Is That A Huge Tube of Ground Beef or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

We ran to BJ's today and here is what we got:

13.43 lbs 90% Ground Beef $34.78

3 lb Bag Bananas $1.29 - Free Store Coupon ***free***

Hoodsie Cups $7.49 (My husband loves these)

Arnold Whole Wheat Bread $2.69

Mini Corn Breads @ $2.99 - Free Store Coupon ***free***

Total: $47.55

I totally blew my budget this week but we ran out of ground beef. I have decided that I will only buy 90% ground beef for regular cooking because the 80% is too fatty- I hate draining buckets of fat when I am cooking. I will still use 80% when cooking hamburgers in the summer time on the grill though- anything with a lower fat content makes non juicy burgers.

So far I have made four pounds of meatballs with my giant tube of meat (please, no jokes- I am sure my husband has said every one that exists to me). We ate some for dinner with some pasta and homemade breadsticks and the rest are in my freezer, waiting to be eaten on days where I am too lazy to put any effort into dinner (wait, isn't that everyday?). Tomorrow I will work on freezing the rest of the meat in 10 oz. portions with my trusty old Food Saver (when making recipes, instead of using a pound of beef I only use 10 oz.).

I really don't know how cost effective it is to make my own meatballs but I don't like buying the bagged frozen ones because they always have so much added junk and tons of added salt. I would rather end up paying a little more for food that I know is wholesome.

And can I just say that those free mini corn breads were free in price but each one of those babies is 200 calories! I have already eaten a few today because they are really good but holy crap. This is why ususally the only baked goods I have in the house are made from scratch- I am pretty lazy so I rarely make desserts therefore we only have baked treats once in awhile (and then I can't stuff my face with baked good yumminess all of the time).