Jul. 14, 2009 - Beach Day recipe

Seems like this summer has been flying by and we haven’t made it to the local beach yet.  We have a local beach that does a homeschool day once a week and we often run into many friends.  It’s a lot of fun and a great time to catch up while having fun.  This year it seems first it was too rainy and then we got too busy.  Well today is going to be the day!

Hope you are all taking time for some fun outings!

Thought I’d share one of our favorite bring along treat for the beach and fair.  It’s something I modified from a recipe in my 30 day gourmet Freezer cookbook.  Those of you that know me won’t be surprised, I rarely follow a recipe!

Frozen fruit cups

20 oz homemade jam or pie filling (usually I do cherry or blueberry)

15 oz. crushed pineapple

one box instant white chocolate pudding prepared (can really use any flavor, often do vanilla)

15 oz. mandarin oranges

16oz. tub light cool whip

Thaw cool whip and mix all ingredients together.  Spoon into punch size plastic cups.  Place plastic wrap over top of cup and secure with rubber band.  Bag cups into large freezer bags and store in freezer till you want to use.  Thaw slightly before serving.

We make big batches of these and have them handy in the freezer.  I take the amount we want in a freezer bag in the cooler and by lunch time they are a creamy, almost ice cream like consistency.  These make a very nice cool treat for a hot day at the beach or the fair.  Enjoy!

Mar. 18, 2009 - Fancy Breakfasts

It’s been awhile but back to the “cooking” breakfast series.  If you missed the first couple scroll down a bit or click freezer cooking in the right hand column.

These are two favorite “fancy” breakfast.  I say fancy because these are ones that I typically cook on weekends though occasionally we might have them on a weekday.  They are not difficult but do take a bit more time and perhaps coordination.

The first, Banana Crepes, is definitely Lexie’s favorite and some of the other kids might rate it the best as well.

Banana Crepes

Crepes-1 cup flour, ¼ cup powdered sugar, 1 cup milk, 2 eggs, 3T. melted butter and 1 t. vanilla.  Typically I actually double this for our family of six (we do have big eaters!)  Mix all the ingredients with a wisk and use ¼ cup of batter poured into a hot non-stick 6 or 7 inch. pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  “Swirl” the batter around to make a circle and cook till done but not browned, then flip and cook for another 20-30 seconds.  Place on plate with paper towel in between crepes until ready to assemble.

Sauce- For the sauce place ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon and about ½ cup of milk into a large 10-12 inch skillet.  Warm on low heat and add banana’s sliced vertically to the sauce to warm.

Once banana’s are warm wrap them in a crepe with a T. of sauce, roll up and then spoon a little more sauce over the top.

Enjoy!

Hands down my favorite breakfast is Eggs Benedict.  The key to this one is in the sauce.  I don’t order this one out anymore because few restaurants do it right.  The Prime Table (a restaurant near here) does a good job but many others fall WAY short and it’s disappointing.

Eggs Benedict

English Muffins

Eggs

Ham slices

lemon juice

Butter or margarine

Toast your English muffins (2 halves per person) and place 2 slices of ham in a large skillet on low heart to warm.  Place a slice of ham on top of each English muffin half and then a poached egg on top of that*.  Now spoon sauce on top.  You can sprinkle paprika on top for a finishing touch if you wish.

Hollandaise Sauce- In a microwave container place 3 egg yolks (be sure there are no whites), Wisk with fork.  While continuing to Wisk add one stick of melted butter or margarine and 1 tea. of lemon juice.  Microwave 15 seconds at a time stirring well after each 15 seconds until thickened slightly and smooth.  If you cook too fast your eggs will “cook” and your sauce will be lumpy.  You could probably do this on a stovetop over very low heat stirring constantly as well. 

*to poach eggs spray a sauce pan with non-stick spray then add water filling it 1/3 to ½ full.  Bring your water to a simmer (low boil).  Crack your eggs into a measuring cup one at a time and “tip” into the simmering water.  Set your timer for 2 minutes and remove poached eggs with a slotted spoon.

Okay, with all that butter and eggs it my not be the best nutrition and calorie wise but it sure does taste good!

Although these two were not really “freezer” breakfast I am planning one more in the freezer breakfast series so check back soon.

Feb. 9, 2009 - More Freezer breakfasts!

A lot of things have kept me from the blog so I’m sorry if you’ve been patiently waiting for the recipes I promised.  Without further delay then, here’s the breakfast cookie’s my friend Heather shared with me;

We like these warm from the oven in a bowl crushed up with milk but we also eat them like “cookies” on the go.  When my son was detasseling corn and had to be up at the crack of dawn he would often take these for the bus ride.  The kids on the bus decided they shouldn’t be called cookie’s because they’re healthy and that would just be wrong.

I use regular (not instant) oats and we always add raisons, other’s I know add chocolate chips and use instant oats.  The old fashioned oats give it a drier, more granola like texture while the instant make them smoother like a cookie texture. 

Typically I make a double batch and we eat half that morning.  The other half I freeze in a 1 quart freezer bag for another day.

 The next on the go recipe we’ve just recently found is granola bars.  This one is adapted from the recipe in Dining on a Dime Cookbook (which by the way has some really good stuff!) 

I had tried other granola bar recipes before that required you to make “granola” first and then turn them into bars.  These are much easier and are more of a chewy granola bar.  They went fast at our house!  If you’ve got an easy one too please share!

Again with these like the cookies, make double, eat one and freeze one! 

