Most of the grocery stores now advertise Black Angus meat and they have hiked the price up on that. We are planning on getting a side of beef soon and one beef we do not buy is Black Angus. It is too lean, not enough flavor. We usually get a Black Angus/ Hereford cross and that has just about the best comb of marbling and meat. We buy family packs at 3# or more and then I divide it. I think Black Angus sounds like a status symbol and they hike the price up on that and more and more I have found that that is all the stores sell. So I try to find some stores that sell the 80/20, 75/25. 75/25 makes a perfect meat loaf, sloppy joes, SOS, or hamburger soup, 80/20 makes a perfect hamburger. I try not to buy straight Black Angus mainly because of the dryness and taste and the regular hamburger has great flavor at about 1/3 the price. Even at McDonald's or Burger King, I do not order Black Angus meat. But meat around here ranges around - ground chuck 80% is $2.49 in packages of #3 or more. So that isn't too bad. Well, it is when you consider 30 years ago we were paying 85 cents a pound for hamburger. Tomorrow night I am fixing corned beef and cabbage and I got that for $1.88#, so you basically check your Sunday flier and get what is on sale and stock up on the family packs (that goes for chicken too)!
We are having the tail end of a turkey breast tonight! Had roast on Sunday, sandwiches the rest of the meals and today I am going to cut off the rest of the meat, make sandwiches and the rest goes into a nice tub for soup. Now that is a good supper. Turkey Rice soup and turkey sandwiches. Our grocery store - Roundy's, has a meal deal, which is a good thing. This week it is a #3 family pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $2.99 #. and then you get a #3 bag of onions, #1 carrots and 8oz of whole white mushrooms. FREE!!!!! Sometimes they have pot roasts and you get potatoes, carrots and onions, or pork roast and you get potatoes, vegetables and maybe applesauce FREE. That is our good deal. So this week I will get a package of chicken breasts, clean and cut up and blanch the carrots, (we love glazed carrot medallions) put the mushrooms in a salad and use the onions for whatever. So it saves a lot down the road. We are on a fixed income and so I watch very carefully the prices of meat and vegetables and especially the fruit. Luckily we have been able to get the best darned muskmelon for $2.50 each and they have been absolutely sweet and juicy. Usually in the winter they are dry and no taste.
We have to watch our pennies, nickels and dimes and I won't buy something that is so obviously high priced because it is said that it is good for us or something. You have to use common sense (which hasn't been very prevalent lately, I have noticed) when you buy food, be it hamburger or pork chops. Here is a good one. Did you know that Hormel Always Tender pork chops or steaks or roasts are also labeled with Roundy's name? Found that out last week. Same pork, same Hormel's down in Austin, Minnesota, very much difference in price. So perhaps in your area your generic meat is actually from a top brand outfit. Check with your butcher on that! Edie