You can pay an enormous amount for cold cuts these days. Because of this, I’ve been opting to cook whole turkeys and chickens and use that meat for sandwiches. It is a lot cheaper and much tastier, I think. But because I don’t have a food slicer, I tend to steer away from using a whole or half ham for sandwiches. And there is no way to cook a cheese, let alone slice it without a good slicer.
But, here is a way to save on deli selections that while cost you half or less than the regular price of deli meat and cheese.
The next time you are at your local deli or the deli section of your grocery store, ask at the counter about the end of loaves for whatever meat and cheese you normally buy. These are what remains of the chunk of meat or cheese that is too small to slice safely in the slicer. The manager will usually discount these ends quite a bit, since they can’t really use them. Compare the price to the “sliced” price of the same meat or cheese to make sure that you are getting a good deal.
Take the end home and hand slice as much as you can. You can use the slices for sandwiches, just as you might normally do. When you can no longer make nice slices, cube the remaining meat or cheese and use it for snacks, in stews, in pasta salads, in green salads, in mayonnaise-based salads, to add in place of shredded cheese, or even baked into corn muffins for a hearty breakfast or lunch. It is a great way to make your grocery budget stretch a little more without living only on beans and rice. If you come across a good deal on a lot of cheese ends, you can freeze the cheese, or shred it all to use in three- or four-cheese pizza or other dishes.
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:
Are you missing valuable information? Subscribe to this blog by clicking in the subscription box on the right. Choose your favorite web-based news reader or e-mail address and you won’t miss a thing!