Food Saver for Freezer Meals

I recently received one of the best gifts ever- a FoodSaver.  I've never had or used one before, so I didn't realize what I was missing.  If you've never used one either let me tell you, you're in for a treat.

The gift arrived in perfect timing as I had just finished up another round of freezer meals with my sisters.  For new readers, we do this every few months and stock up our freezers full of delicious, homemade dinners for our families.  We average about $6/meal, and when I say meal I mean really good food- we're not talking hot dogs and noodles folks.  For more info on how to start making your own freezer meals, catch up on my tips and some recipes HERE.

Typically I pack up my freezer meals in a zip loc bag, lay them out flat to freeze and then stack them neatly in the freezer.  This doesn't work for everything however, like the casserole/enchilada/lasagna recipes.  Here's how I used my new FoodSaver to 1) store my food in airtight bags that will last longer without freezer burn, and 2) save me the mess later of having to wait for my meal to thaw enough to remove the saran and foil before I drop it in the pan.

Step one: Seal one end of the FoodSaver roll (unless you are using FoodSaver bags, which will already be sealed shut on one end)

Line up one end of the roll against the sealing strip,

 close the lid and lock it in place,

press the "seal" button and wait with anticipation,

and voila, one end is sealed.

Step two: Cut your bag to size

I found that the easiest way to do this was simply to hold the bag over my freezer meal, and then eyeball an additional 3 inches to the length of my meal.

Step three: Seal the deal

If desired, label the top before you seal it as it will be easier to do this with a flat surface before the food is inside. I quickly wrote the name of the meal, and cooking instructions.

Place your food in the bag, leaving at least 3 inches of space from the food to the top (unsealed end) of your bag. 

Tuck the top end into the vacuum chamber, close and lock the lid, and press the "vac/seal" button.

Watch in awe as this awesome machine sucks out all the air and gives you this cute little package in the end.

A few tips if you would like to use a FoodSaver to freeze meals like freezer meals, or your excess leftovers.  First, you really need to pre-freeze the meal.  The FoodSaver pulls excess liquid out, so if you were trying to freeze soup for example, you're going to a lose a lot of the meal.

With most of my meals, I froze them in the dishes I plan on using later to bake them in, then removed them from the dish once frozen and sealed them in their frozen state.

 When I'm ready to use the meal, I remove the frozen meal from the sealed bag and set it in the dish to thaw until it's time to cook.

To save a step, you can also put the meal right into a foil pan, and after freezing it you can seal it up right in the foil pan that you will cook it in.  It bends the shape slightly when it vacuums the air out, but not enough that it's going to hurt anything.

Here is my cute little finished stack of freezer meals all vacuum sealed and ready to store!

Did I mention how much I love this new gadget?  I can't wait to start storing my chicken and meats I buy in bulk with the FoodSaver bags in my freezer.

Do any of you have any tips on other things I might get excited about using the FoodSaver for?

~PW

Peanut Curried Chicken

To all of my curry loving peeps out there- this one is for you. Here's a recap of my sweets' and my conversation from the other night when I heated up this amazing dish from the Freezer Meal Night.

• Sweets:  (mouth full of food and about to inhale a second forkful) How many more bags of this recipe did you make?
• Me: Just this one.
• Sweets: Uh oh. Let's steal your sister's and mom's. 
• Me: (immediately texting away to all who joined me for the freezer meal night) We ate the curried chicken tonight and it is awful.  I feel so horrible for suggesting this meal.  We're willing to sacrifice one of our lasagna dishes for your curried chicken.  So sorry!

Unfortunately the plot didn't work as we had hoped.  Everyone had already eaten theirs and instead of laughing at the joke they were a bit slow and questioned why we didn't like it when they all loved it.

I promise it was funny when it happened.  Reading it now, it just looks like a waste of your time.  Sorry folks...

The majority of this recipe come from Rachel Ray and can be viewed here.  This version has been adapted to Penny Wenny's liking (and heat removed to satisfy all the kiddos that we have to feed).

Peanut Curried Chicken

 For the Freezer Meal Night, this recipe was multiplied by 4 and then divided up among 5 families.  If you only intend to make this for your family, only do a quarter of each ingredient.

