eat. One time I bought 5 packs of bacon for 99 cents each! I've gotten organic, hormone-free beef for $1.99 a pound. I just bring everything home and throw it in the freezer. Right now I have 2 weeks worth of clearance meat in my freezer.

 

 

 

  I like to buy as much as I can because sometimes the store will go 2 weeks without anything that I want. This way I always have cheap meat in the freezer!! And it's a great variety. I will usually take meat out every couple of days so it has time to thaw. Although, if it's going in the crockpot, I can put it in frozen in the morning and it is usually ready by dinner.

 

So, this is the way I save a lot of money on meat!

 

 If you have any other ideas, leave them in the comments. I'm always looking for ways to save.

Corn, corn, and more corn!!

Hello!

 

 Remember me?

 

 Yeah, it's been a while. It certainly is a busy time of year. During the summer, there is always something to do outside. Whether is it work or play, I like to be outside enjoying it before winter (boo!) comes along. Then comes late summer and things really get busy! Getting everything ready for our next school year, finishing all the outside projects, putting up food for winter.

 

Which is exactly what I spent my day doing. Putting up 60 ears of corn in the freezer!

 

Unfortunately, we were not able to grow our own corn this year. Music Man is working 2 jobs and just did not have the time to till up the garden for me. He may be Superman but he does need his rest!! So this year, our neighbor gave us some and I bought a bunch from the local farmers market.

 

 I figured it out and cost-wise it made sense. Buying the corn from the market cost about the same as buying the store brand frozen corn. But it tastes better and is healthier. And is certainly cheaper than the name brands. So, I spent a day working on corn so we can have good, healthy corn this winter. And my family loves corn!

 

  I had the boys shuck it for me

 

 

and then I boiled it for about 2 minutes. (The little pan in the background is the hummingbird food I had going at the same time!)

 

 

A secret that I learned about cooking corn is to not cook it in salt water.  That has a tendency to make it tough.  Use sugar in the water to help bring out the natural sugars in the corn. Yummy!

 I let it cool 

 

and then cut it off the cob.

 

 I measured out about 12 ounces for each bag because that's about what we use for a meal. (Like my postage scale?!)
 

 

  I just put it in fold over sandwich bags then I put about 6 of those in a big freezer bag.

 

 It saves a little money on packaging. I ended out with 16 full meal bags and one partial.

 

 I'll either fill it up with the next batch or just save it for soup. After I have it all cut off the cobs, we give the shucks and cobs to the chickens.

 

  They love them!! Next week I am going to get some more and do this all over again! But it is worth it.

 

 Feeding 3 teenage boys and a husband takes a lot but not always a lot of money. I'll tell you later how I save on meat for all those men! Also, I can't wait to show you the furniture I've been refinishing.

 

 See you next time!!