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Frugal Freezer Food

How many times I have mentioned that if you throw food away due to spoilage there was no savings in the item to begin with. This is never truer than in your freezer, especially a second freezer. Using a freezer inventory is a wonderful way to keep track of contents and dates by which the items must be consumed, thus helping you with your menu planning. However there is another little trick that I recommend for those with a chest freezer.

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Crockpot Ham & Potatoes Au Gratin

This is a dish that my hubby smells and his mouth begins to water. Of course, I love being able to please him after a long day in this way, but the fact that the meal is SO simple and frugal makes it a sure fire winner in my menu! This recipe uses cheese, which can be costly. What I have done over the last two years ...

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Cup of Soup

I remember when cup of soup from my childhood. My mom would buy these little boxes that contained envelopes of powdered mix in which all you needed to do was add a cup of hot water and stir. We thought these were AMAZING! My mom loved the convenience of the little buggers. Whenever a hurricane is coming I always pick up a couple of those neat little cups of soup containers. Since we haven’t had a hurricane in a few years, I have had no need to purchase them. However, Fay inspired me to come up with more frugal options, since they are a tad on the expensive side.

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Pad Thai Recipe

There is something about Thai curry that just makes my mouth water. Have you seen Ratatouille? Remember when he is with his brother and he tries to explain to him what it is like when just the right spices and seasonings are combine? The Fireworks? That is what happens inside me with Thai curry. It’s AMAZING! The complexity of the flavors of curry and and coconut, oh sweet Mama! Serenity Now! If you have never tried a Thai curry and you enjoy food with a bit of a kick, this is a dish you MUST try. It is so simple, it can be made last minute. I recommend letting it let sit, though. Oh my…if only I were making it tonight. I use an electric skillet for this recipe, but you could use a stove top pan.

Simple Pad Thai Curry

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (more or less)

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Storing Rice

This past week I learned a wonderful little trick from my most wonderful and groovy Aunt Barb! Recently, she had the opportunity to visit Tokyo her friend’s family. She noted that her mom was taking out these little Tupperware containers and asked what was contained in them. To her surprise she found that her mother made rice in larger quantities and then packaged them in little containers and placed them in the freezer. WOW! Now, THAT is convenient!

She then told me that since returning from her most fantabulous trip she has made rice and packaged it for freezing in little sandwich bags, for single portion servings. Simply place the rice in a pan with a bit of oil and stir fry for tasty NON-mushy rice!

What really interested me about this is that I can make a large portion of rice and freeze in appropriate portions according to my menu for the month. In this way, when it is time to make a meal that includes rice, I can simply take a package out of the freezer, saving time in the kitchen!

These are my thoughts.

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Full Brownie Recipe

Due to an overwhelming request for my basic brownie recipe, I am bumping this week’s post to next week and giving you what you have been clamoring for. Without further ado, here it is!

Leslie’s Scratch Brownies

 1 c butter. Softened

½ c mayo

5 oz unsweetened chocolate, in pieces

5 oz semi-sweetened chocolate, in pieces

3 c sugar, turbinado, or sucanat

3 TBSP ground flaxseed + ¾ c water, OR 3 eggs

1 TBSP vanilla

2 c whole wheat pastry flour

Optional: nuts

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.      Melt butter and chocolate in a pan over medium heat. Turn heat off.

3.      Beat sugar, flaxseed/eggs, mayo, & vanilla on high speed, until well creamed. Add butter/chocolate mix and beat on medium until well incorporated. Add nuts if desired.

4.      Beat in flour until blended.

5.      Pour into a 9 x 13 pan, muffin tins, or mini muffin tins.

6.      Bake 15-45 minutes depending on pan size.

Buono Appetito!

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Decadent Brownie Recipes

This week has been a whirlwind, I say! I had some unforeseen circumstances yesterday so, here are the posts in the order they were intended. ENJOY!

Brownies from a box are convenient, yet expensive, and seem to have a hint of cardboard flavoring. Brownies from scratch are a soooo tasty, but they take about 7 minutes more to make than boxed brownies. Whichever type of brownies to make, you can do a few things to turn your brownies from yummy to decadent with little effort.

