After the big haul, there is prepping to do to make things easier throughout the month. First, I dealt with the meat. I cut up the pork loin into two roasts and the rest chops for at least five meals. Then I had chicken breasts from Sam's that divided: two packages of two breasts, one breast cubed for casserole and one cut into strips for salad. I took the beef and cut into three sections: one for pot roast (and leftovers into vegetable soup), one for beef and noodles and then strips for beef stroganoff or salad. I have extra for either a special lunch or even next month's menu. (YES!)
One of the specials / "instant savings" at Sam's was a huge can of peanuts. I already had a huge bag of chocolate chips in the freezer that I have been working from that I bought a couple of months ago. TRAIL MIX for the boys (and girls) lunch snacks. I grabbed a bag of dried cranberries and raisins at Aldi and voila! Over 20 bags of trail mix to grab for the next month.
Daughter helped to wash the grapes and bag those up for our snack basket in the fridge. Another 20 plus bags of snacks, plus one large bag in the freezer for sweet frozen goodness.
Next we had to do my lemons. I LOVE lemons. My dentist hates that I love lemons, but I don't care. I bought two bags of lemons at Sam's and we squeezed them up, except for a few for fresh lemonade with our planned BBQ dinner, and pour them in ice cube trays to freeze. They are the perfect ice cubes for some Southern sweet tea that my daughter makes for the family
The next thing to do is take the #10 can (is that an old saying now? or 6.6 lbs) and put all of the fruit cocktail into containers and jars for lunches too. That makes about 20 large servings, over the recommended 1/2 cup. Maybe someday I will make my own. But for $5 it's a nice convenience.
There are a few more things to do. Make and freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Make homemade pudding-I might attempt chocolate this time. I will show you how that goes. I need to make homemade mayonnaise-another new one. I have pie crusts to make for quiche, cherry pie and apple pie. I want to make some pizza pockets and chicken/broccoli/cheese pockets for their lunches too. I will also be cutting up a few celery sticks and carrot sticks for snacks and also for our Hot Legs dinner next week. I have lots of bacon and a small roll of sausage so I may or may not make some breakfast sandwiches/biscuits. Time will tell. These things can wait until I am ready to bake and cook. That will be another day, another blog.
My menu doesn't officially start until Monday (this is Saturday), so for the next two days I am going to focus on getting the chest freezer organized and the pantry too so it will hold all of our big sized cans, bags and boxes.
If you buy bulk, how do you store it or prep it?
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