For me making this aLL feasible boils down to a cOuple of simple principles.
I'll summarize some of the stuff I have learned along the way. Without these tips, I could not have managed the over-buy of yesterday-- 30-35 lbs is our usual limit for a processing day, and yesterday was more like 60+. Because there were some nice surprises at the meat case.
The first is the balance factor-- making sure we have plenty of variety. That means being familiar with what the usual prices are, and having the budget flexibility to jump on a good price when I see it. It also means that no matter how much I may have a taste for particular item, if it isn't a good price and if it isn't variety, I don't buy.
Another factor is that we do eat out a lot in this crazy ministry life. So I know that if home coking is plain and simple, the times we eat out can balance that with pizzazz.
A BIG factor has been knowing my limits-- how many pounds can I lift, cut, cook, cool, pack up, at a stretch. And often I will end up doing it all alone-- if Hardi's schedule goes nuts I better have a plan I can do on my own, because having committed the bucks, I better not have the meats go bad while I figure out a plan.
Another big help has been the 4 essential large pans we have. One pair is really big and the other is even bigger. Pans as big as the oven walls will holds, in other words, so that there are fewer trips back and forth in the steps to deal with all the results.
Wax paper is a HUGE help in packing up large quantities in portion sizes, and cheap.
There is always a mix of qualities-- i.e. really good and expensive beef balanced with el cheapo chicken. What makes this work is that the fresh foods and dressings or sauces served on the side give the pizzazz when the meat is plain. This also means that it matters that Hardi can pressure-cook, grill, and smoke like a pro, not to mention his outdoor dutch-oven cookery. If the beef on sale is not the great stuff, we know how to make the pot roast really wonderful.
Finally, I know enough about the cuisines Hardi and I can cover to trust that no matter how same-same the freezer's contents may look, we are free to go "offroad" and "off-recipe" and just have fun with what we do with what we thaw. It's a no-brainer to thaw something in the AM that we have not eaten in the day or two before, with no idea what it will become at suppertime. One of us will be hungry enough at cooking time to hunt up some pretty good flavoring options and serve a fun meal out of it-- sometimes a definite cuisine or sometimes our own goofy fusion.
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One myth that we consider totally busted is the myth that "it's hard to buy for one or two people." It's usually just laziness of planning. There are just us two, but we still buy in 10-15 lb. packages. We just break them down after we get them home-- cooked or raw as meat quality dictates. A portion is a portion is a portion-- no matter what size the pkg was before it was broken down.