Deciding what to put in the Larder (aka your Freezer!) is the first step to feeding your family better!
A few years ago, when I started changing what I bought to feed my family … meat was a scary area.
- Who should I trust when buying Pastured Meat?
- Where can I find a Pastured Meat Rancher?
- Why should I join a Food Co-op?
- How do I decide what Pastured Meat to buy?
- How much do I spend every two weeks to buy Pastured Meat for my family?
- How is Pastured Meat different compared to Grocery Store meat?
- Is Pastured Meat better or just more expensive?
- How much does Pastured Meat Cost?
- How do you cook Pastured Meat?
- What kind of Freezer do you need?
- What happens when you decide to buy HALF a cow?
That led me down the research path to every Natural Wellness site, Facebook page, and Foodie Friend I could talk to and ask questions. My Mom used to say “Why?” was my favorite word, well this was the perfect example.
Who should I trust when buying Pastured Meat?
The truth is you need to find a Rancher that can answer all your questions. I guess I better apologize to Rancher Scott now (https://www.kbarkmeats.com) since he probably answered 50 questions a decade ago. You have to trust your gut at some point, when you feel like the person you are talking to is sharing all their farm practices. Rancher Scott comes with the best stories and has been an AMAZING resource and friend over the years!
For over a decade, Rancher Scott has supplied our family with Pastured Beef, Pork, Chicken and Local Pasture Raised Eggs.
Where can I find a Pastured Meat Rancher?
Over a decade ago, my body was in a healing crisis. I was diagnosed with an auto-immune issue before I was 30 and during times of extreme stress … up pops what they call a “flare”. During that time, I had gotten to the place in my healing journey where I started using food as medicine. I also started looking at everything: in my home, what I put on my skin/body, and then what I fed my body. As I started along that Health and Wellness journey, I found Essential Oils.
In my Essential Oils family/group, were AMAZING groups of: Homeschoolers, Natural Wellness peeps, Preparedness Peeps … all my kind of peeps.
As a member of one of those groups, I began my journey with Raw Milk and later asked my friends about Pastured Meat. Asking those amazing Crunchie or Foodie peeps as I call them … was life-altering! They answered every question I had and talked about things I never even thought about. They asked me questions that challenged what I put in the Pantry and Larder.
I asked them where they bought Raw Milk. “… Blah, Blah … Mr or Mrs runs a Co-op“.
I asked them where they bought Pastured Meat. “... Blah, Blah … Mr “X” delivers to our Co-op from South Texas, or Mr “X” runs a Co-op in North Dallas and delivers to a specific place on Thursdays“.
The first time I picked up from the Co-op, I had more questions than what I could get out. I thought the girl who ran it was AMAZING. She had knowledge and resources, gave me samples, let me pick her brain and was more than willing to share everything she knew …
Why should I join a Food Coop?
Joining a Co-op is the KEY to stocking the Larder. Why? The people in a Co-op are researchers. Knowledge seekers. Truth seekers. They are not followers. They are questioners. What? Do you see why my asking “Why?” was no problem?
How do I decide what Pastured Meat to buy?
People want to know what I buy and how I plan meals. Let’s just say, I don’t “plan”. I use something I call a Meal Rhythm or a Routine. Take a peek above!
That Rhythm or Routine, lets me know what ‘Protein’ we are eating depending on the day of the week. Since it isn’t a ‘plan’, I have more freedom to change or move things around based on our schedule and what we are doing.
The Meal Rhythm also lets me buy Pastured Meat for two weeks, along with extra items to stock the Larder (aka my Freezer!)
For the first 6-12 months, I bought about $30/extra in meat every two weeks. That “extra” included basic cuts that I knew we cooked and ate regularly: ground beef, roasts, bacon/breakfast sausage, pork chops, whole chicken, and chicken breasts. I had extra to stock the Larder for times when friends came for dinner, holiday cooking, batch cooking; when money was tight or today to avoid shortages!
How much do I spend every two weeks to buy Pastured Meat for my family?
For two weeks we spend about $140-ish. (-ish, is a Norwegian form of measurement!). The $140 includes the meat we will be eating along with the $30/extra for stocking the Larder. So each month our Pastured Meat costs about $220 plus $60/extra for stocking the larder … so about $280.
During the year, I heard about sales the Rancher was running or the Specials he offers for buying half a cow. I discovered the quality and nutrition were far superior in both Pastured Beef and Local Pasture Raised Eggs.
No Fireworks will go off when you start eating Pastured Meat. Let’s just say that slowly over time you will start to feel better, and better and better. Oh yeah, and the flares I still suffer with go away more quickly … when I’m feeding them with nutrient-dense foods.
How is Pastured Meat different compared to Grocery Store meat?
I’m prepared for the comments to start flying, but we need to talk quality and labeling.
Pastured Meat is more nutrient dense and easier for the body to absorb. Here is a GREAT link to get you started researching … https://discover.texasrealfood.com/texas-farm-to-table/benefits-to-pasture-raised-meat-vs-industrial-meat …
Is Pastured Meat more expensive than Conventionally Raised Meat?
The short answer is Yes and No. How can the answer be Yes and No?
Yes. If you look at ONLY the Dollar amount you spend to buy Pastured Meat, it might appear to be more expensive. When you compare the nutritional quality of Pastured to Conventionally grown Meat, they aren’t even in the ‘same pasture’ (pun intended).
