Chicken Stock

I love chicken stock. I mean seriously, I think there is something healing about it. It's just plain old yummy!

And the best part is, it's super easy to make. I mean, crazy easy. I take my bones, leftover from a chicken roaster or the $5 rotisserie chickens, toss them in the slow cooker, cover with water, turn on low, and let it sit for a day or 2. Strain, add more water and repeat. Seriously, I find that I can get about 4-5 slow cooker's worth of stock out of 1 set of bones. 

Talk about getting bang for your dollar. I freeze it in yogurt containers, then thaw when I'm ready to use. Our favorite application (other than soup) is for rice or Polenta....mmmmm.....Yep good stuff, and like no work.

Sometimes I even add my vegetable scraps to the slow cooker as time goes and I prep food at home. Onion ends, carrot peels and tops, celery pieces....the sky's the limit and it just adds to the flavor. This is one of my husband's favorite uses of the slow cooker. When we run out of stock he instantly asks when the next time we are having chicken it :) 

Freezer Meals

     This coming week I have the pleasure of going to a freezer meal exchange. Tonight was prep night. Funny that I made dinner to freeze and the family enjoyed leftovers. Guess who still got stuck cooking and cleaning up after cooking...yep...this girl. But let me tell you how seriously awesome this is. IT ROCKS! Why? Because I do the work for 1 meal, double...errr...quadruple the recipe, and I come home with totally different meals, that I didn't have to prep. Plus I can buy all my supplies in bulk. And as the holidays are coming on us that is one less meal a week that I have to stress about, and I think we all could use a little less stress around the holidays.
     So how does this freezer meal exchange work? Well, My group takes a count of how many individuals want to participate, and then you make that many meals, freeze in 1 gallon Ziplock bags, and meet for some well deserved mommy time out while you exchange your meals. Easy-peasy. There are other ways of doing it, but this works for us and our group number.
     I believe the toughest part is deciding what you would like to make and can afford to make for a group. Last time my meals worked out to about $10 a meal. Not too bad. And the seriously great part is that you get to try out all sorts of different recipes without having to do much of the work. Some are home runs for the entire family, some are not. And that's part of the fun.

 So here are some tips I have for you:

1. When making a large quantity (in other words multiplying your recipe by 8-10) try to do your mixing in the bag of each individual portion. Less dishes, and lets be honest, I do not have a bowl big enough to mix 20 cups of rice, nor a spoon strong/long enough.

 2. Make something that you know your family will like. That way you know you have at least 1 meal that your kids will eat.

 3. Freeze your bags flat or folded in half. It takes up less freezer space that way, and folded in half is easier to put into the crockpot when the meal is frozen. Also freeze with cloth between the bags so that they don't stick together.

 4. Make sure that you can read your label. Either print the directions onto stickers or double bag and slide the instructions in between the bags if your food is dark (I learned this lesson the hard way when I made Mexican chicken rice bowls and just wrote on the bag with brown sharpie...oops). It's okay to write with sharpie, just make sure that it will be easy to read with the color of your food. And on that note, label before you fill the bags. Trust me on this one.

 5. Don't be afraid to try something new. It's good for you and good for your family.

 6. Make an extra if you can. That way you are set and prepared for when you are taking a meal to a friend after surgery or having a baby or whatever hardship may befall someone in your life.

Oh and on a side note: A rotisserie chicken from Costco yields about 4-5 cups of chicken...yep...my family will be eating a ton of chicken in the future. Praise God it freezes!

Are you inspired to try this out with your friends?

Meal Planning Monday, Week 2

Sorry it's been so long!! Here's what I'll be eating this week :)

Monday: Hot Wings with Broccoli (IF you want to make your wings at home, buy some wings, bake at 450 for 40 minutes turning once then coating in your hot sauce, I promise I won't stear you wrong, the wings are so tender and juicy this way).
Tuesday: Mannacotti
Wednesday: Chicken on a salad (You can use leftover wing meat)
Thursday: Salmon with sugar snap peas
Friday: Pizza (homemade or store bought)
Saturday: Burgers with fries
Sunday: Quiche (Toss in all your leftover veggies and meats from the week. This is a great clean the fridge meal).

