Alternatives to grocery stores

[haunted]

With covid-19 spreading around we decided to go with online food delivery services. I've ordered Omaha steaks before but was disappointed. It's pricey, meat from grocery store tastes better most of the time, and worst of all the meat is SMALL. They say it's 6 or 8 oz when really it's half that and the size of a hockey puck. SO, this time I did my homework a little better. We ordered from these places:

Meat: https://www.butcherbox.com/

Produce: https://theproducebox.com/

Produce box is specific to North Carolina, but there's probably something similar in your area as well. Packages start at 29$ bi-weekly so it's pretty darn good of you ask me.

My expectations are pretty high for butcher box. Beef, chicken, and pork that is grass fed, vegetarian fed, free range, never indoors, no hormones/antibiotics, most humane conditions possible, etc. Things like wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon are available as well. Butcher box is a subscription, but it's very easy to alter your subscription with your online account once you join. You can delay future deliveries indefinitely or just cancel for free anytime you want.

Here is thorough review that compares prices to popular grocery stores, taste, etc:

https://thecleaneatingcouple.com/is-butcherbox-worth-it/

And this is an "unboxing" video, where you see what the meat looks like upon delivery on dry ice:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lWoRyqwL0yU

Mine should be arriving in a couple of days. I can tell y'all my own review when it does, BUT, keep in mind that these meat delivery services are getting SLAMMED right now and orders are starting to take longer than normal.

I didn't have any discounts or coupons when I bought mine, but now that I'm a member if I refer someone we both get $30 off. Boxes range from 135 to $270, so that 30 off isn't bad.

[haunted]

I forgot to say what I ordered to give you an idea of what you get for x amount.

I went all out and got the most expensive package, the custom XL for $265. You get to pick 12 "items". Mine were

5 (2x10oz ribeyes) 10 total
3 3lb chuck roasts
1 (2x10oz NY strip) 2 total
1 (4x6oz flat iron steaks) 4 total
1 3lb boneless chicken breasts
1 3lb boneless chicken thighs

So that's 12. You also get to choose "free wings for life" or "free ground beef for life", meaning they'll send you 4lbs of either for free with any box you order. There's also discounted "add-ons" afterwards too. I added on 2lb of wild caught Alaskan salmon, and 4 8oz pork chops. My total was $290

We're really trying to distance ourselves so I hope it tastes good haha. The reviews all say the taste and quality is the best part, we'll see I guess.

[|iR|Focalor]

My old ladys dogs eat chicken and rice. Ugh, you don't even know what a pain in the ass it's been to feed these little shits every day for the past several years. But a month or so ago, the cashier or bagger at the Publix accidentally put someone elses cans of dog food into our bags. I kept them. And when the stores ran out of chicken and had NO rice, I had to start feeding them the cans of pedigree or whatever it is, and luckily they ate it, and luckily they didn't vomit it out all over my house an hour later like they usually do with everything else that isn't chicken and rice.

But yeah, we go through chicken like crazy. If the stores can't keep chicken in stock, I might have to look into something like that.

[haunted]

If it's mostly chicken you want, and it's for your son's so it obviously doesn't have to be free range, antibiotic free, hormone free, or whatever else, then I'd suggest ordering straight from Perdue:

https://www.perduefarms.com/

They send it to the grocery store frozen so you're better off getting it straight from them anyways. At the store it can sit on the shelf for days and thaw and be refrozen again.

[haunted]

DOGS. Not son's haha

[haunted]

Butcher box I give an 8/10. Good quality stuff, although grass-fed beef doesn't taste like a prime grain-fed, that's for sure. Ribeyes are very mild in general so they're ok grass-fed, but you DO taste a tiny gamey taste if you have a bite of fat in it. There's a crap ton of iron/extra hemoglobin in grass-fed so it has more "beefy" flavor basically. I bet I wouldn't like filet mignon that already have a high hemoglobin content from the start. Grass-fed tenderloin probably tastes like liver.... Which isn't horrible but not what I'm looking for. The chicken is great.

Another issue you can have with grass-fed beef that's vacuum sealed is if it sits in the package for awhile and wet ages. Lactic acid interacting with the hemoglobin ramps up big time and it'll amplify those liver-tasting notes. You'll have the same issue with elk and deer sometimes so you wanna freeze it RIGHT after it's been sealed.

[haunted]

Not only did I get ammo in today, but I also got premium grade Ribeyes. One of the biggest problems these liberal kids have these days is that they need more steaks and ammunition in their lives.