Simple Menu Planning

FAST FOOD FRIDAY...

"I'm too busy to cook."  "I worked all day."  "I'm Tired."   "I don't really want to go to the store."   Who hasn't heard or even said these words before?  Should you call for pizza?  Should you pick something up from the nearest drive through?  Nope, neither.  All you need is a little Food Fore-thought.  Fast Food Friday, a planned weekly post, isn't about running out to a local restaurant for take out or calling for delivery.  Fast Food Friday is about having something on hand for those days when cooking just seems impossible or even unappealing. 

With a little planning and preparation, fast food can come straight from our cabinets, pantries, and freezers.  What we are really talking about here is food preservation.  Food preservation can change our future days - take the guess work out of meal prep, allows for an evening of rest not stress, change your grocery bill's bottom line, and of course, nix the expense of drive-thru eatings.  Now those points do sound appealing.  So for many many Friday's to come, check back to see how I plan to never be too busy to cook, not too tired to eat well, not considering if it's too hot out, and best of all, skipping trips to the store.  For today, let's talk about...

Keepin' it Simple Menu Planning

One of the easiest and effective ways I know how to avoid needing to call or stop for take out is simply by having a plan.  In this case, a menu plan.  I always have a menu plan for the upcoming week.   It obviously helps me create my shopping list, but more importantly, it gives me control over what we eat, how much we spend, and how much time I'll spend in the kitchen. 

My no fail approach to keeping it real and real simple is to use the following template.

Past plans kept for reference.

Sunday - Pasta night

Monday - Beef or pork in the crock pot

Tuesday - Chicken

Wednesday - Soup and Sandwich

Thursday - Pizza and salad

Friday -  Tacos

Saturday - Chicken or fish

 A typical week may look like this...

Sunday - Lasagna with garlic bread

Monday - Canadian pork roast in the crock shredded for BBQ Sandwiches

Tuesday - Teriyaki chicken and rice with stir fry veggies

Wednesday - Cream of Broccoli soup with ham and Swiss on a bagel

Thursday - Pepperoni Pizza and a green salad

Friday - Taco night from the freezer - super quick

Saturday - Grilled Salmon with green beans and mashed potatoes

Using the template approach works very well for us for a few reasons.  First, I'm not found racking my brain trying to come up with something so It's a time saver.  I just plug in our favorite meals and call it a day.  Second, The rotation of various meats results in enough variety so that it doesn't feel like we just ate this or that.  Plus, my plan is done for the week.  There's never a dilemma as to what's for dinner.

The template plan is flexible.  I usually put my fastest cook meals on my busiest days such as Thursday and Friday when we have after school activities.  I like an oven meal on Sunday that's low effort - heat and eat.  Crock pot meals on Mondays are a beautiful thing with everyone back to work and school.  Sometimes I switch up Tuesday and Wednesday if I am low on veggies for stir fry.  The CSA veggies get delivered on Wednesday.  Saturdays are nice to kick it outside, put on the music, crack open some wine, and enjoy something off the grill.

So that's it for this week.  Be intentional.  Be prepared.  Have a plan.  Enjoy, and be thinking of how you can make life easier in the future.

This post is shared with Too Many Jars in my Kitchen and Raising Homemakers.

Not Packing It...

If given the chance, I would not "Packit" again.  I hadn't intended of doing product reviews on my blog.  However, since something I recently purchased failed me twice out of the first four uses, I feel the need to tell someone.

My daughter, Emma, has been asking for this particular lunch bag for two years now.  She really is sold on the marketing used in the commercial.  She's not a fan of school lunches, but she does like smoothies, yogurt and cheese.  And since keeping those items cold and fresh are a selling point, she decided it would be the perfect solution to lunch time eating at school.  Plus, she reminds me that it is buy one get one free - which she knows is right up my alley.  Long story short, we own two.

So what's the deal?

• Lunch at school - Yes, it makes it through till her 11:00 lunch keeping things cool (not cold).  Packit promises 10 hours of cold.  Obviously not gonna happen if it is cool at the three hour mark.
• On the Go - NO, we took it with us to Saturday's football game.  Granted we were in the sun,  I think it could have done better - It and the waters inside were warm within an hour.  Fail #1
• Beverage container that comes with it - Fail #2 - Emma came home with her backpack and all of it's contents soaked.  Thank goodness there was nothing in the back pack of high importance and/or  value.   The threads on the container do not line up well and it leaks.  No matter how I try, I can't get a good seal on it.  For the price paid, I don't think I should have to purchase an additional drink container.  Though I will have to.
• Fail # 3 - I know I said two fails above, but come to think of it, I didn't get my thirty day perfect school lunch meal planner.  Not that it's a big deal, but if your going to offer something then you should deliver, right?