• Consider putting brownie mix in muffin or mini muffin pans for individual treats.
• Add a little sumthin sumthin. Wal-Mart sells bags of mini peanut butter and caramel cups. Five minutes before brownies are ready to come out of the oven, push one of the mini cups into the center of each brownie. Other options for center treats are caramel squares, a teaspoon of peanut butter, junior mints, or rolo candy.
• Sprinkle it up! Add sprinkles, crushed hard pretzels, or crushed peppermint candies to the top of the brownies before baking.
• I haven’t tried this yet, but my gal pal April told me a little secret to scrumptious brownies. Melt Andes candies and add to the batter before baking.

Buono Appetito!

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Stuff It!

Today was a CRAZY day! Not only did I have so many things on my To Do List, but I also had a few unscheduled snafus! One of the snafus was that I had not marked my pantry inventory list correctly, so when I went to gather the ingredients for today’s crock-pot meal, I found I didn’t have everything I needed. Instead of letting it get the better of me, I simply improvised. I tried something completely new with ingredients that I had on hand that were not scheduled for another meal. What I came up with was one delicious dish!

Stuff It Pork Chops

• 4-6 Pork Chops
• 1 bag of stuffing cubes, prepared
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• water

1. Place pork chops in the bottom of crock-pot.
2.  Place stuffing on top of pork chops.
3. Mix soup and ¼ can of water in a small bowl. Pour over stuffing.
4. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours. (Check chops at 4 hours.)
5. I served this with steamed broccoli and corn and it was a HUGE hit!!!

Buono Appetito!

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Simplest Smoothies

Smoothies are a GREAT way to cool off a summer day inexpensively and healthfully. But the best part about smoothies is that you are only limited by your imagination when you are thinking of combinations. My personal favorite, is a recipe that is simple, inexpensive, and healthful.

Simplest Smoothies

•   Frozen Blueberries
• Frozen Strawberries
• Frozen Raspberries
• Liquid Stevia (optional)
•  Water

1.  Place frozen berries in food processor. Add water about ½ c at a time. Pulse.
2. Add water as needed and continue pulsing until you achieve desired consistency.
3. Add stevia to sweeten and pulse to incorporate, if desired.

It doesn’t get simpler than that. The amount of berries used is determined by how many people you are serving. The amount of water and stevia will depend on the amount of berries and your personal preference to taste and consistency. This is a GREAT kitchen activity for littletons and eldertons alike!

Buono Appetito!

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Cool Summer Chicken

Summer time makes for grilling time! Grilling is an easy way to cook a meal and there is little cleaning up involved, making it perfect for those hot and humid evenings. One of the best aspects about grilling is that the grilling surface of most grills is rather large. This means you can fill up your grill, cook one time, and have food for a few days. It doesn’t get better than that in the summer!

One of my favorite ways to save on food, cooking time, and energy is to grill up lots of chicken at one time. Once the chicken has been grilled, let it cool to room temperature. Now, you have meat that is ready to be packaged for ready to eat meals. You can package chicken as is, shred it, or chunk it. Place your chicken in a zip style freezer bag and replace in the freezer. Voila! You have lots of chicken for quick and easy summer meals! This also works well with beef and pork. For those of you who like OAMC, you can designate one day to grilling day and have meat for months! Now that’s COOL!

A little tip about meat: Meat shreds best when it is at room temperature. If you decide to freeze your grilled chicken in whole pieces, make certain that you bring it to room temperature before shredding for the next meal.

Buono Appetito!

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Szechuan Anything

One thing I enjoy about stir fry meals is that they are so simple. It can be stagnating if you are just tossing a little soy sauce and garlic into your stir fry. Try spicing things up a bit when with this simple recipe for Szechuan sauce. It compliments chicken, fish, beef, and pork as well as most vegetables. (I am not a fan of Szechuan sauce with tomatoes.) The following steps are the easiest way to make a Szechuan stir fry meal with the least amount of mess!

Szechuan Anything

·         Meat, Fish, or Poultry to feed family

·         Vegetables of choosing, chopped (quantity determined by you)

·         1 TBSP sesame, peanut, or vegetable oil

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         5 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce

·         1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine, white wine vinegar, or cooking sherry

·         1/4 cup water

·         1 TBSP brown sugar  

·         2 tsps Asian seasoning or cayenne pepper

·         2 tsps Chinese 5 Spice

1.      Mix all ingredients from oil through Chinese 5 Spice in a glass rectangular baking pan. Place meat, fish, or poultry in mix to marinade for 1 hr. Cover and turn once. (Do not discard mix)

2.      Heat electric skillet to 300 degrees. Place meat in Skillet. Place vegetables in sauce mix in glass pan.

3.      Turn meat after 3 minutes. Stir veggies in glass pan. After 3 more minutes remove meat to cutting board.

4.      Using slotted spoon, remove vegetables from mix and place in skillet.

5.      Slice meat into strips. Return to skillet.

6.      Cook until meat is cooked through and vegetables are desired doneness.

This is a Delicious and Simple meal. A bowl of this stir fry is great alone, and more filling when served over hot steamed rice.

