Comments | kimberly_a: Chicken Stew (and Vegetarianism)

kimberly_a

Chicken Stew (and Vegetarianism)

Jan 20, 2007 16:07

Bought ingredients today for a chicken stew I'm making and was horrified at the cost of meat. Do people really buy this stuff every day without howling in pain? My eyes bugged out when I saw the price tag. No wonder I always used to cook vegetarian! That's difficult now, with all of Shannon's food constraints (no beans and no dairy, in particular, ( Read more... )

recipes, vegetarianism, cooking

Comments 10

wesleysgirl January 21 2007, 00:19:46 UTC

Ooh, that sounds good. Yum!

zubiemom January 21 2007, 00:35:03 UTC

You watch for sales, and buy your meat when it's on for a good price. Then you freeze it until you're ready to cook it. That's the only affordable way to do it.

Around here (Houston TX), every few months some store will offer boneless chicken breasts for $1.67/lb, boneless chuck roast for $1.69, ground beef for $.99/pound, or whole fryers for $.49.lb. I stock my freezer with what's on sale, and always have meat available. I read the sale ads religiously every week; they determine which store I shop at that week.

wolflady26 January 21 2007, 00:38:22 UTC

There was just a post on foodporn a day or two ago, about just this kind of subject - specifically, how expensive chicken breasts were. The general advice was to wait for sales, to buy cheaper thighs and legs, or to buy whole chickens and cut them into necessary parts. Funny how synchronous LJ can be sometimes!

And the stew sounds delicious!

webmacher January 21 2007, 01:46:26 UTC

ooh, i have to try that recipe.

Trader Joe's has cheaper chicken, I think. So does CostCo. Maybe we can do a run together sometime. I need to be more disciplined about shopping at those places, since our grocery store is so pricey!

kimberly_a January 21 2007, 04:02:29 UTC

I'd love to do some bargain shopping. Just let me know when I can tag along.

xiphias January 21 2007, 03:50:33 UTC

I was thinking about the price of meat. And I was talking with someone last weekend ( ... )

cartman94501 January 22 2007, 13:25:32 UTC

But that assumes that your time is worthless or that cutting up and freezing meat qualifies as a leisure activity.

xiphias January 22 2007, 13:54:00 UTC

Well, at least that the value your actions are adding are greater than the amount of money you'd be likely to make in a similar amount of time doing paid work ( ... )

cartman94501 January 22 2007, 14:10:30 UTC

You're absolutely right. Your time wouldn't have to be worthless, just worth less than the amount you save by doing this work yourself. If you've already worked 40 hours that week for wages, now you're sucking up your leisure time, so the calculation becomes, "Is an hour of meat cutting to save $x worth more to me than an hour of leisure time?" unless you consider meat cutting to be a leisure activity (I certainly don't).

I don't think someone who earns $16/hour in wages costs her/his employer anywhere near $30/hour in wages, benefits and payroll taxes. I think $20 would be more realistic. Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65%) on $16/hour come to about $1.22/hour. On the other hand, your 10% markup seems very low, so perhaps $30/hour is realistic.