Freezer Plan

My freezer plan that I will be working on over the next few days includes.
1. Cheddar Biscuits
2. Plain Biscuits
3. Banana Bread x 2
4. Pumpkin Bread
5. Turkey Pot Pie
6. Enchilada Sauce

Back From My Hiatus

I think I am ready to begin freezer cooking again. I will start slow in this though. Right now I have one of my turkeys thawing out and I will be figuring out what I want to do with it.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

I never knew the power of baking soda until this past week. First, my oven had some grease built up and I tried oven cleaners and really didn't get anywhere. So then I decided to try baking soda. I sprayed the oven down with water, added a layer of baking soda and then sprayed the baking soda down. I kept the baking soda wet for four hours and the grease was easily scrapped off.

Second, my lawn furniture, hard plastic, had a layer of dirt and scrubbing it with soap and water was helping a little but it still looked dirty. So I repeated the steps with the baking soda and the grime scrubbed off easily.

Finally, I used pure vinegar to wipe the grease that had built up on the stove range. Wow, I just might become a good homemaker yet.

We have officially moved over to our new place. I love my new kitchen and I can't wait to make my first meal here.

The new plan for freezer cooking will be to cook our lunches and dinners for three nights a week. The other days I will use the slow cooker or just cook a regular meal.

This blog will be back when things get less hectic for me.

Freezer Friday

Welcome to Freezer Friday!

Sorry this is late. It completely slipped my mind.

My recipe for Oven Baked Pork Chops. This is one of those "eye-ball it" recipes but here is my method.

The Ingredients

• Butter
• Minced Garlic
• Italian Bread Seasonings
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

The Equipment

• Two Dishes for the butter mixture and the breadcrumb mixture.
• Baking Sheet
• Freezer
• Plastic Wrap or Aluminum Foil
• Big Freezer Bag

The Directions

1. Saute garlic with butter until the butter is melted. Remove to a dish. Let cool enough to touch.
2. Add bread crumbs with crushed red pepper to another bowl. I only use a little red pepper but it adds a nice kick.
3. Coat your pork chops with the garlic butter mixture. Shake off excess.
4. Dip into bread crumb mixture, coating thoroughly. Give a shake to shake off loose pieces.
5. Place on baking sheet and repeat until finished with pork chops. Flash freeze in freezer. I can't remember how long it takes. It will vary. Once they feel hard enough that the breading mixture won't come off while handling it you are ready to wrap in plastic wrap or foil then place in freezer bag. Freeze completely.
6. When you are ready for it place it in the refrigerator in the morning or overnight. I like to place the food in right before I go to bed or I might forget it.
7. Once thawed cook in preheated oven at 375F for 20-30 minutes or until done.
   
8. You can stick it under the broiler to crisp it up if you want but watch it carefully.

Please share your recipes, tips, product reviews or anything else related to that wonderful appliance... the freezer.

Cleaning Naturally

I ran out to the store this morning to buy some products to clean naturally. Mainly I just want to save money and brain cells. I bought borax, white distilled vinegar, a huge box of baking soda and some 97 cent spray bottles. I didn't realize my oven was so greasy until I couldn't get it cleaned and I have a gas oven so I'm not sure about spraying toxic chemicals in there. I will have to let you know how that goes and post my pictures from my soup session.

It is a little scary to live in an area with known cases of this new flu that is going around and this morning on the radio it isn't confirmed but there might have been a death from it in this city. I'm a military spouse and a command went out that if you are at the hospital or the clinics and you have flu-like symptoms you have to wear a mask (which is good) but now the gate guards have gloves on their hands. It's all a little scary to be this close to it.

We are moving in 9 days.  Oh my!

Cooking Session

Chicken ready to go into the refrigerator. I let the chicken stay in the refrigerator so the flavors of the bbq sauce could start to set in. Before I went to bed I moved them to the freezer.

Preparing the pork chop assembly line.

The lightly breaded pork chops ready to go into the freezer for flash freezing.

The only thing left to do is make the soups which I will do in a free moment today. Today's lunch is the last of the soups from the first session. Check back tomorrow for that.

May Mini Session 1

This is not very original but it will get us through the next two weeks.

