MEAT: I have two good sources for our meat. First, we are very lucky to be friends with a local cattle-ranching family, and we try to stay on their good side. :) Whenever they butcher new cattle, if they don't have enough room in their freezers, they clean out whatever won't fit, and share some with us. They also raise some pigs, and once a year, or so, we buy half a pig from them for dirt cheap and get it butchered any way we want. We also get a variety of meat from a local food co-op (I will explain further down). So, we have a large chest freezer that is filled to the brim with beef (ground beef, steaks, ribs, and roasts), pork (sausage, chops, roasts, hams, bacon), and chicken. You only see meat occasionally in my grocery pictures because I only buy it at the store if it is a REALLY good deal. Especially chicken. When chicken goes on sale for dirt cheap, I will usually buy it in bulk to last for a while. I also happen to be lucky to be married to a hunter/fisherman. So we occasionally have some odd treasures in our freezer such as the pheasant that was killed during a recent family hunt, and the elk that my husband killed when he was supposed to be driving me to the hospital to have a baby.
PRODUCE: I also get much of my produce through my local food co-op. I get scads of it, so I only need to buy it at the store if I run out of something I feel we need, or it is on sale. If I don't have any fresh veggies, and there aren't any really good sales for them, I also have an abundance of frozen veggies in my freezer. I have a bunch of canned veggies too, but those aren't my absolute favorite, so I keep those for food storage purposes, and only use them often enough to keep them rotated. In the summer, we keep a small vegetable garden in our backyard that provides us with a nice supply of tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
THE FOOD CO-OP: As I have mentioned a few times, we belong to a local community food co-op. This is basically a community of people who get together (figuratively speaking) to purchase meat and produce (among other things) from farmers and ranchers (most of them local) at wholesale cost. The prices stay low because the whole thing is run on a volunteer basis, so there is no markup to cover the overhead and labor that jacks store prices up. Anybody can join; you just pay a single life-time member ship fee of an amount you choose (they suggest a minimum of $5.) They also require the members to give a minimum of 2 hours/month of community service - either with the co-op itself, or anywhere in the community (church service counts). Then you fill out your monthly order form, ordering how much or how little you want. The selections vary from month to month, but they are always fresh, yummy, and abundant.
Last month, I ordered one 'standard share', which listed: 1 lb top sirloin fajita strips, 2 lb chicken drumsticks, 2 lb sirloin pork roast, 1 lb lean ground beef, 5 varieties of freesh veggies, 3 varieties of fresh fruits, 1 loaf Stone Ground's Artisan wheat bread, and 16 oz. rice. The produce that I received on order pick-up day included: 2 lbs whole carrots, 5 Fuji apples, 5 oranges, 1 head romaine lettuce, 3 red bell peppers, 2 avocados, 5 pears, and 5 tomatoes. The produce was easily the most 'perfect' produce I have ever purchased - there wasn't a bruise, dent, or wilt among the lot. And the bread was not only to-die-for delicious, but very nutritious too. There is 8 g protein in each slice!!! This is easily a week's+ worth of dinner meat, and a couple week's worth of produce (the lettuce wouldn't last that long, but the rest of it would in the fridge). All of this I purchased for $23!!!
There are different combinations that you can purchase, but you can only order once a month. The prices are great, and food is incredible, but you don't know what specific produce you will get each month until you pick up your order. This month, the selection/order form can be found HERE. The pick-up site I use is in Lehi, but if you live elsewhere in Utah, there are other PICK UP LOCATIONS. I'm thinking that this month, I will order 2 standard shares, plus two portions of meat only. This will come to $72, but will include a whole month's worth of meat (it all can be cooked in multiple ways), 2 loaves of excellent bread, 2 lbs of rice, and pretty close to a month's worth of produce. That's not bad for a whole month. That can save the rest of my monthly grocery budget to be spent on dairy and non-perishables/food storage. :)
If you live in Utah, I highly recommend at least giving this a try.
For those of you who don't live in Utah, there are community food co-ops all over the country. HERE is a national directory, if you are interested in seeing if there is one in your area. They each work differently, but overall, I think they are a bargain.
No comments:
Post a Comment