With lean ground turkey being almost $4 a pound as well as lean ground pork and beef, we have been able to cut down on our costs by using our meat grinder that attaches to our stand mixer.
When meat such as boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, pork loin goes on sale, I stock up to have meat to grind for burgers, spaghetti sauce, tacos, anything requiring ground meat. Our grocery stores often have sales on this meat for $1.99 a pound.
I let the meat freeze partially, which makes it much easier to grind. Or, I will individually freeze the pieces (cutting the loin into chops if it isn't already), then take a few pieces out in the morning and let them thaw in the refrigerator until evening. They are still slightly frozen and ready to grind. Also, this way you know what is going into your ground meat and can trim all the fat and gristle from it if you want to! I have also added onions, garlic and other herbs into the meat as I grind it.
This page contains the following solutions.
When you grind crackers with meat for a meat loaf, add crackers both before and after to prevent the meat from sticking to the grinder.
