Best types of meat on a budget? page

[Clymb]

What are the healthiest types of meat to get on a budget? I'm 20 years old and still live with my parents (and they never have anything but lunch meat really) but I'm going to be moving out with my boyfriend soon and we're going to be dead broke, lol. I don't know much about buying quality cuts of meat so any advice would be welcome?

[Cold Corner]

I'm a poor guy too, so finding quality meats can be difficult. I actually feel protein is over rated. So alot of the animal products I eat is the actual fat. I order either beef tallow or lard in bulk, and cook veggies or rice/beans with them. There's a couple places i order them from online, i can tell you if you're interested. If you live near a farm sometimes you can get it there too. Just make sure you don't get it hydrogenated. For cheap sources of sustainable meat i get wild alaskan pollock or wild alaskan salmon in can... although i'd be careful with the canned stuff... i've heard that its not the healthiest thing in the world... But i keep a few in the pantry for convenience. The wild alaskan pollock I get perserved in salt. I believe they sell it at most grocery stores and it costs about four dollars for a 1 pound package. It will usually last me about a week. Good luck, I hope this helps.

Dan

[Clymb]

Thanks, the canned stuff is something I figured I would have to turn to. Where do you order beef tallow? I don't do pork products, so no lard here.

[Len]

If you can swing it, invest in a crock pot. Then you can cook all sorts of cheap, delicious cuts really easily: chuck roasts, pork shoulders, briskets.

Otherwise: ground beef, chicken thighs, organ meats.

You can still do the same things with roasts/briskets if you have a big heavy pot, just a bit more labor intensive.

[Mog]

I second the slow cooker and get tougher cuts of meat for stews etc. Good for freezing and you potentially save if you have something in freezer vs getting take away

chicken wings and thighs. mince meat (again, great for slow cook dishes and freezing)

Pheonix - road kill? seriously there were a few threads about roadkill, and also systems in some states where you can put your name on a rota list and when the rangers pick up fresh kill they give it to you. I am not in the states but it sounded genuine, not tongue-in-cheek!

[peril]

Offal - liver, brain, kidney, heart, tongue. Cheap and very healthy

[duckmama]

Ground beef is usually pretty cheap (or cheaper than other meat). Also, I look in the "reduced for quick sale" section in the meat dept. It's stuff that's at or near its pull date, and as long as you cook it soon (or chuck it in the freezer for later), it can be quite a bit cheaper.

[walkingbird]

Offal - liver, brain, kidney, heart, tongue. Cheap and very healthy

How cheap is cheap? I don't live near a farm and the only plaice around that has a butchery is Whole Foods. Doubt they ever sell something like that.

[canio6]

Pheonix - road kill? seriously there were a few threads about roadkill, and also systems in some states where you can put your name on a rota list and when the rangers pick up fresh kill they give it to you. I am not in the states but it sounded genuine, not tongue-in-cheek!

I'm not sure that would work too well in Arizona. Up in the frozen north a dead deer might be preserved for a while in sub-zero temperatures. Something marinading on asphalt at 100+ degrees might not be so great from a food safety standpoint.

[aboutsaffron]

my husband & i live on ground beef, canned tuna, & b/s chicken breast tenderloins, simply because it's cheap. you might be able to find liver & similar things pretty cheap - our grocery store occasionally has liver for 1.99/lb.