Freezer Cooking: Making a plan that works for YOUR family

Do you freezer cook?  I used to try and follow someone else's plan for a month of freezer meals, but invariably had to make changes to their plan anyway.  They'd either have recipes with too much unhealthy crap many processed foods or too many weird new foods for my family to try in a month.  I like new foods.  Don't get me wrong!  But sometimes I want to sit down to an old favorite and know at least 4 of us will ENJOY it.  One kid might whine grumble for a little while, but that happens no matter what we eat.  So I'd end up either using only 2 of their recipes or making so many changes I might as well have made up my own plan.

Meal Starters

I've experimented, with great success, on making "meal starters" in the past.  That's when you make up several packets of cooked ground beef, chopped up soup vegetables, sauces, and so on that go in the freezer.  So when it's time to cook, you've already got a start and it takes less time and dishes to make dinner.  This is great, especially if you KNOW you don't have time to make 18 meals in one day.  It's crazy sometimes!

Double Up

Another idea I've tried successfully is to double up a recipe that I'm already making and freeze the extra for another day. It's brilliant!  If you're already so short on time you can't make extra food but you already are making dinner, it takes maybe 2 extra minutes to put together the second batch of whatever since you've already prepared the ingredients for the first one.  This works great for lasagna, pasta bakes, enchiladas, soups, chili, pancakes, cookies, and muffins. It's a great start.  And it's helpful when you don't have much freezer space.  It's still perfectly possible to do a "big cooking/freezing day" with just the freezer connected to your fridge, but it takes way more planning.

My Plan

So back to the big cooking day.  I decided to just make up my own plan since I was basically doing that anyway for so long.  I'm not going to post all my recipes.  You probably have a favorite recipe for all or most of the family favorites I'm going to share anyway.  If not, I'll post them eventually, if you ask nicely. ;)  I just wanted to share my method.  And, by the way, I love how this turned out.  I love the food.  I love that I have meals ready to go in my freezer.  And I love that still have the flexibility to make dinner from scratch if that bug bites.  Honestly, sometimes I LOVE to cook.  But most days I'm scrambling around trying to figure out if peanut butter on crackers qualifies as a meal a little lacking in my planning.  When I do plan, though, WATCH OUT!  I'm gonna makes things happen!

Make a list of family favorites

So, first step is to make a list of recipes your family likes.  It helps if many of the recipes share some common ingredients, but you don't want the meals to get boring by ALWAYS having the same thing.  I had a list of 10 recipes (plus the sauces I was making from scratch) and then ended up with extra chicken so I made some other meals, too.  I doubled those recipes so we would have each meal twice.  That makes 20+ meals.  We usually have leftovers, which we eat either for a lunch or for a "leftovers night" during the week.  If you're running short on ideas, consider doing what the "Food Nanny" suggests and making a theme for each day of the week.  She has her own plan, but our family just does things differently.  Sunday is "traditional/crockpot".  Monday is "ethnic."  By that we mean, it's a good night for Mexican or Asian.  We might toss in Indian food at some point.  We LOVE Mexican, but we also enjoy a good stir fry or sweet and sour sometimes.  Tuesday I have prenatals almost all night, so we call that "Fend for Yourself" night.  Mostly that means The Boy Scout makes something strange unique weird for the kids and himself while I either bring dinner or buy Qdoba while I'm at the office. Wednesday is "Italian."  My husband would eat pasta for every meal, I think, if it were up to him.  I'm not kidding.  He has made some fantastic breakfast pasta, even.  Thursday we have fish.  Partly because we like fish and want to eat more of it and partly because a friend told The Boy Scout that eating fish twice a week will help with his cholesterol numbers.  The other meal is usually tuna fish sandwiches for lunch.  Friday we either grill out or have soup (or go out to eat on the oh so rare occasion).  We're thinking if it's too cold to grill, we want to have soup anyway. Saturday is for comfort foods.  Some of our favorites are stroganoff, gumbo, and jambalaya.  We ARE southerners, after all. ;)  When I plan my weekly shopping trips, I plan on 6 meals plus lunches and breakfasts then write out all the ingredients I need for those recipes, adding those on my shopping list I don't already have stocked up.  My "shopping list book" has a long list of meals our family EVER eats.  You might consider something like this.