Overall, I don't find it at all worth the hype or the price.  In my opinion, any old insulated bag (read cheaper) with a freezer pack thrown in could do the same if not better.  

Corn and Crab Chowder

Corn and Crab Chowder

This is one of our favorite soups. It's creamy goodness has a touch of sweet from the corn and I add a touch of heat with crushed red pepper.  The potatoes and crab give it a good amount of substance so it eats more like a meal.  It also serves well on the second and third day.  I can't verify how it is on the fourth day because by then it has been eaten up.  If there are left overs, they never go to waste.  To top it all off, it's pretty easy to make.

Probably, the trickiest part is making the roux which thickens the soup.  I described how to do that in the Broccoli Cheese Soup post here.  Other than that, you toss in your ingredients and simmer.  Soups on in less than 30 minutes.  It's delicious with crackers or a good crusty bread.

First, you'll start by melting a stick of butter over low heat.

Next, sprinkle a half cup of flour over the melted butter.  Let this simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock slowly while whisking.  Continue adding liquid until the soup base comes together.

Add Potatoes and seasonings.  Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

When potatoes are done, add in chopped crab and a can of cream corn.

Simmer for 5 more minutes to warm crab and corn through.  Serve and enjoy.

Topped with shredded cheddar.

Time for the workable recipe...

Crab and Corn Chowder

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

5 cups of chicken stock

Small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of pepper

1 TBSP of crushed red pepper, optional

4 cups of diced potatoes

1 can of creamed corn

1 - 8oz package of imitation crab

1 cup of cream

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar (optional)

Directions

Create a roux with the butter and flour.  Slowly stir in chicken stock.  Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Add crushed red pepper and potatoes.  Cook for twenty minutes on a low boil.  Check for doneness of potatoes. Stir in creamed corn and chopped crab.   Add cream and cheddar.  Stir.  Simmer for five minutes.  Serve. 

This post is shared with Raising Homemakers.

Green Beans

"Putting Up Food" - Green Beans

This past weekend, I picked up ten pounds of green beans from the CSA.  I am trying to build a good stock pile of local veggies to be eaten this winter.  How nice it will be to have food on hand and know where it came from and how it was grown.  I especially like that putting up food will potentially save me from running to the store later.

To put up greens beans via freezing is pretty simple - just a little time consuming.  Just grab a comfortable spot where you can cut the beans the way you want them.  I use my spring loaded kitchen shears to snip off the ends and then cut them into about one and a half inch pieces.  Once all the beans are cut.  I start a pot of water to boil on the stove.

Then I clean the beans by rinsing them well in the sink to remove any debris.  I  also pick through them to toss any that look spotty or rusty.  

The beans get a two minute dunk into the boiling water and then are dunked into cold water to stop the cooking process.  They come out a nice bright green with an good crunch to them.  

I then bagged them into quart size freezer bags containing approximately  one and a half cups each.  I didn't measure - just eyeballed what looked like a necessary amount for a family side dish.  I ended up with fifteen bags of green beans to go into the freezer for future use.

Typically, I would cook these in a small crock-pot with a few strips of bacon for a few hours on low.  The bacon really gives them a nice flavor.  I also like to saute green beans in a skillet  with butter and then sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese.

How about you?  Are you putting up any goodies?  Share your recipes or ideas with us below.

The CSA Report 

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.

Week twelve...

Wow, this is by far the largest pick up to date.  Look at all the delicious goodies.

I just can't help but think about how I didn't have to do any of the labor intensive work to have such a bounty.  All I had to do was pick it up.  Easy Peasy.  I'm just lovin the CSA.

I've actually ordered more green beans so that I can blanch  and freeze them for future use.  I've also ordered tomatoes because I want to make a huge batch of pizza sauce to go on my home made pizza crust.

Otherwise, I see some fresh tasty salsa in our future and corn on the cob.  I know it's not March, but maybe some corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot would be good.  The little pickles have been delicious sliced and salted for snacking.  The basil in the back will definitely be a nice addition to pasta.  I don't think I've ever eaten a purple pepper.  Oh, what to do with that?  I saw a nice recipe for roasted beets online to try.

