Placing finished meals in your freezer can save you time in the kitchen. It takes hardly any more time and only double your ingredients to have a time saving meal ready for the times when you just don’t have the energy or the time to start a meal fresh.

If you would like to start cooking for the freezer. Start with these six tips to help you get the most out of your freezer and maximize your efforts in the kitchen.

1. Freezing foods can alter the tastes of some spices such as garlic, pepper and cloves. When you first make your dishes in preparation for the freezer, season your food lightly before sealing it up.

2. Use both foil and plastic wrap to keep your food from getting freezer burned. If you are wrapping an item that you will place directly in the oven, such as a casserole, consider wrapping it first in aluminum foil and then either placing in a large freezer bag or wrapping in plastic. Use double layers of foil or heavy duty foil for maximum protection.

3. Don’t forget to label your foods so that months down the line you are not playing the guessing game. Use waterproof labels and/or ink so that your writing doesn’t get smudged.

4. Remember not all foods freeze well. Some that rank up there are mayonnaise, raw tomatoes, boiled potatoes, cottage and cream cheese. Get a list of non-freezer friendly foods. Go here for a list of foods that don’t freeze well

5. Some good things to freeze for emergencies are unfrosted cakes, cookie dough, and pie crusts. You never know when unexpected company might drop by. I often freeze my cake layers for the many birthdays that dot the year.

6. Make sure you remove as much air as possible from food items before placing them in the freezer. This will help keep your foods frost free.

With these tips and some delicious freezer friendly meals you’ll be getting out of the kitchen fast in no time.

O Quinn is a stay at home mom who loves cooking delicious meals but not living in the kitchen. Visit her at http://www.homemakingorganized.com and http://www.quick-easy-cooking.com

Making dinner got you down? Do you find yourself letting out a big sigh around five or six o’clock when you realize you have yet another meal to cook? Follow these five tips below to simply the dinner meal making.

1. Have pre-cut seasoning vegetables such as onions, carrots, and celery already cut and bagged in the freezer. When you come home from the grocery store. After taking a moment to take a breath. Get out your cutting board, knife and/or food processor and go to town.

2. If you don’t have the energy or inclination for once a month cooking try once a week cooking. Take a day that you have the least amount of pressing issues and make up a couple of meatloaves, casseroles or soups and have them ready to go in the freezer.

3. As you’re cooking have the sink full of soapy hot water to soak the dishes you are using. My mother always said to clean as you go and isn’t it much nicer to be done cooking and realize the kitchen is clean as well?

4. Keep a list handy of the things you have in your pantry. Tape or tack it to the inside of the door. That way you won’t run out of important staples when it’s time to cook.

5. Make leftover night one of your dinners. I do this on a day when we are really busy. You can make your leftovers into an entirely new meal or do as I do and just stuff it all in the oven or various pots on the stove. Clean is a bit more when I do this but I’m not overtired from a bunch of cooking.

Of course there are many more things you can do to make dinner easier on you but these are just a few tips that might give you a jump start.

For complete checklists for home and life visit Household Notes and for information on organizing your home visit Homemaking Organized

‘Green’ is in! You hear about recycling and saving Mother Earth every day. Today’s generation probably think they invented recycling and green living. Back in the day, everyone grew ‘organic’ foods; we just did not know it.

Given the economic woes of today, everyone is looking for a way to save money on grocery bills. It seems to me that we just need to take a small step back in time to the kitchen of our childhood. We can save a great deal of money simply by not wasting it. Even before the Great Depression, country cooks knew how to use every bit of food that came across their kitchen table. The next time you are bagging up your kitchen garbage, think about how much you are wasting. In the early 1900’s, homemakers were told the only items that should find their way into a garbage pail were:

Egg shells – after being used to clear coffee
Potato skins – after having been cooked on the potato
Banana skins – if there are no tan shoes to be cleaned
Bones – after having been boiled in a soup kettle
Coffee grounds – if there is no garden where they can be used for fertilizer
Tea leaves – if they are not needed for brightening rugs when swept
Asparagus ends – after being cooked for soup
Decayed leaves and dirty ends of roots of green leafy vegetables

That is not a very long list, but it probably is still relevant today if you are recycling. Take out the food cans, boxes, plastic bottles, and you probably don’t have that much true ‘garbage’. But, how much of that food is wasted? Buying in bulk or because something is on sale is not going to save you money if it ends up in the garbage. Here are some modern ways to save those leftovers:

1) Milk & Juice nearing expiration – Freeze this in ice cube trays & then transfer to a freezer bag to save for use in a recipe, drinks or smoothies.

2) Chicken broth – I love to boil chicken breasts to use in salads and casseroles. I always save the leftover broth and freeze it. It makes a great start for your next pot of soup.

3) Beef drippings – The next time you make a roast, freeze some of the drippings for a future stew.

4) Baked Chicken – Save those bones! After you have removed all the chicken you want, boil the remaining whole chicken in a stock pot. Strain the bones and you have chicken stock to freeze for your next recipe.

