posted Tue, 03/05/2024 - 08:11
10113
+ 4 What are your tips for saving money on groceries and meals?
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Over the last couple years my grocery bill has gone through the roof. To feed just myself and a dog i spend anywhere from $70-100/week at the grocery store pretty easily. So i'm looking for all you're tips & hacks for both getting groceries cheaper and meals that can be made on a budget while still being filling and reasonably good for getting in the macros/calories we're trying to get in.
So, what do you boys got?
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They make lots of sizes. Our freezer is full, that is one reason I bought the freeze dryer. We can convert a lot of stuff out of the freezer and make more room. We also have lots of canned food but none of those methods last as long as freeze drying.
Looks like i can get one thats 3.5-5 cu.ft. for under $200. That would really up my freezer storage capacity as i just have the one in my fridge currently.
Shoot your food during hunting season.
I took three deer last year. That is plenty for the wife and I. Would love to score a moose one of these years or perhaps do a caribou hunt as well. But whitetail is basically free for me and they come right to me.
Moose is very good but you better have a BIG chest freezer. My cousin got one and she put the rack on top of a car she uses around the yard. Caribou is good too but the best is elk. She keep bees for honey and has air lines in all the maple trees at her house. Garden greenhouse everything. If there was a zombie apocalypse I’d go right to her house. Seriously if you want some good meat elk is where it’s at. My wife got a deer last year but she used a Chevy Cruze lol.
I like Elk but have had good and bad, it is very lean. Moose, every one I have had has been amazing. Caribou also very tender but with the unique flavor of tundra grass
It is just my wife and I these days since the kids are grown and gone. After the pandemic restaurants basically suck with few exceptions and fast food like MacDonalds is a complete rip off so this week marks one year since I have ate there or any fast food.
We do a lot of our shopping at Sams or Costco (Sams is generally cheaper) . I make large batches of food and freeze it for later meals. I also shoot 2-3 deer and grind most of it up for burger processing them myself. With that same grinder I will buy a pork shoulder and make italian, breakfast or whatever sausage. In the fall I will make two huge lasagna batches that produce 36-40 servings. I will make pork carnitas and freeze the meat.
Lately tho since going to Puerto Vallarta and falling in love with this little old lady and her daughters Birria tacos. So since we have been home I have made three big batches that produce around 7lbs of finished meat plus 3 jars of fucking awesome soup base. We also have huge gardens so I freeze lots of jalapenos and serano peppers,etc.
Bottom line: Google is your friend and can show you recipes that will blow away anything you will find in a restaurant.
Anyone interested in making the Birria meat this recipe is very good accept I add dried Ancho peppers and definitely add two canned chipotle peppers, they make a world of difference guys. Night and day without the chipotle.
https://houseofyumm.com/beef-birria-and-birria-tacos/
I get to the grocery store early and get the marked down ground beef, my local store has these premarinated chicken fajita meat that's vacuum sealed and at least once a month it's on sale for $2/lb buy rice and canned veggies at discount stores. Frozen veggies are cheap for a week as well. I did a tik tok a while ago on meal prep and showed prices and end results I think it came out to like $35 a week
I buy and cook meat on a very large scale. I like to smoke large cuts of meat like pork shoulder, whole chickens, beef brisket, pork loin etc along with bulk sides 10-12 sweet potatoes, a few lbs of brown rice etc. I usually cook on Sunday then break it down into 2-3 lb packs, vacuum seal them, deep freeze them and thaw them to eat later. Buying meat in bulk from Sam’s/Costco/butcher shop saves a ton of money and having pounds of different food pre-cooked and frozen makes life a lot easier.
Same here. Great advice and somehow Sams has very good quality meats
They do! I buy almost all of my meat there. The USDA Prime filet mignon is absolutely delicious and worth every penny.
Not to mention lamb chops for 5.99 a pound
They're prime ny strip was one of the best steaks I've ever made.
I can get 3 lbs of 92/7 ground beef for $11.xx at sams. That's a damn good price as it goes for around $7/lb at my regular grocery store.
Shit yeah bro! I buy the 10 lb packs of 93/7 for a little less then break them down into four 2 lb packs to freeze long term, but you have the idea! The price of meat by the lb without volume is ridiculous!