So how's it looking in your bag?

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup...

Broccoli Cheese in a Bread Bowl - YUM

Ahhh, warming, comforting, nourishing, left-over using - soup.  Not a week goes by that I don't factor in soup as a meal.  No, I'm not talking about that can of soup in the cabinet.  It's a great staple to have on hand, but it's not by any means what I consider soup.  Homemade, from scratch with the freshest ingredients, now that's soup.  Soup is what transforms the simplest and plainest ingredients into something grand.

For myself, I prefer a cream based soup.  Once mastered, the possibilities are endless.   Here in our house we are partial to Crab and Corn Chowder( a recipe for another day), and Cream of Broccoli.  For all of my cream soups, I start in the same way - with a roux.  A roux is simply a mixture of fat and flour.  It will be the thickening agent for the soup.  My preference for the fat is melted butter.  It is an equal ratio for each.  I start with a stick of butter.

Place the butter is a stock pot or Dutch oven on the stove over low heat.  Keep it low or you risk burning the butter.  

You can add a splash of olive oil which enables the butter to cook at a some what higher heat without danger of burning.  I just keep it low.  Once melted, sprinkle in a half cup of flour.  Be sure to sprinkle it all over the bottom of the pot and not in one big clump. 

The idea is for the flour to absorb the melted butter and come together as a paste.  I find that if I let it simmer a minute or two before stirring, I don't get clumps.  

When I begin to stir, I slowly add chicken broth while stirring.  

It will thicken and then thin out as more liquid is added.  In total, I usually add four to six cups of liquid.  Obviously, if you like your soup thicker, stick to less liquid.  You can always add more later to thin it out.  However, it's difficult to thicken past this point without getting clumps or a floury taste.

Back to the soup.  Once I've got the liquid in, I add the substance - chopped broccoli.  In all of my soups goes chopped onion and garlic.  I don't worry about sautéing.  To me, it interferes with the roux coming together.  I also add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper for a little heat and salt and pepper to taste.   

Cooking the chopped broccoli at a low boil for twenty minutes usually does the trick.  Note - Simmering with the lid off will results in a thicker soup due to evaporation which is a good way to get rid of excess liquid if you over poured.  When the broccoli is fork tender, I add a half cup of whole milk or half and half and a couple handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese and then simmer for a couple more minutes.  

That's it.  Ready to serve. 

Here's the workable recipe if you too are in the mood for soup...

Cream of Broccoli

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

5 cups of chicken stock

Small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of pepper

1 TBSP of crushed red pepper, optional

4 cups of chopped broccoli

1/2 cup of cream

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar

Bacon crumbles (optional)

Additional cheddar (optional)

Directions   

Create a roux with the butter and flour.  Slowly stir in chicken stock.  Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Add crushed red pepper and broccoli.  Cook for twenty minutes on a low boil.  Check for doneness of broccoli.  Add cream and cheddar.  Stir.  Simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Top with bacon and additional cheddar if desired.  Serve and Enjoy  :)

What soups have you been cooking up?

Doubling up for the Freezer

FAST FOOD FRIDAY...

"I'm too busy to cook."  "I worked all day."  "I'm Tired."  "It's way too hot out."  "I don't really want to go to the store."   Who hasn't heard or even said these words before?  Should you call for pizza?  Should you pick something up from the nearest drive through?  Nope, neither.  All you need is a little Food Fore-thought.  Fast Food Friday, a planned weekly post, isn't about running out to a local restaurant for take out or calling for delivery.  Fast Food Friday is about having something on hand for those days when cooking just seems impossible or even unappealing. 

With a little planning and preparation, fast food can come straight from our cabinets, pantries, and freezers.  What we are really talking about here is food preservation.  Food preservation can change our future days - take the guess work out of meal prep, allow for an evening of rest not stress, change your grocery bill's bottom line, and of course, nix the expense of drive-thru eatings.  Now those points do sound appealing.

So for many many Friday's to come, check back to see how I plan to never be too busy to cook, not too tired to eat well, not considering if it's too hot out, and best of all, skipping trips to the store.  For today, let's talk about...

