Easy Fast and Cheap: Success

Friday, February 4, 2011

Success

Last night was wonderful! Thank you so much ladies for all your hard work. I have to admit I ate one breakfast burrito less than 5 minutes after you all left and it was delicious as I am sure the other meals will be. Overall I felt the process was fairly seamless. I have Spring's chicken in the crock-pot as we speak and I am so excited not to have to cook dinner, but still have a homemade meal. I can't wait to start looking for my meals for next month!! Thanks again!!!

2 comments:

Noel LeavittFebruary 4, 2011 at 11:56 AM
If everyone is in agreeance, I liked the idea of changing our "other" category to "breakfast" as a staple swap item. All in favor?

I'm warming up the enchiladas for company who is coming in town for the weekend - it was nice not to have to stress about what to make! I am loving this already!
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AprilFebruary 5, 2011 at 4:01 PM
I am loving this already too! Had Noel's chicken chili last night and there is a ton left over to have tonight. It is so tasty, Noel! I love not even having to think about dinner.

I'm in favor for a "breakfast" category!
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Freezer Cooking Tips From Freezer Friendz

When wrapping meals for freezer: make sure to double wrap to prevent freezer burn. Using one layer of plastic wrap and a top layer of foil is best.

Freezer Bags: Use GOOD freezer bags! Don't skimp on cheapo freezer bags or your food will taste like plastic!

Meat in Freezer Meals: Thawed meat must be cooked before it can be refrozen. Frozen cooked meat can not be refrozen once thawed.

Freezing Soup: Pour soup into gallon size Ziploc bag. Lay bag of soup flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen, then remove cookie sheet. Doing this allows soup to freeze flat, so it can stack easily with other meals in your freezer.

Flash Marinade: Put raw chicken or beef in a ziploc baggie, pour in your marinade, then freeze. In the thawing process, your meat will be infused with the marinade and ready to cook!

Cooking Noodles: Cook noodles only 3 minutes, drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Noodles will freeze well and not turn to mush if done this way. Tip from freezerchicks blog site!

Slow-Cooking Chicken for the Freezer: You can fill crock pot with chicken breasts and pour a can of chicken broth over meat. Cook on high for 4 hours. Another method that gives the meat more flavor is to layer 1 sliced onion in the bottom of slow cooker. Top with chicken. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook on low for 4 hours or until done. With either of these methods, you need to keep an eye on your meat to make sure you do not overcook. Shred or dice and freeze in 2 cup portions for use in casseroles, tacos, etc...

Freezing Cooked Ground Beef: You can boil ground beef, then freeze it - it will be easy to thaw and use for tacos or something similar! To do this, add raw ground beef to large pot. Add onion, salt & pepper. Fill pot with water until water is 1" above the top of the meat. Boil, stirring occasionally to break up chunks. Meat is finished when no longer pink. Drain off the water (which drains off the fat).

1lb. raw ground beef=11 oz. cooked ground beef=2 1/2- 3cups

3lb. raw ground beef=2 lbs. cooked ground beef = 7 1/2- 9cups
Freezing Sandwiches: You can make lunchmeat sandwiches ahead of time and freeze them. Just assemble the meat and cheese on bread and place in ziploc sandwich bags. Place all bagged sandwiches into a large ziploc freezer bag. I did this once with cheap sandwich bags and the sandwiches tasted like plastic; however, they taste fine if you use Ziploc bags.

Freezer Efficiency: If your freezer isn't full, fill empty milk jugs 3/4 full with water and place in freezer. This helps your freezer not have to work so hard to stay cold, saving you money.

Substitutions: Here is a great source for figuring out substitions for your recipes when you start making something and realize you are missing an ingredient: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Common-Substitutions/Detail.aspx