Meal Planning Monday, Week 1

Here goes! My first Meal Planning Monday, I hope you all enjoy. Leave me feedback and tell me what would be helpful. I'm not including a grocery list because I don't know what you have in your pantry or refridgerater or what path you are going to take, feel free to "Sandra Lee" it (a saying in my house referring to her show on the Food Network)

Monday

Spaghetti with Meatballs

Tuesday

Pulled Pork, green beans (fresh or frozen), corn bread (mix or homemade, I follow the recipe on the package of cornmeal)

Pulled pork:

Place pork shoulder in slow cooker, cover with water, add salt and pepper, 1 onion cut into wedges and 2-3 cloves of garlic, place on low cook all day (6 + hours).

When ready to serve pull out pork and shred (throw away the rest, they've served their purpose). Serve with favorite BBQ sauce or as is.

This freezes well for a later dinner

Wednesday

Salmon, Rice (Make extra for later in the week, check your recipe to see how much), Steamed Broccoli

Salmon: I usually just add salt, pepper, and EVOO and saute. Can also add honey or Agave Nectar for a sweet surprise

Thursday

Chicken Breast marinaded in Italian dressing (make 1-2 extra cut into chunks), Corn, Side salad

Friday

Homemade Pizza

You'll need dough (store bought or homemade), cheese (Mozzarella or any Italian combos work great), pasta sauce (you used some on Monday), Toppers

Saturday

Rice Balls (recipe in Deceptively Delicious cookbook or here)

Sunday

Leftovers/fend for yourself

Growing up we always went out to eat after church. Because of this my mother didn't want to also make dinner for us because we would all be hungry at different times, so we would have a "fend for yourself night". I actually looked forward to these because I realized I could have Ice Cream and not get into trouble for it. Even your 5 year old can do this because Peanut Butter sandwiches aren't off limits here :) Enjoy and feel free to substitute at your wish!

Menu Planning Mondays

A new series? Hmm...maybe.

I was having coffee with a few friends this past week and got inspired. We were talking about menu planning. They all stated that they liked the idea of menu planning, and that they had even subscribed to a few sites that planned for you, but that they didn't necessarily like the actual planning process.

I LOVE menu planning! I love trying out new recipes and keeping our dinners varied. Yes, I do repeat recipes (about once a month) but I try not to repeat my proteins during the week (except maybe chicken), and if I do I most definitely try to re purpose my protein later in the week, so you'd never know that the chicken was the same chicken I made earlier in the week :)

I'm thinking that I'll plan meals for a week and post them on Mondays and see how it goes. I won't necessarily include how to cook your chicken or pork so that you can spice it up any way you like, but will provide ideas for you to get your own culinary juices flowing.

Let me know if you'd be interested in this or if you have any ideas. This is meant to be fun, plus I'm already doing this for my household, why not share it with everyone else :)

Menu Planning

During our last PCS (that's military terms for moving), I came to a realization. I buy way too much food. Now it's nice to have a stocked pantry and refrigerator. However, I discovered that I was also throwing away a lot of food that would either expire or go bad. I was literally throwing money away (seriously, I would have furry oranges...disgusting).

When we settled, I decided I was going to start meal planning. Little did I realize that there were free services on the Internet that would do this for you, so I went out, bought a notebook and started making a list. I'd write down the days of the week, and underneath, what we'd be having for dinner that night.

Once I started this, I was able to cut my trips to the store down from weekly, to every other week. Yes, I do run out of milk or eggs every now and then, and yes I do have a few staples that I keep extras of in my pantry, but I started throwing away a lot less food! This meant I was tossing less money straight into the disposal.

Not only that, but I was also saving money by not going to the store as often and making less "extra" or "impulse" purchases. Before I was spending $100-120 a week on food, now I am spending about $200-$220 every 3 weeks. I was astounded at how much I was saving!

I highly encourage you to give it a try for a month, if you don't already plan. It not only saves me money, but also saves me some stress because I know that tonight I'll be making Salmon for dinner with a nice salad :)