Doubling Up

or tripling, or quadrupling for that matter.  Last Friday, I shared my four favorite ways to save time in the kitchen and help simplify things.  It never seems to fail.   There are always days when the idea of having to cook a full meal is just too much.  That's why I like to have food on hand that's quick and easy.  Something that works well for us to have on hand is frozen lasagna.  NOT the store bought kind.  There are way too many things on that label I know I could do with out even if I could pronounce them.  Plus, making lasagna from scratch means I get to control the ingredients and the size.

I like to plan a ahead and prep two or three when I feel like cooking.  We'll have one for dinner and the other(s) go in the freezer.  Then the next time around, all that needs to be done is heat and eat, and perhaps fix up a green salad while it's cooking.  The lasagna I fix is pretty simple, but I suppose the possibilities are somewhat endless.  Around here, we like a meat lasagna with sweet Italian sausage and ground beef.

The trick to successfully freezing the extra lasagna(s) is to flash freeze it in the casserole dish that you'd cook it in.  I do this by lining the dish with saran wrap before building the lasagna in the dish.  Once constructed, dish and all go into the freezer for a couple of hours until it is firm enough to pull out of the dish in one piece with out being flimsy.  The dish goes into the sink and the partially frozen lasagna gets double wrapped in saran wrap and then in foil and goes back into the freezer until I'm ready to cook it.  There are pics below, but I'll share the recipe first.  This recipe makes a 9 X 13 pan or two 8 X 8 pans which is what I typically do.  Of course, you would want to adjust pan size and quantities according to your family's needs.

Meaty Lasagna- makes two 8 X 8 dishes

1 Box of lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 pound of Italian Sausage, browned
1/2 pound of Ground beef, browned
3 cups of sauce
1 24 oz container of cottage cheese
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
3 cups of mozzarella
2 eggs
1 cup of mozzarella for topping.
Additional Parmesan to taste.

Combine cooked meats in one bowl and set aside   Combine all cheeses (except one cup of mozz) and eggs in another bowl and set aside.  To build lasagna, begin by putting a small amount of sauce in the bottom of your pan to prevent sticking*.

1. Place one layer of noodles in bottom of pan. 
2. Spoon one quarter of the cheese mixture onto noodles.  Spread evenly to cover.  
3. Place a layer of noodles over cheese.  Pour one quarter of sauce onto noodles.  
4. Sprinkle half of ground meat mixture onto sauce.  Spread evenly to cover.  
5. Place a layer of noodles over sauce. 
6. Repeat steps two and three.
7. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of reserved mozzarella over top.
8. If you are building two lasagnas, repeat directions with remaining ingredients.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 50 - 55 minutes if frozen or 25 - 30 minutes if cooked fresh.  Be sure to remove all saran wrapping from frozen lasagna.

*If prepping lasagna to go into freezer, line dish with saran wrap first as seen below.

Meaty Lasagna- Pictures edition...

Boil noodles al dente.

Prepare Italian sausage by slicing through casings to be removed.

Peel casing off each sausage and dispose of casing.

Begin browning sausage in skillet over medium high heat.

Cook sausage thoroughly.  Do the same for ground beef.

Drop everything and put fancy shoe on build a bear so that she can attend the ball while you, Cinderella, stay home and cook. Just Kidding ;)  This is just one of many interruptions in the life of a mommy with an eight year old. 

Back to business, combine cheeses and eggs.

To begin building lasagna, put a small amount of sauce in the bottom of your pan to prevent sticking.

If need be, cut noodles to fit dish.

Place one layer of noodles in bottom of pan.
Spoon one quarter of the cheese mixture onto noodles.  Spread evenly to cover.

Place a layer of noodles over cheese.  Pour one quarter of sauce onto noodles.

Sprinkle half of ground meat mixture onto sauce.  Spread evenly to cover.

Repeat layer of noodles and cheese.

Top with last layer of noodles, sauce and reserved mozzarella.

This dish of lasagna is now ready to go into the freezer.

After two hours, take lasagna out of freezer and remove from dish by pulling up on saran wrap.

 Double wrap with saran wrap.

I also double wrap with foil.

Place back into freezer until needed.  I have kept it frozen for up to three months with no problems.  When ready to cook from freezer, remove all wrapping before placing into original dish and cooking.

So that's it - another way to make future meals a little easier by spending a little extra time when you have it.

Have you tried this?  What kinds of recipes do you double up and freeze?

This post is shared with Food Renegade.

The CSA Report 

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.

Week eleven...