Make a list of recipes you want to make this month

Consult your long list and pick what you want to make this time.  Some foods freeze better than others.  Some shouldn't be frozen at all.  Some need to be frozen before cooked.  Some need to be prepared then frozen.  It'll take a little research and experimenting to figure out what works for your recipes, but it's worth it for the money saved and the hassle gone.  Anyway, here's my list for this time: beef/turkey (red sauce) enchiladas, chicken (white sauce) enchiladas, Taco soup, cheeseburger soup, broccoli-cheese casserole, lasagna, stroganoff, chili, cabbage rolls, and meatballs.  Notice how some of these contain VERY similar ingredients?  It's planned that way.  I also made my own spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce for these recipes. These are just the recipes I wanted to put together.  We also have fish every week, but I didn't need to prepare it in any way.  If you like marinated steaks or chicken breasts, those count as meals, too but all you have to do it dump the ingredients in a bag and freeze them. :)

Make a list of ingredients

Calculate how much you'll need for all the recipes.  If your one recipe says you need 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and you're making a double batch, you should buy a new container of parmesan, since the opened container in your fridge probably doesn't have enough for both recipes.  It's really frustrating to run to the store (or deal with substitutions) when in the middle of cooking all this food.  The same goes for seasonings. Chili always requires more chili powder than I think it does.  I've started buying it in bulk, too.  In general, it's better to buy too much ingredients than not enough.  You can always freeze the extras.  Consider containers, too.  I buy the 10 x 12 foil pans and lids from Sam's.  These freeze nicely, bake nicely, and have perfectly smooth lids for writing on.  Some people like to print labels.  I like to use my permanent marker.  You may want quart and gallon size freezer bags.  It's worth spending extra on the name brand bags.  Trust me.  Or learn the hard way.  Hard plastic containers are also nice since there's less waste.  I pick mine up from Aldi when the come in.  I think the brand is Sterilite, or something like that.  I love them.  They are freezer, microwave, and top-rack dishwasher "safe."  Plus they have a little vent you can open when microwaving.  You'll find the right containers for your meals.

Buy in bulk

Buying items in bulk is a huge money saver.  Buying those 5# bags of cheese from Sam's club saves at least 25%, even from the sales prices.  Buying those big #10 cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce saved me over 50%.  Bonus: I was trying to save money by reducing the amount of beef I bought.  Some recipes HAD to have fresh ground beef or turkey because they were meatballs or whatever.  Some recipes could be completely substituted with a meat replacement like beans/rice.  Some recipes really needed to contain some amount of meat just so we wouldn't feel deprived.  So when I went to Sam's Club to purchase my meat, I couldn't bring myself to buy the huge chub of beef they had at $30+ and they didn't have turkey in stock.  I went to Aldi next since their frozen turkey is so cheap and their fresh beef isn't extraordinarily expensive.  Here's the bonus.  In the fresh meat section, they had fresh turkey and fresh beef chuck but at almost the same price.  The also had fresh sirloin that needed cooked by the next day (my cooking day!) with a "$2 off per package" sticker.  This made the sirloin cheaper then the turkey!  I bought 6 lbs. Happy dance time!

I also usually buy two whole chickens that I cook in the crockpot or roaster oven, depending on the time I have available.  I use the meat from one chicken in my recipes to freeze and save the meat from the other for meals to make "from scratch."  Depending on my plans I'll either fridge or freeze it.

