I've long had an issue with the pork they sell. It's all "enhanced". Enhanced means that it's injected with an "all natural" solution of water and God knows what else to "enhance" the flavor. What this really does is make it weigh more. Then they sell it to me by the pound. Really? How dumb do they think I am? They do the same with the chicken but they do have an additive-free option for chicken. It costs more, but since it doesn't all turn to water when you cook it or thaw it out, it's really a better value. But there is no alternative for pork.
But here's my beef with the beef: It no longer comes in one pound or half pound increments. If I want to buy a pound of beef, I am forced to buy one and one quarter pounds of beef. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's ground beef or steak. One and a quarter pounds up to something like one and a third pounds is just how it comes. If you want two pounds, just plan to buy two and a half. That's how it comes.
One of the managers told me that's how it's shipped from the distribution center. But if you look in the back of the store you can see a machine that looks like it packages the meat. Maybe that's just for show. Although one of the cashiers indicated that I could probably get one of those guys back there in the meat department to do me up a package in the size I want. (If you can find "one of those guys in the back!!") Another cashier told me that they had frozen ground beef in one and two pound packages. But I've never been impressed with the quality of that frozen meat and much prefer fresh. The younger cashiers think the whole thing is funny. I suspect they think I'm just a cranky old woman with nothing better to do than complain about the way they package the meat.
And maybe they're right. But let's consider that the premium ground beef costs $6.99 per pound. That means that if I buy an extra quarter pound, it adds $1.75 to the price of the package. Wow! That means that Brookshire's gets an extra $1.75 off everyone who wants a pound of ground beef. Granted, they are selling them the extra weight. It's not that kind of rip-off. Just saying that some of us don't want to buy the extra quarter pound.
Spending extra money for meat I really don't want is irritating. But what is infuriating is that those extra calories are going into the meatloaf/spaghetti/shepherd's pie or whatever it is I'm cooking. That's like throwing in a spare quarter pounder. Let's say that there are a thousand calories in a pound of ground beef. An extra quarter pound of meat adds an additional 250 calories to the dish. Let's be serious here, who is going to measure that extra weight and remove it from the recipe? Not me (and I'm fairly obsessive). Not you. Who? So instead of having a meatloaf that has a calorie count of 268 per serving, you now have a meatloaf with a calorie count of 330 per serving. An argument could be made that you now have a five serving meatloaf rather than a four serving meatloaf. It's a bad argument. My meatloaf pan is still the same size and it's not so much bigger that I'm going to invite an extra person over for dinner. It's just got an extra 63 calories per serving. I don't want those extra calories any more than I want to shell out the extra $1.75.
In the interest of eliminating this as an issue in my life, I'll probably have to start driving the extra 10 miles down to Market Street in Frisco. They'll even sell you a half a pound - if that's all you want.
