A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Stretching Your Budget Stretching In The Kitchen

If I stretch in my kitchen, I can touch the ceiling flat-footed. I love cooking but do not like my tiny kitchen much at all. When I cook, I try to cook in bulk. That way I don't have to spend as much time in there grumping about my kitchen.
I think most know that full freezers work more economically than half empty ones do. And you have wasted oven heat/space if you are just roasting a single roast in there. When I go into my kitchen to cook something, I try to cook lots of something(s).
I like having my own 'convenience' foods in my freezers. I know what is in them and if they are low fat or salt free, etc.
So a meatloaf is two and maybe a few meatballs as well. I'll tuck that into the oven with some baked taters, some for now and some for stuffing and freezing. I make at least a loaf of french toast at a time.
My family has become fewer people over the years. I am not cooking less so much as learning to package it up into smaller meals for the future. I can find something on sale and buy a bunch of whatever at prices I am happy with. It also gives me a lot of ready to heat and eat meals for when I'm not feeling on top of the world or just when time is tight. Or something ready to share with a nice neighbor.

okay first hints// like Tina I cook in bulk most of the time....

I don't use ground beef but do cook with ground turkey- I usually cook up 10 lbs at a time..mis it with garlic and onions and peppers too if they are on sale or I have some stashed in freezer.. sometimes add mushrooms too cause I like them in everything... I have a food saver so after it's cooled make up serving size bags for us- now it's 2 cups to a bag... used to be 4 but trying to cook smaller..

I cook chicken thighs about 20 lbs at a time with onions and in the bottom of my roaster oven ... I make up a spice mix we like with no salt .. love Mrs Dash too.. and pkgs it same way- 3 pieces to a pkg.. one for me 2 for Joe... I also cook up chicken legs in bbq sauce for the boys- they call it chicken with handles.. for when they spend the evening or nights with us... pkgs are bigger for them... they can eat 3 each most times... I make big batches of soups and chili's too and freeze them in square pans lined with foil and transfer to my sealed bags... good for winter days when I am busy with kids all day... especially if I remember to load up the bread machine in the morning...

I also make up 10lbs of mashed potatoes and freeze it in portions.. if you add cream cheese - just a little it freezes up really nicely- makes a fast side with the chicken..

I also make pancakes and french toast in big batches.. freeze them in double bread wrappers and take to Carri's for boys to heat up for themselves.. fast breakfasts for them and easy on mom who is not morning person... I add blueberries to the pancakes and choc chips too in some for special suprises- also add pureed sweet potatos and carrots to some for sunshine pancakes- they thing its food dye... LOL! add wheatgerm too and sometimes oatmeal I blend down to flour... little added nutrition...

I make up meatloaves and freeze them flat in bags too.. add the purees to them too .. they thaw fast and cook up nicely ... nice and moist..

Well thats a start ... more later..
Nana

I knew you cooked in bulk, Nana. It is much cheaper when you can get big lots of things on sale. I also push vegetables into most things. I just like them.
I have oven issues for baking things like cookies or biscuits. My oven does not cook evenly. But I still have about 3 dozen biscuits (flipped in the middle of the baking process) in my bigger freezer along with sausage patties from bulk I bought on sale and cooked up. I have instant sausage biscuits it is easy to add eggs and/or cheese. I cook up a bunch of oatmeal pancakes usually in the cooler months.
I just got a grain mill last week and am looking forward to putting that to use to grind a lot of my own things. I'll be able to pack more nutrition into some things that way.

You both speak of freezing french toast.
How do you do that? And how do you cook it after it's frozen?

I cook french toast and put it in a gallon sized baggie. Usually stacked two high so a baggie holds 8 slices comfortably. And then freeze it. Two pieces usually take a minute or an added half minute to reheat in the microwave. Mine stick together but come apart easily halfway through the heating process.
You could divide the slices with parchment or wax paper but as I use at least 2 at a time, I don't see the need.
French toast is one of Ted's limited foods that he will eat. It is good to have them on hand for him. I guess you could toast it in a toaster but Ted doesn't eat anything crunchy. Soft french toast works best for him.

I would think it would toast well in a toaster, Tina----but as you say, if you wanted it soft anyway--the MW would work great.

also I freeze mine on a cookie sheet & then when they are frozen solid, I pop them into a zip top bag, so I can prepare as many or as few as I want at a time.

Tina..you could buy a cheap toaster oven. My DD had one she bought for $20 and said it baked cookies better than an oven.

Great tips girls.

I did buy a toaster oven a couple years ago. And I do use it. But it is small and a little harder to clean than a standard oven. Actually, I'm still learning to use it. I am not fond of small batches. It is convection though and great for drying fruit and things.

Cindy I do same to cook as Tina.Boys like it soft so I usually nuke it with a little butter on it and then use syrup or powdered sugar on it... you can stick it in a reg toaster if it has a frozen setting but it does make it crunchy.. I also will slice some up half froz into sticks for them to dip in warm syrup... but the reg slices - I freeze in sandwich bags 5 to a bag cause they can eat that many each for breakfast- used to do 2 when they were younger but now it's all I can do to fill them up!
If we have time I will top with cooked apples or blueberries... or bananas...
Nana

You guys are so smart. I need to start doing this too. When you cook a frozen meat loaf do you thaw it or just pop a piece in the microwave? And once you cook up a bunch of ground turkey how do you use it? Does it need to be thawed?

I can't eat raw meat once I've frozen and thawed it but freezing it already cooked and then warming it or nuking it doesn't seem so bad.

what is a food saver?