Plan to spend ALL day cooking

Planning means you have something for the kids to do, like a babysitter or a new activity that will keep them out of your hair.  It also means you make any early preparations the night before.  Have a clean kitchen.  Crockpot your chicken or beans or whatever overnight.  Have all the vegetables chopped up and ready to go.  Make sure you have easy snacks/lunches available to keep everyone fed and not cranky.  When you wake up in the morning, have a good healthy but fast breakfast and then get going.  It's not a race, but if you're still putting dinners together well after you wanted to stop for dinner, you're going to wish you'd gotten up earlier.  Expect to wash the same mixing bowls 3 or 4 times in the day.  It's just going to happen, so plan on it.  Clean up in between so it's less of a mess at the end of the day.  Also, have flat surfaces to prepare on, to cool foods on, and to hold foods between steps on.  I used my dining table and the top of my freezer for these.  You don't want to put hot foods in your deep freeze.  It just has to work harder to cool and then thaws some of your foods. A final thought: do NOT plan your shopping and cooking day as the same day.  You CAN plan on prepping on your shopping day, but you don't have to.

Make Like Foods at the Same Time

I love my cabbage roll recipe.  When I make cabbage rolls, I always quadruple the meat portion and make half of those into meatballs.  Then I make 2 batches of cabbage rolls and 2 batches of meatballs.  I cook all the ground meat either the night before or the first thing in the morning. Then I make my spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce, then put together enchiladas, taco soup, chili and lasagna (or make the sauces the night before and assemble cold ingredients in the morning).

Here's How I Planned My Cooking Day

Night Before 

1. Set chickens to cook overnight in crockpot.
2. Set chili beans to cook overnight in crockpot. (I made my from dried beans instead of buying cans.)
3. Chop all vegetables
4. Brown 10# of turkey/beef/meat substitute

Cooking Day

1. Combine taco soup ingredients and freeze.
2. Combine chili ingredients and freeze.
3. Make spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce.
4. Make lasagnas and freeze.
5. Make beef enchiladas and freeze.
6. Make chicken enchiladas and freeze.
7. Make broccoli cheddar casserole and freeze.
8. Make cheeseburger soup and freeze half.  Save other half for lunch today.
9. Make up stroganoff sauce and freeze.
10. Make up 4 lbs of cabbage roll meat.
11. Make half ^ into cabbage rolls and freeze. 
12. Add Italian seasoning to other half and make into meatballs.
13. Bake meatballs in muffin tins.  Cool and freeze.

It happened mostly the way I planned, except that I had to cook the chickens in my roaster oven since my crockpot was no where near big enough for two chickens.  I forgot this as I usually cook one for "cooking day" and one on Sunday for my "traditional meal" night.  So those were cooking in the morning while I prepared other recipes.  I also ended up making the meatballs and cabbage rolls first instead of last, but I still made them together which was the point.  We ended up having cheeseburger soup for dinner instead of lunch.  For lunch we made up sandwiches and pressed on. Many people plan on ordering pizza the night they cook big meals, but I think that defeats a purpose.  Do what works for your family.

Note: Sorry for no photos.  I'll add them later.  I didn't take ANY pictures while cooking, even though I KNEW I should have.  But this gets you started if you're looking for a way to do a "Freezer Cooking Day."

Edit:  I forgot to mention that in addition to the meals I made above, I also bought fish for a couple weeks, ingredients to make a family favorite that doesn't freeze well, and enough stir fry vegetables for two meals.  We keep a decent store of foods in the house, so we fill in the empty places with other meals.

Pioneer Day Celebration

Our co-op got together today to celebrate the pioneers.  For those who don't know, July 24th is Pioneer Day.  It celebrates the day the first group of Latter-Day Saint pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847.  In Utah, it is a HUGE celebration, perhaps rivaling Independence Day celebrations.  But around here in Missouri, it's only observed by the few LDS who make a point to celebrate it.  

The kids posed for a picture at our Pioneer Day picnic.

