Ten pound bags of chicken thighs are $3.90 this week at Save-A-Lot. I just finished cooking and freezing thirty pounds of chicken. I'm still processing the broth to make stews and soups. Separating the meat from all the grease, gristle, and bones made me a bit queasy, but it's a big savings. We have enough to get us through the month, and then some. I slow cook the chicken until the meat almost falls from the bone, then it's just a matter of shredding by hand and placing the meat into plastic freezer containers.
There was a similar deal on pork for $1.18 a pound at the beginning of the week. I made sweet and sour pork last weekend for the freezer.
If you can carve out the time, batch cooking lets you take advantage of sales. Cooking thirty pounds of chicken was stretched over a few days. I cooked it in a stew pot which boils off the skin and fat, making it much easier to get at all the meat. The leftover broth is strained and refrigerated so that the fat can be easily scooped off the top.
In two weeks I'll be batch cooking beans. I stagger the batch cooking for meat and beans so that I always have enough of each in the freezer.
It's a good bit of time on your feet; I wear comfortable shoes with Dr. Scholls gel pad insoles. What a difference they make! I got them at Dollar General for about $6.00.
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9 comments:
Wow good work!!
I do batch cooking, but on a smaller scale than you do. I also do batch cooking for hubby's lunch, it goes into the freezer in microwavable containers and he can have a variety of healthy meals for lunch.
Yes, some of it is going with hubby to work. :) Those plastic containers are great - stackable and space saving.
That's a lot of chicken! I'm impressed.
I found a new blog (linked to from 4 Real Learning) by a woman who does frugal living. I thought you might be interested. Go to Wit's End.
Thanks! That's an interesting blog. :)
How do you batch cook beans? I've always been afraid to freeze cooked beans for fear when I thawed them out and heated them up they'd just be mush and not bean shaped anymore.
I haven't had any problem with mushy beans. I just cook and freeze - no special prep. I make beans Southern style - slow cooked with salt pork(or other seasoning meat) and veggies like lima beans or collards. I reheat them in a pan in the oven. I've also made other versions of Southern beans with tomato, and with many different types of beans. They turn out just fine - come out the way they were cooked.
Many of the cooked beans go into layered casseroles, some I serve over rice, and others get added to skillet meals. I don't use recipes, just improvise.
I think salt(seasoning meat) toughens the bean covering which strengthens the integrity of the bean. I should look it up, but it's a pretty sure guess. Sometimes I do things for years and forget why it's done that way! There is always a reason though. Southern style beans are a good bet - there are some great recipes online.
Here's a good link:
http://tinyurl.com/3jwan83
Check out pages 28-29
I cook a lot with vinegar(another Southern and Latino ingredient), and apparently this prevents and adjusts mushy beans. Slow cooking on low temp. helps keep the beans from bursting or going to mush.I pretty much slow cook everything. One thing that was interesting - salting during the soak has an opposite effect and makes the beans soften, not toughen! I never salt during the soak, always during the slow cook with the seasoning meat.
I need to start doing this again. What I need is a bigger freezer! Do you have a chest freezer in addition to your refrigerator?
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