A Turkey Kind of Week

I'm just going to tell it like it is. I hate beef. I used to be an extremely picky eater, but I'm much more open minded now that I cook. As I expanded the amount of foods that I eat, I kept trying to like beef...but I just don't. Now, don't get me wrong, I want to like it. I want to have that excitement that people feel when they bite into a juicy steak, but it just makes me want to puke.

So I substitute ground turkey for beef in lots of recipes and it works great for me. Plus, turkey is really a healthier choice than beef anyway. And God knows after the rice krispie treat binge I went on earlier this week, I could use a dose of healthy.

Last week, Giant had Shadybrook Farm ground turkey on sale. 3 lbs for a little over $5. Awesome price. I marched in there on Saturday to buy a whole mess of it and discovered that I wasn't the only one excited about the sale. But don't worry. There's a thing called a "raincheck" that enables me to get the product at the sale price when they get more in stock. Today I went and picked up three packages of it, 9 lbs total. What, pray tell, am I going to do with 9 lbs of ground turkey you may ask? Here's the plan:

1. Cook 1 lb for tacos tomorrow night (just use a taco seasoning packet and you're good to go)
2. Cook 2 lbs for and double batch of Turkey and Two Bean Chili to freeze for future meals
3. Freeze 6 lbs to make Turkey Meatloaf (I'm going to use all 6 lbs and make a large meatloaf for a family dinner next Sunday...typically, I would freeze in 3 lb portions to make normal sized meatloaves)

I saved $13 because I bought it at the sale price. I also saved a ton of money by going to Produce Junction and getting all my produce for the week.

I used to boycott Produce Junction. I tried it out two years ago and was not very happy that I couldn't pick my own produce...you just walk up to the counter and they put it in your bag, prepackaged. I'm one of those people that like to examine every square inch of what I'm buying before putting it in my cart. I also noticed that much of what I bought went bad rather quickly including a pineapple that leaked white ooze all over my counter top two days after purchasing it. Needless to say, I vowed to never go there again because I can be kind of harsh like that. However, in the spirit of the new year, I tried again.

Wow. I got a huge bag of green beans, a bag of mixed greens, a bag of red peppers, a bag of zucchini, a bag of baby carrots, a big bag of Yukon gold potatoes, a bunch of fresh thyme, a bunch of scallions, three huge Spanish onions, two packages of blueberries, and three huge oranges for $19. My heart was all a-flutter with excitement over the savings.

The lesson for today is two fold:
1. When a meat you like is on sale, buy a lot of it. You can use it. I promise.
2. If you have a discount produce market near you, shop there. Don't hold grudges after isolated negative experiences like I do.

~I'll outline my menu and recipes for this week in a separate post~