WFMW: Bulk meat storage

This will be my very first Works-For-Me-Wednesday. I've decided to share one of the things that truly makes life easier for me.

As a mother of three hungry-all-the-time little people, I need things that will make dinner quick and easy. We are not vegetarians, by any means, and so need to have an ample supply of meat on hand that I can cook with minimal preparation. So here's what I do...

First off, I buy the large (3 lbs. or so) bags of individually frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Pop what you need into a bowl of hot water to defrost, and there is usually very minimal trimming involved. But that's not my big tip for WFMW.

We eat a lot of ground beef. A LOT. So I buy ground beef in the big family-size packages. Usually 5 lbs or more, and there are several advantages. First, you save money by buying the larger packages as opposed to several smaller packages, since they usually discount prices for bulk purchases (I shop at the local Wal-Mart). Also, I do this:

Take the meat, divide it up into 1 lb. portions, and put in a gallon-size freezer Ziploc bag. Flatten the meat to about 1/4 inch. Makes storage easy, as you can just stack them in the freezer (I use a piece of cardboard for underneath them so they don't fall through the cracks and freeze that way!!).

To defrost, fill the sink (I scrub it clean first) with hot water, place the bag in the sink, and it defrosts pretty quickly that way. And evenly! I have tried to defrost meat in the microwave, and it never works (usually end up with meat that is partially cooked on the outside and still rock-hard frozen on the inside).

So there you have it... my tip for storing meat in the freezer in such a way that it stacks nicely and defrosts quickly. It works for me! Now, head on over to Shannon's and see more Works-For-Me-Wednesday tips!