We didn't do anything huge, but we wanted to introduce the children to some of our history.  Mostly we sang pioneer songs, like "Pioneer Children" and played some pioneer-style games, like "tug of war" and "jumping rope."  We also enjoyed some really tasty foods the pioneers had eaten.  We had potato cakes with ketchup and Swiss Apple-Cherry pie.  Yum!  You can find the recipes for them here, if you want to try for yourself.  Another friend made up a recipe she found in Nauvoo for Haymaker's Switchel, a pioneer version of Gatorade.  Apparently, when the pioneers would go work in the field they would take some of this drink to stay hydrated.  I agree it would do the job!  It was a sort of ginger root tea flavored with molasses, lemon juice, and vinegar.  Two out of my three girls slurped it down.  And I thought it was pretty good, too.  A bit like a "real" ginger ale. 

I tried to make some ice cream by following this recipe, but the bag started to leak and we just poured the cold and sweetened half and half over our pie. :)  That'll teach me to try things out BEFORE showing them to the kids!  They were so excited about my promised ice cream that we had to have a cone when we got back from the park.  We spent the rest of our morning chatting and playing in the park.  It was such a gorgeous day we couldn't let it go to waste!

Coming soon: NOT Back to School Party!  What would you do to celebrate homeschooling?

My girls playing while waiting for our friends.

Mmm. Granola

We are granola freaks around here.  Well, I am actually.  The kids put up with it when there's nothing else around.  I eat it with yogurt, kefir, milk, ice cream, as trail mix, whatever!  Love it, love it, love it.  And it's so easy to make, I don't know why people would want to buy it.  Hmmm, maybe I should start SELLING mine!  Anyway, sidetracked.  I've tried out different recipes over the years, tweaking them until I've found my favorite.  And I may still tweak it again.  And, of course, sometimes it's just nice to have a different flavor or variety.  As with so many other recipes, I like a basic formula that I can adjust to my mood.  You can easily use a different nut, type of oil, or use maple flavor instead of vanilla extract. Today, I'll share the recipe I  made this morning.


Excuse me while I rescue my 16 month old daughter from the bunk bed.  She literally climbed the ladder herself and then, when she saw me, she climbed back down.  This is just plain scary! But look how pleased she is with herself!

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Granola

Preheat oven to 275F

Combine in a large bowl:

6 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup wheat germ

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup pecans

2/3 cup coconut

2 Tbsp ground flax, optional

In a medium saucepan combine and heat to a simmer:

2-3 Tbsp real maple syrup

2 Tbsp molasses

3 Tbsp coconut oil

1 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Drizzle the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir well to combine.  Place on two large ungreased baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes.  Stir then bake an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir in 2/3 cup raisins.  I just put mine back into the bowl I used earlier.  Allow to cool completely then store in airtight container. 

Mmmm.  If you want to make this a trail mix, add in some dried bananas, sunflower seeds, coated chocolate candies, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and/or peanuts.  So good!  We took it with us on our camp out with some peanuts and chocolate covered raisins mixed in. :D


Last chance for my giveaway!

My weekend away

My darling husband knows me very well. Some days he's fairly clueless, like many men we love, but when it came to celebrating 6 years together, he did remarkable.  His plan was to surprise me with a weekend away at the beach, camping.  It didn't come out exactly that way, but it was pretty close.  He arranged for my parents to watch our 3 girls ages 16 months to almost 5 years and then took me deep into the quiet Mark Twain National Forest.  We camped at this camping "resort," which basically means it's slightly pampered camping.  You could pay for the cabins, which we don't consider camping, or you could camp in the field with a fire pit, picnic table, and free firewood.  A quick walk away is a covered pavilion with washing sink, next to the bathroom and shower house.  Another quick walk brings you to the trading post, stocked with such necessities as sunglasses, bug spray, lighters, water shoes, and medicines.  They even have small packages of cornmeal, oil, and flour if you forgot food. And of course ice and candy bars. ;)  It was a true vacation for us, since we usually camp as primitively as possible: digging latrines, searching for firewood, and eating whatever camp-worthy food we could manage.

Our "pampered campsite"

Do you like our tent?  We were so geeked-out over finding a canvas tent with attached floors, zippered windows, and a true double door at a yard sale.  We got it for a STEAL of only $15!  These things retail at over a thousand.  It needs a little love, but it's still excellent and huge. It sleeps 8 and is tall enough for my 6'1" Boy Scout to stand up and can still reach his arms up.  We hate changing clothes in a 4' tall tent!