Well that’s all for now.  I’m planning two more installments in the breakfast series so check back.

Feb. 5, 2009 - Freezer Breakfast continued

 Well, my entry on make ahead breakfast struck a cord with a couple of my readers who asked some questions and requested some recipes via facebook so I thought elaborate in a couple more entries.

First, for today let’s start with the quick and easy to go breakfast.  These are the ones you can make ahead and stick in the microwave for a second for the person (or whole family) heading out the door.  If you can plan ahead for these it will save you LOTS of money in fast food stops!

For us the first make ahead that comes to mind is the breakfast burrito I mentioned in the previous blog.  This is the standard breakfast when we leave for vacation (if we leave in the morning) or a day at an amusement park. 

To make the burrito’s you need to first assemble your ingredients.  I use the smaller, 6 inch, I believe tortilla’s.  When traveling I like them to be small and easy to handle in the car.  Then you need to scramble some eggs and either brown some sausage or cook some bacon if you like.  Now those of you that know how I cook will know that my sausage and/or bacon has been cooked long ago and is nestled in my freezer waiting to be used!  You’ll also want to have your sauce ready and a small amount of shredded cheese if you want (we use cheddar usually.)

For the sauce I use my basic everything sauce.  I’ve seen it in many recipe books in one form or another so I don’t really think anyone can claim it.  To start it’s basically a “white” sauce.  Here’s my version:

½ cup white flour

½ cup wheat flour

6 cups of milk

Place the flour and milk in a saucepan and stir with a whisk, heating until thickened.

Now, don’t just do the “basic”, add in your flavor.  For burrito’s I usually add 1-2 tsp. of chicken bouillon and a handful (maybe 1/3 cup) of cheese, sometimes cheddar but many times just grated parmesan.  If you really can’t make the sauce use a can of cream of chicken soup instead (you probably won’t use the whole can.)

This sauce can be used for MANY different things.  It just depends on what you add (think different kinds of cheeses, meats, chopped vegetables, types of bouillon or broth powders etc…)

Okay, now that your ingredients are assembled just put a small amount of eggs, meat, sauce and cheese on each and roll up.  Don’t overfill or you’ll have a mess when trying to eat and be sure not to use more then a tablespoon of sauce or it will run out when it reheats.  When I roll them up I tuck the end up then the sides over and fold the last end down so it all stays “in”.  Wrap each on individually in wax paper and store a bunch in a gallon freezer bag.  Take them out as needed and microwave.

I’m guessing the microwave time would be about 80-90 second for one though we never do just one.  We usually do 8-10 for about 6-8 minutes.  It will depend somewhat on your microwave and how much you “stuffed” them.

The second on the go breakfast that we like are homemade egg muffins.  These are pretty self explanatory except maybe for this one tip.  Cook your egg’s in the oven to get those flat eggs like you get in the drive through.

I take probably 12-18 eggs and whisk them in a bowl, then pour on a greased jelly roll pan and bake at 300-35 till they are set.  It will vary with the number and size of eggs as well as size of your jelly roll pan as to how long.  Once they are set but not brown (if edges start to brown but center isn’t set cut slits and tilt like you would for an omelet to let the liquid go to the hot pan) cool and cut into squares for you breakfast sandwiches.

Now just assemble the sandwiches.  Place a square of egg on the bottom of an English muffin and top with cheese and either sausage or bacon if you like.  Now place the other half of the English muffin on top and again wrap in waxed paper.

Just a safety note here;  with the microwave you always want to wrap in wax or parchment paper never plastic wrap.  Plastic wrap can get super hot and actually adhere to your skin and burn you (plus it could melt and leave a plastic taste on your food!)

Next entry our two favorite on the go non-egg breakfast….Check back!

Jan. 26, 2009 - Better Breakfasts

My kids used to love cereal for breakfast (and really they still do sometimes) but let’s face it, most of the time it’s not the best choice.  Cereal has become so expensive.  Even if you get it on sale you’re talking most of them time $2 a box and that’s for 12-18 ounces if you’re lucky! 

This is not to mention that most of the cereal that appeals to kids is more nutritionally like candy instead of healthy food!  The ones that are somewhat nutritious seems to hang out more towards the $3.50 or more per box range and most of them my kids would rather not eat. 

Several years ago for both nutrition and cost reasons I started trying to get my kids to eat less cereal.  The biggest reward of this came in the budget.  We’d easily go through 10-15 boxes a week for my four kids when my entire grocery budget at the time was only 50-70 per week.  That was a huge savings that I could spend elsewhere!

At first they were less then excited and on certain days I too wished for “easy” cereal.  After all, cereal they can serve themselves, it stores well and I don’t have “make it”.  They like pancakes, waffles, eggs and other things but they take more effort on my part.  The kids missed having instant gratification and had to wait a few minutes for breakfast.  Wow, are we Americans spoiled or what?  They probably also missed the sugar but that’s just too bad.

This wasn’t just a one week switch over but took us probably 1-2 years to really prefer what we do now for breakfast.

For me I had to change the way I thought about breakfast and think more like I do for dinner and plan ahead.  This brings me to the reason I decided to write this today.  I found a new plan ahead breakfast that we all love!

Once in awhile before I’d take our pot roast leftovers, you know carrots, potatoes and meat and make them into hash for breakfast the next day.  My husband and I both bought potatoes accidentally so we had tons which lead me to think why not make a huge batch of homemade “hash” to freeze ahead!