Guiness BBQ Chicken Legs (3 meals)
Hickory Honey Smoke BBQ Chicken Legs (3 meals)
Italian-Style Pork Chops (5 meals)
Italian Fish (3 meals)

Tomato Basil Soup
Chicken and Stars Soup

Grocery Cart Challenge

This counts as the start of May since I purchased some items to do my mini-freezer session.

No Photo

HEB

• Hunt's Ketchup - $1.09
• Bullseye Guiness BBQ Sauce - $1.55
• Kraft Hickory BBQ Sauce - $0.99
• Value Pack BNLS Pork Chops - $5.79
• Hill Country Fare Chicken Drumsticks 3.80lbs - $3.80
• Hill Country Fare Chicken Drumsticks 3.83lbs - $3.83

Total - $17.05

Sam's Club

• 102oz. can Diced Tomatoes - $2.38
• 24pk Powerade - $11.27

Total - $13.65

Grand Total - $30.70

How did I do? From what I purchased I can get 10 meals out of the meat. The powerade is for his running, he is training for a half marathon, that will last him for 24 workouts. I could have saved money by making my own bbq sauce but right now is all about convenience.

My nutritionist was very happy with our diet. I was concerned that I wasn't getting the right amount of protein and fiber etc with the freezer cooking. It turns out that I am right on track with it as long as I don't go too frugal and get the whole-grain pasta and use turkey instead of beef. I just have to balance my carbs with protein so that my insulin resistance stays stable... which it has been. But other than that my first month of freezer cooking was nutritionally sound and for the first time I actually got the amount of calories in that she wanted me to get.

I'm going to be glad when we get done moving so that I can get back to planning and cooking a ton.

Menu Plan 4/27 - 5/3

This is the last week of food from my very first freezer cooking session! I have some chicken legs and pork chops in the refrigerator that I will be doing a mini-freezer cooking session to get us through the move. More thought out Freezer cooking will be back on May 18 and I will have a normal size oven to cook in! Right now my oven is barely 16x16 inside.

Monday 4/27
Fish, Broccoli Medley

Tuesday 4/28
Sloppy Joes, Broccoli w/ Cheese

Wednesday 4/29
Fish, Corn

Thursday 4/30
Sloppy Joes, Broccoli

Friday 5/1
Turkey Burgers, I haven't decided yet.

Saturday 5/2
BBQ Chicken Legs, Corn on the Cob

Sunday 5/3
Oven Baked Pork Chop, Spanish Rice, Broccoli

We eat a lot of broccoli.

Check out more menu ideas at orgjunkie.

Frugal Monster

I've created a frugal monster. Which is good. I'm talking about my husband. A few months ago it was like pulling teeth to get him to be frugal. But he is 100% on board as long as I can be healthy about it. We were at the gas station the other day filling up and he said we will be back here on Sunday after church. I asked him why. He said to buy a Sunday newspaper. So I teased him about the coupons. A month or so ago I showed him just how much I saved in coupons and it really shocked him. So every Sunday we have been getting the paper and he goes through the coupon section before I get a chance to. And says, this week there is $8.00 worth of coupons and we paid $2.00 for the paper so that is a $6.00 savings! What he means is that there is $8.00 worth of coupons on things that we need and use often. We were looking at something not related to food the other day and he says that is $140.00 but if we get it refurbished we can get it for $100.00 that is a big savings.

I believe I can even get him to subscribe to the Sunday paper if I present the facts about how much we could save by getting it delivered. The newspaper here is really bad about calling trying to get you to subscribe and he vowed never to get the paper delivered because of it. But I think if I present it in the right way, he loves facts, I might be able to change his mind.

I've created a frugal monster! I LOVE IT!

Freezer Friday

Welcome to Freezer Friday!

Today I am going to share a recipe for the best tasting tomato soup I have ever had. It lends itself very well to freezer cooking and it is delicious. One day at lunch I found my husband going through the freezer looking at all the soups. I asked him what he was looking for and when he replied that he was looking for the Tomato Basil soup I had to break it to him that we were out of it already. He blurted out that it was the best tomato soup he had ever had and he never wants to go back to canned soup again... I would have to agree with him on it. I can't take credit for it but I can most definitely share it with everyone.