A food saver is a sealing machine that sucks the air out before sealing a bag closed.
I cook whole meat loaves then freeze in halves now that my family has shrunk. I suppose you can freeze it in individual slices. I adore meatloaf sandwiches.
With any type of ground meat, I usually make a sauce to freeze it in. I have had too much get freezer burned without adding a liquid. Even with all the air removed when sealing. So spaghetti sauce or a mushroom sauce or whatever I plan on using it with. Or even just broth that I may not use the defrosted meat with in the same meal. But a liquid to keep air away from touching the meat.
Somehow, I have rarely had meat loaf burn in the freezer. Maybe it is because of the liquids I add to the mix.
Maybe Nana has different experiences with it all.

Sheri,
I have had my foodsaver for a long time- I use it for stuff for food I intend to keep in freezer for a while.. it seals out all the air and I don't get freezer burn when I use it- I freeze my meat loaf mixed but not cooked- flat in bags .. I thaw it in fridge and shape loaf or circle ... and then cook it... I have frozen left over slices and I do use gravy when I do that or tomato sauce...I make smaller loaves now that it's just the two of us too... what used to make 2 loaves I make 4 now...

The cooked turkey or ground beef I use to make chili or spaghetti sauce... or fake hamburgher helper type meals for boys .. mac an cheese with ground meat and diced tomatos added... italian spices and its filling and quick for them... my mom used to call that slumgulion... don't know why though...LOL!I don't thaw it to use it just place in pan and heat till it's thawed and ready to add whatever I am making... it's mostly to make dinners faster for me..

Nana

OK--when I cook ground meats I often just freeze enough in a quart freezer bag (or a food saver would be great too) for 1 meal---
then if I make ground beef stroganoff, spaghetti sauce or any other meal that calls for loose ground meat I just toss it in frozen. (it is kinda crumbly anyway as I put it in the freezer flat so most of the meat is already seperated & then freezes this way) By the time you warm or cook the sauce it is thawed. saves time on a busy night and also you can buy your meat of choice when it is on sale.
I will say I cool the meat before I put it in a freezer bag.

Thanks ladies.

Tina, you cook your meatloaf, then freeze your meatloaf, then it thaws as you warm it?

Nana, you make yours up, then freeze, then thaw and shape and cook?


Sorry. I want to get this right because Johnny loves meatloaf.

Yes, I cook ahead when I can to make actual future meal prep simpler. I also don't like to waste any space when running my oven. So I bake lots at once. It isn't laziness so much as saving the cost of running the oven multiple times for multiple loaves and sides. I just really don't want to bake cupcakes at the same time as something oniony or the like.

Yes I make my meatloaves up, usually 4 at a time... put in a gallon ziplock , flat. freeze, put in food saver bag and seal.. stack in freezer .. saves space.. then when I need one- I take it out let it thaw till it is moldable.. make into loaf shape and cook... if I have left overs I slice it up and make into dinners with those divided plates- usually with mashed taters, gravy and whatever veggie we had.. seal it in a ziplock and then a food saver bag- use the ziplocks inside foodsaver bags so I can reuse those after washing...I freeze those for really fast nukeable dinners.. my version of a tv dinner... works for lunches for me too when Joe is working and I don't have kids to feed...

Nana

Ok MY turn to be confused. So Sherri, are you re-using the ziploc or the food save bags--

Lol! sorry- I save the foodsaver bags by washing them in the dishwasher... I cut them big and fold them at first when I use them, then as they get smaller use them for other things... that way I only have to buy new ones once a yr or so...
Nana

I have a bag sealer from pre-air-suction days. Those bags were pricy then and worse now. I have a Reynolds suction machine now. Reynolds quit making the bags for it but my local store does make bags and I think Glad does too. It works well and a little less cost.
It is my first full cool day at home. I have the oven stuffed with potatoes (5 #), bacon (1#), and some mini meatball pies in muffin tins and 2 sweet potatoes.. My stove top is steaming some broccoli (2#). I will stuff the regular taters with bacon, broc and cheese and freeze those. I will freeze the meatball mini pies. I will eat at least one of the sweet potatoes when it is done for my lunch. And of course I have to taste test the mini pies.

Why don't I just come eat with you guys. Sounds so good.

So what you are telling me is that a vac sealer is a worthwhile tool to save money? I must ponder that advice with my husband

I never thought about cooking beef and then freezing, great idea gals.

No, Sunny. The vacuum sealers are wonderful to help stop freezer burn. It is just the bags are expensive so you want to be careful of when you use them. They are best used on your more precious food items. And those most likely to suffer burn items. etc. If you freeze something like french toast that you plan on using up in a short space of time, a couple of weeks, then it is a waste of bags and time to seal them.

And do I I do when I use the food saver bags.. use reg glad or ziplock or storebrand bags as a liner and the cut your own freezer bags... I make them big and cut them down as I use them and reuse them till they are way to small for anything else... the foodsavers are pricy but have saved me big bucks on stuff I plan to keep for awhile.... I have the cannisters too that help save cookies and that kind of stuff .. I can bake ahead and keep it for kids... and keep me out of it...LOL!
Nana

well, I think they save $$ as you do not waste food because you had to throw it out--so as nana said it is great for long term freezing--say butchered meat that is put up for the year (or 2)

I used to have one but mice chewed thru the power cord. I hope to get another one sometime soon.

I used to put up all kinds of home grown veggies & fruits in it--it was wonderful.

I am told one can also put non-eatable things in them to keep them dry & safe.

Yes, important papers can be stored in them to help keep them dry in a disaster.

LOL!
I keep my Mom's and Grandmother's silverware I ended up with in food saver bags I have lined with paper towels to keep from puncturing it in food saver bags... got tired of polishing it everytime I used it... so just wash it - dry it well and reseal in the bags... actually thinking of selling it since my kids don't want it and it's not sentimental to me either... may look into that possibility.
Nana

wow no oven to clean themn,

Nice insights though.