I got a new huge roaster from my Mom and Dad for Christmas which I filled with scrubbed potatoes, carrots, a couple parsnips, a few turnips and onions.  On top of this I put two pork steaks (I would have used corned beef, or beef but it wasn’t on sale), then I added water to about 1/3 the depth of the roaster.  I let it cook on 250 for probably 6-8 hours.  Once it was done I broke up the meat, removed the bones and gave it a stir.  Then I put batches in my kitchen aid to “mush” it slightly and simply bagged it up for the freezer.

You could use several crock pots, which is what I did before I got my big roaster, to do the same.  We ended up with about 7 quart bags for seven made ahead breakfasts.  To serve I just thaw and "fry" it in a skilled till it browns a little.  The kids like to eat it with ketchup.  I prefer a little butter and salt.  At any rate it’s much healthier and cheaper then cereal.

Some of the other made ahead breakfast we love:

·         Breakfast burritos (eggs, sauce, cheese and sometimes sausage rolled in a tortilla, individually wrapped in waxed paper for microwave reheating.)

·         Breakfast pizza’s (bread dough flattened in 6 inch rounds, flash froze on cookie sheet with sauce, eggs, meat and cheese, I usually freeze these 6-8 in a bag and cook in the oven.)

·         Dixie Breakfast (this is a breakfast casserole froze liquid in a gallon bag and just poured into a 9 X 13 to bake.)

·         Texas Toast (this is “texas toast” with an egg, milk, little bit of sugar mixture poured over it and baked into pan French toast.  I freeze this ahead in foil pans.)

·         Breakfast cookies (I’ll have to see if my friend Heather will let me share this recipe, they are awesome with milk or in hand.  I have seen other recipes on the web so feel free to search.)

·         Muffins and quick breads are also great when I get them made ahead which is not as often as I’d like.  They disappear so fast!

Besides the make aheads the morning of we’ll often do baked oatmeal, regular oatmeal, pancakes, pan pancakes, German pancakes, waffles, eggs lots of ways, on occasion eggs benedict (a family favorite!), banana crepes (another family favorite!), homemade yogurt mixed with fruit and jam, toast and jam or peanut butter, and sometimes bagels or English muffins if they’re on sale.

So you can see we don’t get bored and with the exception of eggs benedict and banana crepes they are all pretty easy.  Even those two aren’t “hard”, just time consuming really, but worth it once in awhile!

We’re always looking for more freezable, make ahead types so let me know if you’ve got a good one.  If you’re thinking about making your breakfast more affordable and healthy don’t give up, remember it’s a process.  It won’t happen for you or your kids overnight, give it time and small changes are better then none at all!

Oct. 6, 2008 - Freezer filling potatoes

To start out I chose the smaller potatoes and filled to crock pots full.  These I baked all day and then cooled to use for potato’s skins.  While they were cooking my daughter Lexie and I peeled like crazy.

We peeled as many of the larger ones as we could stand to and made mashed potatoes.  My family loves mashed potatoes but I don’t always have the time when dinner rolls around to peel, cook and whip.  They actually freeze very well and if you whip them up a little once thawed can’t even tell that they were from the freezer!  If you don’t already know, when you whip your mashed potatoes use only milk (no butter), add the butter just before serving if you like.  Adding the butter while whipping can make them not as fluffy.  Another thing we like to do is add a little sour cream either instead of or in addition to the milk.  Try it, it just adds a little flavor.

We ended up with 4 quart bags of mashed potatoes for the freezer.  I know we could use more but we were tired of peeling!

Part of the reason we were tired of peeling is we also were peeling and dicing the potatoes for clam chowder.  For this we peel and dice (into small bite size pieces) the potatoes and throw them in a large pot (I use a 5 qt) with water to cover about ¾ from the top.  Once you can pierce them with a fork, add chopped onion (probably about a cup), a can of clams drained (or leave out if you want plain potato soup) and crumbled bacon (again probably about a cup).  We also add about a Tablespoon of powdered chicken bouillon.  Pour milk to fill the pot leaving just enough room to stir without spilling.  Once that is heating up again I add cornstarch mixed with a little milk to thicken (make it the consistency of gravy and stir it in.)  How much depends on how thick you want your soup/chowder.  It will thicken as heats.

We ended up doing three pots of this and took one to a potluck, had one for lunch and have 4 in the freezer.  Two pots we left as potato soup (my oldest doesn’t like clams) and one pot we made into clam chowder (my second son loves this!)  Really it doesn’t taste much different.  If you want more “seafoody” taste you could add old bay seasoning but I don’t.

By this time my crock pot potatoes were almost done and I had other things to do so I cooled them overnight in the fridge to finish the next day.

To make the potato skins we took the cooled potatoes and halved them.  With spoons we scooped out most of the potato leaving only the jacket with a thin amount of potato.  We saved all the scooped out part and added a chopped onion.  I bagged these for fried potatoes to go with eggs for breakfast.  We got four quart bags of these.

Once we had them scooped we lay them on a cookie sheet and brush each potato with oil.  I usually add a little salt, pepper and sometimes other seasoning to the oil.  Then we pop them in the oven to bake in the oil for a few minutes, maybe 10 minutes at 400.  Once they come out we drain off any excess oil and top them.  We like crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese and chives.  Cook them till the cheese is melted then cool and bag them for the freezer.

We got 6 bags of 18 skins from the ones we did.  A lot of times we’ll have them with soup or even just as a snack or appetizer.  I like sour cream on mine!

