My wife and I used to have a Costco membership, it was gifted to her from a family member. We let it run out because Costco was a pain in the rear to get to. We just never went. And at the time we didn’t have the chest freezer. My parents years ago insisted we all go to Home Depot where they saw a dented mini deep freer, and insisted on buying it for us. It has remained a solid working appliance for at least 15 years. We don’t use it as often as we used to but now we plan to utilize it more.
When we shop, we shop with a plan. That is, we look at the sales flyers and think about recipes we can make with the things on sale. We also look for sales not in the flyer for things that can be used to make the things we make often. We routinely buy canned tomatoes when they are on deep discount. If I see jarred or canned marinated artichoke hearts on sale I buy them. Same for canned beans. Anyway, we approach Costco and box stores the same way.
Our plan for today was the pick up proteins and repackage them into smaller packs. The last time we went to Costco the chicken was essentially sold in large bulk bags. They now package up the chicken breasts and thighs into mini packages within the larger package. So today we got 8 pounds of chicken in 6 mini packs. The ground beef had the same situation however we opted to buy the bulk tray of ground beef at a lower price point. We also hit the frozen section and scoped out the frozen veggies. The massive packs of frozen veggies were cheaper per pound than at the regular store. So we stocked up.
The next step of the process is to get out the vac packer and package up the meat and maybe some of the frozen veggies into smaller packages. The chicken will get separated into the individual packages and only some of it left upstairs and the rest will be stored in the basement.