This week's bag brought a huge variety of color - love that.  The only thing missing (color wise) perhaps is a purple eggplant.  With the exception of the tomatoes, I'm planning to use up everything "fresh" this week.  I see a couple of veggie stir-frys in our near future.  We'll also be enjoying sauteed green beans as a side dish with lasagna.  Sauteed in butter and topped with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese, they are especially good.  As for the tomatoes, they'll be added to my tomato collection.  More on that another time.

   

So how's it looking in your bag?

Some Thoughts on Bulk Buying

I thought that since I was advocating buying in bulk a couple of weeks ago, that I should expand on it and what works for us.  I didn't always like buying in bulk, but my thinking and our needs have changed over time.  It used to be that I didn't want to fork out so much money at a time.  Bulk buying can seem expensive when one item is ten dollars a pop.   We had a very limited grocery budget and I needed to make sure it got us through the week. Over time though with growing kids who have growing appetites what used to be a week's worth of groceries now only gets us through a few days.  Needless to say, I've had to up the budget.

Broccoli Cheese soup - recipe coming soon :)

Up-ing the budget is not something I was happy about so of course I looked for ways to cut - sales, coupons, and cooking from scratch. Still things seemed expensive.   I was always trying to downsize my list and the quantities purchased so that I felt like I was saving money.  But what really happened is that we'd run out of things quickly and I'd be back at the store spending more money.  I realized that what I needed was to buy in quantity to keep myself out of the store.  It was this point that I took another look at bulk buying.  

Normally, foods bought in bulk are cheaper when compared to their counterparts in terms of price per ounce.  So though you pay a higher cost for a larger package, you save money in the long run by not paying that higher price per ounce on a more frequent basis.  I definitely had to change my mindset regarding how I shopped and spent money.  Plunking down more money on shopping trips was hard at first until I saw that I could spend less in the long run.

Don't get me wrong though.  I don't advise buying anything and everything that is sold in bulk.  Some items are just not worth it.  It works best if the food you buy in bulk is something you use on a regular basis.  For example, as someone who likes to bake, a ten pound bag of sugar costing $5.50 is a savings when compared to a 4 pound bag at $2.79.  It's not huge, but the savings do add up.  Other examples can be found here in a recent post about saving money through bulk buying.

Buying in bulk also means that you have food on hand for longer than a week.  This potentially cuts down on trips to the store which means less money spent.  I also find that I can better stock my pantry for at home cooking.  I feel compelled to cook from scratch knowing that I have what I need on hand.  

But, there are bad things about buying in bulk too.  If you don't plan accordingly you could possibly end up with food that goes to waste.  For example, if I bought the one and a half pound package of lunch meat and just put it in the fridge, we would end up throwing away half of it.  Only two of us eat sandwiches for lunch and only twice a week at that.  So in order to make the savings work, I portion it out and freeze it.  

Also bad about buying in bulk is that you sometimes get stuck with something you really don't like.  For us, it's cereal.  Bulk packages come with three varieties in the package.  I don't think it's coincidence that the combinations always include a less popular cereal in the box.  It doesn't make sense for us to buy bulk cereal for this reason.  If no one in the house like the third type of cereal in the box than any amount of money saved is wasted  since the cereal won't get eaten.  

So what do we buy in bulk?

We do buy things that get used routinely such as pantry items - flour, sugar, yeast, rice, pasta noodles, tortillas,and mac and cheese.  We also like to buy garbage bags, laundry soap, dish soap/dish washer tablets, vinegar, baking soda, toilet paper, gallon and quart size storage bags, and bar soap - household stuff that gets used everyday.  Additionally, there are the things that can be  portioned out (to avoid waste) and frozen for future use- cheese, lunch meats, buns, and butter.

How about you?  What are some things you like to buy in bulk?

This post is shared with Raising Homemakers.

FAST FOOD FRIDAY...

"I'm too busy to cook."  "I worked all day."  "I'm Tired."  "It's way too hot out."  "I don't really want to go to the store."   Who hasn't heard or even said these words before?  Should you call for pizza?  Should you pick something up from the nearest drive through?  Nope, neither.  All you need is a little Food Fore-thought.  Fast Food Friday, a planned weekly post, isn't about running out to a local restaurant for take out or calling for delivery.  Fast Food Friday is about having something on hand for those days when cooking just seems impossible or even unappealing. 