5) Mashed potatoes – Freeze leftover mashed potatoes in muffin tins and then place in a freezer bag. When ready to use, just defrost, add a little milk and re-heat.

6) Bread – You can freeze it before it goes stale and use a slice or two as needed. Once it is stale, you can still use it for French toast, meatloaf, or bread crumbs. Leftover biscuits and muffins can be frozen and used for a quick breakfast in the weeks to come.

7) Coffee – Don not throw what is left in the pot down the drain! Turn off the warmer so it does not get too strong after brewing. Refrigerate the leftovers for an iced coffee later on or re-heat it the next day.

It seems we always end up with a bite or two of something leftover that ends up going down the garbage disposal. Save those beans, vegetables, rice, meat and chicken scraps for a soup or casserole. Even if you don’t make soup from scratch, it is a quick way to dress up canned soup so it seems homemade.

The art of utilizing left-overs is an important factor in the prevention of waste. The thrifty have always known it. The careless have always ignored it. Which are you?

Margery Newberry

http://www.talesfromthehollow.blogspot.com

Provided vegetables are treated properly, they will freeze particularly well, retaining more flavor and goodness than by preserving in any other method. Learn the four basic rules dealt with this section and you cannot fail. Blanching, chilling, packaging and correct cooking. Vegetables cannot be frozen raw. They must be blanched first, whilst fresh and tender. Blanching vegetables helps to seal in the color, flavor and nutritive value. Raw vegetables stored in a freezer will lose quality easily.

1. Blanching

This is quite easy. Put approximately 1 lb. of fresh clean vegetables into a blanching basket sitting in a large quantity of rapidly boiling water. Do no add salt. Place a tight fitting lid in position and wait until the water returns to the boil before starting the blanching time. Blanching times vary depending on the size of the individual pieces of vegetable. 1½ minutes is ample blanching time for peas, sliced beans or carrot rings. 1½ minutes is also ample for shredded cabbage, spinach and silver beet. When you are blanching larger pieces of vegetables simply lengthen the blanching time. Example 1 inch pieces of green beans would take 2 minutes, whole beans or small thin carrots would take 3 minutes. Corn on the cob, being larger still would take 5-8 minutes depending on the size.

Consequently judging the blanching time required becomes easy once the size factor is remembered. For example a cauliflower left whole, would need blanching for 6-9 minutes. However, if the cauliflower is broken 2-3 minutes would be ample. Potatoes, kumara and pumpkin should be half cooked before freezing. Blanching is insufficient for this type of vegetable. Chill quickly then freeze on trays for 2 hours before packaging and returning to the freezer. Beet root can be successfully frozen by half cooking without peeling. Chill quickly, then peel and slice or dice before packaging in meal size quantities. No further cooking is required, as the deep freeze process has a tenderizing effect. Thaw beet root when required and serve as desired. Mushrooms also freeze well. Fry lightly in butter and spread out to cool on cold plates. Deep freeze cold mushrooms by the flat pack method.

As an alternative method, simmer mushrooms in milk until tender. Thicken with rice flour for best results, leave to cool completely before packaging in meal-size quantities. To serve mushrooms simply reheat whilst still frozen and use in your favorite recipe. Frozen cooked mushrooms will keep in good condition for up to 4 months.

2. Chilling

When blanching time is complete, lift blanching basket from boiling water and gently transfer from boiling water and gently transfer vegetables into a colander sitting in ice cold water. A block of ice placed in a sink full of cold water will speed up the chilling process. Vegetables should not take any longer to chill than they do to blanch, if you use ice in the chilling water. Freeze 2 pint unbreakable bowls of cold water to make blocks of ice.

3. Packaging

Once vegetables are chilled, remove from water and drain. For best result pat dry with a clean tea towel. I recommend the free flow method of packaging or the flat pack.

4. Cooking

So many frozen vegetables are spoil by overcooking. Remember, they have been already been tenderized twice. Once when blanched, and again whilst stored below zero in your freezer. Therefore, very little cooking is required. Do not thaw it simply drop frozen vegetables into boiling salted water. When water returns to the boil, lower the heat then simmer for one third or less of the cooking time normally given to fresh vegetables. Although all frozen vegetables should be cooked from the frozen state I find corn on the cob the exception to the rule, because it takes such a long time to defrost in the center. I recommend thawing corn cobs for at least 2 hours before cooking in boiling salted water for 5-6 minutes. Potatoes, kumara and pumpkin may be placed into hot fat whilst still frozen and roasted (baked) in a hot oven, or cooked in a deep fryer until golden brown.

Daphnie is a food lover who has been involved in food industry for 10 years. She learn the easy and simple way cooking style from her mother and grandmother. She prefer to have the home make cooking style instead of outside food. She know how much housewives will appreciate the recipes. Special thought has been given to the speed and ease of preparation to streamline cooking chores whenever possible to the minimum. Not only are these dishes attractive, they really are simple and speedy to make. Test and try out any of these dishes and you will agree that as well as being entirely successful, they all live up to our claim that they are not only delicious but quick and easy to prepare.

You can visit my website at http://www.a1cookrecipes.com