We loved just sitting in those chairs and listening to nothing but birds, watching squirrels going through the woods, and taking in all of God's beauty.

The view from our tent door

Don't you love that sweet trail there?  There were so many squirrels, birds, and lizards making use of the area and we just had to explore. And this picnic table was great.  We're excited about bringing our kids on another day to enjoy the fun here. There was also a playground, volleyball net, and horseshoes game set up, but I neglected to take pictures.

My Boy Scout carving a "chicken stick."

On a previous camping trip, the Boy Scout brought a cornish hen to rotisserie.  It was EPIC, apparently, and he wanted to share his joy with me. We started with a hike to find just the right sticks: two for the stand and one to hold the chickens.  Then he had to shave off the bark.

In your best imitation of Crocodile Dundee, say "Now, THAT's a knife."

Put the chickens on the stick and rotate, as needed, about every 15 minutes.  We seasoned these with salt and pepper and played various games while waiting for them to finish cooking.  Remember: you shouldn't walk away from your fire, even if it's in a fire pit. Just before they were done, we poured some buffalo wing marinade over one.  It was awesome.  I'd post a picture of the completed chickens, but it was rather dark and they were so amazingly tasty that I couldn't bring myself to take a picture.  Suffice it to say, they lived up to the legend and we will TOTALLY bring hens on every camp out our family does.

Rotisserie chickens

The next morning, we got our adventure on!  We went for a walk down to the "Bat Cave," then since the owners gave us permission to go off trail wherever we liked, we went on an adventure.  We climbed up passed the cave and explored.  It didn't take long before we were going nearly vertical so we decided to travel back down.  We found some fun rocks to pose on and then took a little stroll back to our campsite.

Our morning hike/adventure

Next, we went to play in the river and discovered we had floated passed this very place the last few years.  Don't let that calm-looking water fool you.  This river has some strong current!  We couldn't walk upstream, so we tried different paths and ended walking through the woods to explore other parts of the water.  When we got to the "island" in the middle of the river, we found deer tracks in the stream running through there.  So very cool.  And so was the WATER!  It was COLD!  After a little while we got used to it, or maybe our legs went numb.  It's a hard choice, but it was still nice to hear the bubbling stream and listen to the bird calls.  There was one in particular who was quite loud, but I couldn't get a good shot of him.

Showing off at the river.

If you're looking for a little getaway, whether you enjoy "roughing it" or prefer cabin camping, we highly recommend "Lost Cabins Resort."  They also rent canoes and tubes for float trips.  They have some that only take a couple hours to float, or you can go for a few days. We weren't in the mood for a float trip, so we passed this time, but maybe next time we'll rent the family sized one!

Playing around with CollageItPro.

Don't forget about our giveaway. It ends tomorrow night at midnight!

Wonderful Uses and Benefits of Coconut Oil

I told you in this post that I could make an entire post about how much I love coconut oil, what's so great about it, and what I use it for.  Well, here it is!  The Marathon Mom made her own list of 23 uses for coconut oil and I agree with it.  Plus, she links to yummy recipes.  But she skips on telling WHY it's so great other than that it's so versatile. So I'll start by telling you what I know, then direct you to people who are way smarter than I am. You should definitely check out The Marathon Mom, too.  She's pretty amazing.

 Coconut oil is full of nourishing goodness.

My favorite unrefined
coconut oil. I hope you try it!

