Freezer Cooking

Baseball has begun. Which means a lot of nights having to eat before leaving at 5 for a game. So, rather than buy stuff at the ballpark or a fast food restaurant on the way I like to make sure we have food prepared and ready to eat. I went to Sams and got 10 lbs of ground turkey and 10 lbs of ground chuck. I like to mix the two together to lower the fat. The family won't eat just turkey so I mix it and season it with salt, pepper, onion flakes, and garlic powder.

I found these Jeannie-O turkey patties on sale the other day in the fresh meat department at Target for $1.79 lb. I am flash freezing them so I can pull out what I need to cook. Not shown, I also made up 9 patties of ground chuck/turkey mixed together and am flash freezing them also.

Sams had tenderloins for $1.99 lb so I bought the package of them. I put the remainder of a bottle of fajita marinade I had on these above and baked them on a cookie sheet. They will be good in a salad or over brown rice.

I put Greek seasoning on the rest and baked them. I use these over a salad, over brown rice with sauteed onion and green pepper, or just eat as is alongside veggies and a sweet potato.

I made up some spaghetti sauce and put in this jar to freeze. It is seasoned with ground beef/turkey mixture.

I had four servings of ground beef/turkey left over. I put in Ziploc bags and roll to get all the air out and freeze in the rolls. I have a bin in the freezer for hamburger meat to keep it organized.

I made a vegetable beef soup with some of the cooked ground meat. I had enough for 3 freezer containers. They hold about 2 servings each. The small container is extra spaghetti sauce that wouldn't fit in the large jar. It will be perfect for a lunch. In the large rectangle is taco seasoned meat with black beans added. Since it doesn't fill the container I will lay a piece of wax paper over the top to keep air from touching the surface and freeze.

Ham and Potatoes, Cooking Dry Beans

I promise my blog is not becomming all about food! I guess it has been a big part of my focus lately as I try to clean out the house and eat up some stuff. I did go through the boys clothes. My 11 year old tried on all the clothes from my 13 year old and found a lot of winter shirts. They are built totally different so he can't ever wear his pants and some of the shirts he says he will not wear so I put them in a box to put in the attic to sell later. Their closet has a lot more room now.

I made two more weeks of menu plan to eat out of the freezer and pantry. I will have to pick up bread, chips, milk, eggs, and fresh fruit but other than that we are pretty good on meat and I have a lot of frozen vegetables I need to use up.

I had one more ham steak. I bought them at Sams. They were in a four pack and have been really good to cook up and add to potatoes and eggs. I browned it this morning.

What I didn't use for breakfast I chopped and put on a baking pan to flash freeze. I know, this pan is well used and ugly, but it does the job. I let it freeze about an hour or two then will put in a zip top bag. I freeze it this way so when I put it in a bag it won't freeze together. Then, when I want some all I have to do is grab a handful. I add it to eggs, potatoes, beans, soups, whatever!

I had potatoes from supper a couple of nights ago. I had made Ranch potatoes for supper. I cut potatoes in wedges and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle on dry Ranch dressing. Bake that for about 35 minutes at 375. Save the extras for making this. I diced the potatoe wedges and put in a skillet that I had sprayed. I let that heat up and brown the outside of the potatoes a little. I then added in some of the chopped ham. My husband made an egg to go with his, but the rest of us ate it alone. Sometimes I cook it with onions and sometimes I add cheddar cheese to the top.

My husband requested chili for supper. I was out of cooked beans so let some red beans and white beans soak overnight. I also took out two containers of homemade chicken broth out of the freezer to cook the beans in. This morning I put on the beans in a crock pot. I added the container of chicken broth and then filled it the rest of the way with water to cover the beans. I added in the small amount of ham fat and the bone that was on the ham steak. I am cooking on low about 6 hours. I will add some onion flakes ( I only have one onion left so am trying to save it) and salt later after they cook about an hour.

When the beans are cooked I will put one cup portions in ziploc bags and freeze. I take out what I need to add to soups, casseroles, etc. later.

Great foods to keep in the freezer

I have a list of foods that I like to keep in the freezer for quick meals. They help when we have busy schedules with different work schedules, ball practice or games, or just whatever comes up. I thought I would share some of the items.

