Ode to Ground Beef

It's really going to bug me to not be able to post pics, but here goes...

So many people have been asking about my once-a-month grocery shopping that I thought I'd post a little something that saves me TONS of time. Ground beef: one of the most versatile staples in my house. I usually make about 7 or 8 meals a month that include it, and I am not going to wrestle with a block of frozen raw meat in a pan when I'm already cooking other stuff.

 When I buy GB, it's because it's on sale! I'll buy the largest package they offer. When I get it home I plop the whole shebang in my extra-large skillet, cook it all up, then drain (and sometimes rinse if it is high in fat). Once it's cooled down enough I package it all up in around 1/2 lb baggies. I purposely vary a bit with each bag since they're used for so many different meals.

My best tip to you? Whatever you're freezing, freeze as flat as possible. So, if you puree something, bag it and flatten it to freeze. Once it's frozen you can store in a container. This saves so much space! I have freezer boxes like you store ice in, and all my GB goes in one of those--all nice and lined up:) I have shoe box that my sides go in like beans or rice. Any old container will do.

What shall I do with all that time I saved? ;)

Dinner Double Duty

So, I've been working on my frugal factor by only grocery shopping once a month. So far, I have been able to keep my budget at around $400-450 PER MONTH!! That includes anything bought at Walmart or Sams (like TP), and also going to the bread store(I get 2-3 loaves of honey wheat, 2 HD buns, and some sort of rolls-to freeze) . I hope to blog on those subjects at a later time... Right now I'm just going to talk about tonight's dinner.

I had a long day ahead, so I put beef stew in the crock pot. Last month at Food Lion I had found steak on sale, so I chopped it up for stew meat and froze it. Frozen meat in a crock pot with 5 chopped peeled potatoes, chopped celery, onions and carrots from the freezer as well. I put about 3-4 cups of water, a packet of brown gravy mix and two beef boullion cubes. YUMMY!!

To stretch this meal even farther I make rice to go along with it. Today I cooked four cups of rice. I filled two quart-sized ziploc with rice to freeze. A 5-pound bag of rice was $2.98 and I still have about 8 more cups from that bag to cook up and freeze. So that 5-lb bag should give me enough for 12 meals!

I also cooked up a dozen muffins for tomorrow's breakfast and made some blueberry yogurt smoothie popsicles. Preparation is key:)

Now, what should I cook in the crockpot tomorrow?

The Quick and The Delicious

I blogged previously about freezer meals and thought I'd update. So far, it has been quite successful:) I have really enjoyed simply popping things from freezer to oven. The teriyaki steak strips were my favorite so far...tender from being marinaded while thawing, and juicy mmmmmmm...

I also feel like it affords me more time to think about sides and I can cook healthy instead of just quick. So far, each meal I cook I try adding a little something back into the freezer- I made 8 baked potatoes instead of just four and now I have four ready in the freezer for a hurried night. So nice:)

All in all, that 45 minutes it took to prepare those meats and main dishes for the freezer has saved me oodles of time. I still haven't gotten around to dinner breads but 'Dough Day'is coming.

UPDATE 10/14/12:  The baked potatoes were a bust!  Once thawed, the water leaked out of it-ewwww...  I would not recommend just baking the potatoes and throwing them in the freezer.  Perhaps if you scooped them out and dressed up the pulp before returning it to the skins, then freezing?  I'll try that and get back with you;)

Green thumb? I think not.

Apparently I don't have the attention span necessary to grow a great garden:(

I've always dreamed of having a yard of food-producers set up in a beautiful way. Grape vine with a trellis thingy doubling as a shady spot for a hammock. Fruit trees bordering the woods, and strategically placed berry bushes and vines. And then the traditional veggie garden, using the square foot method to save space. In this dreamland, I would also have a few chickens and the cutest little henhouse.

What I actually have is a patch of dirt with a little clover creeping in and a couple of dead plants that I just never got around to planting. Every year I say I'm going to do better...and then I don't. Perhaps I need a mentor? Someone to help me map out my garden according to plant/harvest times and what we can freeze and so forth.
And
I think I'll invite my sister over to watch me plant-kinda like an appointment-so I'll actually do it. I'll let you know how that works out:)

Easy Freezy

My new thing: freezer meals. I've done a few things for years: cooking beef and freezing in baggies (huge time saver), pureed veggies for adding into unsuspecting food, and I've canned and dried as much as I could before I get sick of it.

Thus far, I have in my freezer:
8 large waffles, 24 pancakes made from 8 cups of Krusteaz mix- best guess $3
9 slices Apple cinnamon french toast- under $2
4 meals worth of pork chops- $13
Chicken breasts(honey bbq, alice springs, teriyaki strips, and 35 nuggets)- 5 meals for $12
3lb ground turkey in place of beef-8 baggies (2 for spaghetti, casserole, tacos, and 1 each for mex dip and pizza hoagies) meat for 5 meals for $6.
Teriyaki beef strips -$5 only 1 meal
chicken drumsticks- under $3 only 1 meal


All my meats were in the freezer in about 40 minutes- just FYI.

My next step will be dinner breads and snacks along with potatoes and other veggies. Super excited!

Cell Phone Daze

Okay, so it's been a while...not having internet has obviously taken a toll on my blogging.  Our home computer crashed quite a few months ago, but there was no obvious reason for fixing it since we mostly use it for time-wasters like games and Netflix.  I do miss Netflix, though.  Now that we have the 360 console, we could use that--I'll have to get right on that:)

Now I'm thinking that all I really need to do is make the switch to a Smartphone.  Problem is, I don't know which one to pick!  I went into Verizon expecting to just tell them how I wanted to use the phone and they would tell me which phone suited me best.  WRONG!!!  All the phones have miniscule differences that make choosing next to impossible.  I'm so frustrated.  And besides that, now a friend tells me that WalMart has a plan that's $40 unlimited everything--more options!  We've been with Verizon for forever so I hate to leave, but I seriously doubt they'll price match. If anybody has a plan from WalMart, give me some feedback please.

Not a Resolution

While I do not make New Year's Resolutions, I would like to better myself as often as I can.  Right now, I resolve to have a better self-image.  I will tell myself as often as possible:

IT'S OKAY TO NOT LOOK LIKE A MODEL!

If you hear me say or see me write something that is contrary to this statement, please chastise me.  As a matter of fact, anytime you hear someone you love (or like a little) say something that hints at a negative self image, please tell her she's crazy and that her beauty is unmatched because...(insert a true statement here).

We're gonna kick this negativity to the curb--watch out world:)