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Archive for Freezer – Page 2

Day 8 – AYGC

By Valerie

Monday, July 20th, 2009

One more day with no shopping. Wow! I even got the last loaf of bread out of the freezer. There is space in there! It’s usually packed to the gills.

Busy day, so we had what we refer to as “dinner in a box”, which is really Banquet Homestyle Bakes. Our favorite is Country Chicken/Mashed Potatoes/Biscuit. They only take about 5 minutes to put together, then bake for 20-30 minutes. Prices vary depending on your store (my final out-of-pocket price is usually about $2). There was a 50¢/1 coupon in the 07-19-09 Smart Source circular, as well as one in May “All You” magazine, so look for a sale and/or a double- or triple-coupon event to try one out. Even at full retail, which can be up to $5 at the posh grocery stores, for something that fast, I think it’s worth having one in the pantry — it’s still MUCH cheaper than fast food. And I think they taste pretty good!

Back on topic, we had fresh watermelon with the easy-peasy dinner.

Yes, I know, we haven’t had a green salad on the table in days. I have the lettuce for it too. Need to use it up now.

I’m trying to decide if I actually need to get the groceries on my list, or if I should wait until we come back from our trip. Probably need to get the bread and milk for my eldest, who isn’t coming with us due to college finals.

Now I need to see if there are any couponing events going on in Ohio while I’m there.

Categories : All You Grocery Challenge

Day 7 – AYGC

By Valerie

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

I really blew it today. I *should* have gone to the store to pick up some milk, pizza fixin’s, etc., but just couldn’t get my butt in gear, so now those items will end up in the budget for the week we’re vacationing.

We used up some produce in the fridge for dinner — my husband made stuffed bell peppers. We always have plenty of rice on hand (I buy it in 25 lb bags at the warehouse clubs for about $12), and we had the hamburger in the freezer too. The recipe he made was from a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 70s and the recipes are mostly mid-western versions of food. It called for pre-cooking the hamburger and even mixing some of the tomato sauce with it and the rice and a few spices then stuffing the par-boiled peppers. Then topping with more tomato sauce and baking, adding mozzarella cheese to the top during the last 15 minutes in the oven. Very odd, but probably the best way to go if you’ve only got regular ground beef on hand and not lean.

My normal recipe calls for mixing the raw hamburger, salt, pepper, rice, chopped onions and a tad of garlic up and stuffing that into raw peppers. Then cooking that on the stove in a mixture of tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes, seasoned with oregano, bay leaf, salt & pepper (and whatever strikes me at the moment), sometimes adding a little red wine. If you use full-fat hamburger you’ve got a bit of problem on your hands with that recipe, though if you poke holes in the bell peppers before stuffing them the fat drains out okay.

With the stuffed peppers, my husband also served corn & peas, and mashed potatoes. Yum! Nice dinner, and even better since I didn’t have to cook it.

Super Sandwich Rolls

By Valerie

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Valerie’s Super Sandwich Rolls – Serves 12

9 oz beer
3 tbsp powdered milk
1/4 cup potato flakes, instant
1-1/2 tbsp shortening
1-1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp Yeast, Active Dry*

Put ingredients in bread machine in order listed. Set machine for 1-1/2 lb, dough setting. Start.

When the dough is ready, take it out of the machine and set it on a floured counter to rest for a few minutes.

Roll to about 1/2″ thick and cut with 3″ biscuit cutter. Ball up the scraps and repeat. You should be able to get about 12 hamburger-size rolls from this.

Set rolls a couple inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash (1 egg, beat with 2 tsp. water) and sprinkle with sesame seeds** if desired.

Let rise for 35 minutes in a warm place.

Bake for 20 minutes in a pre-heated 375° oven.

This is just my quick, lazy way to shape the rolls when I’m in a hurry. It works well, though! Normally I would knead the dough after taking out of the bread machine and then shape it by hand. You can also make delicious sub rolls with this dough; it makes about 8 of those.

*If you can get your yeast nearly free by using coupons, by all means go for it. But if you make bread regularly (like I do), purchase it at a warehouse club like Costco or Sams; it’s usually just over $2 a POUND. It will keep a long time in the freezer. Mine is in a small Tupperware container in the freezer door.

**Sesame seeds are really expensive in the spice aisle of the grocery store, so check to see if your store sells them in their bulk section. I got mine at WinCo– $1.93 for about half a POUND.

Categories : Cooking