Recent mega-freezing session

The other day I stopped at Sam's Club and picked up the following:

• 6.5 lbs. of ground chuck
• 9 lbs. of sirloin steaks
• 2 lbs. of cheddar cheese
• 12 lbs. of boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 3.5 lbs. of Kayem Natural casing franks
• 3.5 lbs. of Ballpark Beef franks
• 2 lbs. of sweet italian sausage

Here's what I put in my freezer

• 2 family meals of marinated sirloin steaks, with enough for planned leftovers, ready to thaw and grill
• 1 family meal of chicken pizzaiola
• 1 family meal of marinated chicken
• 8 pounds of pre-trimmed and individually wrapped boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 one-pound packages of pre-browned sausage
• 16 large pre-cooked flash-frozen meatballs
• 1 one pound package of pre-browned ground beef with onions
• 2 family meals of pre-cooked sloppy joes
• all those hot dogs pre-wrapped in twos and frozen
• four 8-oz bags of shredded cheddar

Hey - it's a start!

Flash Frozen Pepper Strips

This is what flash frozen pepper strips look like in my house.  I lined the cookie sheet with waxed paper and then  spread out the pepper strips.  I froze them until solid, then transferred them into a gallon Ziploc bag to store in the freezer to add to recipes later.  The quantity you see here is one large bell pepper.

Meat in marinade

Raw meat in marinade almost always freezes better than just plain raw meat.  For one, the meat soaks in the sauce for weeks to months, making it even more delicious when you finally get around to cooking it.  Secondly, the marinade juices protect the meat from freezer burn and freezer "taste" - you know what I'm talking about.

I thought of this today as I pulled out a few pounds of short ribs I had frozen last year.  I used a food saver, so there was no air, hence no freezer burn, but I can tell they're going to most likely taste like they were frozen.  They're in the crock pot right now with a great sauce that had I been thinking would have made a wonderful marinade in which to freeze them.  Then all I would have had to do was thaw the whole lot, dump it all in a crock pot, hit GO and voila, dinner.  This will be the plan next time short ribs go on sale.

Any saucy suggestions?  Leave me a comment!

What I froze this morning

I made a batch of pancakes for the kids' breakfast, let the extras cool, then wrapped them individually in plastic wrap (so they don't dry out) and put them in the freezer.  After they're frozen, I'll transfer them all into a gallon Ziploc bag and store them for another morning when the kids want pancakes for breakfast.  They just pull them out and pop them frozen into the toaster to heat up.  They do get a little crunchy around the edges, but the kids like them.  This method also works exceptionally well with french toast!

Here's my pancake recipe, these stand up well in the freezer:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg, then mix in milk, oil.  Add to dry ingredients and blend.  Stir in vanilla.  Be careful not to over mix this, the batter will be thin, and there should be a few lumps remaining.

Hint - make the pancakes small enough to actually fit in your toaster. :)

BBQ pulled pork is unbelievably easy to freeze

I made a killer bourbon-mango pulled pork for our super bowl party a few weeks ago.  I cannot stress how good this stuff was.  But here's the best part!  I was able to freeze all the leftovers (and there were tons) in meal sized portions, and my husband thawed some out and reheated it for dinner last night for him and the kids.  It was so good even from the freezer that he can't wait to have it again tonight, maybe on rolls, maybe on a baked potato, maybe over rice....lots of possibilities here.

So go buy that 10 pound pork shoulder!  Cooking it in the crock pot makes it even easier.  Whatever your favorite recipe is, pork shoulder can be fully cooked, pulled, sauced and frozen for another time.  In fact, the flavors even seem to improve with time.  Put some in the freezer, you'll be so glad you did!

You mean you can freeze that?

The freezer is a great place to keep leftovers, at least for me.  I'm just not organized, nor am I motivated enough to do elaborate meal plans that incorporate leftovers during the week.  Glen is great at cooking with leftovers, and he's happy eating them.  Me?  Not a fan.  That doesn't mean, however, that I want to be throwing out perfectly good food left and right.

Pretty much everything freezes well once it's cooked.  Just take a stroll down the freezer aisle in your local grocery store.  If they can freeze it, so can you!

So here's an example.  Gravy and mashed potatoes.  We had roast chicken the other night, and I had at least a cup of gravy leftover and a couple of servings of mashed potatoes.  Everything else went into making two hot lunches for Glen to take to work or it went into the pot to make chicken broth.  Many families I know would have simply made something like shepherd's pie later in the week, but my family doesn't like shepherd's pie.  So I froze these items in Ziploc bags, and they'll be good for about a month in the freezer.  Why freeze them this way?

There have been times when I've wanted to make mashed potatoes and I have maybe 2 potatoes sitting in my pantry.  Potatoes are expensive when you buy organic.  Having leftovers in the freezer means I can thaw, heat and add them to fresh mashed potatoes very easily.  There have also been meals that I've prepared only leftover mashed potatoes as a side dish.  Hint - they get a little watery after they're frozen, so keep that in mind when incorporating them.

Having bags of gravy in the freezer means I can serve gravy anytime I want, with whatever I want, whether I have pan drippings or not.  Just thaw and reheat.  Why spend the money on the jarred or packaged nonsense?  Hint - label your gravy bags with any dominant characteristics, such as chicken or beef and any strong flavors they may have, it might affect your choice with which gravy bag you grab to serve on a given night.  The one above was heavily laden with Smithwick's and labeled as such - which is what I happened to baste the chicken in that night. :)