I was super happy to get picked to go meet Safeway’s meat merchandiser in Winnipeg. We are a big beef eating family, and I was excited to learn more about it.
First of all – did you know all of the beef at Safeway is 100% Canadian!! Safeway knows how great beef in Canada is, and chooses to stay local with it. There are 83,000 beef farming families in Canada too which is neat and glad to see them being supported by a big chain.
One of my biggest questions about the beef was their new packaging – what exactly is it? How does the meat stay good so long? Well, ends up they just take the air out – and that’s it! Nothing added at all! I like the new packaging,you can pick up meat and have quite a while to cook it. Nothing worse than feeling rushed to cook something, or having it go bad. I think this is great for consumers – but just great in general. Less meat being wasted at home, and also at the store.
Before going for my meeting I asked for questions on twitter – Jim had a good one, is anything added to the ground beef? I wasn’t too sure on this one, and glad to report the answer is absolutely nothing. That is the natural colour, and nothing added to preserve it. Another thing I learned is that the new ground beef packages are stackable….which is funny because I’ve been stacking them in my own freezer and finding it convenient. Just didn’t click in that they’re made like that, flat top and bottom…maybe I thought I was just great at organizing my freezer all of a sudden? 🙂
Another great question from Kristin was which cut of beef is most popular during winter? Ends up it’s roasts, with the short ribs catching up though. Everyone loves comfort food in the winter. As everyone knows in Winnipeg, steaks are popular here year round! We actually cooked some steaks on our fire pit a few weeks ago, while our neighbours were outside bbq’ing too.
  I tried out a short ribs recipe the beef merchandiser gave me and it was delicious.
 Here’s my version of it – take ribs,put them in oven container or slow cooker – throw in some dark beer and beef stock, and anything else you want or have at home, spices, veggies etc.   When it’s done, thicken the sauce up with some flour and you’re good to go. I used a HalfPints StirStick stout and it was delicious! Smelled amazing as it cooked and all 3 of us really enjoyed it. Delicious with mashed potatoes! The beef stock/beer combo would be great with roasts too!
I had fun getting to check out all of the meat – and as a Safeway shopper I have two tips. Next time you’re in the meat section, look up, then look down. I had never really noticed all those ads above and below the meat. It’s full of recipes, tips etc. and it was actually really interesting. I think when I go I’m focused on the meat and never really look. 2nd tip – if you buy 3 or more packs of regular priced beef you get 10% off! Remember that tip next 10% off day in March too! 🙂
What are your favourite beef recipes? Remember when you’re at Safeway if you have a question, speak to the employees in the meat department. Super friendly and helpful!