For breakfast:

1. French toast- bake in the oven. Flash freeze, then put in bags. To heat put in toaster.
2. Pancakes
3. Muffins
4. Precooked sausage rounds
5. Precooked sausage to add to burritos, frittatas, etc.
6. Cream cheese french toast- put cream cheese between bread and make a sandwich. Dip in egg mixture then bake or cook on a griddle. Freeze.
7. Biscuits- Make your favorite recipe and cut out. Flash freeze on cookie sheet then put in bag. You can then bake as many as you need at 400 degrees until done.

For Supper and side dishes:

1. BBQ grilled chicken- grill and freeze.
2. Greek chicken- grill or bake boneless breasts with Greek seasoning. Use in any dish that calls for cooked chicken. Quick meals of chicken tetrizinni, chicken tortilla roll ups, fried rice, chicken salad sandwiches, salad with chopped meat.
3. Breaded tenders are also good to have to use on a salad, in rollups with ranch dressing, with noodles and a white sauce, etc.
4. Cooked ground beef
5. Twice baked potatoes- flash freeze and then put in ziploc bags. Microwave a couple of minutes until warmed through. Eat plain or top with vegetables, chili, or taco mix. A great side dish or quick between meal snack for teens that eat you out of house and home.
6. Cooked brown rice- I cook the whole package at one time since it takes 45 minutes and freeze one cup portions.
7. Cooked beans- I cook a package of dry beans and freeze 2 cup portions to add to soups or other dishes. I add beans to my chili and tacos to extend the meat.
8. Dales Pork chops or steak- marinade chops or steak in Dales sauce for at least 30 minutes. Grill. Freeze. Defost in microwave or in refrigerator. Tastes just like it is fresh off the grill. You can also add pineapple or lemon juice to the marinade for more of a teriyaki sweet taste.
9. Cooked chicken- either boiled or done in the oven and chopped into pieces to put in any dish that needs cooked chicken. You can also roast in a crock pot and pick off the bones.
10. Cooked ham. I keep pieces as large as possible because it seems to dry out if you chop it into small pieces. Add to quiches, beans, casseroles, noodles and sauce, fried rice.
11. Broth- cook your rice in chicken broth instead of plain water for added flavor. I also like to cook my dried beans in broth if I have extra. I also keep the beef and chicken bouillon cubes in the pantry so I always can have broth.
12. Cooked roast and seperate container of the au jus (juices from the roast)
13. Cooked pork loin in the crock pot with bbq sauce. Use in BBQ sandwiches.
14. Pizza rolls- make a pizza dough and roll out. I don't add the sauce b/c it seems to make the dough mushy. I add cheese and pepperoni or sausage and any other topping desired. Roll up like you are making cinnamon rolls and cut like cinnamon rolls. Bake and freeze. When you serve them serve with pizza sauce on the side for dipping.

With the above items I can get supper on the table in 30 minutes or less at any time. I can just pop open some canned green beans, make broccoli, corn, rice or potatoes and we are ready to eat.

Biscuits can be served for breakfast or for supper with a creamed chicken over the top, or with a bbq roast or sloppy joe mixture in them, or as a pot pie topping. You can also roll them out and make dumplings. You can also flatten them out in a muffin cup and bake them for about 10 minutes then add bbq hamburger meat or a chicken pot pie type mixture then contiue baking.

I have many other recipes I freeze, but these are the basic meals that are very versitile. It is much more worth my time to have items that can be used multiple ways and in multiple dishes.

Freezer Chicken

I hope this photo doesn't gross anyone out. The night before leaving for Spring Break I was getting food for our trip and when I walked by the freezer case I saw the sign. Split chicken breasts $.49 a lb. !!!! Well, I took a moment to figure out if I really was going to make myself put up that much chicken when I needed to clean and pack. I told myself that, yes, I needed to make myself put up that much chicken because it was a great price. So, I put 6 packages in my cart that were around 3 1/2 lbs each. Last night I boiled half of it and sealed in in packages for the freezer. Today I was going to bake some with Greek seasoning but, I had a homeschool meeting and ran by CVS so I didn't want to have to watch it in the oven. So, I am now boiling the 2nd batch and will just put it up the same way after I make some chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.