• It has anti-microbial/anti-bacterial properties.  
• It helps you to detox by dissolving toxins into itself.  
• The unrefined varieties smell amazing (if you like coconut) and they taste amazing.  
• It moisturizes skin, hair, and nails without getting greasy, if used sparingly.  
• It heals broken, dry, sunburned, and  scarred skin, whether consumed internally or applied topically.  
• It can be used as a sunscreen.
• It can be used alone as a make up remover, cleanser, and moisturizer in one.  
• Alone or combined with baking soda and other ingredients it works wonders as a natural deodorant. 
• Alone or with baking soda and flavorings, it can be used as a toothpaste.  It can also be used in "oil pulling."  Search for "oil pulling" in your favorite search engine.  Pretty cool stuff.
• It can be used in place of any oil in baking and cooking, though it usually needs melted since it's usually solid at room temperature.  
• While it is a saturated fat, it actually helps you lose weight because it's mostly short and medium length fatty acids, which your body can use more efficiently.
• If a tablespoon or so is swirled into a smoothie, you get this amazing taste and texture, with the added health benefits.
• You can use it to make your own "Magic Shell" ice cream topping.
• You can use it to "cut" essential oils.  In this way I have made my own "Vapor Rub," bug repellent, bug bite remedy, baby bedtime food rub, diaper rash ointment, and headache treatment.
• It can also be used alone with good effect for bug bite remedy, diaper rash ointment, and various forms and thrush and yeast infections.
• I can't say enough how it helps skin issues!  It helps burns, psoriasis, eczema, dandruff, ringworm/thrush/yeast infection/athlete's foot, dry/cracked skin, ingrown hairs, diaper rash, scrapes/scratches, and so on.

Seriously, the list goes on. Basically, if there's a health issue, I usually think about whether coconut oil can help it.  My next step is homeopathy.  I use it in much of my cooking, though I still use butter, olive oil, and canola oil for various purposes and benefits.  I even love cooking my popcorn in coconut oil.

For a really good list of benefits from coconut oil, check here.  A good place to buy and to learn about the great benefits of all forms of coconut, check here. You should also check their facebook page.

Unfortunately, there are some, like my sister-in-law, who are allergic to this miracle food!  I currently have no direction for those people.  I feel so bad for them because this stuff is AWESOME!  So, since it's possible, I suggest you start slow.  If you feel any itching, burning, nausea, or stomach upsets when using this product, it's possible you're allergic.  It's pretty uncommon, but still possible, so you've been warned.  However, if you're like most of us and can use it, whoot for you!

Refined, no odor/flavor,
but still has great benefits.

One I'll definitely try in the future.

Don't forget to enter my CollageItPro upgrade giveaway!

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links, which will take you to the Amazon website where I make a small percentage of your purchase price.  It also contain links to other bloggers whom I respect, as well as some pages I only visited for reference. Do your own due diligence on whatever information you find there, please.

Mom's Day Before Payday Soup

I think one of the hallmarks of a good chef is the ability to whip together a dish without a recipe.  And without really measuring.  My family's go-to recipe is what my mom called "Day Before Payday Soup."  It was always amazing, probably because Mom was a great chef.  Her "recipe" was to look through the fridge for whatever leftovers we had, chop them into soup-appropriate pieces, and toss in the soup pot with some sort of sauce.  Sometimes the sauce was tomato-based, sometimes cream-based, and sometimes broth based.  One legend of our family is the day Mom made soup from "what was left in the ketchup bottle."  I'm not kidding.  And dinner was always great and filling and flavorful.

Now with children of my own, I've carried on the tradition.  But I don't always make my soup when the groceries are running low.  I LOVE soup.  And so do all but one of my kids.  Poor, dear.  I usually forget that it's not even in her top 50 favorite things to eat until we sit down to pray over dinner.  Then I have the whole inner debate of whether she should be allowed to eat cereal (her absolute go-to food) or make a sandwich and whether I should require that she at least have a "no thank you" bite.  Anyway, I love soup.  I make it because the weather is cool.  Or because we're expecting guests and I want to feed a lot of people.  Or because someone is under the weather.  (Research really has shown that a good chicken soup can help you overcome illness quicker.) I bring it to family gatherings/dinners and on camping trips.  I love to make a lot and freeze it for a quick dinner night.  And the flavor possibilities are ENDLESS!

So here's my generic "recipe."  Bless you, if you can figure out how to feed your family with it.

