Buying grass-fed beef

Not really our cow. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Having quality food is important to us; it's a major factor in why we have chickens. We know how they are raised, and we can control other factors such as the quality of their food. Unfortunately on our 1/3 acre city lot, that's about all we can do in the livestock realm. We'd eventually like to have our own farm, but we're still searching for other ways to get the quality we are looking for through more traditional outlets.

Thankfully we live in a location where many others have similar values, which makes this kind of food readily available. Many grocery stores, farmers markets and even butcher shops sell local, grass-fed beef. We, however, chose to go with the higher quantity route and purchased half of a cow.

We were able to find one on our local Craigslist last year for $2.75 per pound hanging weight, plus another .60 cents per pound to the butcher and half the kill fee (around $50). It was so good that we contacted the seller again this year to get on the list. There's no off taste in the fat (unlike the first cow we purchased) and is very tender.

For a total of $900, here's what we ended up with in our freezer:
Ground beef - 41 packages, approximately 1 pound each
Stew meat - 7 packages
Soup Bones -5 packages
Heart - 1 package
Liver - 7 packages
Brisket -1 package
Rump roast - 3 packages
Chuck roast - 9 packages
Cross-rib roast - 2 packages
Flank steak - 1 package
Round steak - 8 packages
Sirloin tip steak - 7 packages
T-bone steaks - 7 packages
Ribeyes - 5.5 packages (one only has a single steak)
Short ribs - 7 packages
Round Bone roast - 3 packages
Oxtail - 1
Dog bones - 10 to 15 pounds
Suet - 10 pounds