All this when I am trying to eat up every single piece of meat in my freezer and defrost it and start fresh on the meats. Oh well, it is life with a coupon/ sale shopper. There is no cure. When we find a bargain we are getting it.

Egg Recipes: French Toast Sticks, French Toast Casserole, Breakfast Casserole, Hash Brown Casserole

I guess I counted the chickens before they hatched yesterday. I didn't get around to going to the Dollar General to pick up the eggs until around 4:00 because we did school and I did my other shopping first. I know it was the same eggs but not on sale anymore. I just stood there staring for a while. It did not want to sink in that my eggs weren't $.50 anymore but $1.55, not even the best price for the week. Southern Market has eggs for $1.29 so I am going to get around 4 boxes and make up some of the dishes anyway- just not as much as I was planning. I sent my daughter to the bread store because it is near her college and she bought 3 loaves of the Texas toast for me. Since it is thicker it is better to make French toast sticks with.

French Toast Sticks
Ingredients
4 eggs
2/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
6 slices Texas toast thick bread
3 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar
butter
syrup

Directions
1Mix together the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt& cinnamon.
2Heat a large skillet, or griddle.
3When the skillet is hot, add 1 tablespoon butter.
4If the butter smokes, your pan is too hot; turn down the heat.
5Dip each slice of bread into the batter for 30 seconds on each side.
6Let some of the batter drip off, then put in skillet.
7Cook each slice 1 1/2-2 minutes per side until each side is golden brown.
8Add more butter, if necessary, to cook all of the slices.
9To serve, put on plate, dust with powdered sugar. Serve with butter & hot syrup.

French Toast Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients1 lb. Loaf Italian Bread
8 oz. Lowfat cream cheese
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Chopped pecans, optional
4 Eggs
2 cups Milk
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tbs. Butter, melted

Cut bread into cubes, place half in greased 9x13" pan. Microwave the cream cheese to melt, stirring midway. Once melted, add half the sugar. Pour this mix over the bread cubes (will not completely cover). Sprinkle nuts over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining bread cubes. In a bowl, beat the remaining sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon and melted butter together. Pour over bread cubes. Freeze at this point or let sit overnight in fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve with warm syrup or fruit toppings.

Breakfast Casserole

BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

1 1/2 c. frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 lb. country sausage
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
6 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk

Place hash browns in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. In a skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain and place on top of hash browns. Sprinkle with cheeses.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk. Pour over potatoes, cheese and sausage. If necessary, use a fork to make sure the egg mixture trickles down to the hash browns. Bake at 350 degrees about 50 minutes. Makes 4-5 servings.


HASH BROWNS BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

3 c. croutons
1 1/2 c. bulk sausage, browned and drained
2 c. milk
1 can cream of mushroom
lb. bag frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 c. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
4 eggs, well beaten
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 c. milk

Place croutons in 9 x 13 inch pan. Top with 1 1/2 cups of cheese and the sausage. Cover with mixture of eggs, milk and mustard. Refrigerate overnight. Mix mushroom soup with milk and pour over the top. Cover the potatoes and top with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Frugal Friday (making freezer meals with eggs)

Last night I was in Dollar General Market and they had a whole case of eggs marked down to $.50 each. I came home to plan meals to use them and am going back today to buy 8 cartons. I am going to make up some freezer meals to use up the eggs and take advantage of the great price.

I am going to make up these dishes:

1. Breakfast casserole with hash browns, eggs, sausage, and cheese
2. Ham and potato casserole
3. French toast casserole- has cream cheese, pecans, cinnamon and butter
4. French toast sticks
5. Pancakes
6. Sausage and eggs- to make burritos
7. Mix the egg mixture and freeze in portions like Egg beaters to cook later.

This saves both money and time by cooking ahead. I will share the recipes with photos of the meals when I make them.

For more Frugal Friday ideas visit Money Saving Mom.

Freezer cooking

I bought leg quarters on sale for $.59 a lb. so I bought 3 packages of it for the week. I boiled one package so I would have broth. While it was boiling I put the rest in the oven to bake. I sprinkled one pan with chicken seasoning, one with teriyaki marinade, and one with italian dressing. I then used the chicken I boiled to make my supper of King Ranch Casserole. I had 2 cups of it left over so I froze it. I also removed the teriyaki and italian chicken from the bone and used my Food Sealer to seal them to freeze. I put the pot of broth in the refrigerator and today will skim the fat and put the broth in containers to freeze.