Source: Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

4 small bunches green onions, coarsely chopped                   

4 inch cube ginger, peeled and grated                                   

8 TBSP minced garlic                                                

2 cups cilantro leaves (approx 2 bunches)                  

2 containers of Medium Curry blocks (or 10 TBSP curry powder).  The blocks give you a much more authentic indian flavor

4 cans chicken broth                                                  

4 TBSP veggie oil                                                                  

15 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces             

1 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter                                                         

3 cans coconut milk               

To Prepare:

Combine scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, curry powder and a splash of chicken broth in mixing bowl and whisk into a paste. 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with oil.  Add chicken to pan and brown, 2-3 minutes.  Add spice paste and stir 1 minute to combine.  Add peanut butter to the pan and whisk in chicken broth.  Bring to a bubble and whisk in coconut milk, lower heat and simmer 7-8 minutes.

To freeze (optional):

 Ladle into zip loc freezer bags.  Cool in refrigerator.  Seal bag and freeze until ready to serve.

To serve:

 Defrost chicken in refrigerator the day prior to serving.  Heat in skillet over low heat until heated through. .

OPTIONAL: Add red pepper flakes for heat if desired.  Serve over rice

Our house smelled like Indian Heaven while this was heating up.  Even little Trav couldn't wait to dig in (sitting at Daddy's place of course...)

And yes, his shirt really does say "Dude your girlfriend keeps checking me out".  He's a lady's man for sure.

 I have to end this post with the best quote I heard today from my friend Heidi, the Shoeologist:

"When God closes one door, he opens a box of girl scout cookies".

That He does, Heidi.  I am incredibly sad to say however that I have yet to eat my first girl scout cookie of the season and typically by now I have inhaled at least 3 boxes.  Am I on a diet, you ask?  Watching my calories?  Trying to eat healthier?  Heavens no.  I just never remembered to order them.  I am dying!  If anyone just so happens to drop some off at my house tomorrow morning for my breakfast, I promise I won't object. MMMkay, thanks.

This darling Shoeologist is hosting a giveaway for a free pair of adorable Lucha shoes in gray or red.  Hop on over HERE and enter to win.  They are sooo my style.

I'm sharing this recipe with:


~PW

Meatballs and more madness

Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words on the master bedroom makeover.  I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and discouraged about it the other night so hearing such nice comments motivated me to keep calm and carry on!  Randy let me know about a contest by Ivory Homes which I am thrilled about, but the entries are due this Monday by 5 pm.  Holy. Crap.  That means that in 4 days I need to complete the following:

• Buy, cut, and install the rest of the picture frame moulding
• Caulk, prime and paint the moulding
• Paint and glaze second night stand, and paint/clean up hardware for both stands
• Recover two lamp shades
• Paint and cut to size new curtain rod
• Hang rod
• Buy and install new chandelier
• Sew (2) shams
• Sew decorative pillows (I'm planning on about 5 right now)
• Buy wall paper for picture frames
• Print black and white prints for other frames
• Paint and assemble frame for my SLC temple picture
• Hang wall art
• Clean all of my bedding
• Clean my room- doesn't sound like a huge feat but if you saw the condition of my room right now, you'd understand
• Last but not least- I had intended on sewing the additional cross section fabric onto my curtains.  I won't be able to get the fabric in time however, so I need to come up with a temp solution for the "photo shoot"

Oh, I also need to find a great photographer to come and shoot the pics at promptly 4:59 since I'm sure I'll be scrounging to finish up until that last minute.  I have two rehearsals with my students tomorrow, and just as a side note my sweets will be out of town this weekend.  No biggie.

