We all know that buying meat in bulk is cheaper. I used to bring it home, divide it up into servings and re-wrap each serving. It cost me time and money for re-wrapping materials like plastic wrap or bags. Not anymore!
Now I just slice open the top and peel it down carefully, then pre-cut the servings while it's still in it's packaging, replace the plastic wrap and place the whole thing in a sealed bag (usually a bread bag that I save and reuse for this purpose.)
When I need one or more servings, I take it out of the freezer and can usually get the serving separated with one or two good whacks on the counter edge. No defrosting to remove just a pound of the package for a meal.
I placed 3 knives into the three pound slices I made in this ground beef to show you what I mean. You could slice them into individual hamburger patties even for easy suppers where anyone could pull out one or more hamburger 'slices' for a quick dinner!
Lots shorter time to prep and less material waste since I don't individually bag each serving anymore!
This can be done with other cuts of meats like chicken breast too! I hope it makes your mealtimes easier and more efficient.
Check out these tips.
I love saving money, as I'm sure most of you do. You buy in bulk at the market when specials are on.
Just a reminder, when meat goes on sale, ask if the butcher if they will cut and pack the portions separately for you. I did and got four individually packed pieces for future meals.
When buying ground hamburger for my family, I have found that buying in bulk and freezing is a great way to save us money. I have learned that if you buy a package of hamburger that is about 6 pounds, you can separate the meat into quart size ziplock bags (a pound a piece).
We buy briskets on sale and cut them into roasts and steaks. You may wish to marinate the steaks before cooking.
When I can ad match hamburger for around $1.38 I buy the 5 lb containers, then bring it home and cook one package at a time in my crock pot on high for about 5-6 hours, while I'm doing other things around the house.
Whole hams are on sale for only .99c a lb.! So now is the time to stock up a little bit and have the butcher quarter your whole ham.
I rarely purchase lunch meat at the deli. Instead, I buy whole turkeys or hams and ask my butcher if they can cut them into half, thirds or even fourths!
If you use a lot of bread and/or meat, it's a good idea to ask the butcher and baker what time they put out discounted items.
When shopping in the meat section, I only look at the loss-leader meat featured that week, and then only that which has been marked down due to discoloration.
Save money on chicken by buying them whole and cutting them yourselves. It's easy to learn how to quarter your own chicken. All the leftover bones make great soup stock.
Check out your butcher's specials--sometimes you can get a better deal than their advertised special. I always ask the butcher if I can get a better deal if I buy a larger quantity.
When buying meat, always calculate how many meals you think you can get out of the purchase. From past experience you should have a pretty good idea of how much meat your family consumes in a meal, divide the number of meals you can make from the cost on the package.
Look at meat package date. If the expired date is the day you're in the store, ask the manager for a discount. They usually will mark it down, otherwise, they have to throw the package away & pay for the loss.
We wait for sales on meat before stocking up. This past week, we bought a boneless pork loin for $16.00. We cut it up then ground it up and made 1 pound packages that we vacuum sealed and froze.
If you live in a community around some restaurants, you might want to check with them for any leftover meats or other foods they might have leftover that they might not want to reheat and sell the next day...
