Pictures from Yesterday

I am really not a photographer.  I am not sure how to make all the food look wonderful and pretty, so I just take pictures and hope for the best :)

Here are a couple of photos from yesterday:
The first is the set up for distributing the chicken and dumplings to the freezer bowls.  If you look closely, you can see that the freezer bowls have ice cubes in them.  It is important to cool the food down as quickly as possible to prevent bacterial growth.  So I put ice cubes in the containers of anything like soup, broth, etc. Then I pour the soup in, cover tightly, and shake (or you can stir) the contents so the ice gets through the whole thing.

This is both pots of chicken and dumplings ready to be put in the freezer.  Again, we need these things to cool as quickly as possible, so when I put things in the freezer, I turn up the freezer (if I can), and spread the containers out (instead of stacking them) and put previously frozen food around the containers (frozen hard pans of lasagne do very well for helping the process along :) ).

I also put the chicken and dumplings into various sizes of containers.  That way I have sizes for a snack, a lunch, a supper, or a supper for Wonderbee :)

I should have gotten photos of my chicken wings!  I made up two large batches, one spicy, one not.  I emptied two bags of frozen wings into two pots and boiled them til they were cooked through.  Then I used two boxes of ready made batter mix as a breading and fried them in my little electric pan thing (which I LOVE).

Remember the arm roast I was afraid was going to end up tough?  I had started it frozen in the oven and cooked it at between 350 and 375 all day.  It came out wonderfully!  I had checked the meat about 3 hours in and it was done but VERY tough.  I was a bit disappointed, but figured I would just let it keep cooking--I had nothing to lose. 

WHAT A CHANGE by the time Wonderbee came home!  Thank the Lord! The beef was fall apart tender!  I found some of the refrigerator biscuits that I was going to use for muffin tin meals (those would not have worked by the way, they are entirely too rubbery to spread up the sides of a muffin tin).  So he made himself a few steak and biscuits, and the rest of the meat I placed in gallon baggies, and squished flat.  That way I can just break off what I might need for a soup, stew, breakfast, or more biscuits :)

I also saved the drippings from the pan and some of the fat and bone....I cannot WAIT to make some Tex Mex soup with that!

Keep sending recipes and ideas and stories in!  I love posting them :).

Spontaneous Cooking Fest :)

My darling bees!  How have you been?  Hopefully getting some GREAT ideas about doing some freezer cooking!  Don't be shy, feel free to post any and all recent tries, successes, even failures (which are just successes still in their early stages :) ).

Today Wonderbee had to work.  Usually I use Sunday for laundry and football, after Wonderbee does our Bible study with us.

However, today I was too restless to sit in front of the tv.  So I went to two of my freezers to see what mischief I could get into.

First place I hit was my chest freezer.  We buy most of our meat (pork and beef and roasting chickens) from a meat company down in Delta.  They grow their own beef, source well their chickens and pork, as well as a ton of other stuff (yak, buffalo, etc).  I usually place an order per year with them and get a quarter of beef and a side of pork.  Their beef has no antibiotics, no hormones, and is grass finished.  Their bacon is REALLY the best ever (I know I have mentioned this before!).

Well we are getting down to the bottom of the chest freezer where I keep my uncooked meat (I keep cooked stuff and frozen veg, etc in a different freezer).  So I grabbed two chuck steaks and an arm roast (which I had NO idea what to use for) and figured I would cook those off.  I placed them, still frozen, in my largest pyrex, poured in much quantity of water, wine, herbs, water, onion flakes, pepper, etc and sealed the top with tinfoil and placed it in a 350 degree oven to cook ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  The liquid and the sealed top should allow the meat to have a steam bath to make it more tender.  Later on in the day I added some brewed black tea to act as a tenderizer as well (I am REALLY fretting about that arm roast and wondering if it is going to be tough :) ). 

What I love most is that I can take all that wonderful liquid that the meat has been stewing in all day and save that for a starter for a soup (probably with the meat )! 

