Expanding Meat with Vegetables

Up until about a month and a half ago, we had venison in our freezer. We still have some, but its more special cuts than it is the stuff I used all the time like stew meat and roasts that we are totally out of.  Last year during hunting season in WV we decided to go visit my daughters namesake in New Mexico instead, I will never regret that decision. But all that to say I guess I've never really noticed the price of red meat, other than ground beef, until about a month ago. 

Yowza.

So the way we get red meat now is on the last day shelf :) So I either freeze it or cook it that day. It makes beef sometimes a little more budget friendly. 

Today we're having stew.  Nothing fancy, but nice and hearty and it fills you up and can be made to feed several people if you add a few more carrots and potatoes.  Which is good, because I have 25lbs of potatoes I'm trying to make my way through :)  We're up to our eyeballs in them and will probably be potatoed out before it's over with, but I got a good deal on them! 

I LOVE Yukon Gold potatoes.  But every time I go to the store they are usually closer to 5 dollars for a 5lb bag.  I'm a member of a bulk foods co-op now here and I split 50lbs of potatoes this last order and I only paid 16 bucks for the potatoes.  So 25 lbs for 16 dollars for Yukons is NOT bad. And the fact that they are organic makes the deal that much better since I think some make the excuse to charge more for stuff because they dont put pesticides on it.  Stupid.  Anyway.

I was so proud of myself and then realized "What am I going to do with 25lbs of potatoes...?" 

Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato salad, and now peeled and diced up five of them for the stew.  It's a good thing they are high in vitamins and minerals :) Tomorrow I'll quarter some and put them in with the roast. Mari is starting to get to the point where she will eat potatoes, she's never been a huge fan and even now will only eat a couple bites and is done but she used to just spit it out so her taking bites is a step in the right direction.  It doesn't matter how they are made.  Chips, fries, mashed, smashed, in roasts, in stews... she'd rather have the carrots or something else. Usually fruit, but we're working on that :)  She loves vegetables but the second she sees fruit of any kind, shes done eating whatever it is that she was eating.

 The other thing I'm doing with the potatoes is letting a few of them sprout and then I will plant them.  Expand my money even more! Also doing that with some heads of garlic and some carrots.  I think one whole planter box will be root vegetables and such :)

Wish I could plant some stew meat and it would sprout into a cow :) :) Maybe then I can afford red meat... ;)

But, no matter what our economy gets to be in this country, I feel super blessed to be able to even buy meat, or potatoes, or any fresh fruits and veggies I want, I think we forget how blessed we are.  No matter how poor any of us might think we are in this country, we are still at least 10x wealthier than almost anyone else on this earth.

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the times to come." Proverbs 31:25

I can't be worried about whats going on in this country, I can't fret about the money we do or do not have, what the president did or did not say, there are far more important things in my life. Namely my husband who is off at work and my daughter who is about to wake up from her morning nap at any time.  My parents taught us girls long ago to not be attached to this country or the things of this world because after we became Christians our allegiance was to God and His Kingdom.  

I think about the Christian women who lived in the first century under Roman rule. When their children were being burned at the stake, their husbands being thrown in pits with tigers or themselves being forced in arenas to be killed by Gladiators. Their circumstances more dire than ours and they didn't spend their time complaining about their rulers, they spent their time doing what they needed to do as Christians, wives, and mothers.  Did they wish things were different? Oh probably.  But that's what the hope of heaven is for that comes with being a Christian.  There is something better than this life, indescribably better. 


And though I love my life here, I know there is a hope of something even better.  And that makes my day worth living, every day, no matter how the day goes.