I have been cooking like crazy!
This is what I have been up too.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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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