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I heard that chicken prices are contracted way out and many of the growers may be eating the losses with higher food and energy prices so maybe it's just not hear yet.

WOW. Thats kind of scary and could be a recipe for inflation thats 'sticky' to the high side... If price inflation kills producers off due to competition then no only do prices go up after the die off but supply goes down as well to match any loss of demand on the consumer side. Prices will go up and then just stay there. God help us all if we ever get a 'spike' in a commodity where producers are locked in like that...

I DEFINITELY notice the food inflation - it doesn't stop me from eating, but if I was a common-day working man with a big family, it would be close to Mac-N-Cheese-only and below that when the kids get hungry that's when the riot potential shows up.

Genesis: Not seen the price of cheese lately, I guess. :P

Mac and cheese (well, unless you buy the boxed ****) isn't as cheap as it used to be.

My whole family loves mac and cheese with hamburger in it, but the damn cheese is so expensive that it's about as cheap to just have steak and potatoes.

A couple of pounds of red beans, a ham hock, celery, onion, cayenne, thyme, bay leaf & black pepper. Maybe an andouille sausage. Total cost: about 8 bucks. Serve over a little rice and you're eating for a week. Helps having a Cajun cook for a mom.

Binney you need a crock pot. Buy a cheap roast when it goes on sale. Toss it in the crock pot with onions, garlic, green peppers, other root vegetables like carrots or turnips if you like them, add seasonings like Worcester, rosemary, tarragon, sea salt or whatever other seasonings are good. Add some water, set it on low, and leave it for the day. At dinner you'll have the most tender beef that's falling apart. Make rice or potatoes, add a salad, and eat up.

A crockpot fixes a lot of problems with tough chunks of meat which of course are the cheaper cuts.

If you like sausage, put a pound or two in the crock pot with all the above ingredients except the carrots and turnips, add diced tomatoes and have Amish pepper sausage sandwiches on a hoagie roll. Yum.

Storage food recipe - 2 lbs of dried green peas, 1 lb lentils, onions chopped fine, some carrot, a diced potato or two, a ham hock or leftover ham, mint, rosemary, salt, pepper, add water to the top of the pot, set on low. Green pea soup ready by the end of the day.

A crock pot doesn't work for die hard rare beef fans

Yep. I have a crock pot and it gets used a lot. Chili, pot roasts, whatever. Toss in the meat and veggies, a bit of water or some broth, turn it on, that's that.

Incidentally, here's a REAL simple (but bad for you!) self-gravying roast if you don't mind the ridiculous caloric content of the gravy.

Take hunk of beef. Cut doesn't matter (much)
Place in crock pot; slice hunk of meat if necessary so it can be covered by what is coming next (if it's wildly asymmetrical you may need to cut it into two pieces.)
Take 2 packets of beef gravy and HALF the recommended amount of water (NOT the full amount.) Heat until well-mixed and warm and just starting to thicken.
Add one LARGE can of Cream of Mushroom Soup with heat off. NO ADDITIONAL WATER. Stir.
Dump gravy-cum-mushroom-soup mix into crock pot to cover meat.
Cook on LOW setting in crock pot for 8-10 hours.

Excellent with mashed potatoes; the gravy this produces is insanely good but has a nutty number of calories.

5 minute prep plus the ~20 minutes to make the mashed potatoes at the end.

Sounds good, Gen. Some of my favorite meals come under the "heart attack on a plate" section of the menu. The secret is making enough NOT to have left overs!

That's a serious heart attack on a plate. The gravy is extremely good but I have no ****ing clue how bad it is in the calorie department, other than knowing that it's in the category of "if you have to ask, don't eat it."

Wow Gen, I wouldn't be as concerned about the calorie count as I would the amount of sodium!

Sounds yummy, though.



Our carnitas tonight were deeeeeelicious. Threw chunks of the meat in a bowl with a little hot sauce & some sauteed onions, served it with flatbread. Tear off a hunk of the flatbread and use it to pick up chunks of pork and onion & soak up the juice. I'm not sure what cuisine that all falls under, but it sure was tasty and I sure am full. It was about $5 to make everything and there's enough leftovers for 3 or 4 more servings.

yeah when price inflation finally hits the meat I'm gonna have a problem... I eat mostly meat and fruits for medical reasons... Bleh.

I just took a nice chunk of pork loin out of the freezer to use tomorrow. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but the crock pot is sounding good...

We had the kids down for the weekend, so thawed some of the filet mignon we bought on sale last fall. Nice, two-inch thick cuts, well-salted and grilled five minutes a side. NOTHING I like better! (And at less than $7/lb, we can still do it occasionally.)

You're right, Chellie. The "right" amount of salt on beef is usually *more* than is strictly healthy. But hell, you gotta die of something...

Asimov, chuck it in there with some beer & rosemary. My Gram braised the New Year's pork roast with beer and it was fantastic - and she used Grampa's Natty Ice, so it wasn't even good beer!

I'm out of rosemary. :(

Tried to pick some up the last time I went to the store, but they were out too! Damnit!

No better seasoning for pork than rosemary.

Won't help this time around, but for the future:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_grocer....

I get all my dry herbs & spices through them. The only place I can find 'em cheaper is at the Dollar General and those are probably mostly sawdust and melamine.

(note to self: order more cumin!)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

EXCELLENT prices. I agree on dollar general spices - ugh.

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Food inflation cannot be maintained for long in this economy.

It is too easy for consumers to substitute cheaper brands and goods for more expensive ones, use quantity discounts, and substitute cheaper foods for more expensive ones.

Sorry for dragging this earlier post back into the discussion: Substitutions do not mitigate inflation. Just because one can substitute a cheaper product into one's shopping basket, doesn't alleviate the inflation problem. It just means you're getting less for the same spend. You don't think that the substitutes haven't inflated too?

Unfortunately, substitutions is the manner in which the standard of living will decline in the western world.

Damn those are nice prices.

Very nice prices and the quality is excellent. Flat shipping rate, so if you're going to order, order several bottles. I've used them for years now and I've always been very happy with the quality & service!

Well, bookmarked it. I know where all my spices are coming from now. Sick and tired of the old flavorless **** you buy at the stores anyway. If those are packed fresh weekly, it's GOTTA be an improvement. [Edit: Not to mention the prices. Hell, you'll pay that much for a small jar from walmart.]

Never mind the stupid prices at the local store. Screw that.

Those are some great prices! Thanks for that link.

I couldn't read this whole thread b/c of work demands but I've notice serious food inflation here in DC Metro.

Pound of ground beef 75/25 4.49 a pound. I making chili tonight. WTF? Even the larger quantities are more per pound so buying in bulk doesn't pay around here.

Asi: No pork loin in the crock. Simply brown it on a high temp for 15 minutes in the oven and then turn the temp down to what is normal to cook a poak loin per pound and let it roast to the proper temp. Awesome! I recently got a three foot pork loin that the butcher cut down into manageable sizes and freezer wrap for me for 9 bucks. Special sale. I now have a second freezer and fridge in the garage which helps with taking advantage of this kind of sale.

Another thought. One heart attack on a plate with a good long walk each day will keep you fit and healthy. That's what they did during the depression. That's what my grandma told me anyway. The other meals were an apple or some nuts to keep the engine running.

FWIW.

Tomatoes: $4.19/lb

What's the story? don't they come from Mexico?

I actually have a crock pot that my mom gave me and I've never used it. So if I were to go buy a beef roast, what is the actual name of the meat on the package I'd get? I remember seeing a few different kinds of beef roast. Sorry to be such a noob but I've never bought a roast before. I'll go get some potatoes, carrots, celery and whatnot and try it it out.