Freezer Cooking

We love eating just about any variety of soup or stew — especially on cold winter evenings. And I love making soup because we always end up with lots of leftovers for later in the week or for the freezer… so yeah, we eat a lot of soup!

I “discovered” this recipe two years ago when I was making soup to take to school for Dave’s birthday lunch. I wanted something that was a little different than all the “traditional” soups, but still really hearty and delicious. Thankfully, this recipe was a huge hit and my pot was practically licked clean!

This soup is now a regular meal in our fall and winter meal plans. It stores well in the fridge for leftovers, it freezes wonderfully, it’s a complete meal all by itself, and of course, everyone loves it!

I love the idea of using stuffed pasta in a soup as I feel it makes the recipe more filling, and the sausage is a nice change from chicken or beef.

Recipe for Hearty Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup:

{print this recipe}

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground sausage
• 1 medium onion; diced {I used 2 small ones}
• 3 garlic cloves {or 1 t. garlic powder}
• 4 – 5 c. broth or water {I used 2 c. beef broth and 2 c. veggie broth}
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 4 carrots; peeled and chopped
• 1 green pepper; chopped
• 1 15 oz. can sliced mushrooms with liquid
• 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes {I just used 1 quart of my home-canned tomatoes}
• 2 t. white sugar
• 1 T. parsley
• 1 T. basil
• 1 T. oregano
• 1 19 oz. package frozen tortellini {I used cheese, but beef would be good too}
• Parmesan cheese

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This time of year, when the weather is getting cold and holiday festivities make life even busier, I often rely on my crock pot to help get dinner on the table.

I’ve actually been using my crock pot so often that I’m asking for a larger one for Christmas… hint hint

One of the reasons I love using my crock pot is because I can just dump all the ingredients in, turn it on, and walk away. I don’t need to stir a boiling pot and I don’t need to pull something out of the oven on time… I can simply go about my day and come back in several hours to a hot meal and a delicious smelling kitchen!

It doesn’t get much easier than that!  

About a month ago, I recieved two really simple crock pot recipes from Sandy — a very loyal reader. Since then, I’ve made both recipes and can attest to how simple and delicious they are.

Sandy suggests buying the meat when it’s on sale and then making big batches of the following:

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Pulled Pork Loin

• one can of apple pie filling
• one pork loin
• one bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions:

• spray crock pot with cooking spray (for easy cleanup)
• dump in the apple pie filling, put the whole pork loin on the pie filling and top with BBQ sauce.
• cook on low 8-10 hours
• pull pork apart and stir to mix with pie filling and BBQ sauce
• serve on buns or your favorite bread

Creamy Turkey or Chicken

• 6+ cups of cooked and shredded turkey or chicken
• 1 can cream soup (mushroom, chicken or celery)
• 1 can french onion soup

Directions:

• mix all ingredients in a crock pot
• cook on low 6 hours
• stir and serve on buns or toasted bread

I’ve made both of these recipes and they really are so quick, simple, and delicious. Plus they make a lot of food — which means you can eat some now and put the rest in the freezer for later!

Thanks for the delicious recipes Sandy!

What are your favorite Crock Pot recipes?

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Dave and I {and our two international students} all love soup and we all love anything Mexican. So the other night, when I made this Spicy Refried Bean Soup — you can probably imagine it was a big hit.

Everyone had seconds and there was still plenty left over for lunches — and I even put a large container in the freezer!

Besides that fact that this soup tastes amazing, it’s also REALLY easy to make, and extremely inexpensive since the protein comes from beans. Oh, and the ingredients are pantry staples I’m guessing you might already have on hand.

Recipe for Spicy Refried Bean Soup:

{print this recipe}

Ingredients:

• 2 T. oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced {or 1 t. garlic powder}

• 1 15oz. can corn with liquid

• 1 16 oz. can refried beans

• 1 15oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 2 c. chicken broth {or water}

• 1 quart stewed or diced tomatoes {I used my canned tomatoes but you could just use a 14oz can from the store}
• 1 c. water {or more if you like your soup more liquidy}

• 1 7 oz. can chopped green chilies

• 1/2 c. salsa

Extras: these ingredients are optional and DO make it a little spicier!

