Okay, so I finally got around to grinding all the meat that was clogging my refrigerator. Here's the step-by-step.

I started with bottom round roast, bought at the commissary for 1.30/lb. I cut it into strips that would fit into the grinder chute.


Next I fed the strips into the chute at the top of the processor.


The result from the first grind -


To get a better mix, and make sure the fat is more evenly distributed (you want your meat to have a little fat) run it through a second time. This will take a little longer than feeding the strips in because you actually have to use the plunger to push the ground meat down the chute. The final product -


As for the time constraints, I processed about 12lbs this morning and it took about an hour and a half. I used the coarse grinding plate that came with the grinder.

I figure if I'm saving at least $2/lb, it'll take me 20 lbs of grinding my own to break even with the price of the attachment.

Wow, it's been awhile...

I'm really excited this year about our patio garden, I started some seeds about a week ago and already the garden beans and cucumbers are ready for transplanting. It's still too cold to leave them outside but what a start, compared to last year!



The tall one's in the back are "garden beans" which are like string beans without the strings. Just in front of those are the cucumbers.


This little guy is a green pepper, this is a new one for us, I'm really excited to see how it does.

Also just after my last blog, I experimented with grinding my own beef. It was way cool! I can grind my own for about 1.50 a pound, thats way cheaper than I've found in the grocery store. And I get to use my kitchen aid for something other than fattening cookies/brownies! Amy - I know what you're thinking, but really it's easy and it only took me 30 minutes start to finish. If you feel like trying it, you can use any cut of beef that's inexpensive, you'll want it to have a little fat, cut it into strips and feed it into the grinder attachment. I ran mine through twice just to make sure everything was nicely blended. I'll take pictures when I do it again this weekend. :)

The Wedding photos are finally here!! You can find them at the following link-

Wedding Photos

Why is it that our first real snow doesn't come until almost spring? I couldn't believe how fast it came down.

Here's a quick measurement I took on the deck, around 9pm.


This morning I took another...



I think we actually got more than the 4 1/2 in my pic, the snow didn't fall very evenly :)