Saturday, March 31, 2012

Frugal Challenge - Trying New Things


Okay does that look good or what?
Last night we had home made roast beef sandwiches for dinner. I have been wanting to cook and slice our own lunch meat for EVER. Not only for the cost saving but because I want to avoid all the additives and sodium. This week I picked up a roast just over $3 a pound on sale. It was 3 1/3 lbs. We went ahead and had it for dinner and froze the left overs for lunch meat as we have turkey to eat up.

I found a great way to cook it and I am just going to give the link so as to give full credit. It worked wonderfully and was tender and juicy. Here is the recipe at The Hungry Mouse.


I think about $3 a pound for good home made roast beef is a bargain. I shall find some more roasts marked down and turkey breasts. My in-laws gave us their slicer to use. I made hubs do it as that blade scared me. It was sharp. I think I can handle it next time.

As I was finishing up the chicken coop area, I decided to disassemble an old art easel of the kids to toss and noticed the legs could be cut and used for the chicken ladder and there were good hinges we could recycle for the coop door. I took the power drill and broke that sucker down. Good to be rid of it and to salvage what we could.




My goal is to spend as little as possible on the coop but still do a nice job. I see where people spend hundreds and thousands of dollars and that is not my plan. Of course I love the chicks, but the chickens are part of my "grow us much of my own food" plan. Don't want to go broke doing it. So far I have spent the initial $26 when I bought the chicks and the supplies and then I spent $9 more on feed and shavings. We will see what the total at Home Depot is today. I will let you know.

I am up at 3:30am with my little sicky. I bad spring cold is going through the house and she could not
sleep. Not going to make for a rested mommy come coop building time. I see lots of strong coffee and maybe a Starbucks treat in my future today. Skinny Caramel Macchiato is my favorite right now. Iced of course.

Lastly, someone got new boots yesterday. UPS came and delivered. This guy rarely buys for himself so I was so glad to see him enjoy some very good boots. He is excited as they are similar to military design for hot weather. Supposed to keep his feet cooler this summer. The other boots of course are Q's muck boots. She wears them in the yard. I raised all of my kids in rain boots for yard play in cooler months. Keeps feet dry and socks clean.


Linking to:
I heart naptime
Sat. Night Special
Sunday Blog Love
Seasonal Sundays

21 comments:

  1. Love the idea of cutting your own meats. Just think of how much healthier they are as well as cheaper.

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  2. Way to go!
    And .. yes.. that does look like a tasty sandwich.

    This area is rich with turkey farmers, and we have a wholesale "NORBEST" turkey store.

    One thing we do, is buy the turkey pastrami, and slice it thin on the meat slicer and dry it in the food dehydrator.
    It is perfectly seasoned to make turkey jerky.
    We love turkey jerky :)

    Have a great weekend!

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  3. I love roast beef sandwiches, made from leftover roast. Great idea to do it in bulk.

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  4. Thank you Elaine! Love this post! Ok the Poppa boot and baby girl boot are a hoot! Too cute! xoxoxox

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  5. I used to have a slicer just like that but for the life of me cannot recall WHY I got rid of it!!!

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  6. Very clever to use up the old hinges, and the wood. Elaine you are always making us think. And it is true, some of those coops are stunning but the cluck bucks they must spend....

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  7. A man who uses that meat slicer thingy belongs in those boots, however, the pink polka dot ones are much cuter. I will try the roast recipe.
    Blessings to you.

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  8. Super thrifty ideas Elaine. I love that you are using recycled materials for your coop. Mine is too. Hope Q feels better soon, and you can sneak in a bit of a snooze. I was going to go get my chicks Thursday, but I was too busy celebrating. Hopefully the week after Easter, which will be better for me anyway. I can't wait to see your coop!

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  9. I'm trying to raise our chickens 'on the cheap' too! I've not added it all up for feed, and supplies, I've got it written down. I need to do the figures just to see.
    The feed bill for the older hens has gone down since we've been letting them free range everyday that we're home.
    Right now we're still able to get beef roasts for under $3 lb... sandwiches sound better with the temps getting higher...We'll turn the A/C on as late as we can stand it. I think sandwiches sound good when it starts getting hot.
    I like that little slicer-- good idea, I may keep my eye out for one.

    have a great weekend- hope it's productive.

    ~Pat

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  10. I've been cutting more and more of my own sandwich meats. Have corned beef brisket in the fridge today ready for sandwiches.

    Your hubs new boots being breathable reminds me of a day last summer when my husband came in from work and he complained that his feet were hot. "I thought they were breathable," I said. "Well today they've been holding their breath!" he replied, lol.

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  11. You go girl with the re-cylcing and re-purposing. I've done it for years but you're even giving me new ideas!
    You sound like you have a winner in your hubs...mine was just the opposite...he didn't like to work but liked to spend! Needless to say, I got very tired of supporting him. He was very high-maintenance!

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  12. I like roast beef, sliced thin, with melted cheese, on garlic toast! Thanks, now I'm hungry!!

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  13. We cut all our own lunch meat. I also found a Amish recipe for deviled ham spread. It is so much cheaper and healthier.

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  14. That sandwich looks so good, my stomach is growling right now! Can't wait to see how you do your coop. I have a funny chicken story for you. I went out to the coop today to collect the eggs and there were 4 eggs but one of them was just the yolk and egg white no shell whatsoever in sight! This is the first time this has ever happened and I was at a total loss as to what it meant. I googled it found that they are called jello eggs, eggs without a shell with only the membrane to hold it together. What the heck? Apparently it just happens sometimes and means nothing or it can be an indicator of lack of calcium which isn't the case for my chickens as we feed them a very balanced diet. Anyway it was very weird lol.

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  15. My in-laws have that exact same slicer! I think slicing your own lunch meat is a fabulous idea. I don't have a slicer like that, but maybe I can be on the lookout for one. Hope those boots work well for hubs. They look kind of cool! Nice to catch up with all that's going on with you.

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  16. Yep, I love the make your own lunch meat idea too, it's just better for everyone-enjoy:@)

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  17. Love to see how you are saving. Great idea to break down that easel and use parts of it in the coop.
    Laura

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  18. Yes that sandwich looks delicious! Now I'm off to go check out the recipe!

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  19. Great idea on so many levels to buy a roast and then slice the meat for sandwiches ~ saving money AND healthier! They add so much sodium to lunch meats and a lot of them have nitrates, too. Yuck!

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  20. I love roast beef!! Haven't made it in awhile because the price has been ridic. Love the idea of slicing my own - I am going to keep my eye open for a slicer at the thrift and garage sales. Love the boots! Both pairs! And I hope you are rested or at least caffinated enough to coop! Ann

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