• I select a "starchy" food like potatoes, rice, or pasta.  If it's potatoes, wash and chop into bite-sized pieces and toss in the soup pot.  I like red and gold potatoes and keep the skins on. Do what YOU like.  I usually use about one average-sized potato per person I plan to feed.  If it's rice or pasta, I add it to the soup after everything else is added.  It's a bit of a science since it will thicken up your soup and draw out some of the liquid, but adding about a cup to a full stock pot is a good start.
• Then I think about what protein source I want to use.  I usually go with prepared dry beans or drained canned beans, ground turkey, ground beef, chicken breast, or use whatever is leftover from a turkey, ham or whole chicken I cooked recently (or froze).  What I do with that information depends on whether it's cooked already or needs cooked.  If it's cooked, it goes straight into the cook pot.  If not, I saute it with the vegetables, see the next step.  The amount really depends on the situation, but I find that just a pound of meat can feed 8 or more people, if you have enough vegetables in the soup or sides to pair with your meal.
• Whatever vegetables are around usually get washed, chopped, and sauteed.  For today's soup, I chopped up about a pound of carrots, a couple sweet potatoes (peeled), and an onion and started sauteing in my Lodge Logic L10SK3 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet with some butter, sea salt, pepper, basil, oregano, bay leaves, and Emeril's seasoning.  Normally, I would add the meat at this stage, but I had added a bit too many vegetables for them to all fit comfortably in my skillet.  So when the onions started to caramelize, I transferred the mixture to the soup pan.
• I season the meat with sea salt, pepper, and garlic and whatever else suits me at the moment and cook until done.  If I'm using ground turkey, as I did this time, I cook until it's almost dry. It gives it more of a beef texture.  Sometimes, I also add some steak seasoning to really trick the taste buds.  There's nothing wrong with turkey.  It's lower fat and much less expensive.  But sometimes, you really just want some beef.
• Once everything is in the pot, I start adding liquid, which includes liquids from whatever canned vegetables you decide to use.  Today I added corn, green beans, and diced tomatoes, juices and all.  Today I topped it off with water, frankly, because I'm out of broth, silly me. You can add bouillon cubes if you like.  I have a hard time finding one without MSG, so I try to avoid this.  Chicken, beef, or vegetable broths are all wonderful and flavorful liquids to use.  Leftover spaghetti sauce (and added water) work well. I add water until the vegetables start to float a little.  You can always add more, if needed.
• Let the soup simmer until all the vegetables are tender.  If you're adding pasta or rice, this is a good time to do it.
• Taste your creation and adjust seasonings, as needed.
• For the most amazing flavor, turn off the stove and let it cool.  Place in fridge overnight and eat it tomorrow.  The seasoning really marries together and it's just wonderful.  But if you're in a hurry, eat it now.  It's great with a side of crusty french bread and a salad. Or just eat it as is.

Be sure to enter my 300pt Pampers Gifts to Grow unique code giveaway going on right now!

Who needs McDonald's oatmeal?!

On nippy mornings like today, oatmeal calls to me.  I like to avoid most of the excess processed junk they put in cereals, even in ready to eat oatmeal, so I make my own.  McDonald's has nothing on this.  When I saw that they were selling their fruit and maple oatmeal as a healthy breakfast, I actually thought, "Hey, that could seriously draw me in."  Then I realized I have all those ingredients at home and could make it for PENNIES.  So I do.  I make my own.  And it's fabulous and exactly how I like it.  And it's adjustable.  So, yeah, no need to DRIVE to get my breakfast. In the time it takes the water to boil, everything else is prepared.  All I do is stir.  This recipe is for a single adult serving, though my children eat it well, too, so sometimes I plan for that.  It's extremely easy to double or half for you needs.

My Fruit and Maple Oatmeal

Start the tea kettle to boil.

Combine in bowl:

1/2 cup or 2 packets plain quick oats (I have an excess from my WIC days, so I use that)

1 slice of green apple, chopped (whatever is leftover from breakfast gets munched)

1-2 Tbsp raisins (and/or craisins, nuts, coconut, etc)

1 tsp real maple syrup (pancake syrup is just flavored sugar water, but you at your will)

1 pat real butter (I refuse to eat that low-fat plastic butter substitute.)

