Frugal Friday: Homemade Salsa with my CSA Leftovers

It’s funny how, when you put an idea out there -- into the vast wide universe -- it comes back to you.  Not to get all hippy-dippy, but this weekend I was thinking about making some beautiful fresh salsa with a few leftover tomatillos I had, and later that day, my brother-in-law offered me all the tomatoes I could pick from his garden. Score!

I had to use these up, and I knew I had more than one serving’s worth of salsa here, so I decided to freeze what I made.  

First, I gathered everything from my pantry and refrigerator that could remotely be a part of a salsa. I found:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Jalapenos
• Small green peppers
• Sweet Onions
• Tomatillos

Perfect ingredients for a beautiful, fresh salsa -- and all hand picked and organically grown!

Second, I started chopping everything together. I did this in batches, using my Pampered Chef Food Chopper. I seriously love that thing. Of course, both kids loved banging it on the cutting board. It provided a solid seven minutes of entertainment for them before they ran back off to play dinosaurs.

Finally, I seasoned the salsa with a pinch of salt, black pepper, and a touch of cumin, and ladled it carefully into my mason jars. Isn’t it pretty?

I’m so looking forward to opening the freezer in the middle of winter and finding this delicious salsa. It will add a fresh, healthy kick to plain cheese or chicken quesadillas, which my kids absolutely love. 

We only have one more week of our CSA deliveries. I’m glad I’ll have this little reminder of late summer tucked away in my freezer.

Frugal Friday: Zucchini Freezer Waffles

Zucchini is still going strong in our CSA boxes lately. I feel like I've tried every preparation of zucchini that I can think of:

• Zucchini Chips
• Zucchini Corn Cakes
• Zucchini in a Salad
• Broiled Zucchini as a Side
• Zucchini Chocolate Muffins
• Oven Roasted Zucchini
• Zucchini Muffins with Struedel Topping
• Zucchini Boats

I've done sweet, savory, side, main, and everything in between, it seems!  But I'm not done yet!

I had an unexpected block of time to myself this weekend,  and a giant zucchini from 2 CSA boxes ago staring me in the face.  I knew I wanted to make freezer waffles -- these are a great  healthy afternoon snack for the kids, especially spread with a little homemade strawberry jam -- yum!

So I pulled out my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Bridal Edition  - one of my absolute favorites -- and went to work doctoring up their recipe for waffles to include some healthier ingredients.  And yes -- it included a TON of zucchini!

Healthy Freezer Waffles

(inspired by Better Homes & Gardens)

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 cup white flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 2 tbs raw honey (only for children over age 1)
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini (I used the finest setting of a box shredder)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

2. In another medium bowl, beat eggs, then add milk, honey, zucchini, and cinnamon.  Add this mixture to the flour mixture, stir until moistened.

3. Pour 3/4-1 cup batter at a time into a heated, greased waffle maker. Bake 3-5 minutes, until waffle is golden brown and slides easily with a fork out of waffle maker. Repeat with remaining batter.

This recipe is easily doubled, and can be frozen for up to 3 months. The waffles are easily defrosted in a toaster or toaster oven, and taste great spread with a little organic jam. 

Once a Month Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking from the Stockpile: Part III

Alright, I've decided to go through with this crazy idea of cooking and freezer an entire month's meals; I've planned out my menu; now I just need to figure out HOW exactly I am going to pull this off.  Tomorrow (Sunday) is the big day.


Here's my plan:


1. The night before: Make Slow Cooker Lasagna and Brown Sugar Chicken. Put both in slow cooker (I  have 2) and go to bed.  Defrost cheese, spinach, chicken, and ground beef.
2. Hour One, the day of: Take out Lasagna and let it cool in an aluminum pan. Set Aside. Take out Brown Sugar Chicken and let cool in another pan. Clean out crock pots and put away. Take out the chicken for the grilled chicken from the fridge and start marinating in barbecue sauce and italian dressing ( but not both in the same bag!). Cook the rice.
3. Hour Two: Line up 4 aluminum or glass casserole dishes. Assemble the chicken & rice casseroles and chicken and stuffing casseroles. Package, label, and put in the freezer.
4. Hour Three: Take out the ground beef. Start browning about 3 lbs with the homemade taco seasoning.  While that is working, start mixing up and shaping the meatballs (I use my Italian grandma's recipe).  Line up the meatballs on a sheet of wax paper. When taco meat is browned, take off heat and set aside. Saute the mealballs in oil and set aside to cool.
5. Hour Four: Package, label, and freeze the meatballs and taco meat.  Start making the greens & beans. While that is cooking, whip up the pancake mix. When the greens and beans are finished, make the pancakes, working in small batches. Let everything cool, then package, label, and freeze.
6: Hour Five: We're on the home stretch! Making sure all the food is put away (we have a dog who likes to cruise counters), bring all the chicken to be grilled outside and relax for a few minutes while the chicken grills. I'd definitely recommend a cold beer or wine at this point, but not too much -- you don't want to burn the chicken. When the chicken is done, let cool, package, label, and freeze. 


