Spam in the can!
No doubt many of you moms and dads are feeling the pinch of rising gas and food prices, and many families are buying more Spam.
Yes, I said Spam. 
Food prices are increasing faster than they've risen since 1990, at 4 percent in the U.S. last year, according to the Agriculture Department. Many staples are rising even faster, with white bread up 13 percent last year, bacon up 7 percent and peanut butter up 9 percent. There's no sign of a slowdown. Food inflation is running at an annualized rate of 6.1 percent as of April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to sales information coming from Hormel, provided by The Nielsen Co., Spam sales were up 10.6 percent in the 12-week period ending May 3, compared to last year. In the last 24 weeks, sales were up nearly 9 percent.
I'm not a fan of Spam, but if times get super tough, I'm sure I can find ways to use it to save myself some money on my grocery bills.
I know there's a ton of recipes out there that make good use of the meat in a can, you probably even have some.
There's Spam fried rice, Spam sandwiches, Spam, egg and cheese sandwiches, and Spam burgers, Spam mac n' cheese.
There's a ton of ways to cook Spam!
So tell me, if you are a fan of Spam, what's your fave way to cook it that your family will actually eat.
You can post the recipe in my comments, or link to a recipe you like if it's on line.
Annnd go!
Comments
I wonder how much a can goes for these days. Any idea? I'd rather wait for chunk light or flaked white tuna to go on sale (67 cents) than buy Spam.
Posted by: lattegirl | May 29, 2008 12:34 PM
If you look at the unit prices, you might find that a pound of ground beef or chicken thighs is cheaper than Spam. At least it is around here.
I refuse to eat Spam because I was traumatized as a child by it. My mother was the world's worst cook. She made this thing that she called "hash". It was disgusting. She'd make up box mashed potatoes, then open a can of peas and carrots and dump that into the potatoes. Can water and all. Then she'd dice up a can of Spam and dump that in there, too. She didn't even fry it up, or even rinse off the gelatinous goop.
I swore that when I grew up and was buying my own food, I'd NEVER buy Spam, and I haven't.
Anyhoo, there's this site that advertises on Gmail on the spam folder page, maybe you've seen it. Lots of Spam recipes there, and they sound much less disgusting than "hash".
http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/meat/pork/spam/
Posted by: Christine | May 29, 2008 3:25 PM
I actually don't mind spam cubed in salads, or sliced and fried for a sandwich.
Posted by: Jade | May 29, 2008 5:00 PM
I would much rather eat my dogs food. Gah!!!
Posted by: Mindy | May 29, 2008 6:59 PM
Fried spam with American cheese on toasted bread! Yum!
My husband's dad was a truck driver and brought home several pallets of Spam once. He said they ate it exclusively for months. He doesn't like to even look at it in the grocery store now.
Posted by: Chickie | May 29, 2008 10:05 PM
I'm actually a fan of Spam, but that's probably because I grew up on it.
I know how unhealthy it is, but Spam has gotten us through many rough patches. I can get cans 2 for $1 at Family Dollar. When I was in college and even for about the first year after we were married it was a weekly staple for us.
To make it even more unhealthy we fry it of course! Fried spam, biscuits, and scrambled eggs!
I do have a ton of recipes that use Spam though, and I've fed it to people who swore they'd never eat it but didn't know it was in the food they were already eating!
Posted by: Jenn | May 31, 2008 3:23 AM