Markus Ruhl came up with an easy meal hack that is out of this world delicious - and cheap to boot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwIu9CLEJW8
Markus was an absolute monster, in fact it should of been illegal to be that big.
The whole meat shake thing sounds absolutely disgusting to me. I'm not sure I could bring myself to try it. But if it works for you awesome.
Hunter labrada used this technique one season. Then he apologized to his fans’!!!! and ATE MEAT and did better at his next show. Just because you can keep it down DOESNT mean its being absorbed and i think some one is missi g the point wherr the body has to break down the meat can speed up metabolism
I think there is some truth to this. I've seen mixed things about drinking vs eating nutrients. Some say it absorbs better when drinking and others say it doesn't absorb as well as just eating. Either way I do not recommend using as a staple especially if you are competing. The guys I see using this everyday are amateur bodybuilders or just doing bodybuilding as a hobby. Serious pros know the proven way is to eat your food lol I'm sure genetics play a role as well. Markus was a beast and probably on a lot of gear which allowed him to eat whatever and absorb close to all the nutrients.
eating non-preprocessed foods Burns more calories and takes longer to digest which allows more nutrient uptake. When eating processed foods and shakes the food passes too quickly through the gut to be completely utilized.
There's a reason practically every brand of shake has 20 to 30 grams as a serving. If someone is adding an extra scoop to their shake, it's a waste, it's just being pissed out.
Unfortunately we see in the pics what a shake over real food shows today
I just realized I used the word “orchestrated” twice today in verbal conversation. Who the fuck does that? And why did I just post this here?
Do you use one of those words of the day calenders?
No, but it came out twice. It’s an unconventional word to use, but I said orchestrate twice in one day. There’s a lot involved that fucks with me, even took a video (self) for legal reasons, but now saying the word “orchestrate” twice in the same day is fucked up. I dunno. My feet feel better.
Pretty sure there's plenty of orchestrating going on in the world these days.
You swallowed a Dictionary or what Ya Pikey?!!
Did you see the study that came out end of last year on comparing a 25 gram shake to a 100 gram shake? They used casein but the 100 gram shake had elevated protein synthesis 12 hours later, the 25 gram one had it elevated for about 2 hours.
I am pretty sure I read recently that Casein Micellar has an absorption rate of about 12 grams per hour Beard. It was when I was reading all about different varieties of Casein as I am a big fan of Casein Hydrolysate.
Dug it up for ya:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666379123005402#:~:t....
Interesting stuff - I am agreeing with ya bud.
I always felt like casein gave me the worst gas of the protein supplements but good long sustained release.
Wouldnt you just take a tablespoon of almond butter to slow the digestion rate
That doesn't surprise me. Casein has sustained release.
I was under the impression that pureeing meat does not inhibit its nutrient bioavailability, at least I have found no scientific literature which suggests it does. That isn't to say it would increase its nutrient bioavailability either. However, there is evidence to suggest pureeing certain vegetable and fruits does increase the biolavailability of micro and macro nutrients, respectively; one such example being carrots.
The liquid meat protein shake approach is not appetizing in the slightest, but I hypothesize the protein bioavailabilty is superior to that of a traditional protein powder shake. I wish there were a laboratory controlled study that conclusively illustrates one way or another, vis-a-vis comparative analysis, rather than basing it off anecdotal experiences or, as in my case, based purely off conjecture.
Or fermentation... a carrot is like a rock in the gut and passes through the gut too quickly to be fully digested.
Pureed food is thicker than a liquid and probably has ample time to be digested... perhaps even quicker.
Protein is primarily digested in the small intestine. Shakes will pass through the gut much faster than, say, a pureed chicken breast.
You're not wrong.
Carrrots. I never see any bodybuilder eat carrots let alone purée. Not sure why. Just never see them eat them
I was only using carrots as an example to illustrate the point of pureeing certain foods as being more nutrient bioavailable. I like carrots, but I am uncertain I would eat them puree... Meat on the other hand, I would and have.