Reducing Grocery Expenses

Now that you have made a budget how can you reduce spending in areas?

Groceries: Grow a garden. Even a tomato plant in a container will be a start to reducing what you spend. You also get the benefit that the fresh food tastes so much better and you know it has not been sprayed with chemicals to preserve your internal organs forever. I really recommend making a raised bed square foot garden. I made my first this year with two 4X8 foot raised beds. I am learning a lot about improving for next year. We had the best tasting tomatoes ans I will never buy another grocery store tomato again. We also had enough zucchini and yellow squash off of one plant each to feed our family of seven and still put up some in the freezer. All of my kids will not eat squash so if your family eats a lot you would need more. We got one squash and one zucchini every other day during growing season.

Shop the loss leaders each week and use coupons. Each week grocery stores advertise loss leader items on the front and back page of their sales paper. The store is actually taking a loss on these items in hopes of drawing you into their store to shop so that you will buy other products. The secret is to take advantage of these items and not allow yourself to be drawn into buying more items that are not a good deal. When you take advantage of using coupons with the loss leader many of the items are free or nearly free. Don't forget that you can use both a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on an item. If a store is too far to drive take advantage of their advertised sales price at stores that will match prices like Walmart. Publix will accept competitors coupons.

Shop the CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid free after rebate or extra care bucks each week. Start out slowly in order to build up a supply of rewards or extra care bucks. It will cost you the first month, then you are "rolling" your earned paper money for the next months deals. Walgreens and Rite Aid have the free after rebate items. If you use a coupon when you purchase the items they still refund you the total purchase price so you actually make money. CVS gives you extra care bucks that print on the bottom of your receipt. They expire in a month so make sure to use them before they expire. Walgreens is now giving the Register Rewards bucks on certain items. They also expire and you cannot purchase the same items again to receive another Register Reward so be careful to do another deal or buy items you need. For more on this see my old post here.

Save all of your bits and pieces from leftovers in a container or ziploc bag in your freezer. You can also add a little water to a baking pan where you have cooked chicken or meat and make a gravy type mixture to save to flavor soups or rice. Once a week or once a month take all your saved leftovers and make a soup or casserole. You are making a free or almost free dish. I save leftover macaroni and cheese, rice a roni, hamburger helper, there are a lot of things that you can save to add to a soup. The cheese sauces and other spices will all meld together. Other ideas of where to add bits and pieces of leftovers: make a chicken fajita or bbq pizza, quiche, in a quesadilla, in a roll up, casseroles, make hot pockets, creamed veggies over biscuits or rice or pasta or potato, or in a panini.

Add filler items to your recipes. Add cooked beans and rice to tacos. You can decrease the amount of ground meat. Add zucchini or yellow squash to spaghetti sauce. Serve chili over a bowl of rice or a baked potato.

When a recipe calls for milk use powdered milk. You can reduce the amount of milk and add more water without affecting the flavor of most recipes. Experiment in reducing added ingredients in recipes that are flavoring until you notice.

Buy chicken bouillon and beef bouillon cubes for less expensive broth if you do not have homemade broth on hand. It is cheaper than canned or boxed broth. Don't pay for the water. Make it yourelf.

Buy dry beans and cook them yourself. It is really easy. I like to soak them overnight according to the package then put them in a crock pot with a hambone and some seasoning and cook all day. You can do the quick soak method on the stove, which is also on the package if you forgot to soak them overnight. You can also cook them on the stove.

Cook and freeze meals for busy times.. Don't forget to make breakfast,lunch, snack, and dessert items. You can freeze pancakes, muffins, breakfast burritos, bagel sandwiches, biscuits, and french toast for breakfast. You can make bagel or sub bread with pizza toppings, hot pocket type sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, tuna salad, chicken salad, or ham and cheese sandwiches. Make burritos or chicken enchiladas and freeze individually. Make up individual servings of soup, chili, chicken and dumplins, beef stew, pasta salad. You can freeze cookie dough, baked cookies, brownies, cupcakes without the frosting. Make cheesecake, pies, coffee cakes and other dessert items. I like to also keep cooked brown rice frozen in individual ziploc bags, twice baked potatoes, cooked beans, broiled vegetables, and other side dishes for quick side dishes to compliment a main dish.