Another one we could have done is what we call “mushy potatoes”.  For this you take baked potatoes and mash them with a potato masher skins and all.  We leave some lumps and add a stick of butter, ½ cup of parmesan cheese and dried chives. 

We still have about 10lbs of potato’s left in my regular stash.  Think we’ll put some in the crock pot so we can have baked potatoes with our grilled chicken breast tonight!

So what do you do ahead with potatoes?

Gina

Jul. 15, 2008 - Freezer cooking

Okay, even though it’s summer we still have to cook at least a little!  My freezer was getting a little sparse so it was time to restock.  In the summer we tend not to eat out of the freezer quite as much since we do a lot more picnics (cold cut sandwiches) and grilling (hot dogs and hamburgers) but we do get tired of that and need some quick and easy variety.  So I thought I’d share with you what I did last night and this morning.  For more information on how I freezer cook click the category in the right hand column to see my past entries on the subject.

Well yesterday we spent the day at the beach and on the way home I stopped and picked up 30lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast.  It was on sale for $1.39 a pound which around here is about as good as it gets anymore so I stock up!  Before we left in the morning I planned out what we’d make based on what we had here and what we needed yet to buy.  I decided on marinated chicken for the grill, chicken enchiladas, chicken and dumplings and chicken salad ring.

On the way home I also had to pick up my son and ended up a little rushed so I shifted plans slightly for dinner last night.  I had planned on making up the chicken enchiladas right away and having one for dinner but since I was rushed I looked around and found ingredients for another favorite, chicken spaghetti, and made up one batch of that quickly for dinner while I bagged the chicken for the grill.

For the marinated chicken I simply cut the chicken breast into portion sizes (these were HUGE chicken breasts!) and put the amount that is right for our family in gallon freezer bags labeled and dated.  I pour over them about ½ bottle of light Italian salad dressing mixed with about ½ cup of water.  That’s it, then I lay them flat (so the bag is only about 1 inch high) and stack them in the freezer.  We made 4 bags of these.  When you’re ready to use them just defrost and grill!

While I was bagging those I started the chicken spaghetti.  I often bag and freeze this one too but for this time we just had it right away.  I quickly microwave about a pound of cut up chicken while I boiled the spaghetti noodles.  While that was cooking you mix a can of cream of chicken with a jar of salsa and 1 tsp. of chili powder.  Mix the chopped cooked chicken, noodles and soup/salsa mixture.  Place in a 9X13 and slice Velveeta (or other cheese) on top.  Bake till cheese is melted.  My friend Heather gave me this recipe that was her Aunt’s.  She’s made it for the food ex-change many times.  I modified it slightly and changed it to a jar of salsa from a can of tomato soup.  I’ve made it both ways and it’s great.

Next I started on the Chicken and Dumplings.  This is one that you can make up ahead and put in the crock pot for the day.  Cut up 3 carrots and 3 stalks of celery into bite size pieces and place in bag, pour 1 ½ cups of chicken stock over the top.  You can add some seasoning if you like, I have an Italian herb mix that I add at this point (about 1 tsp.).  All of that is in a one gallon freezer bag.  Take a 1 quart freezer bag and fill it with cut up pieces of chicken.  I usually cut them to “small” portion size and get about 9-10 of those size pieces into the bag.  Seal that bag and put it into the gallon bag.  Now mix 2 cups of biscuit mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy), ½ cup milk and 1 tsp. of seasoning like dry parsley, rosemary or chives.  I used parsley this time.  Put the dough in a zip lock sandwich bag and place in the gallon freezer bag.  When your ready to make it just place the vegetables and stock in the crock pot with the chicken on top.  I usually cut the freezer bag with scissors and put it all in frozen.  Set the dough aside.

About ½ hour before you’re ready to eat spoon the thawed dough on top of the chicken and cover.  Don’t peek or your dumplings will not rise!  Usually put my dough in the refrigerator all day to thaw or it will thaw too quickly.  Most of the time I think mine cooks 6-8 hours on high but each crock pot varies so your time might be different.

Before I went to bed last night I put the rest of the chicken in my crock pot to cook all night so I could shred it in the morning.  The only problem with this is everyone wakes up hungry from the good smell!  It is however a great way to get beautifully shredded chicken.

So this morning I put two portions away for a chicken salad ring (both in Tupperware containers, one in fridge for this week and one in freezer for next.)  My daughter likes to make these.  Basically you make chicken salad (mayonnaise, shredded chicken and chopped celery) then scoop it over croissants laid open in a circle (think large “sun” shape, points out) then put a slices of cheese on top and fold your croissants over it and pinch.  You then bake till done and browned.  There are lots of variations on this and I’m sure most of you have done these.  Ariel (who’s 10) does these herself and it’s one meal mom doesn’t have to make!

The rest of the shredded chicken I use in the chicken enchiladas.  For my enchilada’s I made a sauce with 6 cups milk, ½ cup white flour, ½ cup wheat flour, 1 tsp. chicken bouillon and 1 can of cream of chicken soup.  Sometimes I don’t add the can of soup but this time I did.  Heat it until it starts to boil (and thicken) then turn off and cool.

