Need to save money or just enjoy the challenge of doing it for less? My three girls continue to amaze me at how much food they can pack away. I have come to the “hollow leg” conclusion, since our dog has maintained her svelte 9 lbs. for the last two years! We have always packed daily lunches for work and school. I have seen the prices go up over the years, along with my girls’ appetites; it has been a challenge to keep the costs down.
I recently discovered a way to save on lunch meat. I have passed by the large, whole, fully-cooked, plain or maple-flavored boneless hams in the meat department many times before while shopping at our local Shur Save. It was simply too much for a meal unless extended family was coming to dinner! One time, for whatever reason, I viewed them as a significant cost savings in comparison to the deli meats. I did some quick calculations: the whole ham was priced at $2.99 per pound … the deli meat was $7.49 per pound … at two pounds of meat per week, we’d save $9 each week. That works out to $36 per month or almost $400 per year (assuming we have ham every day of course!) I wondered if I could have it sliced and freeze it.Would it still taste good? I asked the meat manager if they could slice it for me and he said “Sure, what thickness?” and, “Would you like it divided up into specific increments?” I had him slice the ham up and put it on a tray.
At home I divided it into portions that my family would go through in a normal 5-day school week. I packed the ham in quart-size zipper freezer bags, squeezed out as much air as I could, and froze it flat. It was a success! I can pull out a package from the freezer at supper time and it is thawed enough by the next morning for the girls to pack their lunches. I wash out the empty bags with soapy water and reuse for the next time. Now I am on the hunt for a fully-cooked, gluten-free, boneless turkey breast so I can do the same. If you have the freezer space, it’s worth it.
- Joan Melvin
Tags: freeze, gluten-free, sandwiches, savings
More about Amy and Scott Dawson, creators of Lunchtaker.com: One of our core focuses is on nutrition and fitness. Our children both attended a parent cooperative pre-school where the morning snack was as healthy as possible, and our family liked the opportunities for new foods that arose in pre-school. As our children go through grade school, we are focusing on continuing the trend of ensuring we feed ourselves a variety of foods, all good for our bodies... read more...
Posted Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 12:03 pm and filed under How-To, Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
