I try to make things as easy as possible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.   After spending over an hour grocery shopping, I tend to just put away the food until it’s needed.  But last week I decided to pre-prep a bunch of things.  I chopped lettuce and onion, separated heads of broccoli and cauliflower, and trimmed sprouts.  My meal plan had 3 different meals that called for  meat to be seasoned or marinated beforehand, so I thought I’d experiment and do it all at once.  I put the chicken in a zip top bag and poured in the Italian dressing.  There was about a teaspoon left in a grinder bottle of Italian seasoning (which, IMHO is too salty and I won’t buy again – I’ll just continue to combine herbs on hand) that I ground into a large zip top bag, added a half pork loin, and gave it a good massage.  The last meat was ground turkey which went into a bag with breadcrumbs (I find that it’s not as firm as beef and needs some structure) salt, pepper, and sage.  My big worry was that everything was going to be over seasoned, but it was worth a try!

Then…the week got away from me, and I didn’t get around to cooking these things as quickly as I had hoped.

The pork got roasted in 2 days.  The salt and seasonings had a good long time to permeate the meat.  I just tossed it into the oven at 350 for an hour or so (knowing that brined meat cooks faster and that we don’t like our pork overdone), and it came out tender and juicy.  There was some left that my husband sliced the next day for sandwiches, and it was still perfectly moist.  I’ll do this again.

I was a bit worried about the ground turkey going 3 days, but it was tightly sealed and in the coldest part of the ‘fridge, but it was fine (passed the smell test and everything).  The chicken marinated the longest (4 days – eep!), and came off the grill moist and really tasty.  Chicken breast can dry out on the grill quickly, and the long marinade helped it to retain moisture. 

The guidelines for keeping meat in the home refrigerator are

• roasts and steaks – 3 to 5 days
• ground meats – 1 to 2 days
• chicken – 1 to 2 days

Obviously I pushed the envelope, but I had two things in my favor.  First, I am positive that the bottom drawer of our ‘fridge where we keep the meat is between 38-39º, (sometimes meat right against the side freezes).  Second, all of the meat was salted.  While we do need to keep an eye on our intake of sodium, it is interesting to note that   salt has an disruptive effect on the cell walls of bacteria.  (I can’t find normal people words to explain it, feel free to google salt and bacteria).  Now I understand why my dentist advises a saltwater rinse!

I’m definitely going to prep more of my foods in advance.  The longer seasoning time was probably the biggest plus.  I’m not sure if that much time was saved, but having things ready for me meant that I was more likely to cook them (instead of tossing them in the freezer for…some day…).   Which reminds me…check your freezer before you make a meal plan!! 

: )