Grocery Markets Around the World

The Ninja admiring all the dried meats and fancy cheeses at
 the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia

 One of my favorite things to do while traveling abroad is visiting grocery stores and food markets. Not only are markets a great venue for people watching and experiencing culture, they also provide me with a valuable lesson in food diversity, value and, most importantly, they remind me to be ever-so-thankful for our American food supply.

It's always fun to peruse a foreign grocery store to see what kinds of different products are available that we don't have in the U.S. For example, I was in Poland for a short time in December and saw many unique things in the store. Live carp were available in the fish section and the produce section featured a wide variety of pickles and sauerkraut.
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Shopping For Meat On A Budget

It's no secret that the Frobuzz household is carnivorous. However, the Frobuzz household is also compromised of a grad student, a young professional, dogs, horses, chickens and student loans. Throw that in an equation and you get a smallish grocery budget. Shopping for meat on a tight budget can be difficult but we're not willing to cut back in that area so we employ some different strategies to keep protein in the center of the plate! So I'm going to outline, as easily as possible, how we eat a hunk of meat several nights a week without breaking the bank. This is no easy task considering pork prices are on the rise (thanks PEDv) and beef prices are at a 27 year high (thanks Mother Nature).

Ok, so before you even head to the store you need to have in your mind that you're not going to get T-bones and ribeyes for $3/lb. That would be awesome but will not happen. The goal is to find a diamond in the rough that you can put a little extra work and kitchen time into and still get a good quality meal.

Once you arrive at the meat case, you're looking for markdowns, BOGO (buy one, get one) or large hunks of meat that most people won't buy (think along the lines of a whole ham). You may not find a great deal every time but one good deal on a large sub-primal can last you awhile. On our shopping trip last Sunday, we found a few good deals but only cashed in on one due to our lack of freezer space at the moment.

You have to look beyond what is right in front of you and think about how you can cut things down or use them in different recipes. On this trip, the Ninja is debating which cut is a better deal and which one is the best cut based on color etc.



Comparisons are vital - look beyond what is right in front of you.

Just because something is 'convenient' doesn't necessarily mean it's convenient for your wallet. Here are some examples of not so great deals:



In this instance it seems awesome that you get a pork country style ribs that are already marinated but that is $4.29 for one serving that is less than a pound. You're basically paying for the fact that it is a single serving, that it's marinated and that it has a pineapple slice.



Same with these charcoal steaks, - these are from the chuck but have been cut down and marinated causing their price to be $7 per lb even though a chuck roast is much cheaper per pound.

Examples of good deals:



Ham on sale for $1.69/lb. Yes, I know it's a whole ham but you can cut things down and freeze them.

These whole  ham butts can be cut down and frozen for use in meals at a later date.

Although we didn't buy a ham, we have done so in the past. We cut it up into smaller portions and freeze them - then I can pull them out for soup, a crock pot meal or to throw on the grill.

This is the deal that we took advantage of last weekend:



Beef bottom round roast - buy one get one free!

Yes, you read that correctly. Beef bottom round roasts were buy one get one free! They were normally $6.99/lb and weighed around 2.5 pounds a piece. However, the sale meant that we got 5 pounds of good quality beef for about $17.65 ($2.50/lb). Talk about a steal.

Naturally, we brought two home and got them ready for future meals. Since crockpot season is over, we opted to cut them into steaks instead of keeping them in their roast form. We unwrapped them and took them out of the package - the first step was removing the fat and silver skin (bonus info: that little pad in the bottom of the package is called a 'diaper'). Silver skin is opaque connective tissue that is very tough so removing it can really improve the eating experience.



Preparing to break it down.



The diaper - soaks up juices that may leech out of the meat
 and keeps the tray and packaging looking clean and tidy.

 

Removing the silver skin and external fat (the dogs appreciated this step) - silver skin is tough connective tissue so it's important to remove to improve the eating experience!

 

 Next, the Ninja cuts the roast into steaks that are approximately 1" thick.



Cutting across the grain is important with roasts in order to improve tenderness




Here you can see how many ~1" steaks come from one of the bottom round roasts

Here are the results of the two roasts that were cut down - there were nine steaks and five 'midget' steaks (that's really what they're called), and of course the pieces of fat and silver skin for the dogs.

 

I realize it's hard to determine how big these are - a deck of cards is roughly the size of one-three ounce serving of beef. As you can see, these steaks are about four ounces.

The final product bagged up - I'll put them in the freezer and when we want to grill, I just pull one out the night before and let it defrost.

Each one of those steaks will serve as a meal for us, along with a veggie or rice side dish. It's about $4.50 total per meal, not per person (not including the veggies or rice). If we didn't do these trips, we would eat less meat and I would not be a happy camper.

