Making the Most of Meats

Yesterday, I went to the local grocery store early in the morning.  My son's pet fish needed his tank cleaned badly.  I always buy spring water from the grocery store since our home water is so hard and treated with a softener.  So, since I had to go into the germs to get the water, I figured I'd do some grocery shopping as well.  The less I can be out, the better.  This was only my 2nd time in a grocery store since the official shut-down began.

Having rarely been to the stores, it was a real eye-opener to see what was and wasn't available...and some of the prices.  The meat counter was dismal, but not hopeless.  Thankfully, I can work with pretty much any meat placed in front of me.  This is what I was able to purchase:

A 4 lb beef roast at $17.
A 5 lb bone-in pork roast at $8.60
A 5 lb pack of split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin on) $9

The beef roast and pork roast were low-grade cuts.  Certainly not the meat you would cook up for guests for Sunday dinner.  But, I could make them work.  Let's start with the roasts:

I cut off a hunk of the beef roast and a hunk of the pork roast.  I ran both through my meat grinder to make a 1.5 lb meatball/meatloaf mix.  This was cheaper than buying already ground beef and there was no meatloaf mix to be had at the store.

Since the cut of meat was cheaper, there was some added fat.  I removed the fat from both the beef and the pork roasts and rendered both down separately.  I ended up with a small amount of suet, which is great in delicious 18th century sausages and savory puddings.  Instead, I made it into a suet cake for my son's wild birdfeeder.

The pork fat was rendered into about 1/2 a cup of pure white lard.  I used the lard to make biscuits for dinner and still have some left!  I rendered down the remaining fat chunks into cracklings for breakfast.

The remaining beef roast is set aside for a slow roasting for Sunday dinner.  I'll save the broth from the roasting, and any remaining meat to make a hearty soup.  The remaining pork roast will be later placed in the crockpot for an ample amount of pulled pork for dinner and subsequent sandwiches.

All leftover bits of meat from both the grinding and preparation for rendering was cooked up and made into dog food for my dog's dinner that night.

The chicken breasts I divided into two containers to freeze until ready.  That should give me two initial meals.  I will save the bones and any uneaten skin from those meals to make a delicious chicken stock for soup, stew, gravies, or for boiling homemade noodles.

Anything I can do to make the most of what is available, save money, and avoid returning too often to grocery stores is very important to me.