As you know if you have read the "About Us" section, we are a Trouple. We have lots of kids, grandkids and family times three. But for the day-to-day in this household, it's just the three of us (and 7 furry family members) to feed.
Even though our household size is small, we think big. We buy in bulk, and we cook in bulk, too. We just filled our freezer with a side of beef. If you are lucky enough to live in an area that raises beef, and you have someone to process the meat, this is sooooooooo much cheaper than buying your meat at the meat market or grocery store. It is a big up front investment, but it was still a HUGE savings overall. It is hard enough to find hamburger in the store for less than $2.00 per pound. We just filled a freezer with steaks, roasts, fillets, tenderloin, ground beef, liver, etc, etc for less than $1.60 per pound!
Does all this meat stay in the freezer? Heck no! We are canning, smoking, and dehydrating between 1/3 to 1/2 of what we purchased. Within 48 hours of picking up the meat, ES already had canned 8 quarts of meat, made 4 quarts of au jus, made 10 pounds of summer sausage and smoked it in our homemade smoker, and made about 1 pound (dried weight) of beef jerkey.
We have a generator in the event we lose power for an extended amount of time, and you can bet we are going to ensure that we don't lose a freezer-full of meat. And you can also bet we are going to be thankful we have canned and dried meat that is ready to eat so we are not wasting valuable fuel cooking raw meat.
The canned meat is also a time saver. ES and I both love to cook, but with me working long hard hours during the week, and with the myriad of projects ES has going around the house, there are times when neither one of us has the energy to start dinner "from scratch". We can go into the pantry, grab a jar of canned meat, and have a meal ready in 10 minutes.
It goes without saying that we make meals in bulk, too. Spaghetti sauce, chili, soup--you name it--we make enough for a small army. We save out enough for our meal and one night of left-overs, and freeze or can (or both) what is left.
I've also discovered the joy of vacuum sealing. I'll vacuum seal just about anything! It is kinda fun, and items will last longer in the freezer or the pantry once they have been vacuum sealed. We buy items in bulk. Once the package is opened, I am a vacuum sealing fool. That keeps things fresh and in managable quantities.
Bud and ES are gone for the weekend. Am I cooking for one? Heck no! I've got enough on the stove right now to feed a small army. Got a hot date with the vacuum sealer tonight... ;-)
~Dee
