Thursday, September 1, 2011

A Day of Cooking, several weeks of meals.

 

I have been cooking like crazy!

This is what I have been up too.

freezer meals, time saving meals,

My biggest problem when trying to cook at home

as opposed to eating out is trying to remember to take

meat out of the freezer, or even deciding what I

want to take out of the freezer! So when my

mother in law told be about cooking ahead and freezing

the pre-cooked meat, I couldn’t wait to try it.

freezer meals, cooking time savers

I started with hamburger and I was so excited that

I not only found it on sale but I grabbed a managers

special and got my meat for .99 per lb. WOW!

(One draw back though it was only 80% lean and I nearly

always buy 90% for health. But right now w/my husband

in school and me still looking for employment,

I dare not pass it up.)

*In a skillet scramble your hamburger and add your basic

seasonings that lends itself to any hamburger recipe.

Mine is Garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a little

beef bouillon powder for flavor.Now let the meat cool slightly. 

 

*heart health tip: if you wait to add salt to when you

serve food you tend to add less and it is more gratifying.

Salt also tends to make your hamburger shrink.

 

ziploc vacuum bags

Then I placed the cooked meat in meal-sized proportions

in these ultra cool Ziploc Freezer Vacuum bags! 

(BTWI am not getting paid to say this.. I wish,

but I am not.Just thought it was a cool item

to share, and many people do not know about them.)

You can find them next to all the other freezer bags

they come in both gallon and quart size. The first

time you purchase them you have to get the box

with the pump included,but it is cleanable

and reusable.

Once you seal your food you use the

hand pump to suck the air out of the bag.

This is what prevents freezer-burn!

My son LOVES this tool and it made a great fun

and productive mommy/me project!

ziplock

   While my hamburger was cooking, I mixed up mini-meat-loafs

to freeze ahead as well.

(Of which I will have a separate post about.)

Once my hamburger was put away and cleaned up.

I started on my chicken. It too was on sale so

I made a day of it!

You really follow the same basic steps except omit the

beef bouillon.

 chicken freezer meals

I was hesitant about freezing my meals

this way at first; thinking it may be dry or taste like

leftovers but to my surprise this is not the case!

To re-heat: simply place meat in small skillet

or sauce pan with about 1-2 tbs.water and heat to

desired temperature! Add other spices or ingredients

to customize the meal.

I use the hamburger for meals such as spaghetti,

sloppy joes, tacos, burritos, SOS, biscuits and gravy,

stroganoff, taco salad, nachos,casseroles ect.

For the chicken I use it on top of salads, make tacos,

alfredo,soups,chicken salad, and casseroles!

freezer meals

In one evening I was able to complete dinner for

the night and save about 30min. prep time for

13 additional meals! Which saved me

6 and 1/2 future hours of cooking! Fwweeew!

 

* additional tips: *

When grilling chicken throw on a few more breasts,

cube them and place in freezer bags for a quick 

“grilled chicken salad”for later! 

When making cookie dough, double the recipe,roll extra

dough, place on cookie sheets and freeze for a couple of hours.

Once frozen,pop them off and place in freezer bags for baking later!

 

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