Freezer meals... for the rest of us.

You've probably seen blogs with these claims:

• "Make 50 freezer meals in a day."
• "30 days of freezer cooking."
• "16 freezer meals in one hour."

This is not one of those blog posts. Instead, this is the story of two friends who live in the land of reality and who got together to make freezer meals. Think of the story as "Freezer meals... for the rest of us."

So here's how it went down. 

Toni and I decided it would be fun/practical to get together and prepare some freezer meals. A couple of weeks ago we got together to choose our recipes, so we could plan our shopping lists. Since this was our first time doing a freezer day, we wanted to start small. We chose to each select three recipes: a pork dish, a chicken dish, and a beef dish. We would double the recipe (if necessary; if it was already a large portion, we didn't double it) so we each got enough for one meal and leftovers. Our husbands are "meat and potatoes" kind of guys. Nothing too crazy for them. We looked for recipes that were simple enough to make but were different from something we already make, so we could add some new dishes to our normal line-up. 

Here's what I picked out:

• Hawaiian Pizza Pockets 
• Doubled the recipe
• Put in foil pans, ready to freeze and ready to bake
• We each ended up with 6 pockets.
• Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
• Doubled the recipe
• Put in foil pans, ready to freeze and ready to bake
• We each ended up with 2 small pans (each pan is enough for 2 meals.)
• Crockpot Pizza Casserole 
• Doubled the hamburger, nothing else
• Put in gallon-size freezer bags, ready to freeze and put in the crockpot
• We each ended up with 1 bag (enough for 2 meals.)

And Toni chose:

• Peachy Pork Picante 
• Doubled the recipe
• Put in quart-size freezer bags, ready to freeze and reheat
• We each ended up with 1 bag (enough for 1-2 meals.)
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole 
• Did not double
• Put in foil pans, ready to freeze and ready to bake
• We each ended up with 2 small pans (enough for 2 meals.)
• Million Dollar Casserole 
• Did not double
• Put in foil pans, ready to freeze and ready to bake
• We each ended up with 2 small pans (enough for 2 meals.)

A note on the recipes: Six Sisters Stuff has awesome recipes (an crafts, and decor, and tips, etc.) It was hard to find "freezer meal ideas" that involved pork. We relied a lot on Pork: Be Inspired. That website (funded by hog farmers!) has over 75 categories of recipes you can search by.

There are lots of ways to do freezer meal get-togethers, but we decided that we would each bring the ingredients for our recipes to my house, where we would cook and assemble the meals. If we do this again, we might bring the meat pre-cooked, because that took the bulk of our time. We each also had containers to put the meals in. (Freezer bags and foil pans with lids are a must!)

Four hours later, here's what we had:

Now, four hours seems like a long time, but we each ended up with nine dishes (which will generate leftovers as well.) You'll notice we labeled the pans with the recipe name and baking/cooking directions. Basically, all of the recipes we completely prepared except the baking part, so all we have to do is take the pan out of the freezer and stick it in the oven. Also, the four hours included clean-up time, which was nice to share with another person.

Oh, and did I mention dessert?

• Frozen Strawberry Fluff (did not double, poured into pre-made graham cracker crusts)
• Easy Ice Cream Cake (layer ice cream sandwiches and cool whip, top with candy bars of your choice and chocolate syrup)

All in all, I think we were happy with our efforts. We can't wait to taste these new recipes and enjoy good, home-cooked meals with the effort out of the way!

How a menu board makes my life easier

One of the great things about being married to a farmer is we always have tons of raised-by-us meat in the freezer. One of the bad things about that is the freezer!

I enjoy cooking, but I have this bad habit of leaving the meat in the freezer until it's time to prepare a meal. Then, I have to spend lots of time defrosting it. Or, I inevitably run into that, "What the heck am I going to cook" dilemma. 

