A trip to Sam's 1/16/12
Although I still had enough food left to last a few more meals, I went ahead and made my first shopping trip to buy meat and veggies for this challenge.
Here's what I got:
I also went to Publix and bought celery for $2 and Cilantro for less than $1. Here's what I did with everything...
Here's what I got:
- 1 5lb bag Carrots: $3
- 5 lb smoked sausage: $6
- 9 1/2 lb can Crushed Tomatos: $3
- 5 lb Sweet Onions: $4
- 5 lb Red Onions: $4
- pack of 5 Avocados: $4
- 2 whole Chickens: $9
- 9 1/2 lbs Ground Beef (90% lean): $26
I also went to Publix and bought celery for $2 and Cilantro for less than $1. Here's what I did with everything...
Step 1: Divide/ freeze Ground Beef
A little trick I learned from Pinterest: Put your ground beef in a ziplock bag. Then use a dowel (I used a pencil) to divide up portion sizes and freeze. When you need a portion of ground beef, you can now break off a piece and throw the rest back in the freezer!
For my beef, I divided the 9 1/2 lbs into 5 pieces and put each piece into a freezer bag. I then used a pencil to divide each into 4 breakable squares. That gives me a little less than 1/2 lb per serving, which is enough for Shane and me.
For my beef, I divided the 9 1/2 lbs into 5 pieces and put each piece into a freezer bag. I then used a pencil to divide each into 4 breakable squares. That gives me a little less than 1/2 lb per serving, which is enough for Shane and me.
Step 2: The Chickens
Here is a video on how to cut up a whole chicken. I know it seems intimidating, but it is really simple and cost so much less than buying a bag of frozen breasts. I normally cut up and freeze the chickens, but today I will be cooking one and using the other later for rotisserie.
I cooked a chicken in a slow cooker with salt, pepper, and one chopped onion on high for 3-4 hours. When done, I shred it, put it in a ziplock bag, froze it. I mixed water in with the broth left in the slow cooker, then poured it in ziplock bags (1 cup per bag), and froze it. The broth can be used for soups, casseroles, etc., and it tastes so much better than canned broth!
Step 3: Cut up the vegetables
It's a day's worth of work, but worth it for getting what you need quickly when cooking a meal. I chopped up all of the onions, bagged and froze them (1 onion per bag). I did the same with the celery, carrots, and cilantro.
For the avocado, I cut them up and threw them in the blender with lime juice (the lime juice keeps them from browning!). Since I'm the only one who eats avocado, I divided the blended mixture into 8 bags and froze. If you do this, make sure all air is taken out of the bags. Thaw in cold water, or for a few hours in the fridge.
For the avocado, I cut them up and threw them in the blender with lime juice (the lime juice keeps them from browning!). Since I'm the only one who eats avocado, I divided the blended mixture into 8 bags and froze. If you do this, make sure all air is taken out of the bags. Thaw in cold water, or for a few hours in the fridge.
Step 4: Make and freeze Spaghetti Sauce
I had 1 jar of my favorite Ragu left (Garden Vegetable), so I studied the ingredients and tried to copy it. Each jar of Ragu contains 26oz (more than 3 cups) of sauce. Since I only use 1 jar for each meal, I divided the sauce into bags holding 3 cups each. I lightly blended all of the vegetables together (1 onion, 3 large carrots, 2 stalks celery, and about 2 cups zucchini on hand), then combined it with the 9 1/2 lb can of crushed tomatoes. Finally, I added green bell pepper to the sauce and cooked everything in a large pot over the stove (on low heat) for about 30 minutes. For seasonings, I added basil, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sugar and tasted the sauce as I was adding until it was good. In the end, it didn't taste just like Ragu, but it was pretty close. I'll take it! Especially since I only paid about $6 for almost 10 lbs of it!
This is my freezer at the end of all that chopping and dividing. All veggies are in the door, meat and spaghetti sauce are on the top shelf, everything else on the bottom. I do not have a deep freezer, so to make everything fit, I let it all freeze flat, then prop it up and store it!