Tomato Basil Soup
Source: Trim-and-Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals

Makes 4 Cups

The Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 (28-oz) can chopped tomatoes, with juice
• 2 cups fat-free chick or vegetable broth
• 1 cup loosely packed, chopped basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Cooking Instructions

In a large non-stick pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the soup is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth. Return to pot and stir in milk.

To Freeze: Cool to room temperature, then transfer to freezer containers, label and freeze. Recommended freezing time: up to 3 months.

To Prepare After Freezing: Remove from freezer to defrost. Reheat in a non-stick pot over a low heat. Alternately, you can reheat in the microwave.

I used water instead of stock and substituted dried basil and it tasted just fine. This recipe freezes well and reheats wonderfully and it is really frugal.

Walgreens and CVS

I guess I just don't understand how the walgreens and cvs deals work. It seems to me that you wouldn't save money doing it but yet I see photos of just how much people get for very little.

Food Network

I came across some food network shows today that I found to be really useful. The first one is Quick-Fix Meals with Robin Miller, she makes multiple meals easier by planning ahead. The second show is 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson. She makes meals out of 5 ingredients or less.

Grocery Cart Challenge

No groceries this week.

Menu 4/20-4/26

I had a freezer plan all set for the first two weeks of May but then base housing called us and we are moving on May 8th. We aren't moving very far away but I don't particularly want a stocked freezer. Freezer cooking will be back around May 18th and it will probably include one of those turkeys I purchased last week. In the meantime I will be utilizing my most trusty kitchen appliance... the slow cooker in the coming weeks. More on that in a couple of weeks.

Monday 4/20
Pizza

Tuesday 4/21
Sloppy Joes

Wednesday 4/22
Turkey Burger

Thursday 4/23
Goulash

Friday 4/24
Fish

Saturday 4/25
Sloppy Joes

Sunday 4/26
Turkey Burger

Check out more menu plans at Organizing Junkie.com

Freezer Friday

Welcome to the initial Freezer Friday post.

The topic I'd like to discuss today is freezer labels. I can't stress enough how important it is to label your food with the name, date that you made it or use by date, and reheating instructions. Once your meals are frozen you might not be able to tell them apart. This is especially true for soups.

I like to write or print out the instructions on recipe cards and then tape it to the bag. You can find some free printable cards at these sites.

• Graphics by Kim
• Graphics Garden
• Gingerbread Nook
• Free Printable Recipe Cards
• Martha Stewart Living Freezer Labels
• Tipnut Printable Recipe Card Collection

Some labels that I have found for purchase.

• Red Freezer Labels 100Ct - $3.80 Click Here
• Roll of 500 Freezer Labels - $9.99 Click Here
• The Container Store Erasable Labels - $10.97 Click Here

Grocery Cart Challenge

This turned out to be a pretty big week. I purchased a few turkeys to go into the freezer and I went to a discount bakery.

Mrs. Baird's Bakery
I stocked up because I found out it is a little bit of a pain to get to.

• Mrs. Baird's 100% Whole Wheat Bread - 2 @ $1.09/ea.
• Thomas Multi-Grain Light English Muffins - 3 @ $1.69/ea.
• Thomas 100% Whole Wheat Bagels - 3 @ $1.69/ea
• Mrs. Baird's ActiFiber Bread - 1 Free with $6.00 or more purchase.

Subtotal: $11.81
10% Military Discount - $1.18
OOP Total: $10.63

HEB

• 3 Sweet Potatoes $1.35
• 4lb Hill Country Fair Peanut Butter $5.79
• 2 Diet Pepsi - 2/$3.00
• Hill Country Fair Light Ranch Dressing - $2.16
• Hill Country Fair Grape Jelly - $1.35
• Nibsco 8pk Saltine Crackers - $2.99

OOP Total: $16.88

Walmart

• Great Value Fat-Free Pretzels - 2 @ $1.00/ea
• Great Value Brown Rice - 2/$3.00
• Great Value Natural Applesauce - $1.86
• 12pk Turkey Burgers - 2/$6.00 (These are normally $5.38 each)
• Great Value Sugar Free Syrup - $1.34
• 3 - 13+lb. Turkeys @ $0.69/lb - $9.21, $9.19, $9.37 each

OOP Total: $41.86

Grand Total: $69.38