1 hour or less meals, low budget

[Selkie]

Maybe so... I can't say that for your particular area, but good luck in your search!

 

[luvs]

so brand stores usually sell bad meat. i have to go to local markets and pay some more to get quality meats?

there's so much that goes on w/ meats; some places trim the garbage from meats & then re-package them w/ new dates on them, or dye them so they appear bright. some combine old meat w/ new & re-grind it. they wash fish w/ vinegar to make it seem fresher. oh, it's absurd.
the places where i purchse from, the food is consistantly fresh, & i'm gratful for that.
could you locate a repuatable butcher? if you get in well w/ 1, they'll work w/ you often on the cost of the foods.

 

[Fabiabi]

You'll get plenty of inspiration from this forum. There are so many delicious simple recipes you can try if you're not so confident in the kitchen.

 

[Kayelle]

i need to ask this question. how can you be sure that meat you get isnt spoiled? this is another reason why i dont cook a lot. grocery stores around here sell spoiled meat. about half their meat, or even more, is spoiled. almost everytime i get chicken it's spoiled. just now i got some chicken and 3 beef steaks on sale. 2 of the steaks were good (one was brown in the middle), and none of the chicken legs were good.

i looked online on how to look for good meat. for chicken the color has to be red/pink, not grey or brown. and when you buy the chicken it cant have a slimy feeling to it. the thing is, most of the chicken in the stores i go to cover their chicken with a lot of labels, so i cant really see i can barely see if the chicken is grey. they dont do that with beef or lamb.

is there something i'm missing? even if i go when grocery stores restock (wednesday) they still have suspiciuos looking meat. do i have to go somewhere else?

It's hard to believe that in the San Diego area you're having such a shocking issue with spoiled meat! Where do your neighbors shop? Do they say the same thing? Have you talked with the store managers?
I know you have the same Von's, Ralphs, Alberston's supermarkets down there that I have up here, and I have never ever had a fresh meat issue with any of them. Are you shopping at an independent market?

 

[Andy M.]

so brand stores usually sell bad meat. i have to go to local markets and pay some more to get quality meats?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Most major supermarket chains sell fresh or properly cared for meats. If the market you shop at sells spoiled, never go there again. Try other markets.

 

[taxlady]

I once bought liver on special at a supermarket. When I got it home, it had an iridescent greenish hue. I brought it back to the store. The butcher heard the word liver and asked for the package. Without even bothering to look at the meat, he simply handed me a larger package of liver and apologized.

Have you ever tried bringing the bad meat back to the store?

 

[Zhizara]

If I got bad meat more than once from a store I would also report them to the Health Department.

 

[Kayelle]

If I got bad meat more than once from a store I would also report them to the Health Department.

Absolutely !!

 

[tasty food]

just now i made that cut up steak recipe Claire said, it's on the bottom of page 1. didn't taste good at all. the beef barely had any taste to it but it wasnt good. can someone explain to me what was wrong

first of all, i checked between the beef as i was cutting it and some of it had little shades of brown, not a whole lot, i've dealt with this before cooking lamb and it didnt make it taste bad.

i froze the 2 steaks on monday, took one out for today, thawed in the fridge. chopped onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and a small piece of a serrano pepper. sauteed them in 1 tbsp oil, then added seasoned salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. mixed everything for about 30 seconds. then i added some water, beef broth, chiptole sauce, and tomato sauce. cooked everything in the same pan so it wasnt a lot to boil. so after that i get it to a boil, then simmer, then taste if it's good and it wasnt.

luckily i have my new bacon and cheese sandwich

 

[PrincessFiona60]

just now i made that cut up steak recipe Claire said, it's on the bottom of page 1. didn't taste good at all. the beef barely had any taste to it but it wasnt good. can someone explain to me what was wrong

i froze the 2 steaks on monday, took one out for today, thawed in the fridge. chopped onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and a small piece of a serrano pepper. sauteed them in 1 tbsp oil, then added seasoned salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. mixed everything for about 30 seconds. then i added some water, beef broth, chiptole sauce, and tomato sauce. cooked everything in the same pan so it wasnt a lot to boil. so after that i get it to a boil, then simmer, then taste if it's good and it wasnt.

luckily i have my new bacon and cheese sandwich

I think you have lost your taste for beef.