Once my ingredients are set I start making my “packets”.  We like to use the smaller tortia's so I pack 12 to a bag (two for each person in my family.)  I simply mix about 2 cups of shredded chicken a small handful of shredded mozzarella (maybe 1/3 cup) and 2 or 3 T. of the sauce in a bowl.  I fill the tortia’s with this mix and fold them up burrito style and put right into a one gallon bag.  I then take about 2 cups of the sauce and put it into a 1 quart freezer bag and place it  in the gallon back on top of the rolled up enchilada’s I just made.  The last thing I add is about ¾ cup of shredded mozzarella in a sandwich bag and then seal it all in the gallon bag.  When you want to eat it you simply thaw and assemble it in your 9X13.  Place the enchiladas in the bottom, cover with sauce (you can thin with milk if it got too thick) and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

So out of 30lbs of chicken I got:

           4 marinated chicken for grill

            3 chicken enchilada

            3 chicken and dumplings

            2 chicken rings

            1 chicken spaghetti

13 meals in all!  Well worth about 4 hours work.

Now, lest you think we’ll be eating chicken for 3 weeks straight, I do have other things frozen from previous cookings.  Right now I’ve also got shrimp jambalaya, cheesy chicken, pork steak, beef steak, ham slices and probably some other things I forgot about.  In about two weeks I’ll probably do this again…maybe beef will be on sale?

While I was doing this I also cooked a few other things to re-supply the freezer and use up some things I had.

I did a double batch of blackberry muffins since we still have frozen blackberries from last year I need to use.  We can always use more quick breakfast foods.

We also have tons of eggs right now so I’m trying to freeze ahead some things for winter when our chickens won’t be laying as well so I froze and egg and sausage dish.  It’s great for using up eggs.  You take 16 eggs beaten, half loaf of bread cubed and 2 lbs of sausage and place them in your gallon freezer bag, then put a smaller bag sealed inside with 1 cups of shredded cheddar.  Just thaw, pour into a greased 9X13, top with the cheese and bake till set.  I’m thinking 350 for about ½ hour.

Again to use up eggs and the tortia’s I have left today I plan on making breakfast burritos.  For those I scramble the eggs, make 1 or two cups of sauce (same as the one for the chicken enchilada’s minus the chicken bouillon), have shredded cheese (usually cheddar or mixed cheese) and meat (this time bacon I have precooked and crumbled in the freezer.)  Just take the torita’s and put some eggs, sauce, meat and cheese in each one.  Don’t fill too full or they’ll just rip.  I individually wrap each one in wax paper and then put 20 or so in each gallon freezer bag and we just pull out and microwave as needed.

So what are you making for your freezer?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Gina

Jan. 26, 2008 - Cooking and Packaging tips

1.      1.  Start with a clean kitchen!  Have all your pans, bowls and containers ready to go.  There’s nothing worse than to get started and realize the pan you need is in the refrigerator with plastic wrap over last night’s leftovers.

2.       2.Have multiple things going at once.  Are you doing dishes that required browned ground beef or sausage?  Start the cooking while you start something else.   Are you doing a crock pot recipe like pulled pork?  Put that in right away so by the end of your cooking time it’s done.  Do you need water boiling for rice or pasta? Start that.  You get the idea.  We want to work smarter not harder.

3.       3.Be sure and have your containers for packaging ready.  Plastic freezer bags have come a long way.  I use those for most things.  For lasagna’s and layered things I do like to do them in  Tupperware containers upside down so I can just flip them on top of my 9X13 and let it fall in.  This works much better than foil pans which are hard to cover airtight and are also expensive.

For the bags I use 1 gallon freezer bags for most things and sometimes quart size for things like sloppy Joe filling or cheese to put on top before cooking.  When you put these bags in the freezer, lay them flat and they will freeze 1-2 inches high.  You’d be amazed at home many you can fit in your freezer (even if you don’t have a deep freeze!)

Take a permanent marker and write right on the bag the contents and the date.  You may want to include brief cooking instructions as well.  If you are using Tupperware containers use a freezer label.  This will make it easy for you to call home and ask your husband or teen to put dinner on!

4.      4. Put anything you will need with the recipe with it.  For instance if you’re making chimichunga filling you’d put that in a one quart freezer bag.  I would put right with it another freezer bag with your flour tortillas.  If you don’t when you go to have it you might be out of tortilla’s.  Same thing with toppings.  For instance, I make a ham and potato casserole which is topped with cheese and crushed corn flakes.  I put both the cheese and corn flakes in sandwich bags and then together into a 1 qt. freezer bag to go right with the 1 gallon bag of ham and potatoes.

5.       5.Last tip is to make a list of everything you’ve made and have stored in the freezer.  You can assign what day you’ll each which or not, that’s up to you.  We just cross them off as we pull them out so we know what’s left.  I leave the list on the side of the fridge.  I will often make notes as well as to how we liked it or if I needed to make more next time etc…

So now your freezer is full and it’s time to RELAX!  No more cooking for awhile (2 week, 30 days whatever you decided!)  This is the best part.  Right now you may not even be sure if this was worth it but give it a week of no time in the kitchen and you’ll be more sure it’s worth it!

So take a break.  I’ll take a break to but watch in a few weeks for recipes and detailed shopping lists to give you inspiration to plan your next cooking day!

Jan. 22, 2008 - Shopping and Cooking day

 Now you’ve decided what to make, how much and have your list ready to go!  You need to set your day to shop and cook.  Part of this will depend on which method you chose. 

For instance if you’re doing the plan over’s (see last few days blogs) you may not need a “day” to cook but may need to make sure for the next 4-5 night you have slightly more time for dinner preparations to be preparing 3-4 batches of your dinner instead of one.  If you’ve chose this method decide which days you’ll make what and write it in your calendar or planner.