I am kinda bonkers for saving the broth, drippings, water from stuff that has cooked.  I cannot tell you how many times I save the water from homemade noodles (spaetzle).  I just look at it and think that it looks PERFECT for if someone needs a carb rich, mild broth to eat, or to use as a base for a stew or something.

Next,  I knew I was out of my previous batches of freezer chicken and dumplings, plus I had the bones, skin, and some meat of a chicken I had roasted a few days ago in the freezer.  So I got that out, and put it in one of my bigger pots.

When I had roasted the chicken last week, there were all those wonderful drippings at the bottom of the pyrex.  I had poured those into a container and froze those as well.  That was PERFECT because I went to the chest freezer and found some boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins that were past their prime (a little icy and a little freezer burned).  Now, because they had been frozen, they were not BAD, they just were not as great of a quality as non-freezer burned stuff.  So they went into my other big pot with water and the left over chicken drippings.  The flavor from meat to make soup, etc, comes from the bones, skin, fat.  But boneless, skinless chicken has none of that (and frankly, unless you deep fry them or smother them with butter or teryaki sauce or something, they do not taste like much either).  So with the drippings, I had a ready made start to the broth for the chicken and dumpings.

I let those two pots with miscellaneous chicken just boil and boil to get every bit of numminess out of the carcass.  Then I got the bones and skin out, had Superbee help me make dumplings, then put the pots back on to make wonderful chicken and dumplings.

THEN I wanted to try a mock sourdough bread.  I get into sourdough cravings from time to time, but cannot seem to a)keep a starter going and b)make the sourdough SOUR.  It is not as easy as one might think, but rather depends on length of resting, temperature the starter is kept at, temperature the dough is kept out, overhydrating, underhydrating, blah blah blah.  Truth is I have tried all the different variations that the internet promises me will make a sour bread and never really get it.

Besides maintaining a starter is a committment that I am just not into right now :).  So I wanted to find something easy. 

It is still a work in progress.  The first loaf I used malt vinegar, but it was entirely too astringent.  The second loaf I used balsamic vinegar, milk, and sugar and that was somewhat better, but still needs work.  I read that some people use yogurt, so I will try that as well.

My last project for the day, I think, is going to be frying up a bunch of chicken wingies to go in the freezer.  I LOVE fried chicken and the little chicken wingies are just the perfect way to get the fried food flavor without committing to a LOT of chicken or runs to Popeyes.

So that is what I have been doing (what I won't do to get out of folding laundry :D )...let me know what you have been doing!

Pasta Sauce

Good Morning!

Here is a pasta sauce that I use based off of a recipe I found online called “'Baby’s Got Sauce' Italian Sauce". I tweaked it a bit. I hope you like it!

1 Batch--------------------------------------------2 batches-------------------------------4 Batches

Olive Oil----------------------------------------same----------------------------------same

1 large onion-----------------------------------2 onions------------------------------4 onions

7-8 cloves garlic, crushed---------------------14-16 cloves--------------------------28-32 cloves

Italian Sausage-6-8 links or 1 lb ground—12-16 links or 2 lbs-------------------24-32 links or 4 lbs

1 can Tomato paste----------------------------2 cans tomato paste-----------------4 cans tomato paste

2-28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes--------4-28 oz cans--------------------------8-28 oz cans

1-28 oz can Crushed or diced Tomatoes----2 cans ---------------------------------4 cans

2-4 3.5 oz jars of baby food carrots-----------4-8 jars------------------------------8-16 jars

Fresh Basil diced fine--------------------------same---------------------------------same

Fresh Oregano diced fine----------------------same---------------------------------same

Fresh Thyme diced fine------------------------same---------------------------------same

5 Bay Leaves ------------------------------------10 bay leaves-----------------------20 bay leaves

Port or sweet red wine (optional but REALLY adds to the flavor)

Salt

Pepper

Crushed Red Pepper (about a tablespoon)

A large, deep pot

Optional:

Capers

Olives

Red Bell Pepper

Zuccini

Put 3 Tablespoons of olive oil in pot to brown sausage. Remove from pot and set aside. Add enough olive oil to cover bottom of pot 1/8-1/4 inch and bring back to hot temperature. Saute onions in pot until they become translucent. Lightly salt and pepper onions.

