Steak, burgers, roasts, filets.  I'm not sure there's a way to cook beef that we wouldn't enjoy.  Heartily.  Yep, we're carnivores.  But we're trying to be sensible eating carnivore, especially since my husband's cholesterol has been borderline to high three of the past five years.  Now we eat only grass-fed beef or bison. 

For some who are raised on grain-fed , the transition to grass-fed meat can be a difficult one.  My mother says the grass-fed beef taste more gamey.  She doesn't mean that as a compliment.  I serve chicken or vegetable dishes when she visits. 

While I lived in North Texas, grass-fed beef was readily available and very affordable.  New Mexico has neither the cattle population nor the human demand, making beef prices ridiculous (Whole Foods was selling one steak cut for $17.99 per pound, filet mignon was over $25).  With four to feed, those prices break my grocery budget fast. 

When a friend suggested we go into together to purchase an entire steer, I jumped at the chance. I grew up in Houston where we bought beef on hoof (though I never saw it until it was in my parents' freezer in tidily labeled white freezer packages).  Once I was married, I found a wonderful family farm about two hours from our house in northern Fort Worth who sold large quantities.  Since we moved to the Santa Fe area,  I greatly missed shopping cuts from my large chest freezer.  While still no bargain at $6 a pound, my friends and I each ended up with about 140 pounds of beef in vacuum-sealed wrappings.  Granted, as with any bulk purchase, we have a lot of ground beef - 42 pounds a piece - but I also have some gorgeous steaks, roasts and fajita meat.  And my dog is in heaven with his bones.

Purchasing meat in bulk is not for the uninitiated.  You need to know that the person you are buying from is reputable. Very reputable.  Both as a purveyor of food and as a business person. (Never pay more than half a deposit up front -- I prefer to keep it at a quarter of the total price. How else do you ensure the rancher has a reason to deliver your order?)  You need to do your homework and find out what's a fair market price in your area.  You also need to ensure you can properly store the volume you've ordered.  Once you've done your research, there's nothing easier than opening the freezer to find the right cut for tonight's dinner.  With a whopping dose of Omega 3s to boot.