Buono Appetito!

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Simple Mexican Dip

While everyone may not enjoy Mexican food, just about everybody loves something warm and cheesy. Here is a recipe that is universal enough to use for chips, breads, veggies, tacos, or anything that you desire a zesty cheesy goodness added to.

Simple Mexican Dip

·         12 oz Velveeta Cheese, cubed

·         1/3 c milk

·         ½ packet Mexican seasoning

1.       Place cubed cheese and milk in microwaves safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute. Stir with Whisk. Repeat.

2.       Add Mexican seasoning. Whisk in until well incorporated. Heat on high 1 ½ minutes.

YUM!

While this recipe is not low in fat or healthful in any way (any cheese that is stored on un unrefrigerated shelf cannot be good for), an occasional splurge is often a wonderful way to keep those recurring temptations at bay.

Buono Appetito!

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Simple Roast Beef

I just created this recipe today and it was a BIG hit with our family! This couldn't be more simple or stress free for Mom.

Simple Roast Beef

• 1 roast (size determines your family's size)
• 1/4 c ranch salad dressing
• 1/4 c Italian salad dressing
• 3 TBSP instant brown gravy mix

1. Place roast in crock-pot.
2. In a small bowl mix last three ingredients. Spoon over roast.
3. Set crock-pot to low and cook 4-6 hours depending on the size oft he roast.

Cook's Tip: You can make this roast an entire meal by throwing in some quartered potatoes and carrots before putting in the roast.

Cook's Bonus Tip: When the roast and veggies are ready, remove and place in covered dish. Turn crock to high. In a small bowl dissolve 1 TBSP of cornstarch in a bit of water. When the gravy in the crock-pot is boiling, pour in the cornstarch. Turn crock-pot off and continue to stir until the gravy thickens.

Buono Appetito!

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Cranberry Chicken

Here's a great recipe to a simple dinner. Pair this chicken with a bit of rice and a crisp salad and you have yourself a meal!

Cranberry Chicken

1 can cranberry sauce (jellied or whole)

1/4 c BBQ sauce

6 chicken breast halves, thawed

1. In a small bowl, mix BBQ and cranberry sauces until thoroughly incorporated.
2. Place 3 chicken breast halves on the bottom of crockpot.
3. Spoon 1/2 of sauce mix over the top.
4. Place 3 chicken breast halves on top.
5. Pour rest of sauce on top.
6. Set on Low and cook for 4-6 hours.

One nice serving option is to shred the chicken before serving. This is especially tasty paired with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli!

Buono Appetito!

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Thinking Outside of the Box About Pizza

I know I often post about pizza. Mostly because it is one of family faves AND it is SO EASY! People are often easily discouraged from making pizza at home because of the false thoughts of it being difficult and time consuming. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In Menu Planning: Simple & Delicious I talk about how I make 3 pizzas in 30 minutes for less than $3 per pie. But pizza is not only easy, it's very versatile! You can use pizza as a means of using up leftovers. It's so easy to think up ideas to use those bits of meat and veggies that have yet to have been gobbled up. Also, pizza can be easily made to meet dietary restrictions.

The reason behind this is that the basic idea of pizza lends itself to an unlimited amount of combinations of products. Pizza crust need not only be made from dough, it can be made from pita bread, English muffins, bagels, tortillas, french bread, hot-dog buns, gluten-free bread, etc. Different sauces can be used as well. Marinara is most common, but Alfredo sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, cream sauce, gravy, and dressing, can all be used as sauce options for pizza.

Our Pastor and his wife often have dinner with us. However, in the last few months they have had to make some strict dietary changes. In an effort to help make these changes FUN and delicious, I have been trying different mock-ups of food we have always enjoyed, but now, with a new twist. Obviously, on the easiest was pizza. To give you an idea of the versatility of pizza, I will walk you through how I made pizza to fit their needs.

Since they are only allowed to eat sprouted grain bread, I tried using it as a crust. Although it is dense and dry this didn't work well. When I found sprouted grain English style muffins, I knew I had something. They are perfect as pizza crusts!