Add crushed garlic, can of tomato paste. Cook on medium high for a few minutes to mellow flavor of tomato paste. Watch carefully to prevent burning, especially of garlic.

Add whole peeled tomatoes.* Add diced/crushed tomatoes**.

Add herbs***

Add sausage back in.

Add baby food carrots. Carrots give the sauce a wonderful light bit of sweetness. You can mince whole carrots, but I found that baby food carrots are exceptional in the recipe, and much easier to use.

Continue to taste every twenty minutes to gauge flavor of sauce to see if salt or pepper is necessary. If you like spicy sauce, add crushed red peppers.

Optional: Port or sweet red wine (merlot, etc). Port gives and incredible depth and compliment of flavor to the meat and tomatoes. In fact, we often put a splash of port in everything from soup to chili. It truly just ties all the flavors together in such a perfect way, giving a depth and richness. A few Tablespoons should do, but you can taste and see if more is needed.

*These need to be crushed either in the pot or in the can. I find it much easier to crush/chop them in the can. OR you can use already diced tomatoes in the larger cans.

**I like to use fire roasted tomatoes or other flavored tomatoes.

***I often use dried herbs. I would start with 1 Tbls and see how strong they taste. You can also get tubes of herbs in the fresh produce section, which are very convenient.

The longer this cooks, the better it tastes. I generally make this first for my freezer meal days and let it simmer all day long until I assemble lasagne at the end of the day :) It also freezes well by itself for spaghetti sauce.

Fried Chicken Wingies

(remember this image for later in the post. I cannot figure out how to make this pic NOT be at the top of the post....)


Good morning my sweet bees :)

This time I have a fun finger food for you :). Fried chicken wingies! Perfect football food, perfect little kid food, perfect "I want a snack of something fried in a hurry" food :).

I was expecting company yesterday, so I bought a few bags of frozen chicken wingies (the kind used for buffalo wings) the day before. Regrettably, the timing for the company did not quite work out the way I was thinking it might, so I ended up not being able to serve these for them. HOWEVER, the good news is that I put them in the freezer and reheated them this morning to see how they would survive the freezing. They were WONDERFUL!!!!

Steph's Fried Chicken Wingies

1 1/2 large bags of frozen, raw chicken wingie pieces
4 Tablespoons of chicken bullion (optional)
3 cups self rising flour
2 Tablespoons Lawry's
2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne (this is not enough to be hot, just to add some flavor. if you want hot, add more)
2 cups milk
1 egg

The method:

Place 1.5 bags of raw, still frozen, chicken wings in a large empty pasta pot. Sprinkle chicken bullion granules over meat. Carefully added water to fill the pot and put the pot to boil on the stove. Boil the chicken wings until a meat thermometer inserted deep into the meat read at least 170 degrees F (y'all DO have meat thermometers, right? Right? :) SAFETY SAFETY!).

Drain the chicken wings and put them aside. Put 1 to 2 inches of oil in pot or electric skillet (see notes below :) ), and turn heat til oil is about 375 degrees.

In the meantime, mix the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, seasonings) in a flat bottom dish (such as a pyrex or a pie plate, or even a large ziplock baggie) and the rest of the wet ingredients (milk, egg) in another bowl. I then add about a tablespoon of the dry into the wet to thicken it a bit to help it stick better, but that is not necessary.

Put a handful of wings in the dry mix to coat, then in the wet mix, then back in the dry mix. The double coating is wonderful! Then place in hot oil. You will know if the oil is hot enough if a pinch of dry flour starts to "fry" a bit when you drop it in the oil, instead of settling down to the bottom.

Fry til they are a pretty golden color, then flip and fry the other side of the wings. Since the chicken is cooked, you do not have to worry about undercooking...just fry until they look pretty to you :). Place cooked wings on a dish lined with a paper towel to drain (I used a pyrex baking pan).

