Last week I bought beef, this week I bought chicken

. . . lots and lots of chicken.

I found a 40-lb case of chicken hindquarters on sale for $19.99, or just under 50 cents per pound. Again, I worked the pros and cons back and forth over this.

I realized that even I have a hard time with these large stock-up purchases -- a hard time, mentally. If I buy just a regular, weekly amount of any one thing, then I know that my risk is small. If we don't like it, or it takes up a lot of space in the freezer, or if I come across a better price, then my smaller purchase has limited effect.

But with a much larger purchase, it stays in the freezer for a much longer time, taking up space. If we don't like it, we still have to eat it, for months on end. And if I find a much better price later on, then I have locked myself out from those savings, by making such a large purchase, now.

And with the chicken hindquarters, there was the issue of how to deal with such a large package? Will I be able to break the quarters apart to cook them individually?

So, you see, these major stock-up purchases are not comfortable for me, either.

The tipping point which enabled my purchase was all of the conversation about potential rising poultry prices. If both chicken and turkey prices go up in this coming year, then this purchase will tide us over until next spring. And even if these price increases are not as bad as some anticipate, then I have still made a purchase with a more favorable price than even what I see for whole chickens.

In the case that I bought, the chicken was packaged in 4 10-lb bags. Not super convenient, like IQF (individually quick frozen), but these are manageable, enough. The frozen-solid quarters can be broken into chunks of about 3 large pieces in each of the 10-lbs bags, with the help of a mallet. I figure that thawing and cooking the chicken in this amount will be the equivalent of cooking up a small whole chicken, and will yield about 3 family meals per large chunk.

The other night, I cooked up 3 hindquarter pieces. We had teriyaki chicken the first night, chicken in marinara sauce the second night, and we'll have chicken soup for tonight's dinner.

I know that occasionally supermarkets put these 10-lb bags on sale for a good price. The obstacle for most folks is that the chicken is frozen solid in one large chunk, not exactly user-friendly for family dinners. The way around this, though, is if the frozen mass cannot be broken into smaller portions, the whole thing can be thawed, cooked up, then refrozen in individual pieces, to use the meat later. When you think about it, it's not much different than cooking up 2 whole chickens, or 1 large turkey at a time, then freezing the meat for later use.

Thawing a 10-lb bag of chicken parts takes about 2-4 days in a refrigerator. Once thawed, it can be safely held for 1 or 2 days more. (This means that you could cook up half of a 10-lb bag on day 1 after thawing, and the other half on day 2 after thawing, making the cooking a little more manageable.) And according to the USDA, thawed meat can even be refrozen, though there may be loss of quality. But this is only the case if you thaw the chicken in the refrigerator. If you thaw it in the microwave or in cold water, then it does need to be cooked immediately. Read that page in the link above, for complete information on safe thawing and cooking of frozen meats.

Currently, hindquarters are the least expensive option for chicken. The next best price on chicken that I have seen this spring is as whole chickens, at 88 cents per pound. I saved nearly 40 cents per pound on this 40-lb purchase, over buying the same amount in whole chickens. That's a grand total savings of $16.00. I can use that $16.00 to buy a lot of groceries for our family. AND, I have a hedge against potential rising poultry costs, including turkeys this next fall. Should turkey prices go way up, I may only buy 1 or 2, instead of 4 whole turkeys. I may still have chicken hindquarters in the freezer at that time, as well as a ham and possibly my last turkey from this past year.

Food inflation may be escalating on some items, but there are still some avenues to get around these high prices.


Now, I need your help, here. 40 pounds is a lot of chicken legs and thighs, which I prefer if the flavor is more disguised. I have a well-stocked spice cupboard, and a lot of basic ingredients to work with. What are your favorite, flavorful dishes that use dark-meat chicken? Do you have certain spices or herbs that you like with chicken? How about ethnic chicken recipes? Any that stand out as favorites in your house?

TIA, and I'm eager to hear how you like to prepare chicken legs and thighs!

When I go grocery shopping, I bring 2 things

I bring my calculator.

And I bring my list, which has 2 parts. The first part of my list has the items that I know are on sale and I want to buy.

The second part of my list has the items that I am looking for, but do not know the store price on yet. Next to each item, I write down a price point at which I am willing to make the purchase -- if the store price meets or beats this price, a lot like putting in a buy-order for a stock, "buy at xx $".

So, for instance, my list this week looked like this:

milk, $2.00 or less per gallon
maxipads <$3.79/48 ct
salt <50 cents/26 oz container
decaf coffee <$4.50/lb
chocolate chips <$1.89/12-oz bag
marshmallows <$1.60/lb
pinto beans <45 cents/lb
peanut butter <$1.25/lb
eggs <$1.25/dozen
shortening <$1.56/lb
meat: beef, not ground <$2.79/lb, whole chicken <88cents/lb, leg quarters <50cents/lb


I determine this price that I'm willing to pay, based on past purchases (through receipts or my grocery journal), or through searching online shopping venues that I would realistically buy this item, if I can't find it on sale. Cash & Carry has a search feature, which brings up the item and it's price. As Cash & Carry is one of my fall-back places to shop, I go with their prices on many items that I buy. I also buy many items at Dollar Tree, and feel I'm getting a pretty good deal, most of the time. So, I sometimes use their $1 price on items for my price point to beat.

Having this price point to beat, all written down, makes the shopping experience easier for me. After about 15-20 minutes of being in the store, my mind begins to feel the fatigue, and I find it difficult to accurately make calculations and decisions. I call it "shopper's confusion". Once shopper's confusion sets in, I am apt to make all kinds of mistakes in my calculations. So I simplify my task as much as I can, ahead of time.

There I am, standing in the aisle at the grocery store, calculator in hand, and figuring price per unit and comparing to my list price. If you happen upon me, I'll try not to block the whole aisle, promise!

Even with my low grocery budget, I still find items to buy that save me 10 to 15%, by using this shopping method.

Yesterday, I did my once-per-month Senior Discount Shopping Day at Fred Meyer. It's a 10% discount on house-brand products. I had been preparing my list, for this once-per-month opportunity for the last several weeks, writing things down as I thought of them.

I've been looking for marshmallows, for roasting at summertime cook-outs. I have been happy enough to buy marshmallows at Dollar Tree, in a 10-oz. bag for $1. I was looking to find marshmallows for less than $1.60/lb (sometimes marshmallows are sold in 10-oz bags and sometimes in 16-oz bags, here). The house-brand ones were on sale (not advertised in the flyer), for $1.50/16-oz bag. As a house-brand, I would also save 10% off that sale price, bringing my cost to $1.35 per 16-oz bag, 25 cents less than Dollar Tree's price per pound on marshmallows. I bought 4 bags, which at our current rate of cook-outs, will last 12 weeks, with once per week cook-outs in summer.

I saved 22% over what I was prepared to spend for this item. All because I put a few minutes into figuring out my list and the price I was looking to beat. I had similar success with a couple of other items on my list, as well -- shortening (for pie crusts), decaf coffee, eggs, maxis, and calcium supplements. I didn't find favorable prices on chocolate chips, salt, pinto beans, peanut butter or meat. I'll keep looking for those items.

With whittling down some of our grocery spending, I'm hoping to free up more of the budget for splurges, like meat and possibly seafood.

Do you make a list before shopping for groceries? What information do you write down on your list? Do you ever write reminders to use coupons? Do you write down prices that you're willing to pay for specific items? Do you carry a price-book when you shop? Can you remember a time when you never made a list, but just wandered the aisles "seeing what looks good"? I do. That's how I began my grocery shopping when we first got married. Now that just seems insane to me, to not plan ahead what I will buy.