Bacon ends and pieces

In yesterday's post, I mentioned buying bacon ends and pieces last month. I bought 6 lbs for under $2 per pound. Ends and pieces are just that, the ends and pieces when a large slab is cut for those nice, neat stacks of bacon. The portion of the hog, where bacon comes from, isn't perfectly rectangular, right? So, for packaging and presentation, the ends are trimmed off each side. The ends and pieces are packaged in a large lump of a pound or two, or up to 10 or 15 pounds, bought wholesale. Cash & Carry sells it as a "regular" item in 3-lb pouches (they occasionally get in large cases, as well).

Bacon ends and pieces are the same as regular bacon, just not so prettily lined up in the package (instead in a smooshed lump), and of non-uniform size pieces. BUT, they are HALF the usual price per pound of that regular bacon. What I have found is that a package of ends and pieces has several nice, full-size strips, a few too-long strips, several half strips, and lots of just pieces.

some "perfect" strips to use as a breakfast side

When I open a package, I sort the pieces according to how I'll use them. I first spread out 3 or 4 large sheets of plastic wrap onto the counter, and leave 2 or 3 square pieces of plastic off to the side (for wrapping up bundles, without having to wash hands in order to cut more wrap). I then begin pulling the bacon out of the package, and sort, as I go.

some half-strips to use at breakfast

I sort the pieces into piles: the perfect, save-for-special-morning pieces, the nice-but-too-long pieces, the half-size strips, the almost all fat pieces, and the very meaty smaller pieces. In a 3-lb package, about half of the pieces are in condition good-enough for breakfast strips (the perfect, the too-long, and the half-size strips). About 1/4 of the package is very fatty, and the last 1/4 is very meaty.

a pile of meaty bits, to chop and cook for quiche or topping baked potatoes

Once all the pieces are sorted, I wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until I'm ready to use them/cook with them.

a pile of fat to render and make "cracklings"

In this recent batch, I have enough bacon for 3 family meals of about 2 strips each, 2 meal-size packages of meat-bits, to further chop and cook for adding to quiche, or topping salads or baked potatoes, and 1 bundle of fatty bit (about 3/4 of a pound, maybe), that I'll chop into small chunks and render the fat from for cooking, and save the "cracklings" from rendering (those tasty, crunchy bits once cooked) to use to top soups, or for adding to cooked greens. The rendered fat adds wonderful flavor to soups, sauteed vegetables, cornbread, baked beans, and cooked leafy greens. (For how to render fat, here's a post I wrote on rendering ham fat. It's the same process.)

all packed up for the freezer -- the extra long pieces are in a bundle sitting
 on top of/front of the regular length, to give you an idea of difference
 between the "perfect" strips and extra long strips 

As in buying regular bacon, inspect the package to see if the pieces look meaty. If not, skip to the next pack.

I've seen ends and pieces at Trader Joe's, and understand that some other markets around the US also carry them (Winn-Dixie was one name, I remember).

Cash & Carry sells them because this is what restaurants use for "seasoning bacon" and for making bacon bits. They reserve the long-strip bacon for breakfast sides.

But I am using many of the ends and pieces as our breakfast side. It doesn't bother us that the pieces aren't all of the same length or look like mates to each other. For those short strips in the package, there are times when a shorter strip of bacon is actually preferred, like on BLTs. What do you do when you go to assemble a BLT? You break each strip of bacon in half! And when I use bacon as a chopped and crumbled topping for items like baked potatoes or spinach salad, the size of each piece of bacon doesn't matter.

So, in all, buying bacon ends and pieces is a win for us. The only, (and this is small), drawback, is the 20 minutes it takes to sort the 3-lb package. 20 minutes of my time yields a savings of at least $1 per pound. On a 3-lb package, that 20 minutes saved us at least $3.

September 2015 grocery spending journal

I went over budget last month by about $59, so this month, I only have $125.75 in the budget.

Sept 1. Fred Meyer for senior discount day. Powdered milk (7.55), store-brand Cheerios, 7 boxes (90 cents each), store-brand Rice Krispies, 2 boxes (90 cents each), store-brand decaf coffee, 11.5 oz cans, they were cheaper per ounce than the large cans, I bought 11 cans ($2.25 each), canned, whole olives, 2 cans (90 cents each), hulled sunflower seeds $1.34/lb (I bought 1.82 lbs for $2.44), ground nutmeg, 1/10 of a pound (3.60), onion powder (1.76), clearance bin 2 jars of pickled and roasted peppers ( 1-$1.59, 1-99cents), date pieces (1.30). Total spent $54.68

Sept 4. Cash & Carry, 3 lb bags of dried cranberries, in a case of two bags each. I buy 2 cases (10.86 each case), frozen corn, 5-lb bags, I buy 2 (3.49 each), canned sliced olives, #10 can, I buy 2 (4.78 each), heavy whipping cream, 64 oz, I buy 2 (7.24 each). Spent $52.74

Sept 7. Fred Meyer, milk on sale in half-gallons, 99 cents each, limit 6. Spent $5.94