To freeze, cool the wings slightly and place in ziplock baggies and put in freezer. To reheat, place wings on tin foil in toaster oven or oven and cook at 375 for about 16 minutes, depending on the size of the wings (I have had brands of wings that looked like they came from an emu, and some that looked like they came from a chickadee, so you have to play with the timing).

Serve with dip, coat in sauce, however you like your wings :). This recipe and procedure are also excellent for larger pieces of chicken.


Various notes:

Electric Skillets
I heated oil in one of those electric skillets like one above. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these. They are convenient for browning meat, cooking soup, frying beignets, fries, and chicken, etc. They are dishwasher safe and a BREEZE to clean up.

I put maybe an inch or two, tops, of oil in there. Many people feel that you need to submerge the meat in oil--NOT AT ALL!!! I put only enough oil to reach about halfway up whatever meat I am frying--usually an inch or two. The meat will be flipped over, so you do not have to submerge the meat in oil.

I like the smaller sized electric skillet, as it is perfect for our family. I also like the ability to control the temperature better than the stove. If I need to fry at 375, I set the temp to 375. I fry pretty often and the problem with frying on the stove (well one of many problems) is that it is hard to get the temp just right--it is either too cold or reaching that smoking point.


Why do I boil my chicken first? Because:
a)I hate handling raw meat, and it is easy to open the bag and dump in the chicken. BTW, dump the chicken first THEN add water, NOT the other way around, or it is messy :)
b)because it helps flavor get into the meat--you can use onions, garlic, lemon (if you are doing a lemon chicken), soy (for a chinese flair), etc.
c)because then I KNOW that the chicken is cooked through to a safe temperature, and I am not doing that dance of "burnt outside vs raw inside"
d)Because the chicken is cooked already, it only needs a few minutes in the oil, just enough to crisp up the breading, meaning it soaks up much less oil and requires less oil.
e)It saves time as I HAVE to monitor the hot oil every minute, but I can go on to other parts of the supper while the chicken is boiling.
f)I can use frozen chicken pieces without defrosting.

Dredging Ideas
a)I use self rising flour as it makes a lighter crust (I ACTUALLY used some of my treasured Whit Lily yesterday! gasp!), however, it is NOT necessary to use it. Regular flour can be used as well. Or you can use regular flour and add a few tablespoons of corn starch to lighten it up. I go heavy on the cornstarch when frying onions, to get that very ethereal crunch.
b)Use any seasonings you want to in the flour! Things to try adding to the flour dredge: ranch dressing packets, dry chili seasoning packets, italian dressing packets, green can parm cheese, corn meal or corn flour, buttermilk powder, paprika, Tony Chachere's, etc.
c)Use tongs instead of your fingers to do the dry-wet-dry dredging. It really cuts down on the mess.
d)I also use this with pork chops to make fried pork chops. Very nummy :)
e)You can use this to make chicken tenders/nuggets too! Use boneless skinless chicken strips, boil. Then instead of doing a dry-wet-dry, actually mix the two to make a light batter (thinner than pancakes. Sort of like syrup in viscosity).
f)I do Italian Fried Chicken using boneless skinless THIGHS. Instead of the flour dredge, I use italian bread crumbs with extra lawry's, tons of green can parm, and cayenne in it. Very nummy too!



Misc ideas/warnings
a)HOT OIL MUST ALWAYS BE MONITORED! DO NOT NOT NOT LEAVE IT FOR A SECOND. SERIOUSLY. NOT EVEN ONE SECOND. LET THE PHONE RING. LET SOMEONE ELSE GET THE DOOR. DO THE POTTY DANCE IF YOU NEED TO, BUT DO NOT LEAVE THE KITCHEN. IF YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE ROOM, TURN THE OIL OFF, AND PUT IT OFF BURNER AND MAKE SURE NO CATS, KIDS, OR DOGS CAN GET INTO THE ROOM.
b)See a
c)See b...then see a
d)When I fry, no kids or critters are allowed anywhere near me. Period.
e)Keep cords behind the skillet (so no one can accidentally snag it and pull oil down). Fry on the back burners and keep pot handles turned to the back.
f)Did I mention points a, b, c, d and e? Yeah, review those :).
g)If I am going to cook on the stove, I prefer to use a pot instead of a frying pan (though I put the same amount of oil in both). It REALLY cuts down on the splatters, and is safer as the oil will not slosh out of the pot.