Conventional Raised Meat isn’t even in a “pasture” it’s raised in a feedlot. If you’ve ever driven in the mid-west and past a feedlot… your nose will remember. Conventional Raised Meat in Feed lots stink to the high heavens.
Feed Lot Cattle (aka Conventionally Raised Meat, aka Big Box Meat!) are fed GMO Grain, have ZERO access to grass and fed as much as they can give them, as fast as they can, to deliver meat to the grocery store.
Whoa, Nelly! Before you jump out there and say “My package says Pastured Beef and I bought it from XYZ Natural Grocery Store” … please know that your “Pastured” label just means that the feedlot they came from raised them on Organic Non-GMO grains and gave 500-1000 cows access to the SAME 10′ x 10′ square of grass as least once per day. Just tell me how; cow #935 got to eat even one blade of that 10×10 grass square?!
If you buy meat from a Natural Grocery store and it’s labeled “Pastured”, please just know you over-paid and that label in the store is a Marketing Label. It would be nutritionally and financially better to search out a Co-op that is connected with a Rancher and buy true Pasture Raised Meat and locally Pasture Raised Eggs.
Eating out for dinner will cost a family of 3 to 4 anywhere from $50-$80 … really?! Just think about ‘what’ you actually get for that money. How much Pastured Meat could you buy for that same amount?
How much does Pastured Meat cost?
I’m in far North Dallas and our Pastured Rancher charges: $7.95/pound for Pastured Ground Beef, $10.95/pound for Pastured Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, $8.50/pound for Pastured Bacon, $8.00/pound for Pastured Pork Chops and $4.50/pound for a Whole Pastured Chicken.
If you are part of our Food Co-op ( Prosper Food Source), you can purchase a Starter Pack for $40 which includes: 1 pound of Ground Beef, 1 package of Bacon, 1 package of Pork Chops and 1 package of Chicken Breasts.
Thanks to the AMAZING Rancher for letting our Co-op Members get started eating Pastured Meat this way! Dipping your toe in is just the way to get started.
Not to mention the nutritional powerhouse of pastured meat vs. toxic junk meat (Walmart or Kroger or or or!) … when something is $1.49/pound or $1.99/pound let’s just say all they eat is 100% GMO grain, not exactly what your body wants or needs!
What is your favorite Pastured Meat?
Psst … mine is Ground Beef!
Tuesday in our house is Beef Day! I think it started years ago when the kids were smaller and Taco Tuesday was something they looked forward to. It was super easy for me today!
So what happens on Tuesday morning before we head out for the day? … we pull out 1-2 pounds of Frozen Pastured Ground Beef or whatever “beef” cut you want to cook up.
When I come home from work it’s in the Fridge and thawed and now I get to decide what to cook.
Tacos, Meatballs, Korean Beef, Porcupine Balls, Hamburgers, Sloppy Joes, Taco Salad, Nachos, Lasagne, Meaty Noodle Casserole, Homestead Dinner Casserole (recipe coming!), Walking Tacos (perfect campsite dinner, while not exactly ‘healthy’ but fun!), Po’ Boys on the grill, Meatloaf (regular size of muffin size for easily packable lunches), topping for Chili Dogs, Classic Chili, Hamburger Soup…
How do you cook Pastured Meat?
Let’s just talk about Frozen Ground Beef for now, since other cuts ‘sometimes’ take a smidge more work to make them tender, depending on which breed of beef you stock the freezer with.
As the seasons change, so does my preferred method of cooking. I feel like today, we have so many cooking tools that help make cooking easier.
You can:
- cook on the Stovetop
- cook in the InstaPot
- grill out
- use a smoker
- cook in the Oven
- cook in a Slow Cooker
Keep in mind if you are cooking in the south, you can easily just move your chosen device to the back patio and plug it in. That keeps the heat out of the kitchen.
What kind of Freezer do you need to Stock the Larder with Pastured Meat?
I originally only had a stand-up Freezer. My stand-up freezer has 4 shelves and 1 drawer.
The 4 Shelves going top to bottom include frozen foods like (Shelf 1) Fruits, Beans, Pre-Made Breads, and Frozen Dough (of all kinds!) and Flour (Shelf 2) Veggies and Cheese (Shelf 3) Veggies and Whole Chicken … oh, and Ice Cream (Shelf 4) in the White Bin are Chicken Breasts and Ground Chicken and Brown Box keeps all Seafood.
The Drawer contains: Pork, Sausage, and Bacon. I mean Bacon probably should be its own Post! 🙂
The Door of the stand-up Freezer contains: Butter, Yeast, Extra Cheese, Frozen Juice, Hot Dogs, Riced Cauliflower, Use-Me-First Cuts of Meat as I Rotate, Pre-Made Soups, Homemade Chicken/Beef/Veggie Stock.
What happens when you decide to buy HALF a cow?
You now need a 2nd freezer.
The Small Fridge pictured above is a 7-cubic ft Magic Chef and I got it on SALE just before my Half-Beef arrived. I have just enough space for Little Pizzas or Freezing Flour/Grains when they arrive from Azure Standard.
North Texas friends, I run Prosper Food Source (on FB!) which is a Food Coop where you can buy Pastured: Beef, Chicken and PorkWhat questions can I answer?