With a little planning and preparation, fast food can come straight from our cabinets, pantries, and freezers.  What we are really talking about here is food preservation.  Food preservation can change our future days - take the guess work out of meal prep, allow for an evening of rest not stress, change your grocery bill's bottom line, and of course, nix the expense of drive-thru eatings.  Now those points do sound appealing.

So for many many Friday's to come, check back to see how I plan to never be too busy to cook, not too tired to eat well, not considering if it's too hot out, and best of all, skipping trips to the store.  For today, let's talk about...

Being Intentional

There are many ways to "be intentional" in the kitchen in order to help simplify things for the week ahead.  The following four are ways that I find work very well.

Menu Plans ~ There are times when I sit down and make up a months worth of menus.  I dream of making one giant monthly shop and never stepping through those doors for at least thirty days after.  Ahhhh, but seriously, menu plans help alot.  For one, if you know you're going to have a busy day, you can pull things out the night before, or even set something to cook in the crockpot.  For two, if you create a list from your menu plan, it does minimize time spent shopping and helps keep you from making extra stops.  It also helps me minimize money spent as in "oops, sorry, it's not on the list".   I like to keep lists of menu plans around so that I can refer back when I'm in a rut or short on time.

Keeping essential ingredients on hand

Doubling up ~ whenever possible, if I am making something that freezes well, I double it.  We eat half that night and half go into the freezer for a future meal.  For example, I caught the Barefoot Contessa show today and though I knew I wouldn't be able to whip up all that she was making, the mashed potatoes sure looked good.  I am not one to buy those overpriced premade packages in the store.  I'm a peeler, a cuber, a boiler - you get the idea.  Though I do like something to show for my time.  So I purposely double or sometimes triple the batch and portion freeze the extra.  This works well with soup, re-fried beans, casseroles, pretzel bread, and the list goes on...

BBQ Chicken with Bacon - one of our favorites

Buy it, cook it, freeze it - If I can pull something precooked from the freezer the night before, it really does cut down on time spent in the kitchen that evening.  Last week, I shared how this works with ground beef.  I also like to keep cooked shredded chicken for BBQ sandwiches, pancakes for quick breakfasts, burritos for lunches, crusts for quick pizzas, and shredded beef roast for soup.  There are times when I will have a "precook" morning just to stock the freezer with future meals.

Eat what you have on hand ~  leftovers.   Yeah, I know leftovers may not always sound good, but they are fast and economical.  If you don't want to have the exact same meal again plan ahead.  If I know I'll be making a couple of roast chickens one night, I may pick up tortillas and cheese to make quesadillas out of the leftovers or some Caesar dressing to fix up a salad. 

Just remember, always be thinking about how you can make your future meals easier and you'll have fast food on hand.

This post is shared with Food Renegade.

The CSA Report 

The CSA Report  will be a regular Wednesday post from now until October.  CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, is still a relatively new term to people so I want to expand on what it is, what it's all about, and what one could get out of it.  For me, I like the idea of getting fresh local produce on a prepaid and regular basis. By joining the CSA, I've made a commitment to local farmers that financially help them start their season. In return, I get the freshest of produce and a variety that I would not normally think to buy.  So I'll also be getting creative in the kitchen.

Week ten...

We are now half way through the CSA season.  I have to say that I have been very happy with this year's veggies.  They are always of the freshest and best quality and just the right amount for the fresh veggie eating that we do.  I can't say that we are big veggie eaters though I am always trying to incorporate more.  This week brought green beans, pickles, peppers, Daikon radishes, zucchini, beets and mini cabbage sprouts.

I'm going to start dehydrating this week again.  I say that like it's a big chore - it's not.  I just haven't in a while.  I would like to have plenty of dehydrated zucchini and radish on hand for soup mixes this winter.  Seems hard to believe but I know cooler weather is just around the corner.  I am also planning to blanch and freeze the green beans for later use.  The rest will be eaten fresh.  I really have to find something yummy to do with beets.  They seem abundant this year.  Boiling only goes so far for appetizing.  

How's it looking in your bag?

Cooking for the Freezer

FAST FOOD FRIDAY...

"I'm too busy to cook."  "I worked all day."  "I'm Tired."  "It's way too hot out."  "I don't really want to go to the store."   Who hasn't heard or even said these words before?  Should you call for pizza?  Should you pick something up from the nearest drive through?  Nope, neither.  All you need is a little Food Fore-thought.  Fast Food Friday, a planned weekly post, isn't about running out to a local restaurant for take out or calling for delivery.  Fast Food Friday is about having something on hand for those days when cooking just seems impossible or even unappealing. 