If I'm alive on Monday, I'll chat with you all then.  Until then, enjoy these marvelous meatballs that we made for freezer meal night.  These are FABULOUS and you don't have to freeze them.  Enjoy :)

Mini Meatballs (doubled the original recipe)

*** Note- this recipe is enough to serve 5 families***

Source: Freeze Happy

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15-25 minutes
Yield: 180 meatballs

Ingredients:

2 large onions, grated                                                 

3 cups fresh grated parmesan

18 tsp minced garlic                                       

6 tsp salt                                                         

6 large eggs                                                    

2 tsp ground black pepper                                          

1.5 cups Italian style bread crumbs                        

6 lbs ground meat (3 lbs ground beef, 3 lbs ground turkey)

½ c ketchup                                                        

1.5 cups chopped fresh parsley                                  

Approx 6 tsp dried basil                                              

To Prepare

-Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey and ground beef...making sure to NOT over mix. Working the meat too much will make it tough.

- Shape the turkey mixture into 1 inch-diameter meatballs. Cover  cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place meatballs on baking sheet, Flash Freeze.  Put meatballs in freezer bags until ready to serve.

To Serve:

-Defrost meatballs the morning of the day that you intend to bake them (My sister pulled hers right out of the freezer and baked them frozen without defrosting first and she said they still turned out wonderfully).

 Bake meatballs on Teflon (dark) cookie sheet at 400* for 15-25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160*F. If you like them a bit more browned than they turn out, just stick them under a low broiler until desired brown crust is added (yummm....my favorite part).

You can use these meatballs in so many different dishes.  We served ours with a bottle of marinara sauce over rice, with a green salad.  A meatball sub on a hoagie with marinara and melted provolone would be to die for.  These are hands down the best meat balls I have ever had.  I LOVE this recipe.

Note: Do not overcrowd the meatballs on the pan...I get 4 rows across and 6 down on a standard rimmed baking sheet. You can bake two sheets at once, but switch racks halfway through cooking time.
- Store in ziplock bag in freezer for up to 1 year.

Yum-boli Stromboli

Okay that is so cheesy, I know, but seriously it just fits.  This freezer meal is fabulous.  We made this recipe several months ago for our first freezer meal night, but ours didn't turn out so well.  Almost all of our cheese oozed out, the center caved in and the dough cooked unevenly. This go around, we split our family's portion into two smaller servings.  My sister also suggested that we tuck each of the ends under to help keep the cheese in.  It worked fantastically.  This dish will please the kiddos, and can be made for a regular meal any night of the week, not just to freeze for later use. 

Disfruta!

Yum-boli Stromboli
(multiplied original recipe by 5 for 5 families)

Source:  My sister Ali

Ingredients:

5 loaves Rhodes bread dough

1.5 lbs thinly sliced deli ham

2 lbs sliced pepperoni

2 lbs sliced provolone cheese

¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1.5 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese

5 tsp garlic powder

5 tsp dried oregano

1 ¼ tsp dried parsley flakes

1 ¼ tsp pepper

5 egg yolks, beaten (needed as a fresh ingredient when ready to serve; note- only 1 per family serving)

Instructions:

Let dough rise until doubled in size.  Roll loaf into a 15” x 12” rectangle (Note- several of us made this into two servings for our family, so we made (2) smaller rectangles). 





Optional step- pretend to eat the dough.  I'm certain it must add some character to the dough.  It worked for us...

 Arrange meats and cheeses down the middle of the rectangle dough, careful not to go too close to the edges.  Sprinkle each layer with spices. 

Fold dough around meat and seal pressing down together on seams and ends.  (We also tucked the ends under for an extra seal to avoid the cheese from melting out when baking). 

See Ali's stromboli on the right for how she pinches it shut once the insides are filled.

To freeze:

Wrap loaf with plastic wrap, and then foil.  Freeze immediately to avoid dough from rising any more. 

To serve:

Defrost in fridge the day prior to serving.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat together egg yolk, and brush over top of loaf.  Bake for 25-30 min on greased cookie sheet or pizza stone.  Slice loaves on a diagonal and serve with fresh marinara sauce and ranch. 

Yum-boli!

Freezer Meal Night

My sisters, momma and I with (1) family's meals from the night

I mentioned that I did another freezer meal night with my sisters and mother dear the other night.  It required a lot of prep work and planning (I was in charge of it this go around) but was so worth it.  I have had several people ask for the recipes we used, and how we do this.  My sister Ali started the tradition for us several months ago and this was only our second go around, so by no means do I claim to be an expert on the subject.  Overall though, we've had some really yummy meals and I think we did pretty well with planning the right amounts (with the exception of our French Dip Sandwiches...kind of a laughing matter for us the whole night actually). 

