Groceries the week of August 13-20

I scored a great deal on chicken leg quarters this past week - $.79/pound!  It was a 3-day special at Winn Dixie. I bought the last 10# bag at the price - and obtained a rain check for 2 more bags.  I'm SET for chicken for a while.  

Here're the rest of the proteins I bought this week:

• Ground pork $2.49/pound (bought at Publix) 
• Pork chops $2.99/pound (bought at Publix)
• Boston butt pork steak $1.73/pound (bought at Winn Dixie)
• Boston butt pork country style ribs $2.08/pound (bought at Winn Dixie)
• Thick cut bacon $3.33/pound (bought at GFS in bulk)
• Thin cut bacon $4.50/pound (bought at Publix in 1-pound pkg - next time I'll buy it at GFS)
• Beef back ribs $2.99/pound (bought at Publix)
• Jumbo chicken wings $1.79/pound (bought in bulk at GFS)

Because I bought so much (more than I intended), I split up the packages and froze most of it.  This time I remembered to separate* the pieces before freezing them so they don't freeze together in one lump.  Now I can defrost single or double portions at a time.  

I spent $75.74 on protein.  I bought enough to last 30 entrees.  That works out to ~$2.81/entree/protein.  That seems reasonable.  I'll learn more as I fly this path and have a trail to go back to and compare.  For all I know, $2.99/pound is horrible for pork chops.  Besides the chicken leg quarters, I know the bacon was a good deal:  bacon these days is normally $9-11/pound.

It's a good thing I bought the protein last week - there's nothing on sale at the stores this week that I want.  Except for salmon - it's on sale for $6.99/pound.  I'll wait until Monday or Tuesday to decide if I want any salmon.  I have 2 pounds of cauliflower in the freezer so I don't need veggies for another week or two.

*Nearly every time I write out the word "separate" I flash back to when I first learned how to remember how to correctly spell it - from watching TV.  No, not Seasme Street or Electric Company - although I watched those growing up.  No, I learned it from a police procedural.  When I was a child, I watched Adam-12 on television.  Officer Reed (Kent Mc Cord) was writing a report and used the word "separate."  He mentioned to his partner, Officer Malloy (Martin Milner) that he never remembered how to spell the word.  Malloy responded with something along the lines of "remember that you have to separate a rat" from his friends.  That memory trick stuck with me for over 30 years!  That show, and Hill Street Blues and S.W.A.T., also set a life-long enjoyment of police procedurals.