Eat on the Cheap- Butchering a Pork Loin

Hope you're all adapting well to daylight savings time... someone forgot to inform my boys so we up nice and early but we will be going to bed early too.
I hate losing that hour but it will be nice to have a little longer daylight in the evenings.

Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite ways to save money on food. With my boys getting bigger they are slowly starting to eat me out of house and home so I figure I better get used to making the most of grocery budget. When it comes to meat, a pork loin gives you a lot of bang for your buck especially if you are willing to put a little time into butchering your own. I've found the best deals at warehouse clubs and I got this one at Costco for $1.79/lb. You can usually find them there for between $1.50 and $2 a pound. The one below is just over 7 pounds.

On the back it has instructions on how to butcher this bad boy. A pork loin is a rib portion with bone and tender loin removed leaving the center loin and rib. There will be a layer of fat and "silverskin", which is the tough, stringy membrane. 

After I remove the packaging I rinse the loin off and place it onto my cutting board on a large sheet of freezer paper. You can choose to cut the loin into all chops, several loins, or whatever mix you prefer. For this one I decided I wanted a little variety so I could use it for different meals. We don't eat a ton of meat with each meal so figured I could do stir fry meat, 2 pork loin roasts, and pork chops. 

To begin, I removed most of the fat and what I could of the silverskin. Off of my 7.25lb loin, the fat and silverskin removed were about a quarter of a pound, so there isn't too much waste. I tossed mine but you could cook it up to make a flavorful stock. 

Next, off of the rib end (left side in the picture below), I cut off a pound which I then sliced thinly so I can use it for stir fry. Working from the left, I cut off a 1.75 pound section for a pork loin roast. Then I cut eleven 3/4" pork chops. I cut chops until I had enough left at the end for another 1.75 pork loin roast. 

stir fry meat // loin roast // pork chops // loin roast

I separated everything into meal portions and put it into freezer bags. I split the pork chops up so I would have enough for two meals. So here are the number, the pork loin costs $13 and from it I got stir fry meat, 2 pork loin roasts, and eleven pork chops. With each meal making roughly 6 servings, that comes to about $.43 per serving. That's a pretty good deal for meat that will make a variety of meals.

Everything all bagged up

Don't be afraid to try this. It may seem intimidating at first but if I can do it, so can you. Give it a go and let me know how it goes. 

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I never make pork stir fry but since I have the meat I thought I'd give it a try. I found this recipe through Pinterest for Easy Garlic and Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork. The recipe was easy and delicious. I will definitely be making a pork stir fry again. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the glaze was just the right amount of sweet with heat. I served it with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. This recipe was a winner!