About once a month I take a trip to St Louis to shop at Sam's Club, which is a wholesale warehouse shopping club that you pay a membership fee to shop there. Sometimes I ask myself if the savings are worth the membership fee, but if you shop carefully and buy things you will really use in bulk, yes, I believe it is very economical. This trip was all about stocking up my freezer with meat choices.

Here is what I purchased for a total of $50.71 :

Two 40-oz packages of 93% Fat-Free Ground Turkey Breast ($14.48)
A very large whole pork loin ($14.32)
A large thick cut platter of 8 pork steaks ($21.91)

The first (and easiest) thing I did was to take the pork steaks out of the store packaging and wrap them in parchment paper in packets of 2 steaks each. The four packets then went into freezer bags for storage in our upright freezer. I can simply open a bag and take out a package of 2 steaks for a meal for the two of us. This represents 8 meals.

The next thing was to slice up the pork loin. One half I carved into one-inch-thick chops and put them in a single layer in another freezer bag. I cut them thick enough that each chop will serve as one main course entree. There we have 10 more entrees! My favorite way to prepare these chops is to brown them on both sides over high heat in my cast iron skillet, then turn the heat down, cover with an undilated can of cream of mushroom soup, cover with a lid, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Tender and flavorful!

The other half of the pork loin I decided to cook tomorrow instead of freezing. I cut about inch deep slits in the top of the roast and filled the slits with minced garlic. I then made a marinate out of 2 Tablespoons of Hosin sauce and 1/4 cup of coconut aminos (soy sauce if you prefer or don't know about coconut aminos) and poured that over the roast in my crockpot. I then placed it in the fridge to marinate all night. It's been turned on and cooking on low for a couple of hours today and the house smells wonderful! This roast will be good for at least 10 entrees and used in a multitude of dishes from pulled pork sandwiches to stir frys and stews.

The ground turkey was the most work since I decided to make turkey meatloaf for the freezer and future easy meals. However, I only used one of the 40-ounce packages for the meatloaves, which made 2 full-size loaves. Here's my turkey meatloaf recipe:

40 oz ground turkey (the lower the fat content the better for your health!)
1/2 quick-cook barley
1 cup quick-cook oatmeal
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1 cup chopped green and red peppers
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup catsup
seasonings to taste

You can take the frozen turkey loaf out and transfer directly to the crockpot for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Or you can thaw out the loaf the day before and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 55 minutes. In both cases I mix some catsup, mustard, and brown sugar for a glaze to put on top, adding about 15 minutes before serving.

After I had the loaves made and formed I wrapped them in parchment paper so they would be easy to remove from the bag, then slipped them into freezer bags for transfer to the storage compartment. Both of these loaves make 8 large servings, so that's 16 more meals.

You see that I still have one 40 oz package of ground turkey left. I'm not going to freeze it since it has a "use or freeze before" date of March 1st and I know I will be able to use it before it needs to be frozen. I have several options of what I might do with it - turkey burgers, turkey Swedish meatballs, turkey spaghetti sauce - but there are at least 10 entree servings to be had from whatever combination I decide on.

So, in conclusion, a day of shopping and a day of food prepping has afforded me several entrees, now ready to cook, for less than $1 per serving. I'd say that it was a couple of days well spent!