Freezer cooking for November

Well folks, Dr. Bob and I have been busy this past weekend prepping our freezer for the coming month.

All last week I was scouring recipe blogs looking for yummy new recipes to try.

I really liked all the recipes we made last month, but it gets old after a while.  You can find all those yummy recipes here and here.

This month we are attempting to make more of a variety (without running out of freezer containers...proving harder than we thought!)

Too make this cooking weekend possible, we did the bulk of our basic shopping at Aldi, meat shopping at Kroger, and 2 quick back-up trips to Publix and a different Kroger (ask Bob about that story, you should get a giggle!).  We ended up spending $182.48 and we got this:

So far we have made:

~ 34 turkey meatballs

~ 7 turkey burgers

~ BBQ chicken calzone (leftover BBQ chicken in the freezer for later use). Dough recipe can be found here.

~ Sloppy turkey joes - in the freezer to be used later

~ 7 or 8 individual containers of turkey chili.  I will have Dr. Bob write up this recipe some time soon.  Sooo good!

~ 4 individual containers of Corny Chicken Bake

~ 8 individual containers of a Creamy Southwestern Chicken Soup.  Basic recipe can be found here but we made some modifications:
              added diced jalapeno to onions while sauteeing, and added about 2 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp paprika, 2 
              tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.  Chicken was cooked with garlic, cumin, paprika, 
              cayenne, salt and pepper.  Added a can of black beans with the potatoes.  During the final 
              boil/cook, added about 3/4 cup shredded cheese.  Note: increased all measures (in initial recipe; 
              what's written here was as used) by 50%, to use the full 12 ounce can of evaporated milk

~ 6 individual containers of Buffalo Chicken Lasagna (Good guess Leslie!) (And thanks for the recipe Susan!)

~ 3 turkey and feta quesadilla's (more to be made this week)

~ 6 individual containers of a Deconstructed Burrito Bake: Rice mixed with salsa, can of refried beans, some taco seasoned turkey chili and cheddar cheese- layered in that order and then baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

~ Teriyaki seasoned chicken - this will be packed with fried rice eventually.  (Our rice cooker died yesterday so we purchased a new one today and have yet to make the rice due to football...ugh!)

~ Cheesy chicken paired with Cheesy potatoes

Still to come:
~ Pierogie lasagna
~ Fried Rice
~ Cheeseburger soup
~ Baked pumpkin ice cream glazed donuts

Here's everything ready for the freezer....look at all those containers.

That's over 40 meals ready to go for this month.  I am so excited about all of the above!  We have been taste testing it all and I can't wait to dig in!

Luckily I found more recipes than we could possibly make this month so we already have a list going for next month.

Any recommendations or suggestions to add to our list??


How was your Halloween?  Did you dress up?

Freezer Cooking ~ Part 1

We here in the "Bob's" household has been tracking our food spending the past 2 months. It was started for 2 reasons:

1. To get an idea of what our food budget should be in our new city.

2. Give us the wake up call that we often spend too much money on food when there are just 2 mouths to feed.

It has been working. I am not going to give out numbers or anything but we have had some good conversations figuring out ways to cut back on groceries, portion sizes, how often we eat out, and other changes we can make.

Now before we really start talking about the changes, we should talk about our "eating out" habits. Like many of you know, we are social beings. We like to meet people. We like to make friends. Right now we are establishing our social circles in our new city. We are feeling people out. We are seeing if we like them and we're weeding out "the crazies." Obviously we are not going to invite complete strangers to our home until we have met and vetted them. This means we have to meet people in public places and this often revolves around food. Hence our pretty big "eating out" bill the past few months (however we have become excellent deal finders for restaurants). Hopefully that will decline in the coming months as we have been making friends and starting to have people over for meals rather than always going out to eat.

Okay enough of that, onto the good stuff!

Our plan for the month of October is to pick 6 or 7 meals, make them all at the same time and then freeze them in individual sized containers so that we have meals ready to go throughout the month. We wanted a variety so that we weren't sick of eating the same thing for 5 meals in a row. We have done a similar concept in the past but we did not make such the variety. So we did a BIG grocery shopping trip Friday after Dr. Bob got out of work and then we got to work.

Part 1 took part Friday night and we made the following:

Recipe #1: Southwest Rollups. I got this recipe from Money Saving Mom who does this same concept of cooking for the freezer. She has 3 little ones so she spreads the cooking out where she tries to do an hour of cooking a day where it is purposely made for future meals. Plus her blog has a team that helps comb the web for daily deals, coupons, etc. Check her out if you have the chance.

I prepped 14 roll ups with refried beans, chicken (from a roasted chicken found in my deli section), salsa, and cheese. Super EASY recipe. I will absolutely make this recipe again however I may add a bit more chicken next time. I only used 2 cups because that is all I had left after snacking on some of it before I got started (oops! I was starving though and dinner wasn't ready yet!). Next time I will make sure to have the recommended 4 cups.

I will also remember to warm the wraps in the microwave briefly so it is easier to roll them up and I won't end up with 2 busting open (hence the ones in the container).
And I am even able to be a bit "greener" and reuse my bags that the wraps originally came in.
Recipe #2: Chicken and Rice Soup. Dr. Bob developed this recipe by taking a few recipes and melding them altogether. Here is his "off the cuff" recipe (Megg, I know you love these!)

Combine:

~ 6 cups of chicken broth;

~ 3 cups of cooked rice that has been steamed off in the rice cooker;

~ a pack of chicken that is diced, pan cooked, and seasoned (salt, pepper, oregano, garlic);

~ a cup of finely diced onion;

~ a cup of finely diced carrots;

Cook on low for about 3 hours in a cock pot. (We used a 5 quart crock pot for this recipe)

If you like your vege's soft rather than crispy combine all of the above, minus the chicken, on low for 2-3 hours. Then add chicken and keep on low for an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

Make sure to keep an eye on the soup. If the rice starts to get too soft or the broth looks too "starchy," it is time to shut the crock pot off.