I hope this provides insight on how you don't have to change your diet on a tight budget but rather just change your perspective or  your strategies and you can still have high-quality, lean beef on your plate (pork, too)!

Any questions - comments? Do you do something similar at your house?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

I'm a Meatatarian



No veggies? No problem.

I'm a red-blooded, God-fearing, feisty American and I like meat. I know how it's produced, I'm comfortable with the sacrifice made to yield it and I can prepare it 154 ways to amaze even the most skeptical foodie. I eat it at almost every meal and even snack-time if some beef jerky is handy. That's right, I'm a meatatarian.

 

You might be wondering what a meatatarian is, so pay attention while I drop a profound answer in your lap:

meatatarian: a person who, for a variety of reasons, eats mostly meat and very few vegetables. This dietary 'lifestyle' may be due to allergies or could be attributed to a sincere distaste for most vegetables.

I fall into the latter of those two descriptions - I have eaten a lot of vegetables in my twenty-somethings years, in fact it was a rule in the Buzzard household that you had to clean your plate before getting up for dinner. I actually tested this rule to the max when I was seven and fell asleep at dinner because I didn't want to eat spinach.

 

In spite of my avoidance plan, leftover spinach graced my plate at lunch-time the next day. The only thing worse than spinach is leftover, re-warmed spinach. Gag.

 

However, upon leaving the parental castle for college I vowed that I would not continue to eat another food that I despised, thereby depriving those who enjoy vegetables from what they view as an exemplary eating experience. Hence, my diet consists of meat, dairy, grains -- sometimes whole, others not -- and fruit. Often times, my plate contains meat, cottage cheese and a potato/green beans/corn/squash; however, if said potato dish includes peppers or other contemptible vegetable intruders, I quickly jump off the veggie train.

 

It's worth noting that I have tried almost every vegetable in the grocery store so I'm not condemning them without actually having tried them. You name it and I've *probably* tried it and subsequently, disliked it.

 

Bear in mind, I do have vegetarian friends. They are insanely awesome and although we poke fun at one another about dietary choices, I have never seriously tried to convert them back to meat-eaters and they have never tried to persuade me to stop gorging on bacon and steak. They have their reasons for choosing their lifestyle and I have mine. We can all coexist and co-eat in peace.

 

I often wish that I did like vegetables. I see commercials for fresh salads chock full of crispy fresh peppers, cucumbers and carrots. I would love to partake, really I would, but my most recent attempt at ingesting crunchy, fresh salad-type foods led to a near vomit experience in the local Olive Garden. I doubt they would have viewed me as family if I had spewed in the garden.

 

My ordering process at restaurants drives my husband insane but I fail to understand why my palate restricts his meal experience. I challenge you to find a restaurant in existence in which I couldn't suss out at least one thing to eat - plain is always an option - therefore, my food preferences should in no way affect his options.  I profess that I am not a picky eater; I know what I want and I eat a lot of it. Steak, bacon, burgers, chops, wings - bring all the smokey, spiced and sauced goodness to me on a silver platter and I shall demolish it in one fell swoop.

So, to my fellow meatatarians, here are some survival tips for navigating through an increasingly veggo-filled world:

• Do not be ashamed of your choices - God made you this way and no one can argue with that.
• Keep a close eye out for veggies that are added but not disclosed - i.e. the bacon and cheese hot dog in a pretzel bun at Sonic does not make buyers aware of onions in the mix but they are sure 'nuff on the dog.
• When the day arrives that you're tired of defending your choices (and it will come, no fail), claim to be allergic to specific vegetables. This strategy will immediately stop whatever heckling you're receiving. I have used this at Taco Bell in order to stop the staff from ignoring my requests about a lettuce-less burrito.
• Pose the question, "If I were a vegetarian would you be giving me this much guff?"
• Refer to one of any number of Ron Swanson classics - here, here and here.
• Bonus info: if you order fajitas and ask for no onions or peppers, they will often double the amount of meat you're getting so the portion sizes are equal. Huzzah!

I imagine, in the distant future, there will be a support group for folks like myself who, despite society's need to interrogate and force change upon our dietary choices needs, have chosen to eat mostly animal products mixed in with a few whole grains and some fruit.

Stand strong, fellow meatatarians, and let protein drive the force.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Wordless Wednesday - Food For Thought

Hope all you area folk are planning on attending - will be a great lecture! His topic is

Kansas Agriculture in 2025

And don't forget - the giveaway of the gorgeous Silo Silver earrings is happening tomorrow - make sure you get entered!

Until next time (and Happy Halloween!),

~ Buzzard ~