I apologize for being M.I.A, but have been dealing with some personal stuff that has consumed a lot of my time.
A quick update. I finally did a meat shop, but because of a big bill we had to pay, ended up only being able to spend $60 at that time. Since then, had to include some meat purchases with my regular groceries. However, when cutting a grocery bill and trying to get the most out of everything, I did pretty good. That $60 bought a good sized roast that provided left-overs, a full chicken, which was pretty much gone after the one meal. A pack of 3 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh), approximately 5lbs of ground beef and approximately 2 1/2lbs of ground pork.
Now, I like ground meats because added to other ingredients, you can make a good size meal that, depending on the size of your family or the amount they eat, could provide leftovers. Since ground beef by itself can sometimes be a bit dry, we like to mix it with ground pork. Added benefit to this, ground pork is usually cheaper then beef.
The packets of meat I bought were value packs and each contained a little over 2lbs to 2 1/2lbs. I took 1 packet of ground beef, and the pork packet and divided each into 4. Then I combined 1 section of beef with 1 of pork. Combined, each section was a little over 1lb. I then began cooking. From those 4 sections, I made 2 meatloaves, which I froze for another day, and 2 large lasagnas. And from the large lasagnas, I was able to also create 2 small lasagnas made with a special cheese for son. We ate one that night, and froze the second one. So out of the 2 value packs of ground meat, I was able to get 4 meals out of it.
The value packs can live up to their name. You get more meat in them, and it's a bit cheaper then buying multiple single serving packs. I also look at how much I can get out of a pack of meat. Will there be leftovers? Can I make more then one meal from this? My meat buying is the same as my regular grocery buying, I prefer sales, or in certain cases, price matching, and sometimes, if I know that I'll be cooking that meat that night, I'll buy items that have been marked down.
When grocery shopping on a budget, you have to look for ways to extend your money as far as possible.
