Furgal Friday

Freezing in portions!!

When I first starting freezing things I would just put the whole thing in the freezer (except for meats, I would always portion them) however I just never thought to portions other things. Well everything seems to come with experience and I have been getting better at freezing in portion sizes. I am finding out that there are a lot of things that can be frozen in portions so here are just a few that I have found work great.

Butter milk

I know there is the classic just add vinegar to your milk but sometimes I just really enjoy adding this lovely flavor to cinnamon buns, pancakes or corn bread. However most recipes only call for about 1 cup; leaving you with a container of butter milk that has lots of potential for going bad so I used trusty old google to search if this can be frozen and sure enough it can. So I carefully measured out 1 cup portions, placed in Ziploc baggies, labeled and frozen them. I just got a chance to use them the other day when I made Cranberry Chocolate Muffins and zucchini chocolate cake. It thaws quickly when I placed the baggie into a cup of hot tap water. Give it a shake and it is ready to be added to the recipe.


Pizza sauce


This is great as I make my own pizza sauce. I simply make a batch and then I place it into mini jars, label and freeze. One jar is enough for one pizza. To thaw I simply place in cold water that way I don't have to worry about the glass breaking and it doesn't take forever if I forget to take it out over night.


Pizza meats


This one is great. I buy a pack of meat (pepperoni, salami and ham) then I simply cut them in half and divide them into a little piles. Then bag the piles, label and stick in the freezer. When I make pizza I just take one out and use that for the meat.

Hot dogs and hamburgers

I use to just freeze the whole package of hot dogs then spend at least 10 minutes trying to use my mussels to get one or two hot dogs free from the frozen pack. Now when I bring them home from the grocery store I divide them 2 per bag and freeze. That way they are ready to go when I need them. Also instead of freezing the whole bag of hot dog and hamburger buns I freeze them 2 per bag so they are quick and easy to thaw for hubby and I.


Vegetables

I don't always freeze these in portions but I have found it helpful when buying things like peppers on clearance. Usually they aren't too bad so I seed them and cut them in quarters. Freeze them on a cookie sheet then place in a baggie. When a recipe calls for peppers (soup, casseroles) I simply get it out of the freezer, cut it up frozen and put it in the recipe. For other veggies such as celery I slice it up and freeze in 1 cup baggies that way I just drop a bag into soups and casseroles.

This time of year vegetables such as zucchini is great for shredding and freezing in 2 cup portions then you can simple pop it into your favorite zucchini bread or cake recipe.

So there are just a few items that freeze well in portions. Of course left overs freeze well in individual portions for hubby's lunch. It just makes baking and cooking easier when you have the ingredients frozen in portions that your recipes call for; that way you aren't waiting around for ever for something to thaw and you don't have to find ways to use up the whole quantity. If there are other things you freeze please share your secrets!

For other money saving tips visit biblical women hood.

What do you put in the Freezer?

Well I have lots of ways to save money but I want to dedicate my Fridays to putting up post about how I save money in the kitchen. To check out other ways to save money head on over to Biblical Womanhood.

This weeks topic...What can you freeze??

Just last week our family made a trip to the states. Its easy for us to make it over there because my folks live right on the boarder. This trip down we were smart and packed along our camping cooler and lots of freezer packs. I was determined to get some deals well I was there. Boys oh boys am I glad we did that. I got a good chart full of groceries well we were there. One of the main reasons I went over shopping was to pick up some chicken...its so expensive here that I don't usually get it. However I ended up paying only 0.99/lb for chicken thighs. I also picked up butter (0.99), cream cheese (4/$5.00), shredded cheese (0.99), and coffee cream (2/$1.00). The coffee cream had to be my most exciting purchase as we never have this specialty in our house but for 0.50/L who could resist. With all my new purchases it lead me to the internet when we got back to my parents house to find out if coffee cream was freezable since we had a long trip back home and more then one jug of course. And you know what...its totally freezable. The texture and flavor didn't change at all after being frozen. Also the cream cheese, shredded cheese and butter can also be frozen until ready to use. I love the freezer and being able to freeze many food items. This helps save on the budget as it helps us stock up when things are on sale. I have made a list of products that freeze well.

Butter milk (simple freeze in 1 cup portions that way it doesn't go to waste)
Butter/Margarine
Cream Cheese
Shredded Cheese (block cheese freezes too but its hard to shredded when defrosted)
Coffee Cream
Liquid egg products
Chocolate (great after Easter, Valentines, Christmas and Halloween)
Berries (strawberries, blueberries, cranberries)
Grapes (this make great ice cubes)
Bread, buns, pita, tortillas

As a challenge for the week please let me know of products that you purchase in bulk and freeze. I would love to have a list put together of freezable products, that way we know it will keep if we buy in bulk the next time its on sale.

Why not make it your self??

I think that it was probably last year when I started looking for recipes on line on how to make my own Fajita mix. You see I really like Fajitas but I don't really like the flavor of the store bought packages...plus it cost a little over $1.00 for a package that you can only use once.

Fajita mix

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. sugar
2-1/2 tsp. crushed chicken bouillon cube
1-1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cumin

Preparation:
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Pour into small glass or plastic container, seal tightly and store in a cool, dry place. Makes the equivalent of 3 packets of commercial or purchased Fajita Seasoning Mix.

When ready to use add three tablespoons of the Fajita Seasoning Mix and 1/2 - 1 cups water (depending on how thick you like it). Reduce heat to low and simmer.

I did the pricing and figured to make this recipe the total cost is 0.50 when you buy your ingredients from the bulk barn. Since the recipe can be used 3 times that equals ~ 0.17 cents a serving!!! A savings from the $1.00 packages you buy for a one time use!!! Also when discussing this over with Micah we figured that we also know what is going into the mix which makes it healthier when we don't have all the extra additives in it!!

While looking for a Fajita recipe I came across this Taco one as well. I really liked it so now I use it as well. You can add more crushed hot peppers if you want it to be hotter!

Taco Seasoning

2 teaspoons instant minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine all ingredients together. Makes enough for one time use. When ready to use just add to meat mixture with 1/4-1/2 cup of water and let simmer. If mixture is too thick add 1/4 cup more water.

Let me know of any other convenience packages that you make!!

Flyers OnLine

When we lived in our apartment I had two favorite days of the week; Wednesdays and Saturdays. You may be thinking...Katie why were these your favorite days? Well it was because those were FLYER days. On Wednesday's we would get the flyer's for places like Walmart, Drug stores and Giant Tiger. The grocery store flyer's would come on Saturdays. When we moved to our new house I was very sad to find out that the flyer's are not delivered to our house...so I was forced to search else where and what better place to find things but the world wide web! Sure enough I found that Coop, Superstore and Sobey's all have their flyer's online. I simply saved these website in our bookmarks so they are easily assessed when I go to do the meal planning for the week. Also I figure this is great as we don't have as much paper laying around the house. If you know of any other stores that have their flyer's online...please let me know!