Whew. 
That's the plan anyway. I'll post details, before and after kitchen pictures, and anecdotes of the experience soon.  If I'm still alive, that is. 

Once a Month Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking from the Stockpile: Part II

Photo Credit: Southern Living

In case you missed it, go here to read about my plan for a major freezer cooking extravaganza. 
To review, these are the basic ingredients in my pantry I'd like to work with:

•  Eden Organics Garbanzo beans (bought on special at Amazon)
• Cream of Chicken Soup ( $.50/can at Target a few months ago)
• Barbecue Sauce (FREE at Target)
• Salad Dressing/Marinade ($.39 each at Target and FREE at Tops)
• Chicken Breast (in Freezer - bought at Palmer's for $1.49/lb)
• Ground Beef (about 5 lbs in freezer -- Wegmans' Club Pack $1.99/lb)
• Shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese (bought in bulk at Wegmans)
• 10 lbs of Frozen Spinach from BJ's Warehouse.
• About 10 boxes of pasta from various stores
• 10 lbs of White Rice from PriceRite
• Several Boxes of Swanson Chicken Broth (No MSG!)
• Hot Dogs (about 10 packages in the freezer -- mostly Free!)

Now, I need to come up with a menu plan.  For a project of this magnitude, I need to be uber-organized! My goal is to make 20 meals or meal components (for example, marinated, cooked chicken to pair with fresh green salad) in one day. Yes, one short day. With my two kids home. And the dog. And my husband (and no, that is not the order of how likely they are to interrupt.)

First, the meat (if you will) of my plan: Menu Ideas

• Grilled Chicken marinated in Italian Dressing -- Tripled
• Ground Beef browned & cooked with Homemade Taco Seasoning (Make Tacos with fresh veggies from CSA box)-- Tripled
• Chicken & Stuffing Casserole -- Doubled
• Chicken & Rice Casserole -- Doubled
• Applesauce/Flaxseed Pancakes (we like Breakfast for Dinner!)-- Doubled
• Crock Pot Lasagna -- Doubled
• Brown Sugar Chicken -- Doubled
• Meatballs  -- making 16, enough for 2 meals)
• Pasta Sauce -- Double batch
• Greens & Beans -- doubled
• Sneaky Mac n Cheesy -- doubled

I realize that this is more than enough for 20 meals.  While most rational people would probably take a more modest approach to their first marathon freezer cooking effort, I am actually taking the opposite approach:  I'm going with the throw-everything-to-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks method.

This Sunday (which, of course, is supposed to be 90 degrees) is the day I've planned to begin my experiment. I'll be posting my plan of attack and a recap in the next few days, so stay tuned for the madness!

Once a Month Slow Cooker Freezer Cooking from the Stockpile: Part I

So, I've been wanting to do some freezer cooking for a while, to free up some time during the week and generally make life easier.  Then I thought, wouldn't it be great if I was able to use what's in my pantry stockpile currently to do the freezer cooking? I could save even more money!  I liked the sound of that idea so much, I thought, what if I was able to use my slow cooker for much (if not all) of this cooking extravaganza? This project will be a piece of cake! And, I thought, I'll make enough meals for an entire month. Then I can sit back, save money, and enjoy a little R & R. 


That's the plan, anyway. 


My first step is to get organized. I need to survey what's in my stockpile, and plan meals around that. Here's what it looks like:

Here's what I have a lot of:

•  Eden Organics Garbanzo beans (bought on special at Amazon)
• Cream of Chicken Soup ( $.50/can at Target a few months ago)
• Barbecue Sauce (FREE at Target)
• Salad Dressing/Marinade ($.39 each at Target and FREE at Tops)
• Chicken Breast (in Freezer - bought at Palmer's for $1.49/lb)
• Ground Beef (about 5 lbs in freezer -- Wegmans' Club Pack $1.99/lb)
• Shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese (bought in bulk at Wegmans)
• 10 lbs of Frozen Spinach from BJ's Warehouse.
• About 10 boxes of pasta from various stores
• 10 lbs of White Rice from PriceRite
• Several Boxes of Swanson Chicken Broth (No MSG!)

Next, I need to make my menu plan. I have a few ideas, but I'd love to get some input first. What would you make with these ingredients??