Yum!

Then package in individual containers, let cool, and freeze.
Recipe #3: Homemade pizza! While all of this yummy cooking was going on we had to eat some sort of dinner.

I have been wanting to find a good pizza crust recipe for a LONG time and I have finally been successful...YAY! I got the recipe from Ready, Set, Simplify. And you can find the recipe here. It is actually from allrecipes.com. I am a fan of this site. (Hint: always make sure to read the reviews of a recipe you are going to make because they have some helpful tips on what to add, how to tweak the recipe a bit, etc).

This pizza recipe has become a BIG fan favorite quickly.
Man, I'm drooling again just looking at this picture.

So that was our Friday night. We ended up with 7 helpings of Southwest Rollups, 8 servings of soup, and a big, delicious pizza!

Stay tuned for Part 2....lots more deliciousness to come!

This is why.....

..........we haven't been around lately. Our fridge has been pretty bare.

But not to worry, we just did a massive shopping trip that included 3 stores to make sure we got the best possible deals! We should be stocked up for a LONG time to come. And we have lots of delicious meals plans.

Bob already made a BBQ pork roast in the slow cooker last night that he thinks he can get about 6 or 7 meals out of it. Tonight's agenda is Shepherd's Pie....I'm so excited!

So my plan for today is to bake some home made bread and prep the potatoes for tonight. If I am really feeling motivated, maybe I will clean and cut the 4 packs of chicken we got on sale so they can be readied for freezing.

Check back soon for an update on what we have been cooking!

Question:

Do you grocery shop weekly or stock up and see how long it lasts?

Your Dekalb Farmers Market

Hello There!

There is this place that we have been hearing about. We have been told it is amazing. We have been told it is huge. We have been told it is unbelievable. We have been told we must go to this place.

What is this place you may ask? It is called, "Your Dekalb Farmers Market", yes "Your" is actually in the title - here is the website.

It is about 10 maybe 15 minutes from our apartment. We have been wanting to go check it out but we haven't succeeded...until Saturday that is! I was SUPER excited. It was a rainy, dreary day so it was perfect to go check out the Market. We had plenty of reusable bags, I was ready to snap some pics so I could show you the fun, and we had cash in hand to pay all the different vendors.

Well, this place was a little different!

First, it was in a GINORMOUS warehouse. I was in awe when we pulled into the parking lot. I really didn't know what to expect since I had not done any recon for the experience. Doctor Bob likes to check places out before we go but I like to be surprised.

It hit me that this was going to be different from past trips to the farmers market as there were shopping cart return corrals in the parking lot. What market needs shopping carts? Obviously this one!

Next I noticed a big sign as we were entering the market "No cameras/picture taking allowed!" What?! Boo! How was I supposed to sufficiently describe our experience? (I encourage you to click here to check out this place as even the pictures on their website don't allow you to cut and paste.)

Then our carts were checked as soon as you walked in. All bags needed to be placed under the cart. The woman didn't let you pass until you did so.

But all of the descriptions we heard about this place were totally spot on! It was definitely overwhelming at first. There was so much to look at, so much to take in!

Produce was the first thing we saw as we walked into the market. And there were plenty of people in the produce section. We decided we would skip it for now and come back towards the end of our trip.

The bakery was next which had all sorts of delicious types of breads, desserts, and rolls. All shapes and sizes. We decided to get a package of mini French baguette's that we would transform into garlic bread for an upcoming dinner, a half loaf of oatmeal oat bran bread, whole wheat hot dog buns that were used for turkey meatball sandwiches, and a package of 2 soft pretzels as a treat. We have since tried all of the above and they were beyond delish!

After we pried ourselves away from the bakery we then checked out all the fresh meat and boy was there a lot to choose from! We ended up getting 2.5 pounds of chicken drummettes and a certified angus beef chuck roast. Don't worry, Dr. Bob will be updating you with how he prepared these into tasty meals.

Besides the fresh meat, I would have to say that Dr. Bob's favorite part of the market had to be the aisles of different sauces. He loves to check out new marinades or olive oils. We walked out with a mere 4 bottles:

And after a quick stop in the beer/wine section for some Guiness (again Dr. Bob will fill you in on how he used that special ingredient) we were ready to brave the produce section. Besides getting some new potatoes and an onion we basically stuck with the fresh fruit. I <3 fruit. I love summer time because you are surrounded by fresh fruit. I love to buy in bulk and then prep for the freezer (I have another post planned specifically for that). My new discovery/fruit friend is the kiwi so we picked up some of those. I can never resist Granny Smith apples, so they jumped in the cart as well as a package of raspberries and a package of blackberries for my morning shakes. And then I saw probably the most wonderful thing I saw ALL.DAY.LONG: a gigantic container of fresh strawberries! I was in heaven! After doing quick math to make sure we were getting the best deal, the strawberries were safely secured in the shopping cart. Our final item from the produce section was a pineapple. This summer I have been trying "new to me" fruit. It's not the first time I have tried the fruit but it is usually the first time I have prepared it. So far this summer has included: kiwi, mango, nectarine, and now pineapple. I can't wait to cut into it!

So now that we had officially finished perusing the store - it was time to check out. I was a little nervous about the final total but it actually wasn't terrible. We got all of the following:

for a grand total of $85.94. Not too bad if you consider all that we got and what it would cost at a normal grocery store.

We won't be doing this big of a shopping trip all the time but it was a great first experience!

Do you have a huge market like this near you?