[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]isdatnutty wrote:
Just called the Indian store by my house. They got the DEALS on goat and drumsticks. Guess I know where I’m shopping lol.[/quote]
Goat is delicious, and I know ActivitiesGuy will agree with that. Didn’t mean to bash you so hard about the yolks, BTW.[/quote]
Goat is SUPER good. Love that stuff lol. No worries man! If I was advanced as you guys I’d probably be saying the same thing to someone lol. But yeah no way in hell I’m ever throwing away some egg yolks!
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]isdatnutty wrote:
Just called the Indian store by my house. They got the DEALS on goat and drumsticks. Guess I know where I’m shopping lol.[/quote]
Goat is delicious, and I know ActivitiesGuy will agree with that. [/quote]
Yeah, if you can get goat meat cheap, that might be a good get for you.
The ethnic grocer across the street sells a one-kilogram (2.2 pounds) bag of bone-in goat cubes for $10. I’ll just dump the whole bag into my slow cooker with a couple of chopped potatoes, carrots, parsnips (any cheap root vegetable works) and have a nice goat stew that can last a couple of meals.
I can’t say that I’ve really cooked much creative stuff with goat, specifically. I have never had anything other than the cubed goat meat. I can speak to more creative stuff with lamb and duck, but that may be out of the price range for OP at the moment.
Anyways, OP, if they’ll sell you some goat meat cheap, buy as much as you can afford at once and freeze it. Simply defrost what you need, simmer in a pot with as many chopped root vegetables as you like, some salt, and a shake or two of your favorite seasonings.[/quote]
Thanks man! I’ve never been able to make something good with the crock pot, so I’ll have to give this a try. 2lbs of goat should last me like 3 meals I’m guessing right?
I don’t have information on what may typically need to be paid when buying directly from a farmer, but I pay $6/lb for grass fed ground beef (at 10 lb qty,) $5/lb for cube steak, $6/lb for whole soy-free chicken, and $6/lb for rabbit all of which seems pretty economical. It’s all drastically superior to store bought. I’d suggest looking around and seeing what may be available.
Grass-fed beef is equally as healthy as bison.
Even commercial beef is better in fatty acid profile than what most organic chicken is likely to be, as organic farmers typically feed their chickens at least some soy even when the chickens are sold as “pastured” or “free-range”! Because it’s cheaper to do so, and most of the organic crowd does not care, so long as the soy is non-GMO, which is what they care about.
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
I don’t have information on what may typically need to be paid when buying directly from a farmer, but I pay $6/lb for grass fed ground beef (at 10 lb qty,) $5/lb for cube steak, $6/lb for whole soy-free chicken, and $6/lb for rabbit all of which seems pretty economical. It’s all drastically superior to store bought. I’d suggest looking around and seeing what may be available.
Grass-fed beef is equally as healthy as bison.
Even commercial beef is better in fatty acid profile than what most organic chicken is likely to be, as organic farmers typically feed their chickens at least some soy even when the chickens are sold as “pastured” or “free-range”! Because it’s cheaper to do so, and most of the organic crowd does not care, so long as the soy is non-GMO, which is what they care about.[/quote]
I agree, but OP has mentioned that he does not eat beef for religious reasons, and as such will have to work around that.
Lamb, bison, and goat are all probably decent alternatives, assuming that those are free for consumption. And they can be had economically if you’re clever enough, as OP has realized, by looking at the local ethnic grocers or farmers if you can find one.
[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
I don’t have information on what may typically need to be paid when buying directly from a farmer, but I pay $6/lb for grass fed ground beef (at 10 lb qty,) $5/lb for cube steak, $6/lb for whole soy-free chicken, and $6/lb for rabbit all of which seems pretty economical. It’s all drastically superior to store bought. I’d suggest looking around and seeing what may be available.
Grass-fed beef is equally as healthy as bison.
Even commercial beef is better in fatty acid profile than what most organic chicken is likely to be, as organic farmers typically feed their chickens at least some soy even when the chickens are sold as “pastured” or “free-range”! Because it’s cheaper to do so, and most of the organic crowd does not care, so long as the soy is non-GMO, which is what they care about.[/quote]
Where do you get soy free chicken?
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
I agree, but OP has mentioned that he does not eat beef for religious reasons, and as such will have to work around that.
[/quote]
My apologies to the OP: I missed that.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
Where do you get soy free chicken?[/quote]
From a farm in Florida which sells locally but not online.
It’s probably a pretty unusual item. However, Googling:
chicken farms “soy free”
turned up at least one good article and some possible online sources.
I’m surprised no one has pointed out that he doesn’t need fruit. That’s probably not a huge portion of his budget, but if I were in his position, my fruit budget would be exactly zero dollars. Hell, I can spend whatever I want on food right now, and that’s how much I spend on fruit.
Here’s something to consider. I volunteer with an organic produce co-op in Dallas. I volunteer at a pick-up location near my house once every 2 weeks, for a couple hours. In exchange for my services, which are minimal, I’m given about 30 lbs of fresh organic local produce. I can also usually get a dozen or 2 dozen free organic eggs out of the thing. It’s a pretty awesome deal, and I know co-ops around the country offer similar things. Or you can go find a farmer, and offer your services for like a day for a basket of veggies.
Ideally, you want to buy as close to direct from farmers as possible. You can save money generally, and you know the source.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Here’s something to consider. I volunteer with an organic produce co-op in Dallas. I volunteer at a pick-up location near my house once every 2 weeks, for a couple hours. In exchange for my services, which are minimal, I’m given about 30 lbs of fresh organic local produce. I can also usually get a dozen or 2 dozen free organic eggs out of the thing. It’s a pretty awesome deal, and I know co-ops around the country offer similar things. Or you can go find a farmer, and offer your services for like a day for a basket of veggies.
Ideally, you want to buy as close to direct from farmers as possible. You can save money generally, and you know the source.[/quote]
x2 this. I’ve been a member of a local CSA farm (community-supported agriculture) for like 7 or 8 years. I don’t volunteer time, I flat-out pay them. 
It’s like $500 for a season and I’m sent a box full (usually two shopping bags-worth) of organic, local-grown vegetables every week from the end of May to the end of November, so it works out to around $20ish per week for vegetables (often including potatoes, sometimes tomatoes, sometimes a bit of fruit). Localharvest.org should let you track down some legit organic farms and farmer’s markets near you.
Other than that, just to tack on to what’s been said, with organic on a budget, you need to prioritize. Fattier cuts of meat and dairy (including butter) and thin-skinned fruit/veggies (a’la “the dirty dozen”) would be top choices, over other options. So you could do without necessarily getting organic lean meats if it meant more wiggle room for other stuff.