For the other two methods described in the earlier blogs you’ll need either a day or part of a day set aside to cook.  For me it usually works better to do two afternoons rather than one whole day (that’s if I’m doing 20-30 meals.)  Usually I can accomplish 10-15 in an afternoon.  Error on the side of too much time rather than trying to squeeze it in and stressing yourself out.  Put your days on your calendar!

Ideally your shopping day should be the day before you cook.  Another hint here, clean out your refrigerator before you go shopping (you’ll need the space!)

So that’s your mission for today!  Set your shopping and cooking days!

If you’re looking for more information or recipes here’s one of my favorite sites.  I get a lot of my recipes here.

Come back next time for cooking day and packaging tips!

Gina

Jan. 19, 2008 - Exacting your cooking plan!

^{Okay, now if you’ve been following along this is where we actually start to plan what will work for you and your family.  You’ll want to gather this weeks’ sales ads from the newspaper or online store website and some of your favorite recipes.  The other thing you’ll need to know is how much you can or want to spend on your freezer cooking.}

^{Part of how much you’ll spend is how many meals you want to make ahead.  Many of you have probably heard of, “once a month” freezer cooking.  You can do that but there are other options as well.  Since that is probably the most familiar concept let’s start there and define what we’re talking about.}

^{Once a Month Cooking- This is where you literally plan out your ingredients for 30 days of meals and pre-cook them all in one day.  The advantage to this method is that you pretty much don’t have to cook at all (if you don’t want to) for about a month!  When I have done this I find I do more baking, making side dishes ahead etc… just because I have the extra time and maybe I actually miss cooking a little.  I really do ENJOY cooking most of the time!  The first disadvantages to this method is that you have a really LONG day and may swear you’ll never do this again after that day.  Secondly, it can be quite costly to make 30 meals at once.} 

^{Sale cooking (2 week cooking for me)-  This is where you take advantage of sale pricing and make your meals accordingly.  For us this is every two weeks when my husband gets paid.  I take advantage of “lost leader” type sales and cook 10-15 meals with whatever was the best sale that week.  For instance if pork steak or pork roast is on sale for .99 cents a pound I’ll buy 15-20 pounds and make multiples of several pork recipes.    The advantage to this method is that your costs and time are often much lower, however, the disadvantage can be that you feel like you are eating the same type, for instance all pork dishes, for two weeks straight.}

^{Plan Over Cooking- Sometimes the can be the easiest method to start with or do one or two nights in between your main cooking sessions.  With this you simply “plan” to have left over’s (thus, the name plan over) by making double or triple (or more) batches of your meal.   For instance, have one meatloaf for dinner that night and freeze the other two for later.  You still save the clean-up time and most of the time it only takes you a few more minutes to make double or triple.}

^{Co-op cooking- This is something you may want to try once you’ve decided you like this method of doing your meals.  There are many variations but basically you find one or more friends with similar size families and you all cook but exchange your meals so instead of having say 5 lasagnas in the freezer you trade 4 of your lasagnas for four other dishes from your friends, maybe a pan of enchiladas, Salisbury steak, Ziti, and  beef and broccoli.  Advantages to this method are that you get a really good variety of meals but the disadvantages can be that they are not all cooked exactly how your family likes them.  If you are a little unsure this method can be fun because you can cook with a friend but that can also take much more coordination.  This method can be done either cooking in your own kitchens or meeting together at a central location to do the actual cooking.}

^{What method appeals to you?  If you want to work hard, money is not a big issue and you want a lot of satisfaction when you’re done the once a month method might be a good choice.  I’m guessing for many however, the sale shopping might be the way to go.  This method is very flexible and could cover 10-30 meals depending on how much you want to spend and what is on sale.  If you’re short on time, not sure of your commitment to this and have never every tried any of this before the plan over’s might be the best way to start.}

^{Chose your method.}

^{Doesn’t matter which method you chose your next step in to go through your ads and recipes and make your shopping list.  I always try to take advantage of sale prices.  If ground beef is on sale you’ll want to take a look at your favorite ground beef recipes.  Here’s some of our favorite dishes that use ground beef; Taco soup, Chimichungas, Salisbury Steak, Beef Stroganoff, Tetrazzini, Enchiladas, Pizza burgers and Mushroom burgers.    If chicken’s on sale I might make; Chicken Chili, Chicken spaghetti, Cheesy chicken, Italian baked chicken, chicken and dumplings, Moroccan chicken stew or cheesy chicken sandwiches.  Hope that gives you a few ideas.  There’s also weeks when cases of Bacon are on sale, or bulk Italian sausage or ham…  But probably the most common sale items are Beef and Chicken.}

^{Just keep in mind as you consider your recipes that there are a few that just don’t freeze well.  Most do but things heavy in sour cream type sauces may not come out with the same consistency or some soups may do better to have the noodles added on cooking day or they will be mushy.  We’ll talk a little more on this when we talk about packaging.  For your first time try to pick things like I suggested in the paragraph above and you’ll do well.} 

^{Now make your menu based on your sale items and recipes.  I recommend make at least double batches of each recipe (if not more.)   For instance, if ground beef is on sale my shopping list might look like this;}

^{Enchilada (3)            Salisbury (3)        Taco Chili (3)       Tetrazzini (3)        totals}

^{3lb gr. Beef               5lb gr. Beef          3lb. gr beef           3lb gr beef     14lb gr. Beef}

^{3 can tom. Soup      3 cup br. crumbs 3 can blk. beans   3lb broccoli}          

^{3 jars salsa                                               3 cans corn}            

^{I don’t include things on my list like onions, seasonings, cream soups (I make my own) and stock (make that too) but if you need to include those things on your list go right ahead.  In this example the only totals I had were the ground beef but sometimes I’ll have recipes that use the same ingredients and so I’ll total those too.  I save this list for when I start cooking as well so I can remember how many of each recipe I planned for (that’s my # in parenthesis by the recipe title.)  The plan above then would give us 12 meals.  This plan is just a sample I put here.  I would do it just like this if I already had some meals left from past freezer cooking or this might be half my shopping if I'm doing a 30 day.  The other half would be 12-14 chicken or maybe 6 pork and 6 chicken recipes.}

^{So now it’s your turn…make your list!}

Any questions?  Leave me a comment.

