HEADS UP ~ This is not a Vegetarian’s Guide to Power Cooking.
I went to Winn Dixie with a $10 off $40 purchase in my hand and headed to the meat department. Anytime I am blessed with one of these coupons, I take that opportunity to stock my freezer.
Here is what I bought:
- 3 pack NY boneless strip steak (on sale)
- 2 London Broils (BOGO)
- 2 family packs pork chops (BOGO)
- family pack ground chuck (on sale)
Total value: $91.74
BOGO & sale discounts: -$39.35
Subtotal: $52.39
Coupon: – $10.00
Total: $42.39 (54% Savings)
Okay… before you judge me on the steak, let me say this: we have not had a steak dinner in about a year and my husband works HARD. Sometimes, he deserves a treat ESPECIALLY when he was going to be a single Dad for the weekend because I was taking off to a homeschool/blogging conference. Know what I mean?
What to cook ~
Instead of doing the typical thing of dividing up the meat and placing it in the freezer, I decided to go ahead and cook most of it. Correction… I decided to have Bill go ahead and cook it… on the grill.
About thirty minutes before I knew he would have the grill ready, I started prepping the meat.
We are purists when it comes to steak.
I used salt and pepper on both sides and then drizzled the steaks with red wine vinegar. The steaks rested on the counter for about 30 minutes, and I flipped them once.
Note: Red wine vinegar will cause the meat to brown a little as it rests. This is normal and does not mean your meat is spoiling. Allowing the meat to rest on the counter brings it to room temperature which makes the temperature easier to regulate on the grill.
One pack of pork chops was sacrificed to the grill. This is enough for two meals in our house.
I placed the pork chops in a rimmed backing sheet. Salt and peppered both sides. Drizzled with Worcestershire sauce and allowed them to rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, flipping the pork chops once.
The other pack of pork chops was divided. Half were tucked away to make oven-fried pork chops and the other was prepped as a Pork & Peppers Crock Pot Bag. Both of those bags were tucked away in the freezer.
Moving on to the London Broil… don’t you just wonder what to do with that sometimes? My goal was to use the two London Broils to make four meals, plus leftovers at each meal for Bill’s lunches.
For one London Broil, I sliced it in half, seasoning one portion for Chinese and the other for Mexican.
On the Chinese-flavored half, I rubbed the meat with salt, pepper and minced garlic on both sides. Then, I drizzled the meat with rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. This piece will be sliced thinly with an electric knife to be added to a beef, broccoli and carrots stir-fry.
On the Mexican-flavored portion, I rubbed it heavily with taco seasoning and soaked the beef with the juice of one lime. I promise you… this meat is going to make some awesome grilled fajitas! The seasoning is a little different from what I have done before but my mouth is watering as I think about them.
The other London Broil was divided in half but then I cut it even further to make a couple of different meals. One half was sliced into strips. I’m thinking… maybe Teriyaki Steak? Not sure. As for the other half, I cubed the meat to make Country-Fried Steak Tips in Gravy.
As Bill took the meat out in a rotation to get everything grilled on our little, round, ten-year old Weber grill
Power grilling tips ~
I have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to power grilling but the most important things to remember are:
- Under-cook. If you plan to freeze the meat for another night, remember to under-cook it slightly to allow the microwave to heat the beef without making it into shoe rubber.
- Avoid cross contamination. Use clean utensils and wash your hands between each preparation.
The final tally ~
In the end, we had enough meat for 11 meals! Seriously, eleven meals for just $42. That’s less than $4 per meal.
If you are wondering about the total time commitment, everything was ready in about 90 minutes. If we had a larger grill, it would have taken less time than that.
Have you tried power cooking on the grill? What are your favorite things to batch cook?
This post is linked with love at Life As Mom.
Thanks for this! A friend directed me to your blog. Question: Which did you cook before freezing, and which did you freeze raw?
Hi Pamela! Sorry if it was not clear. The only thing we cooked and did not freeze was the steaks. These items were left raw ~ The meatloaf was stored in the refrigerator for two nights later. The meat (for chopped steaks), pork (for fried chops), London Broil (for strips and country-fried tips), and the crock pot bag all went in the freezer raw. Hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
My pleasure. 😀
Thanks so much for sharing, as I am trying to get my freezer stocked as well as get my meal exchange ideas. My ALL TIME favorite London Broil Recipe is below (You can also make it Vegetarian style w/ Mushroom’s if needed but I like my steak). Next time you score one you have to try it. I always freeze 1/2 and grill up the other for LOTS of dinner.