When water is boiling, pour about 1 cup over your cereal and stir.  The boiling water softens the raisins and apples to perfection.  Let the oats soak up the water for a minute or two, then enjoy!  Feel free to modify with cinnamon or other spices, but the the fruit really has a great flavor and sweet all it's own.  The maple syrup adds a little punch to it.

Since I woke this morning feeling the affects of yesterday's high pollen count, I added a pinch of nettles to my oats.  It gives a subtle wholesome flavor without overpowering anything.  And now I can breathe.  Win, win. Oh, yes, and the kids love it this recipe.  Triple win.

I love their morning hair.  They just got up from a living room "sleepover."

Guilt-free snacking

Have you tried the latest foodie craze?  Well, maybe it's not the "latest," but it has become pretty popular.  It's healthy and tasty and really satisfies that need for ice cream.  I first heard of banana ice cream from pinterest.  I totally thought it was Chocolate Covered Katie's Dessert blog because she is chock-full of amazing healthy desserts, but a quick search of her recipes didn't reveal it, although she DID have several other "healthy" ice cream and frozen treat options, like this yummy melty four ingredient ice cream.

  So now I'm stumped where I first saw it.  Anyway, here's the yummy and so super easy recipe that I use:

Guilt-free ice cream

• 1 ripe banana, chunked and frozen
• a dash of salt
• optional: 1 Tbsp peanut butter (I don't consider this optional.  It makes it completely creamy and amazing.)
• optional: a bit of milk or plain yogurt and water (This is only optional if you use anything less than a vitamix-type blender.  My magic bullet works great, but still needs a little liquid to get things going. And I love using yogurt because then you get the added probiotic benefits.)
• optional: add-ins like chocolate chips, coconut, sprinkles, etc

Toss everything but your add-ins into your blender.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Then add your add-ins and stir or pulse until combined.  YUM!  Sorry, I completely devoured mine before taking a picture, but let's be honest: it looks like ice cream in a blender cup.  And Katie's picture, above, just looks so much prettier than mine would turn out. ;)

And, yes, I ate this for lunch, but really where is the harm in that?  Mine contained banana, peanut butter, and yogurt.  It's almost like eating an "Elvis special" (you know, a peanut butter and banana sandwich) without the added starchy carbs from the bread and with the bonus probiotics from the yogurt.  Sounds like a win to me!

So, I get on these various diet kicks.  Sometimes I feel like eating sugar-free.  And when I say sugar-free, I mean no added processed sugars or artificial sweeteners.  Stevia is not artificial because it is a plant and you can literally toss a leaf or two into your cooking.  It's not precise but it IS natural.  I personally use liquid stevia drops or stevia packets, which I realize aren't as natural, but that's all part of my soggy granola personality.  Bananas and dates are not added sugars.  Maple syrup, honey, and agave are sweeteners, but affect everyone differently, so I don't include them in my "sugar free foods," but I do use them otherwise because I think of them as better for you than processed white sugars because of the minerals and natural sweetness, but not as healthy for you as simply eating fruit.

Anyway, when I made this ice cream today, I really wanted some chocolate chunkiness without the added sugars.  The first time I ever considered making my own chocolate chips was when I found this recipe from Heavenly Homemakers.  I love that blog, too!

Homemade "Magic Turtle"

My version of this recipe, especially when all I want is to toss it in my ice cream and move on with life is just to melt a bit of coconut oil (a Tbsp or so is good), add in a Tbsp of cocoa powder and stir, then add a half dropperful of liquid stevia (about 8 drops).  Add more sweetener of your choice if it's not sweet enough.  Bonus, it works like "Magic Shell" on your ice cream.  Coconut oil's melting/solidifying point is just above room temperature, so pour it on your ice cream and you get little chunks. Yay!  I can make an entire post about coconut oil, but I think I'll save that for another day.