• 1-2 c. chopped green, red, yellow, and/or jalapeno peppers

• 1 t. red pepper flakes

• 1 t. chili power

• 1 T. hot sauce

• You could also substitute the black beans and refried beans for spicy black beans and spicy refried beans

Toppings: 

• Crushed tortilla chips
• Shredded cheese
• Sour Cream
• Green onions
• Fresh cilantro

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large stock pot and saute onions and garlic until onions are tender

• Add the rest of the the ingredients and simmer on medium until heated through {about 20-30 minutes}

• Add in any extra “spicy” ingredients near the end of your simmering time.

• Serve plain or with optional toppings.

Not only is this soup recipe SO quick and easy; it’s also full of flavor, absolutely delicious, and really inexpensive to make since there’s no meat! Of course you could add in a pound of ground beef or ground turkey, but I feel there is enough protein with the beans that we don’t really NEED the meat… and no one in my family even noticed! 

It also freezes wonderfully and the ingredients can easily be adapted to fit your family’s taste buds. 

What’s your favorite soup to make this time of year?

.

Make sure to visit the Simple Organized Living Recipe Box for lots more simple, delicious, family friendly, budget conscious recipe ideas!

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Dave and I love a good, hot, crispy English Muffin for breakfast; however, I refuse to buy them from the store because they rarely go on sale, and the regular price can be over $3.50 for 6 lousy {preservative filled} English Muffins.

Thankfully, my mother-in-law shared her recipe for English Muffin Bread with me and for the last few years, it has been our much tastier, much healthier, and much cheaper alternative to store bought English Muffins.

There are so many uses for English Muffin Bread, but our favorite are tasty Egg Sandwhiches, which I’ll show you how to make if you keep reading…

… but first you have to make the bread! 

English Muffin Bread is quite easy to make, it only has a few very basic ingredients, and it makes 2 large loaves which can easily be stored in the freezer for long periods of time!

INGREDIENTS:

{print recipe}

• 3 c. flour
• 2 packets active dry yeast {or 4 1/2 t. if you buy it in jars like I do}
• 2 t. salt
• 1 T. granulated sugar
• 1/4 t. baking soda

• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. water

• 2 1/2 c. additional flour

So besides the yeast, I’m guessing you should have almost all these ingredients in the house all the time! And if you don’t do a lot of bread baking, you can keep yeast in the freezer and it will stay fresh for a really long time {just so you know!)

DIRECTIONS:

• In a large bowl, mix the first 5 dry ingredients together

• In a small bowl, combine milk and water. Heat in the microwave until hot {usually a minute or two}

• Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and beat well {I like stirring it with a wooden spoon}

• Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 c. flour until you have a very stiff batter

• Spoon batter into two WELL GREASED bread loaf pans

• Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes

• Preheat oven to 400*F

• After bread rises, bake {uncovered} for 25 minutes or until done

• Remove from pans immediately and let cool completely

• Cut both loaves into thin slices and freeze in air-tight containers or freezer bags {see picture above}

 UPDATE: a reader emailed me this cute, printable recipe card — you can click on it to print it off! 

Once the bread is frozen, it will stay fresh for months, and whenever you want a slice, just pull one out of the freezer and pop it in your toaster — just like an English Muffin!

The bread is so soft and delicious, yet still so crunchy — WAY better than any store bought English Muffin… I promise!!

English Muffin Bread and Egg Sandwiches:

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Obviously, you may eat this bread however you would normally eat an English Muffin. We often eat ours like toast — with a little butter, jam, or peanut butter on it.

However, we also love making Egg, Ham, and Cheese Sandwiches with our English Muffin Bread — either for a hearty breakfast or a really quick dinner {we actually had them this week and both our international students loved them!}

I’ve listed several of my favorite quick and “make-ahead” breakfast recipes below; but first, I want to share one of our all-time favorite breakfast “recipes”…

The Egg, Ham, and Cheese Sandwich

And just so you know, I can whip up FOUR of these sandwiches in about 7 minutes, and only get one pan dirty!

