Recession Food: Whole Turkeyby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 29 Feb 2008 11:40 AM As food prices are continuing to increase, so is the worry that many families, like my own, are facing. Staples such as milk, eggs, and now wheat will cost more that usual this year. Other products, such as corn and anything made with corn (which is a high percentage of foods, from goods made with high fructose corn syrup to processed meats) are also increasing due to the demand for corn crops being used as an alternative fuel. Add in the pressure of a recession, and well, let's just say that it will take some clever shopping to make your dollar go further in the food department. Don't panic, through. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some practical and fun ways to stretch that food dollar. Whole frozen turkey is still a pretty good deal. You can get an 18-20 pound turkey for 99 cents a pound without a sale. That one turkey can provide you with several dinner meals, at least a week's worth of lunch meat, at least another three family-sized pot pies, another meal of turkey fajitas or tacos, etc. All of this food is yours for $18 or $20! If you are really hard core with your frugality, you could make turkey soup, use the gelatin from the bones to make your own Jello and more. As for the difference between frozen or fresh turkey...food experts say that there isn't a discernible taste difference. An equally-sized fresh turkey costs 50 to 50 percent more. I'd rather defrost the frozen turkey in my refrigerator, saving the cost of the turkey and helping my refrigerator use less energy at the same time! In fact, I have a turkey in the oven as I write. I'm looking forward to making up some turkey sandwiches tomorrow. They will be on wheat bread, with mayo, cranberry sauce and stuffing. If I add some grapes, we have a "gourmet" lunch that we can take along in a cooler instead of stopping and buying fast food. Keep checking back, as I share more recession food. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Stock up on Flour, Bread and Cereal Now While You Can Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments jonesx6 (1606) 29 Feb 2008 02:54 PMMary Ann, Perfect timing for this. lol Giant had turkey breast on sale for $2.99 a pound, is that good price? Nobody in my family eats the dark meat so a lot of meat, etc would go to waste if I bought a whole turkey. Laura  Mary Ann Romans (26791) 29 Feb 2008 03:43 PMI disguise the dark meat by combining it with some of the white meat and making it into pot pies for the freezer. The dark meat really flavors the pot pie, and no one complains! marinemom8 (125) 29 Feb 2008 07:33 PMGetting a turkey for .99 a lb is a great deal, as you said, there is so much you can do with them. I went shopping today and noticed that the price of flour, cornmeal and pasta has already almost doubled in most of the stores I shop at. I couldn't find pasta for less than .80 a lb today, usually I can get it for around .50 or even less. The prices really are going up. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 29 Feb 2008 10:03 PMI loooove turkey. We have one thawing in the fridge right now. My husband makes a wonderful flour gravy and it's gone before ya know it. I don't remember what we paid for the last one, but we stocked up on a couple after Thanksgiving for 79 cents per pound at Publix. I wonder what they were selling them for at the discount stores! Times like that make me wish we had a deep freezer, but I wonder how much we'd end up paying for the thing and electricity to run it. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 29 Feb 2008 10:05 PMHmmmmm.... anyone tried barbecuing a turkey? I wonder how it would taste smothered in some good sweet sauce. Mary Ann Romans (26791) 03 Mar 2008 07:28 AMI haven't tried BBQing a turkey, yet, but it sounds like fun. Mary Ann Romans (26791) 03 Mar 2008 07:29 AMMarinemom--you are right--On Saturday, I noticed that wheat flour was up by 40 cents on a 5 pound container. Community Tags Food, frugal, turkey, Tips, thrifty Discuss this article
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