Jan. 16, 2008 - Planning to Cook

So maybe you read the last post and you’re sold, ready to start but thinking how can I afford to cook more than one week of food at once?  If you’re like me, money doesn’t grow on trees at your house!  We need to find some money to make extra meals in one week to freeze for the next.  Once you start the process it’s easy because if you cook for two weeks the first week you just save the money  you would have spent on dinner groceries the second week to do it again the third week for the next two. 

Most people I have ever talked to can “find” a week’s worth of meals with $20 or less.  First take an inventory of what you have.  Go through your refrigerator, freezer and pantry and list EVERYTHING.  Now go through your recipes and see what you can make with what you have.   Maybe you found some simple things like spaghetti and jars of sauce, or a bag of frozen chicken you forgot was  in the freezer?  Make as many meals as you can with what you found.  Now, your next list is what you need only one or two ingredients to make.  Maybe you found jar of spaghetti sauce but no noodles, put noodles on your list.  Was there a box of frozen hamburgers but you have no buns?  You get the idea.

If that still doesn’t do it for you go through your cheap recipes to fill in your week.  One of my favorite “cheap” meals is fettuccini alfredo.  Here it is in case you’re in need:

                1 lb fettuccini noodles

                1pkg. cream cheese

                ½ cup milk

                ½ stick margarine

                1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook noodles.  Mix cream cheese, milk, margarine and grated cheese.  Heat till blended and pour over noodles.  Yummy and about $2.50!

Still don’t have enough…here’s another one of my favorite cheap meals, mini turkey-loafs.     

1 lb ground turkey (frozen roll)

                20 crushed saltine crackers

                1 can cr. Chicken or mushroom soup

Mix all ingredients and shape into mini meatloaf.  Cook in microwave about 20 minutes or bake in oven till no longer pink in centers.  I like to serve mashed potatoes with this one.  This serves about 4 so I often double for my family.   Costs on the mini-meatloaf are approximately $2.00.

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Your next step is to take your lists and get what you need for this week.  Buy as little as possible.  Say if you have $100 a week for groceries and you manage to spend only twenty (or even thirty) you save the rest to prepare for your freezer cooking.  Now, you have the $100 for the week you’re cooking plus the $70-80 you saved from this week.  Figure out how much you have to spend.

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Come back to find out what we’re going to do with that!  Are you ready for the fun?  Okay, I can’t lie it will be work but I get a great sense of satisfaction and I hope you will too!

Jan. 14, 2008 - Why Freezer cook?

#1 Time Savings

For instance, let’s take Baked Spaghetti.  That’s a dish most of us have probably made at one time or another.  How long does it take to make?  Let’s consider all things involved.  First you need to heat the water to cook your pasta in one pan.  Let’s estimate this at about 5 minutes.  Next, you’ll need to crumble and brown your ground beef in a skillet.   Admittedly, you can start this while heating your water (we’re all so good at multitasking!)  So let’s add just another 2-3 minutes to our time.  Once both are done they need to be drained in a strainer.  Now we’ll mix the pasta and ground beef with our sauce.  Let’s just say we’re using a jar for this so little time there, let’s say one minute for opening the jar and mixing in.  Now we’re going to pour it into our 9X13 pan and open a bag of shredded mozzarella and sprinkle on top, add another minute.  That gives us a grand total of 9-10 minutes.

Now let’s calculate the clean-up time.  We’ve got two pans, a strainer, a 9X13 plus utensils to clean.  Typically, most of us wouldn’t wash those in the dishwasher so I’m going to give that 10 minutes to hand scrub (which is probably conservative!)  Don’t forget we have to wipe off the counter and put all the dishes away.

I’m guessing we’re looking at 20-25 minutes on dinner prep not counting “cooking time”, just time that involves my direct attention.  If you multiply that times 7days a week that’s a whopping 140-175 minutes a week which translates to about 2 ½ to 3 hours a week in the kitchen!

Now let’s compare that to cooking three batches of Baked Spaghetti at once.  Does it take any longer to cook 3lb.’s of pasta as opposed to one?  Well, there might be more water to heat so let’s say 2 minutes more.  How about cooking 3lbs of ground beef as opposed to one?  Again, adds possibly an extra 2-3 minutes.   Now we allotted 2 minutes to the putting together so we’ll add 4 for the two extra batches.  That’s 7 additional minutes.   Clean-up will remain the same because we’re doing it all at once.  The only clean up we’ll have is the 9X13 each time so we’ll add 4 minutes for that.  That makes 31 minutes for 3 batches as opposed to the 20-25 for one.  That means we’re only spending about 10 minutes a day or 1 hour and 10 minutes a week as opposed to 2 ½ or 3.

We could argue the times I’ve allotted or argue that it doesn’t hold true for all types of recipes but I think you get the point.  In this illustration it will save you almost ½ the time!  That’s why I think this is the #1 reason to freezer cook! 