London Broil– Mix 1 cup of soy sauce, 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1 TB sugar, 3
crushed garlic cloves and 2 tsp of ground ginger in a gallon
sized Ziploc bag, add London Broil or Portobello caps. Let stand for 4 hours,
turn often.
Broil your London Broil for about 4 minutes per side. Check doneness; add time as appropriate for your specific preference on doneness.
Portobello caps: Marinade in same fashion, then broil starting cap down. Turn after 2 minutes, drizzle marinade inside of cap-up cap, broil about 1minute more.
Enjoy!
Oh my yum! Thank you for sharing this recipe, Jacki! I cannot wait to try it. 🙂
Hello! I got here through a link from MoneySavingMom. I loved the ideas for the meat. We have “power grilled” pork chops, steak, hot dogs and rotisserie chicken! As I glanced through your blog I noticed your heading of “autism”. My granddaughter was recently diagnosed and I will definitely be reading through your blog for ideas and encouragement! I home schooled my 23 year old daughter with Down Syndrome so special needs have a special place in my heart. 😀
So glad you found me, SandyB! Yes, my daughter has an Autism Spectrum Disorder and we homeschool and do our therapy at home. I try to share everything I can. Would love to have you visit often.
No judgement on the steak! We buy it usually twice a month, my husband works hard and we don’t want to live life on salads! That is crazy! Eat steak its good! We have found the best kept secret is a chuck eye, oh they are so good marinated for 24 hrs and then broiled! OMG!
P.S. we have 5 kids too and 4 of them are very hungry boys!
You are the second person to mention chuck eye to me, Keiva. I am going to try that soon. How do you marinate it? Anything special?
I either marinate with a squeeze bottle of A1 new york steakhouse or for a much richer flavor I use montreal steak seasoning( that one you have to add all the liquid too). 24hrs is the key or I freeze it in the stuff so its all done when i am ready to cook it!
Hi, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do this…but I don’t eat red meat or pork 🙁 Can you point me in a direction for ideas on poultry and or fish to try doing this with? As a single mom, I’d love to have 1 foot in the door when it comes to cooking dinner! Thanks
Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie. I am clueless when it comes to fish unless it is the tuna that comes in a can. {blush} Isn’t it crazy that I live on the Gulf Coast and cannot stand seafood?
We have done similar things with chicken, batching cooking them on the grill or preparing crock pot bags. (I have a Hawaiian Chicken Crock Pot Bag recipe coming soon!) You could even substitute ground chicken for the beef in the meatloaf but make sure you check for done-ness with an instant read thermometer. One of my favorite ways to power cook chicken is to marinate it all differently and then pop it into the oven at the same time. I use aluminum foil to fashion dividers on the baking sheet so the flavors do not mingle but you could always use different baking sheets too.
I hope this helps a little.
I have never wrapped my meatloaf in bacon. I have to try that the next time I make a meatloaf, it sounds like it would be so good.
Oh it WAS. I covered it in barbecue sauce too and my husband was so happy. I would love to know if you like it when you try it. 🙂
Looks like you have some great ideas for meat. I do like you did with the london broil. I Ieave some whole, cut some up. The prices of meat have gone up so much now in our area we are thinking of purchasing meat packs from our local butcher as the prices are about the same as the sale price at the grocery store.
I found your post through Money Saving Mom link and I am glad I did. Your crockpot pork and pepper is something our family will have to try.
I wish we had a local butcher because I agree that prices are steadily rising. I am so happy that you were able to swing by. Crystal is one of my favorite blogging people. She is priceless. 🙂
this is wonderful thank you so much makes it easier for me to cook different things with the same cuts of meat that i always get and i love stockpiling for my freezer makes life easier and less stressful
Life is DEFINITELY less stressful when you have ready-to-go options in the freezer. I am so glad you found this post helpful. 🙂
We shop for 2 weeks at a time and I am always looking for ideas, I don’t like cooking the same thing over and over. I got GREAT ideas from you and will try some of your recipes….thanks
No judging here….you enjoy that steak! People work hard and eat chicken and ground beef and tuna fish much of the time. When a chance comes to have steak, do not feel guilty about it.
Thank you, Jane. I appreciate your understand and encouragement VERY much!
Tabitha, you are so organized! I love organization, yet I am rarely organized. I do make however ,make big batches of foods that freeze well; that is about the extent of my organization.
I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!
Teeheehee… Remember, you only see what I LET you see. LOL I am not organized at all and have the messy closets and boxes of junk to prove it… but, thank you. I pray you have a very Merry Christmas too. 🙂
In our area, a dollars-off coupon cannot be combined with any other offer, such as a BOGO – so this would not work for us.