It's not the meat, its the....

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

CHEESE! I often see suggestions to cut back on meat to save on the food budget. We have always been big eaters of cheese, though. I eat cheese more often than meat. Cheeses are getting to be expensive. I pay more per pound for cheese than meat. And quality of cheeses varies so much. Lately, I've been passing up the cheese at the grocery more often.

[sweeps]

Agreed, cheese has gone way up. (As opposed to milk which I've found is, if anything, lower than 6 months ago.)

Side note: I shop at SuperTarget and a 32oz block of cheese costs MORE than 2 16oz blocks of cheese, and sometimes a 16oz block of cheese costs more than 2 8oz blocks of cheese. I wonder how many people fall for bulk packaging ripoffs like this.

[Caoineag]

I definitely pay more for cheese than I do for meat and use it more too. However, despite the rise in prices of certain food items, my grocery bill has remained the same. Such is the advantage of finding a store with very cheap fresh produce.

[jodi]

I shop at a discount food store that sells expired or damaged foods (I know, too much of an "ick" factor for a lot of folks). Luckily, cheese is one thing that they have in abundance - and that I know it's safe to consume or freeze within a few weeks of the expiration date, so I don't have to cut back on one of my favorites I have about 5 or 6 bags of low-fat shredded cheddar (which, for some reason, is hard to find at times) in my freezer right now, along with some mozzarella and Parmesan that I get for $.99/8 oz bag - about half the price of the cheapest stuff I can find elsewhere. I also bought an entire package of Sargento cheese sticks for the kids for a buck - 24 sticks. Some varieties of cheese lasts a lot longer than the date indicates, and can be frozen well too, so it pays to stock up when you find a good price.

[sounderella]

I've seen a lot of people mention these discount stores that sell damaged goods. Are there national chains that do this or are these just local stores?

By the way....I didn't know you could freeze cheese.....good to know

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Some cheese really crumbles after being frozen, but for some purposes that is no problem.

[sweeps]

Mmmm... frozen expired cheese. Sounds delicious.

[Judi Dial]

We don't have a salvage (discounted food) store near here, or at least I haven't been able to find it! No Aldi's either, darn it.

What I do about cheese is buy it in bulk or when it goes on sale at the supermarket and then freeze it. Right now I have goat cheese and Brie in the freezer. I don't buy grated cheese, my food processor can do that, or DH, and block cheese is usually cheaper than grated.

Also, President cheese puts out a booklet almost every year with coupons in it. They aren't high, like 20-50 cents each, but there's 4 or so in the booklet and my local supermarkets will double up to $1, so they get doubled here. The coupons are good for nearly a year, so I just wait until the President cheeses I'm interested in go on sale and stock up.

Judi

[whitestripe]

yes i have found cheese has gone up quite a bit too. the cheapest cheese i can find (usually i just use it for cooking, so the homebrand tsty cheese is fine for all that) is about $AU9.00 for 1 kg.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I would love to buy cheese discounted. Yep I've found it's ridiculous to buy cheese.

[MamaBird06]

I just stocked the freezer with cheese this month, it was not expired btw! I hit a good sale at Dillons (sister chain of Kroger) and they had a sale where if you bought 10 items you would get 5.00 off. So in addition to other items, I bought 19 packages of 2% kraft cheese, different varities, slices, cubes, mostly shredded. after the 5 dollar off discount and the .75/1 coupon (from the blinkie machines right in front of the cheese) plus the .25 off per coupon per item that dillon's matches, I ended getting 19 packs of 8 oz of cheese for .49 each. I find that the shredded cheese is the best kind to freeze myself.

[whitestripe]

i've never freezed cheese, does it change the texture or taste in any way?

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by whitestripe

i've never freezed cheese, does it change the texture or taste in any way?

Yes, eat it or throw it out.

[Emily26]

I don't eat meat because I'm a vegetarian, but I agree, cheese is quite pricey these days! I used to buy mozzarella/string cheese all the time, and haven't recently just because it costs way too much. Still get parmasean cheese tho - so good on pasta and it lasts a long time.

[tulsa_sr5]

my local store has had the 1lb and 1.5lb prices mixed up for a month or so, the 1lb packages were cheaper per ounce. It was a nice surprise yesterday when the 1.5 bricks were a dollar off and balance was restored. It's still pricey enough that it has become a luxury item i get sometimes but mostly pass on.

[whitestripe]

Originally Posted by GREENBACK

Yes, eat it or throw it out.

so it does change the texture? is alright to use in cooking, like lasagna, or should i not bother?

[momto8kiddos]

Originally Posted by whitestripe

so it does change the texture? is alright to use in cooking, like lasagna, or should i not bother?

Yes, the texture changes slightly. but it's absolutely FINE to use in lasagna and other dishes where it will melt. The only difference I've been able to tell is that it doesn't slice well. It crumbles.

Do you have a Costco nearby? I get our cheddar and mozzarella cheese there for about $2.00/lb.