I do not mean to scare people. Frying is a delicious and much easier way of cooking than people often think. However, it DOES require more vigilance than turning on the microwave. Preboiling the chicken means you do not have to be vigilant for long, but you do have to be vigilant. :) As long as you pay attention, there is no problem :).

I hope you try these! They were phenom, TOTALLY easy and stress free, and FUN. Make them on Saturday, freeze them (hee hee, if there are any left overs! :) ), and heat them in the oven on Sunday if you are having a football party or need something to take to church :).

Cooking Day!!!

My Sweet Bees! How are you this wonderful day?!? GREAT I hope :)

This is my first freezer cook day since starting the blog!!! SuperBee is taking home ec this year and so he and I did the cooking :).

As per my usual, my ambition and my ability did NOT match up :). So whilst I envisioned making a good 5 dishes, we settled for three: make ahead been burritos, sauce (and then lasagne), and broccoli cheese rice casserole. I prebaked italian sausage and pork sausage in the oven. The lasagne recipe was slightly abbreviated in that we did not do two FULL ricotta layers, but only one ricotta layer. There were enough layers that I thought it would be ok if we SSTTREEETTCCHHHEDDDD it out to make another couple of lasagnes :) I think it will be better that way. I also ended up with no tomato paste, but i think it was ok....I just kept the sauce on the stove for several hours for the tomato flavor to develop. I figure that the old italians did not have tiny little tins of tomato paste and still managed to make good food :)

Let me tell you that the Burritos 1)were a hit and 2)make a TON of 8" burritos, especially if you are new to rolling burritos :). The final count was ....37, I think. That was for ONE batch of the burrito mix!!! (I was going to "start small" in case PeekieBee did not like them....well she has a lot to plow through now :) )

I had gone shopping yesterday and did NOT make an actual list of the amounts of necessities, just sort of what I needed. So I ended up with too much mexican cheese and not enough mozz cheese. BUT we are nothing if not resourceful, so some of my Italian lasagnes turned into sort of a mexican lasagne :)

I also realized I had to clean the freezer out from the watermelon that I had frozen a good...oh....5-7 years ago? A quick run to the transfer site, and I had room to put in several broc cheese and rice casseroles and several lasagnes, all in 8x8 pans and all in gallon baggies and labeled. We used down time to both eat cookies and run the dishwasher, so there is not a huge mess. (for which PeekieBee is thankful :) ).

Tomorrow I hope to do muffin tin meals :) Though the week IS filling up, so it might be next week. I am DYING to try the mini cherry pies :)

Blessings and love to all y'all!

Precooking Meats!

Hello my beautiful, wonderful bees!

Meat is generally the "hardest" part of a meal. You have to defrost it somehow, remember to take it out, it takes longer to cook than the veg, makes more clean up, and generally (to me!) seems a bit of a hassle sometimes. :)

However, precooked meat is a wonder of modern science :). It is quick, easy, economical.

Precooking meat, even if you do not do whole freezer meals, is one of the BEST ways to ensure you put a supper on the table.

If you have precooked sausage, a can of tomatoes, and boil some rice, you have a meal on the supper in the amount of time it takes to cook the rice! (sausage and tomatoes over rice)

If you have precooked chicken, a jar of alfredo sauce, a bag of broccoli or peas, and some dried pasta, you have a meal on the table in the time it takes to boil the noodles! (pasta alfredo with chicken and veg)

If you have precooked seasoned beef, some taco shells, and fixings, you have tacos in a flash.