Then came the trickiest part, they cannot have cooked tomatoes or dairy products. This was a brain stumper for me because it seemed as though I wouldn't have any option for toppings other than veggies and perhaps a meat. By God's grace I began thinking colors. Marinara sauce is red. What else is red? RED PEPPERS. So I took some red peppers, gently roasted them. Then I chunked them up and made a sauce just as I would normal marinara, simply without the tomatoes.

Toppings were simple. For those picky people, I still use traditional marinara and cheese. However, everyone picks what they want and there aren't any thoughts of deprivation.

So remember, think of pizza outside of the box, when in need of something to prepare for those with dietary restrictions. It may be a welcomed surprise!

Buono Appetito!

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Honey Muffins

Today I will be sharing a recipe that came to my inbox from my dear friend Heidi Jo. Being that we just got home from our week long camping holiday, you know I was tired this morning. Why is it that mom's are always tired after holidays? LOL! Anyway, I was so happy to find this in my inbox last night and decided this would be breakfast for today. These muffins are DELICIOUS!

If you haven't recevied a Bahama blessing today, hop on over and visit Heidi Jo! She will bring the blessings of the islands to you, in more ways than one! I encourage you to sign up for Heidi Jo's newsletter, Bahama Blessings. She discusses easy homeschooling and scheduling ideas, recipes, lots about island life with her family, and the special things the Lord puts on her heart. This is one of my most special newsletters each month!

Honey Muffins

2 Cups Flour

½ cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

¼ cup butter, melted

¼ cup honey

1 banana

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, butter and honey.  Stir into the dry ingredients until moist.  Add mashed banana.  Fill greased muffin cups ¾ full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from pan and serve warm.  Makes 1 dozen

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Does the origin of your produce matter?

Fresh produce has definitive growing seasons. Produce that is harvested at the end of the natural growing season means that it will not be available at other times of the year. Berries are summer harvesters. If you have berries available in your grocery in February, they were either grown in a warm climate state that can support a longer growing season or they were grown in a hot house that provides the conditions of a natural season indoors.

Last Monday, I posted about which produce has the most pesticides, and should be purchased organically whenever possible. Ideally, you should eat produce during its natural ripening period. In America (since I do not about other countries) we want what we want and we want it when we want it. This has caused farmers to push their growing season, change their farming practices, and use artificial means of producing these products out of season. Because this costs more to do, the cost of out of season produce is high. This applies to organic produce as well. If you are working on including more organic produce in your diet and you have a budget, purchase only what is in season. The cost of organic and local produce, like its conventional counterpart, is significantly less during that time.

But where does the produce come from and what do you need to know to make good decisions for the health of your family?

Pesticide use is not regulated in countries such as Mexico, Central America, and Latin America. Because it is not regulated and the US has such a high demand for produce, these countries push their growing to the limits. Produce exports from these countries is a many source of economics. When I say it isn't regulated, I understand that to mean that their regulations are not as strict as ours. This means that they not only use pesticides that are illegal in the US, but also the amount of pesticides used would be illegal here. US demand for produce and the lack of regulation has caused the push and amounts of pesticides used to rise. Latin America alone has increased the amount of pesticide use by 5%!

So what countries have safe levels of pesticides and use safe pesticides? Well, no pesticide is safe. However, produce grown in the US and Canada has far less pesticide residue than that of our other import partners. 

If you want to keep the amount of pesticides ingested to a bare minimum, buy as much organic produce as possible. When costs are prohibitive on organics, refrain from purchasing produce grown in Latin America, Central America, and Mexico.

Pesticides are not the only thing to be concerned about when purchasing produce. The demand in the US has also encouraged the concept of genetically modifying produce so that it can be grown in climates and areas that are natural for it to grow, as well as out of season growing times. This produce may look the same, but it never tastes the same as produce that is purchased in season, because it does not have the same qualities. This also means that the nutrition benefits of GM produce are inferior.

How can you tell what you are getting at the grocery? That's simple. Check the PLU # on the little sticker.

Conventinal produce will have a 4 digit number.

Organic produce will begin with a 9 followed by four digits.

Genetically modified produce will begin with an 8 followed by four digits.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple and Frugal Food Storage

I frequently encourage people to buy produce only when in season and store it for the months when it is more expensive. This doesn't account for the different produce items that are advertised as loss leaders throughout the winter months. Some of these veggies are known as winter veggies, due to their heavy use in winter dishes.