STEP 1 = crack four eggs directly into a large heated frying pan and scramble a bit {no need to get a bowl dirty!}

You should also put four slices of frozen English Muffin Bread into your toaster at this time {and start toasting them}

STEP 2 = once the eggs have cooked for a minute or two, divide them into four equal parts and flip to continue cooking

STEP 3 = Top each egg with a little of your favorite cheese and a slice of your favorite meat. Flip one more time so the meat side gets toasty and the cheese fully melts.

STEP 4 = Your English Muffin Bread should pop up any second now and when it does, put the slices on plates and then top with the egg, cheese, and ham

DONE! 

Such a hearty breakfast in under 10 minutes… yum! 

Here are a few more of my favorite breakfast recipes:

• Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

• Breakfast Burritos

• Homemade Granola

• Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

• Maple Pecan Sticky Rolls

• Perfect Pancakes

What are your favorite breakfasts foods?

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When we moved — way back in December — we sold our deep freezer with our house {it was old and too big for our new house}. However, it only took me two weeks to realize how much I missed having an extra freezer!

So I started looking to find a deal via Craigslist… and I kept looking with very little luck. I told myself that I should wait to find a deal but decided that if I didn’t find a deal by August 1, I would buy a NEW freezer.

Well, the months went on, and all the freezers were either too big, too small, too old, or too expensive. So when August 1 rolled around, I headed to Lowe’s with a 10% off coupon and purchased the exact freezer I wanted {don’t worry, I did my research!}

It’s the largest freezer we could buy that would also fit down our basement stairs, it’s energy star rated, and it was delivered and moved to our basement for free the next day! Plus we have $150 of coverage if any of our food spoils due to a malfunction or power outage, and a 3-year warranty covering ANYTHING that could possibly go wrong {except if we leave the door open}.

I figure that since a new freezer costs about $45 per year to run, and older models can cost over $150 per year to run, the new freezer will pay for itself in about 3 years — the warranty and free delivery also helped seal the deal!

I suppose sometimes it’s worth it to get brand new!

!

I’m so excited to have a big freezer again — just in time to start cooking and baking ahead for the busy back-to-school season, the holiday season, and for whenever baby Dekker decides to arrive {3 months to go}!

However, since I haven’t had much freezer space for the past 7 months, I had to do some serious grocery shopping to stock up our new freezer. So, I gathered up my coupons, scoured the weekly fliers, made a huge grocery list, and headed to the store on Monday.

Thanks to a bunch of really good sales at Meijer, multiple coupons, and a special 20% credit card deal, I was able to purchase everything you see in the picture above plus our entire weeks worth of groceries for only $38.12 and I saved almost $100!!!!!!

{All of this was done simply by pairing store deals with manufacture and store coupons — plus I had a 20% off grocery coupon thanks to my Meijer credit card} See some of my favorite coupon resources and start finding your own deals!

{yup, I’m a dork — but I just had to take a picture with this monstrous receipt and my growing belly!}

Since this deep freezer is a bit smaller than our last deep freezer, I’ll have to work extra hard to keep it organized. Here are some of my freezer organizing tips…

Tips to Organizing a Freezer:

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1. Date and label EVERYTHING!

There is nothing worse than spending valuable time and money preparing casseroles, soups, broths, and baked goods and then not being able to find them back again.

Keep a roll of masking tape or stick-on address labels and a Sharpie right in your kitchen and then label the date and contents of everything you put into your freezer.

2. Keep the freezer full, but not jammed full.

Your freezer will actually work harder to stay cold if it’s not full. However if it’s too full, the air won’t be able to circulate, so you could end up with warm spots {which cause freezer burn}.

Since our freezer isn’t very full yet, I filled extra milk jugs, juice container and pop bottles 3/4th full with water and put them in the freezer. They will help the freezer stay cold and use less energy. And as I fill it with more food, I will simply remove those containers.

3. Use square or rectangle containers to save space.

You will save SO much space by packaging everything in square or rectangle containers as they are easier to stack and they fit nicely together.

I often use shoe boxes to organize lunch meat, block cheese, shredded cheese, baking supplies, and other small items that can easily get pushed to the back {I know, I use shoe boxes for everything!}. Here are some of my other space-saving freezer tips.