Here are more:

Precooked chicken+cans of chicken broth+chopped frozen veg+noodles=chicken noodle soup

Precooked sausage (or slab bacon)+eggs=almost instant breakfast (or breakfast for supper)

Precooked steak or chicken strips+teryaki sauce+veggies+rice=stir fry

Precooked steak strips+veg+tortillas=fajitas

Precooked sausage+cheese+jarred sauce+veg+bread or crust=pizza

If you find that you end up going out for supper or getting junk for supper, may I suggest strongly that the first freezer stuff you do is precook some meat? ANY meat you have in the house will do: chicken, sausage, ground beef, roast, ground turkey, ground pork, etc. Then look at the list above and make a note of those or any other recipes that you have that might go with the meat you cooked. NOW you have almost instant supper for less time than it takes to run to the burger place, and with almost no effort! :)


So, how to precook meat? This is what I do....
I take the defrosted sausage/beef/chicken/whatever, season it if it needs it, and put it in a pyrex baking dish. I cover it tightly with tin foil and bake it at 350 until it is done. Depending on the meat and amount, it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more (a whole chicken will take longer than a lb of ground beef).

CHECK WITH MEAT THERMOMETER! When the internal temps reach the proper amount (I shoot for 170 in just about everything, but check), then take out of the oven. Cut chicken up if necessary, turn the sausage or meat to cool, etc. Cool for 15 minutes or so (do not leave out very long, you need to get it to safe food temp--below 40 degrees or above 140--within 2 hours).

At this point, if you have planned ahead, you can make some freezer meals (such as using the sausage in the lasagne). However, if you are not ready to do that, just put the meat in the freezer for a quick grab :).

To freeze, it is best to spread it on a thin layer on a pan and freeze, then put in baggies. However, I often just put straight into baggies but in thin enough layer for me to break off what I need.

If you get ready for this a day or so ahead, consider buying LARGE (like turkey size) disposable aluminum pans for cooking the meat in--it makes clean up at the end of the day a breeze! Keep putting meat in the oven, cooling a batch, freezing a batch. Soon you will have a ton of meat at the ready for those evenings where you do not feel like cooking, or you are short on time.

In the mornings, I make breakfast for Wonder Bee. I am SO tickled because I have this down to a science, so let me share :):

1) I turn on the small burner on hi and put a very small saute pan (8 inches across?) on it to heat up
2) I grab a very small handful of frozen sausage or about 4-5 pieces of chunked slab bacon and put it on the plate I am going to serve his breakfast on.
3) I put that plate in the micro for 30 seconds.
4) When it is done nuking, the pan is hot, so I then dump the meat in a little tiny saute pan
5) I brown it for a minute or two, then slide the meat back on the plate that I nuked it on.
6) I squirt the pan with about 3 squirts of olive oil, then put in two egg beaters (sometimes I get the flavored kinds) and scramble those.
7) I then put them on the plate too. Add a couple of shakes of black pepper, and voila!

In truly less than, say, 4 minutes, I have cooked a hearty, protein-y breakfast for Wonder Bee. He is happy, I seem to be both organized AND a dedicated cook (ha ha!), and we both start out the day content. :)

Make Ahead Bean Burritos

Make Ahead Bean Burritos (adapted from taste of home cards, Jennifer Shafer)

1 batch 2 batches 4 batches

1 jar (16 oz) salsa 2 jars salsa 4 jars salsa
2.5 cans (16 oz each) refried beans 5 cans refried beans 7.5 cans refried beans
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilis, drain 2 cans green chilis 4 cans green chilis
1 envelop burrito seasoning 2 envelopes burrito seasoning 4 envelopes burrito seasoning
½ cup water 1 cup water 1.5 cup water
16 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed 32 flour tortillas 64 flour tortillas
16 oz Monterey jack cheese 32 oz cheese 64 oz cheese

Optional: 3 cups shredded chicken or beef. If using, these, then reduce cans of beans to 1, 2, 4 depending on batch.

In large skillet, combine salsa, beans, chilis, seasoning, and water (and meat if using). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of mix off center in each tortilla. Top with some cheese, then roll into burrito shape. Wrap individually in foil. Freeze.
To use: Place foil packets on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. If thawed, bake for 25-30 minutes. Can also be heated through in microwave (take off the tin foil) and extra cheese added on top.