So, a while back, I devised a simple menu board to help me with that planning. I took a picture frame that was laying around collecting dust with no picture, a piece of scrapbook paper, and some sticker letters. I whipped them together and bought a pack of wet-erase markers. Here's the result:

I saw much more complex versions on Pinterest, but this simple idea works for us. At the beginning of the week, I make a menu, and I do my best to stick to it. Of course, there are always last minute plans that change things. (Ie: Greg says he'll be home in 10 minutes to eat, and the meal for that day requires 30. Or, Greg's in the field or at the farm, and I need something easy to take to him.) For the most part, however, the menu board makes life simpler.

It really accomplishes a few things. First, it reminds me to get things out of the freezer. If I need corn or beef the next day, I get it out to defrost the night before. Secondly, it helps me make avoid questions like, "Haven't we already had ham three times this week?" Finally, as I plan, it helps me incorporate new recipes into our meals.

Do you guys do any sort of menu planning? What's it look like at your house?

The easiest donuts you'll ever make

Yesterday kicked off my spring break. I celebrated by getting up at the same time I normally do and making some donuts.


I saw the idea on Pinterest, and I thought, "Heck, I can do that."


So I did.


Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
Vegetable oil
4 tbs butter
Cinnamon sugar

Directions

1. Remove the biscuits from the tube and cut out the center using a cookie cutter or other round object. (I improvised and used a shot glass.) Save the middles, because they make the perfect bite-sized donuts. 
2. Fill a large skillet with about half of an inch of vegetable oil. Heat until it is nearly boiling. Place the donuts carefully into the oil using tongs. 
3. Use the tongs to check the undersides of the donuts. After a few minutes, they will turn golden brown. At this point, carefully flip each of the donuts over. 
4. After the bottom is golden brown, remove the donuts from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. Allow the oil to drip off. When they are cool to the touch, brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Be sure to sprinkle the top and bottom of the donuts.
5. Voila! Enjoy. Store the leftovers in an airtight container, and they'll keep for a few days. 

Snow Days

Snow days don't have quite the same appeal as a teacher as they did as a student, or at least as an ag teacher with 50 things to get done this week! Having an inservice Monday and twosnowdays has thrown a wrench in the schedule, but alas, I am enjoying being home and getting lots of projects done around the house. Look for a future blog on my adventures with the sewing machine. Today, though, I want to share with you some goodies I whipped up in the kitchen.

I love cooking and baking. I don't take nearly enough time to do, and I'm never quite as adventurous as I should be, but nonetheless, I like spending time in the kitchen. I can't say enough good things about Pampered Chef products and how easy they make my life. Today's recipe was a Pampered Chef creation, as a matter of fact, and I used tons of their products to make it. If you're not using P.C., check it out!

Mini Carrot Cake Cups

• 1 pkg (9 oz) yellow cake mix
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, divided
• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup thawed frozen whipped topping
• Chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray each well of a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

For cups, combine cake mix, allspice, egg, and oil. Stir until ingredients are moistened. (Mixture will be thick.) Grate carrots and stir 3/4 of a cup into the batter; set aside remaining carrots for garnish. Divide batter evenly among wells, filling about 2/3 full. Bake 11-13 minutes or until the cups feel firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, whisk together cream cheese and sugar until smooth; fold in whipped topping. Spoon cream cheese mixture into a resealable plastic bag; secure bag and set aside.

Remove pan from oven and set on cooling rack. Press tops of cups with a ligh

tly floured mini-tart shaper to make slight indentations. Cool in pan 3 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan; cool 5 minutes. Trim corner of cream cheese-filled bag; pipe filling evenly into cups. Garnish with chopped walnuts and reserved grated carrots, if desired.

My notes:

• Most cake mix packages are 18.5 oz. I used the full package and doubled all of the other ingredients.
• Pampered Chef has awesome Cinnamon Crunch Sprinkle. I substituted that for the allspice.
• Usually when I make carrot cake, I use my food processor to grate the carrots. This time I cheated and bought pre-grated carrots for the first time. They were big. The next time, I'll go back to using the food processor.

Here's the process:

Ingredients mixed. Note that the mixture will be thick.

I may have over-filled the mini-muffin pan. Try to stick to the 2/3 full that the recipe suggests.

Using the mini-tart shaper to make indentations. If you don't have a tart shaper, a spoon would also work.

Finished product, garnished with walnuts.