#2  Money Savings

There are two main reasons this is true, okay, we’ll maybe three.  First of all because you’ll be making multiple dishes at once you can buy in bulk and take advantage of bigger saving by doing so.  Secondly, because you will have food prepared in the freezer, ready to go you’ll be less likely to call for a pizza or get take out because you don’t have a plan for dinner.    Third, because you are freezing you don’t have to eat your dishes all in one week so you can take advantage of lost leader sales (more on that later) and not have to eat the same meat every night for a week!

#3 Less stress

No more stress because you forgot an ingredient you need for that night’s dinner or you forgot to pick up something.  It’s all in the freezer ready to go!  Even if you forgot to pull something out, usually in ½ an hour with the help of your microwave you can pull it off!

#4 Ready to bless

How many times has someone you know unexpectedly had to be hospitalized or maybe a friend had a baby?  Wouldn’t it be great on a moment’s notice to be able to bless them with dinner?  With freezer cooking it’s easy!

#5 Healthier eating

When you are planning your meals ahead like this you typically are planning healthier meals.  You’re also less likely to be eating out or grabbing take out as often which we all know is laden with extra fat and calories.

So, I hope you’re convinced to give it a try.  Come back next time to find out how to get prepared to get started on a budget.  It will be worth it, I promise!

Jan. 12, 2008 - Meal Organization for 2008

This morning I was listening to an mp3 by Donna Otto that was talking about organization.  She offered the best tip that will save you the most time and keep you most organized.  It was simply to make a market list and weekly menu.  It got me thinking about how I do my food at our house and how many times it really does SAVE me!

How does this relate to homeschooling?  Well, as you know, homeschooling isn’t just really about school, it’s a lifestyle.  When I first started homeschooling about 8 years ago I was working out of my home pretty much full-time and had 3 under the age of 5 with one on the way.  My job and school were going pretty well but my house suffered! 

People would often ask me how I did everything I did.  Truly, I don’t know, I just did what I had to do, however, I know it was God who allowed me to accomplish a lot.  One of the things that made it possible was the way I cooked.  During that time I learned to freezer cook.

Since then I’ve cooked that way pretty much all the time.  If you’ve never tried it I encourage you to try it.  I’m going to be taking a talk that I did for a women’s conference and breaking it into several blogs along with recipes, websites and resource recommendations.  So if you’ve ever wanted to try and needed a little coaching to make it happen tune in.  Invite your friends.

If you have no interest and never want freezer cook (though you should at least check the reasons why blog coming next to make sure you REALLY don’t want to try) check back in a week or so and I’ll be back to my regular variety of more “school” related stuff.

So stay tuned.  Get your notebooks and printers ready!

Gina

Jul. 7, 2007 - Co-op cooking

Today I’m basking in the blessings of wonderful friends who cook with me to bless all our families!  It’s a great way to be that Proverbs 31 woman we all aspire to!  You know, “…She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.  She rises also while it is still night, And gives food to her household, And portions to her maidens.” (Prov. 31: 14,15)  I don’t know about you but that Proverbs 31 woman makes it sound so easy.  Personally, I’ve tried to find ways to be that woman working smarter not harder!

I take part in a cooking exchange with a few of my friends and I haven’t cooked since Tuesday.  My kitchen stays clean and cool.  We eat healthy, save money and my stress level goes way down!  I had kind of forgotten what life was like before I got this area under control and just had a reminder last night.

My friend had a party, Homemade gourmet, I think it was called.  Basically, it’s a company that does a party plan and teaches ladies to get their meals prepared and in the freezer.  They sell mostly spice type blends that you add to flavor you soup, casserole, chicken dish or whatever.  Not a bad idea for those who need some help but you can do it easily and inexpensively yourself.

What reminded me of lets say my “former life” was their questionnaire.  It was something like this:

 1:  What keeps you from sitting down at the table for dinner with your family? 

2: How many times a week do you get fast food or order pizza? 

3:  What’s the hardest thing about cooking? Clean-up, recipes, time…? 

And there were a couple more along those lines.  What it made me realize is that my family is not the norm any more.  We do sit down to a home cooked meal pretty much every night.  We don’t worry about prep time, clean-up or what’s for dinner because most of the time it’s already done. 

I do have vague memories of being stressed out and getting frustrated with my husband and family because I felt like I was failing when I couldn’t get it together.  You know, the kitchen was a wreck, Daddy was coming home in 5 minutes and I didn’t have a clue what to make.

So what changed?  I started planning ahead!  Most meals I have all set in the freezer.  The main “cookbook” I started with was the 30 day Gourmet Freezer cooking manual, http://www.30daygourmet.com/Manuals/Freezer_Manual.asp .  Besides that I learned to double and triple cook when I do cook and freeze the extra meal or two.  Usually about once a month I do a big cooking day where I might make 10-15 meals for my freezer in one day.  I did this on my own for several years but then a good friend of mine suggested a co-op.

 Here’s how it works for us.  We each (there’s 4 or 5 of us who participate) cook a set number of meals and a set number of each recipe.  For instance we might each make 5 recipes, 5 batches of each.  That’s 25 meals we’ll each make but instead of keeping our own we “exchange” so we each end up with 25 different meals (5 would be ones we made ourselves.) 

Whether you go it alone or find some friends I encourage you to give it a try.  For me homeschool wrecks havoc on my house and schedule and this is a lifesaver to my day!

Happy cooking.