Today I will post how to plan and prepare for your own freezer meal event, and over the next week or so will post the recipes we used.

First, select your recipes:
We have made (10) different recipes each time we've done this.  It's worked well for us.  Several of them make large amounts, so some of us opted to divide several of our meals into two nights worth.  We also tried our best to get a variety of recipes (mexican, italian, soup, sandwiches, etc etc).

Multiply your recipes and divide up shopping list:
This was actually the most time consuming part.  Several of the recipes make a ton of food, so often times we only multiplied an original recipe by 3 for example, instead of (5) for all 5 of our families.  Next, I typed up the list of all ingredients with specific instructions for how they needed to be prepared (i.e 4.5 cups chopped onions, or 5 lbs ground beef, browned).  I divvied up the list amongst the 5 of us, making sure to give each ingredient that was duplicated on several recipes to only one person, so that we could buy in bulk and save on cost.  I also had to keep in mind what grocery items had more major prep work, and was careful to divide that up evenly so that one person wasn't stuck with preparing all the meat for example, or grating all the cheese.

Shop!
Each of us purchased our assigned ingredients (looking first for the best deal of course) and made sure to keep our receipts to reimburse one another at the end. Perhaps the greatest part about buying everything in such large quantities is how much money you save.  We averaged about $5-$6 PER MEAL for our whole family.  Eat that, Little Caesers!

Prepare your assignments at home:
When I sent out the lists to each person, I gave them assignments for any prep work that needed to be done.  We try to do as much of the time consuming work at home (or anything that needs to slow cook) so that we can simply assemble the rest when we are together.  Some of the prep work that went on this time around was:  peeling and cutting veggies, chopping LOTS of onions, grating cheese, browning ground beef, slow cooking beef with other ingredients for enchiladas, and slow cooking beef for french dip sandwiches.

The Main Event- Freezer Night:
We all met at my moms house and began the mayhem.  Each of us in addition to our food assignments brought:

• A large cooler (to bring our food in and to take our finished meals home in)
• Our own bags of gallon sized and quart sized freezer bags
• Our own plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and cooking spray
• Our own casserole dishes (as specified per recipes)
• Our assigned pots/pans, mixing bowls, utensils, knives etc as needed per recipes

We set up two tables to work on.  A prep table for food, and a "packing" table where we laid out our "stuff" assembly line style so we could keep track of whose items were where and quickly prepare each person's dishes/ bags as needed.  This worked really well for us as often times one person got all of the bags or dishes ready instead of everyone stopping what they were doing to prepare their own items.

Assembly line table for packaging

Prep table

We organized the recipes based on the amount of time/work required.  We started first with the more difficult/time consuming recipes.  We worked best with two people working together on one task at hand.  Once one recipe was completed, it went into the bag or dish, was labeled with a sharpie, and put into the coolers.

Recipes sorted into piles: fast, medium, time consuming

*** A very critical part of the night for us is ordering in chinese.  You can't imagine how hard it is to smell the wonderful aromas on a hungry belly.  The last thing we wanted to do was prepare another meal for us to eat that night... Chinese it is! ****

Label frozen meals with instructions, or print out an instruction sheet that you have handy for serving your meals:
I'd say that header is pretty self explanatory :)


Overall, our evening lasted about 5 hours this time around (which was pretty fast for us- the first one was about 6-7 hours).  It is a lot of work but so worth the effort to have delicious home cooked meals ready at your fingertips.  We have decided to keep this a quarterly tradition.  Considering that I've already used 2 of my meals over the last week, it looks like I may be in trouble. :)

Recipes you can look forward to shortly:

• Mini Meatballs
• Leftover Baked Potato Soup
• Shredded Beef Enchiladas
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• French Dip Sandwiches
• Peanut Curried Chicken
• Penny Wenny's Creamy Salsa Chicken
• Lasagna
• Beef Stew
• Stromboli

~ PW