Meat Buying Tips

By sarajean on 7/5/09 9:39am
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Today’s meat can run on the expensive side, and if you live in a house full of carnivores (as many of us do), feeding them on a budget can run your bank account pretty dry. Here are some meat-buying tips that can help you save money while keeping your family satiated and sane.

Buy whole meats. Instead of paying extra for chopped or diced meat, you can easily break it apart yourself and save a few dollars. The same goes for pre-made hamburger patties; you can always pat out your own.

Stock up during sales. You can freeze what you won’t eat right away. That said, sometimes meat that’s about to expire goes on sale, too, so just keep your eyes open for that while you shop.

Look out for markdown days. Many stores have a markdown on the same day each week.

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Neanderthals Liked It Chewy

By sarajean on 6/23/09 7:44pm
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We have this guy in our county who sets up a jerky stand every year and has all these signs proclaiming what kind of jerky he’s got, all the way up and down the road. It reminds me of the scene in Rat Race where Kathy Bates has those “You. Should. Have. Bought. A. Squirrel!” signs leading unsuspecting drivers to their doom.

Apparently, Neanderthals weren’t so different from our jerky makers-and-eaters today. A new study reports that they dried out the hides of mammoths in order to transport them, creating their own B.C. jerky.

Can you imagine making jerky out of a mammoth? I can’t even imagine it out of an elephant.

Scientists say that this jerky-making is what allowed Neanderthals to survive the cold—as well as to travel long distances without starving.

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Buying Humane Meat

By sarajean on 6/2/09 9:55pm
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Some people could care less where their meat comes from; they believe that people are far superior to animals, thank you very much, and should be able to feast upon them without guilt and with gusto. Others are quite the opposite, believing that, as people are animals, they shouldn’t eat their fellow sentient beings—that their food shouldn’t “have a face”—as well as that eating meat harms the environment.

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Top 5 Foods Most Likely to Make Someone Quit Vegetarianism

By taybot on 4/26/09 7:47pm
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I have been an off and on vegetarian for the past 8 years.  At one point, I was strictly vegetarian for 5.  This was an odd time in my life, people would constantly ask me why I chose not to eat meat?  Is it because you strongly believe in animal rights?  Is it for health reasons?  Is it part of your religion?  My answer was always none of the above.  I simply liked the idea of being vegetarian, so I stuck with it.  The strange truth was I never had a good reason to live that lifestyle, I was simply being myself.  I honestly don't think this is a big deal.  I don't think people should have to be able to clearly explain every life decision they make.  I've seen people do far worse things than choose vegetarianism, without a reason in the world to back up their actions.  

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Ethical Considerations: Higher Rate of Disease in Free Range Pork

By erika on 4/11/09 10:14am
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The New York Times is carrying an op-ed piece by James E. McWilliams about the higher rate of salmonella, toxoplasma, and trichina in free range pork compared to factory farmed pork. Unfortunately, McWilliams seems to miss part of the point about free range farming. He focuses almost solely on the taste of the meat in free ranged versus factory farmed animals.

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Bacon Salt and Baconnaise

By erika on 4/10/09 1:19pm
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A pair of Seattle entrepreneurs have developed two new bacon products which are setting the internet afire: Bacon Salt and Baconnaise. The Seattle Times has a marvelous article profiling creators Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow here.

 

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I wanna be a Cowboy!

By macallister on 3/30/09 5:27pm
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Like a lot of other people in the United States, I grew up in a family where "meat" was usually a synonym for beef. I remember my folks being quite concerned with the amount of fat marbling, and the quality of the cut, as well. Of course, we raised and butchered our own beef, chicken, and pork, so the quality of the meat we produced was quite legitimately something of an obsession with the family.

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Corned Beef

By erika on 3/13/09 9:41am
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It's corned beef season, which is either a blessing or a curse, depending on where you fall on the line. Personally, I have a childhood horror of corned beef, thanks to some very bad experiences early in my life.

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Chicken Fried Steak at Home

By macallister on 2/8/09 9:15pm
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There are things you just shouldn't do. You shouldn't make fun of crazy people. You shouldn't be deliberately mean. You shouldn't rob liquor stores or mini-marts. And you definitely shouldn't order chicken-fried steak in the average restaurant or diner. Some things are just always a bad idea, definitely won't agree with your gall-bladder, and might even harm your immortal soul.

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The Bacon Explosion Explosion

By erika on 1/29/09 12:30pm
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Fame is funny. Just before last Christmas, two barbecue bloggers, in response to a challenge from one of their Twitter subscribers, invented a mindbending new meal: The Bacon Explosion.

The Bacon Explosion consists of a lattice of bacon, wrapped around a bunch of sausage, which is rolled up into a fat tube of deliciousness. It is then grilled, or - ideally - smoked in a smoker. The roll as a whole clocks in with at least 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat. Delicious, delicious fat and calories.

Once the internet got wind of the Bacon Explosion, it, well, exploded.

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