With a little planning and preparation, fast food can come straight from our cabinets, pantries, and freezers.  What we are really talking about here is food preservation.  Food preservation can change our future days - take the guess work out of meal prep, allow for an evening of rest not stress, change your grocery bill's bottom line, and of course, nix the expense of drive-thru eatings.  Now those points do sound appealing.

So for many many Friday's to come, check back to see how I plan to never be too busy to cook, not too tired to eat well, not considering if it's too hot out, and best of all, skipping trips to the store.  For today, let's talk about...

Cooking for the Freezer

With after school activities and busy evenings,I like to have a couple of go-to meals on hand and ready to go no doubt.  There's scouts on Thursdays and guitar on Fridays - it's the same every week.  There's no reason not to see that there'll be little time for cooking.  So those nights are dedicated meal nights.  By that, I mean we tend to eat the same thing every week on those nights.  For Thursdays, it's pizza.  Click here and here for posts on that.  On Friday's it's usually tacos.  

It's nice to know ahead of time what we'll be eating on those busier nights.  All that needs to be done is pulling some pre-prepped ingredients from the freezer the night before.  I put them in the fridge to thaw and then at dinner time the next day, we have a quick easy meal.  So on to what we are really talking about today - browning ground beef in bulk to be used for future meals.

Browned ground beef is very versatile.  Around here, it gets used for tacos, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, meatballs, and the occasional casserole.  In this post, I am purposing it for tacos, spaghetti sauce, and meatballs.  I've started with six pounds of ground beef.  Three pounds were made into taco meat which will be enough for two meals.  One and a half pounds were made into meatballs.  Meatball sandwiches are in our future.  The last pound and a half was portioned out into thirds for spaghetti sauce.  So intentionally, I prepped enough ground beef for six future meals.  Of course, more could be done as well.  It's always nice to do a lot at once.  It makes for less clean up all the way around.

Ready for some pics and DIY info?

I started by browning 2 pounds of ground beef.  You could brown more with multiple pans going at once.  This would make the job go faster of course.  I just wasn't feeling in a hurry.  It really only takes a few minutes to brown regardless.

Once browned, add in taco seasoning.  I use a quarter cup of seasoning per pound.  That would be equivalent to an individual package.  I buy the bulk size so have to measure it out.  If you are wondering, it is cheaper this way as the large container of it only cost around four dollars and goes much farther than four or five packages would.

Once mixed, I move the taco meat to a strainer to drain away any grease while cooling.

Once all the meat purposed for tacos is prepared and cooled, I portion it out into freezer bags at one and a half pounds each.

Now to further save time on this pre-prepping endeavor, multitasking is good.  While the taco meat is browning, I begin working up the meatballs.

What I used here is one and a half pounds of ground beef, 2 eggs, 1 cup of cracker crumbs ( sub bread crumbs if needed), 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons, of crushed red pepper ( a little heat), and 1 teaspoon and cumin.  This mixture also makes a good base for meatloaf.

Mix that all together until well incorporated.  The best way to do this is to use your bare hand.  ~Another good reason to prep ground beef in bulk - I never did like the way it feels~

Once mixed, I use my melon baller to portion out each meatball.  It ought to be called a meat baller as I can't remember the last time I balled melon.  Of course, you could use table spoon for this.  I like to portion all at one and go back and shape them better.  It just seems faster for me this way.

At this point, they go into a preheated oven at 375 degrees and cook for 25 minutes.

When finished, they're allowed to cool before going into a labeled plastic freezer bag.  In the near future, we'll be having meatball sandwiches on french bread.  For a tutorial on how to make your own french bread, click here.

So what happens when we are ready to eat?  As I said, these are planned meals so the night before I pull out what is needed and put it into the fridge to thaw.  The day of, taco meat will get warmed on the stove top in less than five minutes.  Tacos are usually served with salad or chips and salsa.  Meatballs also get warmed on the stove top but in sauce.  This takes less than ten minutes.

For us, it works pretty well.  It's a plan in mind that will save time, money (no stopping for take out), and clean up.  

Remember, it's all about fore thought.  Spend a little time now when you have it and in the future when you need it, you'll have fast food on hand.

Enjoy, and be thinking of how you can make life easier in the future.

This post is shared with food renegade.