So another trip to the grocery store and

the beef prices were at $8.99 per lb. for chuck roast. Still most of the decent sized roast are pushing $30.00 and when you think about the side dishes etc. it makes a beef roast dinner have a pretty hefty price tag. Still the meat area was mostly deserted.

I think people are turning to other things and on the good news front I noticed more people in the baking aisle, more people than usual buying carrots, celery, potatoes and squash. I bought a nice acorn squash for $1.81 and carrots for just 97 cents for a 1 lb. bag. I buy that size because I get 2 at a time so cooking for one doesn't give me spoilage. The store had a special on nice big southern style biscuits at $4.99 for 6 biscuits in the tray and 40% off the second one. So for basically $8.00 I got 12 nice big biscuits to go with some Libby's canned sausage gravy that was $1.50 per can. I've been surprised that it is not overly salty to taste and has decent flavor and meat content. Now yes I know I can make the biscuits from scratch for a little cheaper but I'm pointing out that things like this can be things to eat for one hell of a lot less than a $30.00+ chuck roast meal.

Hopefully more people will get into various kinds of squash, carrot dishes etc. along with other seasonal food where much of it can be locally sourced/supported. I got a nice big package of 3 smoked pork hocks for $7.05 for 3lbs for my 15 bean soup. Nice big yellow onions for 86 cents each and a nice big bunch of celery for 95 cents. The 20 ounce bag of 15 bean/dried beans was $2.82. So the slow cooker will give me several meals of great, thick bean soup for about $12.00 total for ingredients and I can have soup and a couple of my biscuits with butter if I like. I can get 4 big meals for myself for less than $5.00 per meal.

I can make squash galore, so easy to make, for very little also. The high meat prices can sit and rot in the meat case for all I care. I can eat better, enjoy that I make it myself and walk in the door and have that great smell of food in the slow cooker meet me and make me smile.