Homemade.

Food Joke of the moment:

Jane had a system for labeling homemade freezer meals. She would carefully note in large clear letters, "Meatloaf" or "Pot Roast" or "Steak and Vegetables" or "Chicken and Dumplings" or "Beef Pot Pie."

Everyday when she asked her husband what he wanted for dinner, he never asked for any of those meals. She decided to stock the freezer with his various requests. What he really likes.

In Jane's freezer you'll see a whole new set of labels. You'll find dinners with neat little tags that say: "Whatever," "Anything," "I Don't Know," "I Don't Care," "Something Good," or "Food."

No more frustration for Jane because no matter what her husband replies when she asks him what he wants for dinner, it's there waiting.

(found at :  http://www.food-jokes.co.uk/misc-food-2.html)

Pineapple Sorbet

Pineapple Sorbet

Ingredients:

1 can of pineapple chunks


Directions: Pour the can of pineapple chunks, juice and all, into a shallow freezer safe container and freeze for a day or two. Alternatively, you could freeze it in ice cube trays, which would also make it easier to make small batches if you wished to.  Let the frozen pineapple sit out for about 10 minutes.  If you used a large shallow container to freeze it in, break the pineapple apart into chunks.  Use a food processor, blender, or in my case a magic bullet to process the pineapple into a smooth  consistency.  This might take a bit of work and a few minutes, you will probably need to shake a magic bullet a few times to make sure you get it all, and in a blender or processor it may take a spoon and shorter bursts to finish it off, but the outcome is still a surprisingly easy dessert.  You can try adding a splash of coconut milk for flavour, or use different fruits and experiment. 

Convienence food is always a good thing to have around.  Having made it yourself is always better too, because then you know what is in the food you eat, and you can usually save a lot of money doing it yourself.  Remember that you are paying for someone else to prepare and package your food when you buy something that is ready to go.  Eliminating steps can eliminate dollar signs.  Here are a few freezer articles I found when I was searching 'freeze ahead biscuits'

Basic Buttery Biscuits

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001023773

*uses baking mix, like Bisquick or the likes, but sounds convenient... think I will add cheese though.

Make Ahead Cooking and Freezer Recipes

http://www.kitchenlink.com/rcpmenus.html
This is a site of numerous freezer recipes, the idea of 'spinach balls' intrigues me.  There are recipes for all sorts of different foods, and tips on freezing and thawing foods, like food safety, preventing freezer burn and even thawing a beloved cheesecake that has been made ahead

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole

In my quest for frugal recipes while I was pregnant, I did a lot of searching for OAMC recipes (once a month cooking)  and recently I flipped back through my other blog and discovered this recipe in a post, which I will now copy over to this site for good measure.  By the way, I still have not had the chance to make this one, but it still excites me so it is good to have in the collection.

I found a recipe for a cabbage roll casserole, and that one truly makes me excited, because my aunt used to make cabbage rolls when I was young and I loved them, but I haven't had anything close to that experience in years due to the fact that you just don't see vegetarian cabbage rolls, its just not done. I hope this one works out well :)

A lot of the best freezer planning and meal planning advice and recipes I have found came from this site: http://www.momsbudget.com/ which also covers money management and decor too, so it is one of my more visited pages.

Also, in case you were curious, this is the cabbage roll casserole recipe ;)

 

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole(serves 10)

 

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cups mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cups sunflower seeds

1 head cabbage, shredded

4 cups tomato juice or tomato puree

Optional sweet-sour tang:1/3 cup brown sugar (add to sauce)3 tablespoons cider or rice wine vinegar (add to sauce)1 cup raisins (add to rice with mushrooms) 

 

Directions:

In deep, heavy pot saute onion, pepper and mushrooms in oil until tender. Add garlic and seeds. Add rice.

In large pan layer 1 cups juice or puree,then 1/3 of cabbage (approx.) then 2 cups rice and vegetable mixture.

Repeat twice. Pour remaining juice or puree over top. Cover and freeze.

To serve, place directly into 350 degrees oven from freezer. Bake 1 1/2 - 2 hours or more until cooked through.

Freeze ahead breakfast burritos

I really want to start eating a proper breakfast, but I have trouble getting up in the morning as is, then I have to feed the baby and 3 days a week we go straight to the chiropractors in the morning, so time is not on my side as they would say. 

I plan to try out this recipe, it looks good and may be the solution to my breakfast problems.  They do say that eggs provide energy and can keep you satisfied until the next meal, and eating two eggs a day for breakfast is supposed to help with weight loss. I am not on a 'diet' but after having a baby it would be nice to loose a few pounds so I am fairly interested in food that helps my weight but still tastes good.

By the way... who are 'they' and why are they always telling us what to eat??  Oh well, this looks good anyways.  I put my own spin on the recipe of course, so make your own changes too if you are brave.

You can vary the additions to this recipe for breakfast burritos. Add onions or frozen hash brown potatoes, omit the salsa, try using different types of cheese or flavored tortillas. The possibilities are endless!




Ingredients:

12 eggs

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup chunky salsa

1 can or 1-2 cups chopped mushrooms

A cup or two of  'loose' veggies if you have them on hand, like onions, peppers, etc... the more veggies the healthier and better, sauteed or cooked and chopped.

1 tablespoon roasted red pepper dried spice (or your favorite spices, montreal chicken spice is good in everything too, even pasta sauce)

2 cups Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese

24 flour tortillas

Preparation:

In large skillet, melt butter. Beat eggs and spice in large bowl and add to skillet. Cook eggs in butter, stirring frequently, until scrambled and set. Add cooked veggies and salsa to egg mixture and mix gently.

Warm tortillas as directed on package. Place about 1/2 cup egg and veggie mixture onto each tortilla and sprinkle with some cheese. Roll up each tortilla to make burritos, folding in the ends and rolling up. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets and freeze until solid. Then wrap individually and package in zip-lock freezer bags.


When you're ready to eat, unwrap the burritos, wrap loosely in microwave safe paper towel and heat in the microwave on high power for 1-3 minutes until hot and cheese is melted.


You can also thaw burritos in the refrigerator overnight, then wrap each in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until hot. The thawed burritos can also be deep fried for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

makes 24 burritos roughly.


original recipe found here:  http://busycooks.about.com/od/breakfastmaindishes/r/freezerburrito.htm