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BACON!!


EliMak79

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I am confused. Some people are saying they bought compliant bacon from U. S. Wellness Meats. I went to their website tonight to buy some bacon and could not check out. They state that one must order

7 lbs AND $75.00 worth of their product before you can check out.

Is this what everyone is doing? I cannot afford to buy $75 worth.

Yes, they have decided it takes $75 worth of product to make the shipping worthwhile. It doesn't have to be $75 of bacon though. I looked around and ended up passing on it and now I make my own bacon out of raw pork belly. Super fun to make your own.

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Xandra posted this link a few pages back. It's the recipe I use. Sometimes I use chipotle chili powder along with the smoked paprika. Sharon was going to try smoking hers, but I don't know if she's done it or not yet. Because there is no sugar, be careful not to over salt it. Robin was going to add apple juice (I think it was Robin) for a little sweetness, but not sure if she has done that or not.

http://americanfood.about.com/od/breakfastandbrunch/r/Making-Fresh-Bacon-At-Home.htm

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  • 1 month later...

Hey is Pork Belly the same as Side Pork? Apparently my specialty bacon that I am paying so much cash for actually does have sugar in it so I have to figure something else out. Local store has side pork in the meat case which looks like bacon and is definetly unprocessed and it sounds like I could cook like your pork belly. I have no idea if it is from a happy pig but it is sugar free. Seems like in this small town you have to pick one or the other, happy pig or no sugar ;)

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Arggg! We bought some 'good enough' bacon at the grocery and now I feel bad. Obviously we want to be as compliant as possible, but we live in a weird part of the country that hasn't quite caught on to the nothing-added, pastured meats. There are some places, but in the winter it's slow going. Guess we'll have to dig a little deeper! Don't judge too harshly!

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SouthernBeth - I'm right there with ya. I live in rural missouri and finding the right meat is a challenge. I finally found free range chicken today and it was $10 for 2 chicken breasts!!!! And I'm feeding a family of four. Beef is about $11 a pound ;/ we are researching local farms and considering buying a whole cow, it's much cheaper. try craigslist, we had some luck with that today.

Picked up some side pork and cooked it up- amazing!

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SouthernBeth - I'm right there with ya. I live in rural missouri and finding the right meat is a challenge. I finally found free range chicken today and it was $10 for 2 chicken breasts!!!! And I'm feeding a family of four. Beef is about $11 a pound ;/ we are researching local farms and considering buying a whole cow, it's much cheaper. try craigslist, we had some luck with that today.

Picked up some side pork and cooked it up- amazing!

I never thought to use CL to source local meats. What an awesome idea.

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jtota, that's a brilliant idea! I just looked on my local CL and, to my delight, there is someone offering pastured pork, at a price that doesn't look too bad to my uneducated eye. Maybe by February my household will have enough room in the freezer to think about this... hmm...

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Hey, I can find the grass-fed, pastured meats/eggs/poultry around here but sometimes it doesn't fit into my budget so I have to make do with what I can afford. A couple of things I will NOT skimp on are pastured eggs for mayo ONLY and organic greens. I usually buy organic eggs for mass consumption. I try to stock up when high ticket items go on sale and I am ALWAYS scouring the internet to learn how I can make things for myself or source it more economically. Don't sweat it, do the best you can. If you can't afford or find the best quality then buy the leanest meat you can afford and trim/drain any extra fat before and after cooking. :)

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If people are looking for compliant bacon (and it's been a while since I looked at the ingredient list), but I believe the Applegate Farms Sunday bacon has not been cured with sugar. But like Robin said, get yourself some pork belly and go to town with it. If you have a smoker at home, you can make your own bacon that is fully compliant.

I just picked up 2 orders of pork belly from Tednergrass Farms http://www.grassfedbeef.org at the suggestion of Melissa Joulwan. They should be arriving later on today.

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W301, day 7. Thanks all for the pork belly suggestion. I like to crumble bacon on a sweet potato when I am craving comfort food. Comfort food is my biggest food challenge. As you mention, it has been hard to find compliant bacon. Picked up pork belly from local butcher yesterday, in the oven with a little salt and pepper, and savored every bit. Sold my kids on both the program and the sweet potato. Bonus!

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Hi, Robin--

Thanks for the info on how to "make" my own bacon. I found pork belly at Whole Foods and it's significantly cheaper than processed bacon too. When I got home, I put the slices between sheets of wax paper (I bought 5 lbs) and layered them into airtight containers for freezing and easy access as needed. But first I reserved a handful for dinner. I bought Alaskan wild-caught sustainable cod, which is not always an exciting fish. I wrapped some of my "bacon" around the pieces of cod, seasoned them with sea salt and pepper, and cooked them on the stove top on medium heat. Yum!!! That and a big colorful salad and we were good to go.

Annette

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