Root vegetables can be difficult to keep stored in your fridge. Here's a trick that can help you store some of these items in frugal and simple way. Take a few 5 gallon buckets and fill them with sand. In these buckets you can store carrots, parsnips, and turnips safely for long periods of time. How cool is that?!

These are my thoughts.

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Frugal on the Go Lunch Options

Sadly, we run more and more. Even for those who have cut back on their daily driving, that means heading out for one or two really long days. These both can make for a cranky tag along crew and Mom. We have gotten to a point that we find it easier to run through a drive through while we are out than to pack a lunch...especially for those with a larger than normal family. I KNOW, I feel the SAME way! There are days when I just don't want to wrangle a lunch together. I am rushed and my brain is spinning with all that I need to get done that day. The last thing I want to do is add another acitivity to my list before we have to head out the door.

However, this is SO economical, there is no question you should take the time. One way to eliminate the morning prep time is to pull lunch together and store in the fridge when y oua re cleaning up from dinner the night before. Also, try not to keep your lunch in a box...when you are out and about, lunch does NOT need to be a meal, it can be a series of healthful snacks. Water is THE best and most economic take a long drink. Not only that, but you can easily clean up any spills with no stainage AND you can pull into any gas station and refill your bottles with ice and water for FREE (just ask...we have never been told no.)

Still not sure if you want to bag a lunch for the whole family? Well, consider the immense health  benefits of packing from home. In addition, keep it simple! When you begin to stop thinking of ellaborate lunches, preparing a lunch CAN be quick, efficient, and inexpensive! (If you are purchasing pre-packaged and pre-portioned sizes of items you will have MUCH LESS savings, so stay away from those.)

Here is a list of lunch items that I regularly pack for the 1-2 days per week that we are away from home, prepping for 5 tummies:

• PB & J. The old standby has been our little blessing. Inorder to keep this a FUN lunch item, I do it on crackers, change jellies/jams, use Fluff inplace of jelly, use fruit inplace of jelly. Here is a GREAT tip: If you have a Pampered Chef sandwich sealer (a little round device that forms a crimped seal around the edge of the bread, removing the crusts) this is a GREAT way to keep little hands filled, without overwhelming them.
• Tuna. Not everyone enjoys tuna, but if you can find a recipe that your family likes (even just one or two) this is a great, tasty, and economical lunch item.
• Egg salad, is a bit on the messy side for smaller children. Even a mom juggling driving and eating can have trouble with th is one. However, if you mix the egg into an almost paste, this is eliminated.
• Pancakes. Pancakes are an excellent option to bread. This is a lifesaver, when you are out of bread, but need a lunch for the next day. If you reduce the sugar in your pancake recipe, you can serve just about anything on a folded pancake.
• Cut up Veggies. I am not sure why, but everyone loves crudite! I like to keep each veggie in a separate bag, but I cut them in different ways. For example, I alternate, sliced, chunked, sticked, and crunkle cut. It's just plain FUN and easy!
• Muffins. Leftover muffins are an EXCELLENT way to rbing along a filling and nutritious snakc/lunch item! When making muffins make those sweet ones, but don't forget to make savory ones too!
• Salad. Have leftover salad or just have a bunch of lettuce on hand? Well, a few precious moments placing this in a small container will provide a power packed lunch! I use individual plastic containers.
• Nuts. Nuts are an excellent source of nutrition. Purchased at a bulk food store, the cost is relatively low. Watch your sales and cycles to get the best prices!
• Granola. Granola is SO easy to make. I make different types of granola for different things. I have some that are made specifically for breakfast cereals, some that are mnade more chunky for snakcsing, and some that are make for ice cream toppings! Have fun with this. (Keep checking the Simple Journey Bookstore as 3 NEW titles are on their way! You will NOT want to miss Simply Frugal Breakfasts! My recipes for different types of granola will be included!)
• Pickles. If you have any littletons or eldertons that enjoy pickles, bring some along in a baggie. They are so easy and convenient!

You can't beat the price of a well stocked lunch bag! It will keep you all in a better mood, making those long errand days a LOT less overwhelming for everyone. For more information on packing lunches including recipes, ideas, bags, containers, etc, make sure to check out the Simple Journey Bookstore for the soon to be released Simply Frugal Portable Lunches.

These are my thoughts.

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