4. Use Freezer Bags

This probably is not the most environmentally friendly option, but I like to stock up on freezer bags when they go on sale and use them to freeze pre-measured portions of fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, baked goods, and even soups, stews, and broths.

This way, the food freezes flat and defrosts much quicker {just make sure to defrost liquids in a shallow dish in case they leak}. Plus, I can simply pull out however many bags I need for a specific recipe!

5. Create Freezer “Zones”

Think of your freezer like your closet… you most likely keep all your shirts in one place, your pants in one place, and your shoes in another place…right? Well, you can do the same thing for your freezer to keep it neat and organized.

I keep all the fruits and veggies in the door, the sweet treats on the top shelf, frozen meals on the 2nd shelf, lunch meats, cheese, and mics. on the 3rd shelf, and roasts/chicken/pork chops/etc. in the bottom drawer. This makes it easy to find anything I need within minutes.

Other Posts I’ve Writing about Freezing:

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Still looking for more information about freezing? Check out the links below.

• Print my Free Vegetable Freezing Chart

• Tips to Keeping the Freezer Stocked

• Freezer-Friendly Burritos

• Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos

• Time, Money, and Space-Saving Freezer Tips

• A Huge List of Freezable Foods

I’ll try to keep you updated as I work to come up with more delicious freezer meals… and please feel free to pass along any of your favorite freezable foods as well!

Do you have any great tips for keep your freezer stocked and organized?

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When it comes to meal planning, I consider my freezer to be almost as valuable as my oven!

At least one of our weekly meals comes straight from the freezer, and many of our breads, cookies, bars, and other baked goods are simply pulled from the freezer on an “as-needed” basis.

So whether you have a large extra freezer, or just the small freezer attached to your refrigerator, here are a few ways you can make the most of that space.

Making the Most of your Freezer:

If you already have an extra freezer — then count your blessings!

For those of us who don’t have an extra freezer, there is still hope — seriously, you should see everything I’m able to pack into my freezer!

Head on over to the Plan To Eat blog to see my tips for making the most of your freezer!

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Remember a couple weeks ago when I shared my recipe for really simple burritos… straight from the freezer? If you haven’t tried them yet, you should. They offer the convenience factor of store-bought frozen burritos, but taste a million times better and are WAY cheaper!

Anyway, if you liked those burritos, then you’ll love the recipe I’m sharing today. It’s a very similar concept… just in the form of breakfast.

Yup, we’re making Breakfast Burritos today!

!

As with nearly all of my recipes, there is not an exact science so feel free to mix and match ingredients based on what you have in the house or what your family likes.

And if you want to save time, I often make the breakfast burritos right before, or right after, I make the regular burritos. That way, I only get one pan dirty and I only have to clean my kitchen once.

The other day, I made about 40 different burritos so we are set for a while!

INGREDIENTS:

{print recipe}

• 1 lb. ground sausage
• 2 small onions
• extra veggies – like peppers – {optional}
• 9 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12-15  8″ soft tortillas {I’ve tried many different varieties and the white flour tortillas taste the best}
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 1 c. salsa {optional}

DIRECTIONS:

• Brown sausage, onions, and any other veggies until meat is no longer pink — drain and transfer to a bowl

• Wisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper — cook eggs in the same pan that you cooked the sausage

• Continue cooking and “scrambling” eggs until no longer runny

• Assemble according to directions below

ASSEMBLY:

• Scoop a spoonful of meat onto the tortilla

• Scoop another spoonful of egg on top of the meat

• Sprinkle with shredded cheese

• You can also put 1 T. of salsa in each tortilla or just dip them in salsa when you’re ready to eat

See, I told you these were easy!

• Wrap them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place in the freezer

• To reheat, simply remove wrapping and microwave in high for 1-2 minutes

These burritos are so simple and delicious — perfect for a busy morning or a quick snack.

My recipe makes enough filling for 12-15  8″ tortillas, but if you have a larger family, you can easily double or triple my recipe because they’ll keep in the freezer for a few months.

Whip up some breakfast burritos this week, and let your kids “make their own breakfast” this summer!

Linked to Things I Love Thursdays over at Diaper Diaries

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