Sept 9. Dollar Tree for 2 boxes of crackers and 1 pack of rice cakes, and 2 10-oz jars of peanut butter. Spent $5.00

Sept 11. Fred Meyer, for milk on sale, half-gallons, 99 cents each, limit 6 (5.94), also find 16-oz jars of Adams peanut butter for $1.50, I buy 16 ($24.00) Spent $29.94

Sept 15. Fred Meyer for butter, $1.69 each, limit 2. Spent $3.38

Sept. 18. Cash & Carry for 3 lb bags of bacon ends and pieces, I buy 2 bags ($5.82 each), 12.5 lb bag of popcorn (6.44), gallon of lemon juice (7.99). Spent $26.07

Sept 22. Dollar Tree for soy milk. spent $1.00

Fred Meyer for orange juice on sale, 99 cents half-gallon, limit 6. Spent $5.94

Sept 25. Cash & Carry for soy sauce, 1-gallon. Spent $4.25

Country Farms produce stand. I buy 17 assorted sugar pie pumpkins (49 cents/lb) and squash (69 cents/lb), 8 green bells peppers (1.98). Spent $17.42

Total spent for the month - $206.36, over my $125.75 amount by $80.61

Ugh! This leaves me just over $100 for October. The only good thing I can say right now is that at least there is nothing that I have to run out and buy this week. Although, I am still looking for vinegar and eggs at a good price.

I have been buying more "extras" in recent months. Things like crackers and cold cereal. We really don't need those items, but they've been nice for variety. I am rationing these out, however, to make them last as long as possible.

Well. . . we are pretty well set for supplies for the time being. And I am truly thankful for that. I am also grateful that we've been provided with the means to stock up like this.

Next week is Senior Discount day at Fred Meyer, and for once, I don't have a lot on my list to buy. The powdered milk is holding out (for adding to smoothies). I have enough coffee that unless regular coffee goes on sale, I don't need to pick up another can. I'll buy more nuts and seeds from the bulk bins, especially if any are on sale at the time. They make a good, energy-boosting snack for all of us. And my freezers are still quite full, which will deter me from buying too much that needs freezing. In fact, I need to make more room in the freezers if I plan on buying more than one turkey in November.

Sorry if I'm rambling. I do tend to think this all through while typing.

Anyway, I hope you had a successful grocery shopping month!

Planning a sandwich menu for a crowd

Here's our menu for our gathering last Sunday afternoon. In our invites we called it a light lunch, with a "start time" of 1:30 PM. Friends stayed until about 4 PM.

whole wheat buns and white buns for making sandwiches
sliced ham, sliced turkey, sliced Swiss cheese (w/ mayo, mustard, butter, salt & pepper available)
lettuce

grapes
baby carrots, broccoli pieces and cauliflower pieces, w/dip (Bacon Ranch salad dressing)
pretzels
peanuts
dried cranberries

frosted pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies
gingerbread cut-outs in the shape of leaves, drizzled with maple icing
a bowl of candy corn

self-serve pitchers of ice water, lemonade, and orange juice
self-serve pots of coffee, decaf and hot water for tea


This is not the least expensive menu we could have employed, but it was the most "self-serve" menu we could come up with, so that I could spend time with our guests.

Here's a tip for setting up the buffet table -- place the napkins and plates first, then follow with the side dishes, following with the sandwich fixings, then dessert. Guests don't tend to go overboard on the sandwiches, leaving little room for the less expensive sides. But they fill their plates in a more balanced way.

self-serve amounts

For amounts of sandwich ingredients:

2 to 3 ounces of sliced meat per person (or up to 4 ounces, if you're planning a game day lunch or for an all-men gathering)
1 to 1.5 ounces of sliced cheese per person (a little more, if you are slicing the cheese yourself, or if you're planning for more sandwiches. Remember, a slice of cheese is usually about 1 ounce.)
one-half head of leaf lettuce for every dozen people

For a light-lunch or reception crowd, count on 1.5 sandwiches per person.
For a game-day or meal crowd, count on 2 sandwiches per person, then follow up with additional snacks later in the game, or add substantial sides like potato or macaroni salad.
For a group of all men, count on 2 to 3 sandwiches per person.


For amounts of veggies and dip:

2 ounces of raw, trimmed veggies per person (if you're trimming the veggies yourself, you'll need more)
1.5 to 2 tablespoons of dip per person

For grapes:

2 ounces per person 



These amounts will leave you with some leftovers, but you shouldn't have way too much left over, nor shall you run out of anything.

With our group of 15 adults (mixed men and women), we went through just under 2 dozen sandwich buns, not quite 2 pounds (around 28 ounces or so) of meat, about 20 ounces of cheese, 1.5 pounds of grapes, 1.5 pounds of raw veggies and a cup and a half of dip. We also had pretzels, peanuts, dried cranberries and cookies on the table, which filled plates. We went through about 8 ounces of pretzels, 1.5 cups each of peanuts and dried cranberries.