 

[tasty food]

i hope that's a joke, cause i still eat burgers like a madman

 

[Kayelle]

Tasty Food, I just looked at Claire's idea for you, and while it sounds good to me, you may not like the taste of cumin. I really like cumin myself, but I have friends who really hate the flavor of it, and say it tastes like dirty socks smell. Perhaps that was your problem.

Could you please address my questions here?

It's hard to believe that in the San Diego area you're having such a shocking issue with spoiled meat! Where do your neighbors shop? Do they say the same thing? Have you talked with the store managers?
I know you have the same Von's, Ralphs, Alberston's supermarkets down there that I have up here, and I have never ever had a fresh meat issue with any of them. Are you shopping at an independent market?

 

[luvs]

bulk/extend meals by using extra veggies, rice, & pastas like ditalini, orzo, macaroni, & also by making gravies. serve bread.

 

[tasty food]

Tasty Food, I just looked at Claire's idea for you, and while it sounds good to me, you may not like the taste of cumin. I really like cumin myself, but I have friends who really hate the flavor of it, and say it tastes like dirty socks smell. Perhaps that was your problem.

Could you please address my questions here?

Where do your neighbors shop? Do they say the same thing? - dont know my neighbors that well. we live in apartments. we dont really talk to each other. but i have seen a few of them in the same places i go to.

Have you talked with the store managers? - no

I know you have the same Von's, Ralphs, Alberston's supermarkets down there that I have up here, and I have never ever had a fresh meat issue with any of them. Are you shopping at an independent market? - i dont know what an independent grocery store would look like. would they be outside like farmer markets? the ones i go to are regular sized grocery stores.

 

[Kayelle]

Where do your neighbors shop? Do they say the same thing? - dont know my neighbors that well. we live in apartments. we dont really talk to each other. but i have seen a few of them in the same places i go to. Spoiled meat in your local stores would be a good reason to start a conversation, and get some interaction with your neighbors.

Have you talked with the store managers? - no WHY is that?

I know you have the same Von's, Ralphs, Alberston's supermarkets down there that I have up here, and I have never ever had a fresh meat issue with any of them. Are you shopping at an independent market? - i dont know what an independent grocery store would look like. would they be outside like farmer markets? the ones i go to are regular sized grocery stores. An independent market would be a privately owned (usually small) grocery store, rather than a supermarket. I ask because they don't have to answer to corporate quality control, however they certainly have to answer to Health Dept standards.

....

 

[tasty food]

i just got a steak, chicken legs, and cube steak. these babies better turn out good.

btw, i saw youtube video on "how to look for fresh meat", i'm not sure if it was sarcasm, but at the end of the video it showed what looked like spoiled meat, but said it was ok to eat? it's supposed to be TASTE BETTER! YouTube - Buying Fresh Produce & Meat at the Grocery Store : How to Buy the Best Steak

 

[Andy M.]

That's not sarcasm. She's talking about aged meats. Aged meats (aged in proper conditions of temperature and humidity) will taste better due to the actions of enzymes within the meat acting on the muscle to tenderize it. In addition, it will naturally lose some moisture, concentrating the flavors.

She did say something about the 'blood' in the meat turning from red to brown. The red juices in meat are not blood but liquified proteins from within the cells that happen to be reddish.

 

[BronnieBakes]

I suggest you buy a slow cooker. You just spend 10 mins in the morning getting things ready and then at the end of the day a few more mins making the rice

 

[luvs]

aged meat is an item of beauty. rare to obtain, & delicious.

 

[Kayelle]

aged meat is an item of beauty. rare to obtain, & delicious.

However that is true for beef only, luvs.

Many of you know I was raised in a "mom and pop" small grocery/meat market. I used to joke that I didn't have a red steak till I was grown, as the dark steaks were always for our table because Dad couldn't sell them. Like in the video, if I can find a dark steak in the sale bin of the Supermarket, I'm a happy girl.