If you have pototoes that are about to rot cube them and blanch in boiling water then immediately ice and put in freezer bags. Use for casseroles, soups, make mashed potatoes later, season and bake for a french fry type side or make hash browns.

An important thing to remember is to keep your spaces organized so that you know what you have. Have you ever gone to the store and bought an item full price because you don't know where it is or don't know you have it. Also, keep your pantry stocked so you don't run out of items. Start shopping your pantry instead of the stores. I am stocked enough that I am mainly just taking advantage of the weekly sales that I match with coupons.

How do you get started stocking up? Slowly. Each week, or shopping cycle, alot a certain amout for stocking. Start with $10 and spend that on really good deals. Next time, buy whatever is a really good deal for that week. If you don't have a lot of money to get going just do something each week and eventually you will have a full pantry and freezer. Here is an old picture of our pantry. As you can see in the photo I was low on canned foods, it is when I was organizing it before a shopping trip. I have over 20 boxes of unopened cereal that I store above the rod in the coat closet near the garage door. I now have the 5 gallon bucket that is filled with sugar. I have been buying the animal cookies at Sams and reusing the container for flour and rice. I buy rice and flour and sugar in 25 lb. packages then fill in with loss leader items. Right before Thanksgiving all the baking supplies will go on sale. Save up some money for stocking up at that time. In the summer bbq sauce and condiments go on sale. Stock up on candy after Halloween and Christmas and use for making cookies. Buy an extra turkey at Thanksgiving time. Ham will go on sale around Christmas and Easter. You can freeze them whole and cook later or you can go ahead and cook and freeze individual portions. Don't forget to save bones for making stock and flavoring beans and rice dishes.


Bean recipes
Recipes

Cooking Ahead

I used to do once a month cooking and freeze a lot of meals but I just don't have the time or energy level to do that anymore. Instead, I just take time to fill my oven when baking/cooking so I am not wasting electricity and get the benefit of having extra food prepared. I am going to be more diligent now that I am focusing on trying to reduce all our expenses. Last night I made a run to Sams. I know that I can find food cheaper with a coupon but Sams is great to get things at a good cost without the time spent going through coupons and shopping different stores. I bought a 15 lb. bag of baking size potatoes to make twice baked potatoes for the freezer. It was near supper time and I was tired so I bought the 4 lb. frozen bbq pulled pork for supper. It was the first time we have tried it and it is really good. It came out to $2.71 a lb. which is not as good as homemade but good to have on hand for busy nights.

I had a large amount of tomatoes that were going to spoil. I blanched them and put them in ziploc bags to add to chili and spaghetti or soups. I also blanched my summer squash and zucchini and put it up in ziplocx. I am kind of scared to try it since I have not ever prepared it that way.

I bought 5 lb of ground chuck and am going to cook it up to freeze in 3/4 lb portions tonight. Two days ago I bought two whole chickens. I cut them up and baked the pieces with Greek seasoning. I pulled all the meat in large pieces off the bone and put it in quart ziploc bags. I boiled all the wing tips and backs and got enough meat for my husband to have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch. I froze two ziploc containers with a lid with the broth.

Once I get the basics frozen- ground beef, cooked chicken, pancakes, biscuits and french toast- I will add some other items. I would like to make calzones, burritos, lunch portions of chili and spaghetti and tacos. I want to try making uncrustables with different ingredients inside. I also would like to try making cookie dough. I have butter containers that I could put it in.

In my post yesterday I hope I did not give the wrong impression of our financial situation. We are in no way in trouble. It is just that if we continue on without reducing our bills back to the budgeted amount we are over budget and dipping into savings. I know how to do it. I lived many years on strict budgets. I have continued to be frugal but not in an extreme way. We have been able to be frugal by choice the last 7 or so years. It all comes down to choice: we all have a choice what we spend our money and time on. I would rather keep our food and electricity in check so that we can do an activity as a family. I would not like to live in a house where it is hot in the summer and you freeze in the winter to save money. I am here all day and it would be miserable. Thanks for your encouragement to those who left comments.