The food budget gets away from me if I am not vigilant about it. I have making an effort to be more proactive once more. Recipes abound in fall/winter for all the holiday meals that happen this time of year. You know what else appears? Cheap turkey. You can often find it less than a dollar a pound. If you have the space, grab an extra or two. If you have not read the Rubber Chicken story, hit that too.
The idea of the rubber chicken is a multi day process that begins with a roast chicken dinner on day one. The next day you clean the leftover chicken off the bone and add beans/rice/cheese or whatever else makes for a great burrito dinner. Day three you put the carcass in the crockpot with veggies and a spoonful of vinegar to pull the minerals out of the bones. You are rewarded with a collagen rich broth to freeze or you can add noodles and make a hearty soup. For larger families, the Rubber Turkey works in the same way.
For my next party trick I am considering investing in a pressure canner. (All American seems to be the front runner with friends.) The freezer has a finite amount of space and is not terribly user friendly. We will continue to make good use of it for sure but the idea of having prepared meat and beans is super appealing. You can then take great advantage of these seasonal deals and stock your shelves for weeks or months to come. 2020 just reminded us why this is still a good idea in our modern age.
I watch for the sales on turkey and ham during the holidays....can it up. I also can dry beans, buying a bag of several different types and run them through in the same batch. Its kinda like an insurance policy sitting on the shelf. Cheap insurance.
Posted by: mdoe37 | December 19, 2020 at 04:04 AM