Pureed meat and whey protein isolate will definitely have different absorption times, with whey being absorbed faster which results in higher amino acid blood levels for a shorter time. But meat or pureed meat would absorb slower. They claim that all of the protein from whey shakes are absorbed but that's doubtful. It's in and out way too fast.
The question is which would be more beneficial? On the one hand, the whey is absorbed faster, resulting in elevated amino acids in the blood in a short period of time. On the other hand, those same amino acids may not stay elevated in the bloodstream for as long a duration as the pureed chicken. It could be a matter of ingesting a combination of the two - both whey and pureed meat simultaneously. Then again, perhaps that is too much protein at once for the body to absorb at one time and most of it would be wasted. These are the types of things I wish science was able to answer with laboratory controlled studies. Although, I am fairly positive we can deduce certain things based off previously existing research that already explains how some of these processes work - and that is great for anecdotal experimentation as it provides us with a road map!
Edit: I am aware I am pedantic! LOL! In all seriousness, I want to understand the scientific processes behind these types of things that otherwise seem inconsequential, yet produce superior results in tandem with other discoveries related to muscle growth.
Good question and I'm no expert but I think I agree with you about having a combination of those two proteins. Whey is strange...for example it has a high bv score yet it's absorbed so fast that some of the aminos from it are oxidized so there's definitely a dilemma there. On the other end, casein protein has a lower bv score yet it's absorbed slower in the system with less oxidation of amino acids. Both have their pros and cons. Some studies contradict each other so who knows. Personally I like fish as a medium digesting type protein. And pureed chicken would absorb slower than whey protein, especially whey hydro or Iso, regardless if it's pureed. It probably absorbs at a rate similar to egg white protein.
Funny thing, I do this but with canned chicken breast. Saves quite a bit and actually digests so we'll I can drink right before the gym and have no problem training. Never tried it post work out, if the English translation was correct in that video sounded like Markus drank his post work out. Here's my recipe for anyone who is interested:
1 can of Chicken Breast (6 packs sold @ Costco)
1 scoop greens & reds (any vegetable & Fruit Supp)
1 scoop any immunity booster supplement
1 squeeze sugar free water flavoring (Mios, Crystal Light, etc.)
Add as much water as you would like. For me I add 12oz so it's easier to drink. Blend all together and voila. 50g protein and all the veggies you need in a day. Drink in 10 seconds.
If it's to thick or chunky can be hard to swallow. Also started adding a whole orange or banana and that adds a heap of flavor to mask the chicken. Honestly thinking I might try the tuna now too after watching that video. That's be 2 "meals" I could easily drink and check off the list. Of course I have whole meals as well. Would not recommend only drinking your food lol even though in theory that would probably still work. The point is canned chicken, way cheaper than uncooked chicken. Same for tuna.
YOU ARE OFFICIALLY 'HARDCORE' MY BROTHER!!
The thought of drinking chicken I just cannot get my head around, then again seen guys drinking a tin of tuna and coke. I wonder if afterwards you feel like you have just had a large liquid meal or actually eaten a meal as it must feel different?
Try Vikings Tuna shake sometime. It really isn't bad. Can of tuna, diet pepsi and cinnamon.
Well if your thinking of the taste of chicken then yes it's not pleasant but what if it didn't taste like chicken? Same with whey protein, have you ever had straight whey unflavored? It's also not pleasant lol so add flavoring like Mios! Citrus flavors maskthe chicken the best. You do what you have to when you need to be in a calorie surplus. As for the feeling, I'll be hungry and ready for my next meal, drink one of these shakes and be satisfied like I ate a meal. Then add some carbs like rice, quinoa, etc. After the carbs I'll feel full.
Btw you can buy giant bags of rice, oatmeal, quinoa, etc for way cheap at Costco. Would highly recommend Costco membership as it pays for itself. They give you money back when you buy stuff there so get the lowest tier membership and buy at least $250 in stuff a month and by the end of the year they will send you a check for the cost of your membership. Sounds like your hitting that dollar amount already. Or even find a friend or family member that will take you or let you use their card.
So do you heat this thing up beforehand or just drink it all cold??
Cold! Tried it warm once and definitely wasn't a fan but I could see others maybe preferring that.
Also note that the supplements I add in the shake are flavored (mango, pineapple, berry, etc). This also helps.