A Day of Cooking, several weeks of meals.

 

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!

 

Linked up at:

 

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Popcorn Rocks Rock!

Playing with Rocks

My nephew found a really cool but simple

souvenir at the Northern Arizona Museum.

He was first attracted to the name “popcorn rock.”

 

I have to admit I too was very curious!

I was also attracted to the interactive/learning

 experience compared to your typical selection of

stuffed animals, magnets, and generic toys stamped

with a logo. We both went to the register eager to take

our prize home. (My thoughtful and frugal nephew

picked a package with two rocks! He got to take one

back to Phoenix and I kept one here with the promise

of pictures to compare our results.)

 

The instructions are simple. You place rock in a

solid container, poor enough plain vinegar to cover rock

and then wait. The crystals take about two weeks

to begin to form but once they do the results

are impressive!

 

This was a fun learning experience for as little as $3.00!

I would have loved to bring this into my 4th grade classroom

for science, observation, writing, hypothesis and so much

more. You can research this rock easily on the internet

and you can find several websites to purchase it.

Thought I would share another cool find!

Learning can happen anywhere not just at

school!

 

LINKS: penny pinchers  Women who do it all  *Tip Junkie

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Shutterfly's Photo Books and MORE!

Serious Scrappin’ With Shutterfly!

 I am a scrapper convert. Up until about a year ago

I placed my beloved family photos on beautiful paper,

embellished with all kinds of stickers, ribbons, rivets,

and more. A change occurred during one clarifying moment

as I was lugging my box of very heavy, but very treasured

scrapbooks. I realized that my children and posterity were not

going to want to pack, move,or store these very heavy, very

awkward boxes of scrapbooks. As my sadness of this

thought grew, an amazing realization hit me. Just like DVD’s

took over for VHS tapes; electronic scrapbooking is taking

over for the traditional three ring binder scrapbooks!

They are faster to put together,lighter, and more durable.

You can still journal your memories, preserve your photos

but  most important to me:

they take up about an 8th of the space!

 

 

Shutterfly not only offers a FREE online service to hold

and manage your pictures electronically, but you can create 

a professional and memorable album to be treasured for

many years to come. Shutterfly  offers a variety of themes

covers, backgrounds, and embellishments.

I love this very user-friendly site. My favorite feature is the

storyboard option where you can drop your pics into strips to

organize your photos by event. Then the system will automatically

provide the best layout options from your storyboards  and creates

your album! Once this is done the fun begins as you customize

by adding frames,stickers, and journaling.

What a time saver! Yet still personalized.

 

Not a big scrap-booker?

Shutterfly has something for you too!

They offer a simple system for those who do not want

to have to customize in detail and simply want their

photos printed and organized. They call it the Simple

Path. You choose the photos and theme, and the

system does the rest of the work for you!

 

 

 

But wait there’s more!

Shutterfly offers more than just photobooks!

Did you know that Shutterfly offers customizable

babyshower announcements? They have all the latest

styles to meet anyone’s shower theme.

 

 

Not planning a party or shower?

That’s okay, Christmas is fast approaching and

we all know that getting those Christmas cards out

are an essential tradition for us to update family and friends

on our year. As we all know, time is precious during the busy

holiday season but,  Shutterfly makes it possible to do it all by

offering their customizable Christmas Cards. I am

already planning my cards for this year. I have chosen

a  trendy photo collage template that my family

will love to display in their homes all year long!

 

Shutterfly offers so many options to meet

all of  your stationary needs. From wedding invites to

thank you notes!

Which feature would you be most likely to use?

 

Share “Have your own blog?  Register for a chance for a free photo book from Shutterfly  http://goo.gl/K5hUC” on your Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and other social media.

 

 

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Life long Souvenir… cool find!

I Love National Parks!

 

While visiting the Walnut Canyon visitor center

we recently discovered a really cool souvenir!

They are called Passports. There are three

versions; Junior, Standard and one that

comes in a large three ring binder that can be

added to with extra inserts. (We went with the standard)

 

The book is organized by regions and the concept

is that every time you visit a National Park or

Monument you stop in the visitor center and

stamp your passport! The stamp or “cancelation,”

  as they call it, is dated and includes the name

of the park. In the picture below you can see that the

pages have two boxes.

The top portion is supposed to be for a colored commemorative

picture called a regional stamp. (I would describe it as a sticker.)

The stickers you have to purchase separately the cancellation

stamps that you see here are free. I chose to conserve space

and use the entire page for cancelations.

 

The passport was about $10.00  and came with

a map of the U.S. marking all the National

Parks and Monuments. What a cool treasure for

my son and a fun tradition for our family! We have already

visited four different places right around Flagstaff.

It has now inspired us to plan a National Park

Vacation next summer!

I Love the Grand Canyon,

What is your favorite National Park or Monument?

Linked up at: Iheartnaptime, tipjunkie, sugarbeecrafts

Blissful and Domestic Just a girl Whipperberry

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