Poor Man's Steak

This dish is a lot like country fried steak, which we like quite a bit. I normally wouldn't take the time or effort to make this if it were not for making a large quantity to freeze. It's nice to be able to pull out however many patties I need for a meal and get it on the table in less than 30 minutes.


Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8
Cost: Approx. $5.00

2 pounds ground beef ($3.00)
1 onion finely chopped
20 saltine crackers crumbled ($.25)
1-2 eggs
salt
pepper
flour
2 cans condensed mushroom soup or ($1.00)
1 jar beef gray


Mix thoroughly the beef, onion, crackers and eggs. Form into 8 large flat patties. These may be frozen on parchment paper at this point or cooked.

Place 2 cups of flour, salt and pepper (to your liking) on a plate. Coat both sides of each patty with this mixture.

Fry patties in butter until well browned on both side. Transfer to 9x13 baking dish. Cover patties with mushroom soup or beef gravy. Bake covered for an additional 20 minutes.


*If patties are frozen, just thaw completely before frying. *

Tamali Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 10-12
Cost: Approx. $4.50

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey ($2.25)
1 onion chopped ($.30)
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 cup tomato sauce ($.30)
1 can corn drained ($.40)
1 small can diced black olives drained (optional)
salt to taste

2 boxes Jiffy Corn bread mix ($.50)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk

Brown ground beef and onion. Drain well. Add other ingredients and mix well and place in a 9x13 pan.

Prepare Jiffy mix per package directions. Spread batter over top of beef mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes being sure that the corn bread is thoroughly cooked.

**The beef mixture can be prepared ahead of time and frozen in a Ziplock. Just defrost and heat through before placing in 9x13**

Stuffed Shells

This is an all-time favorite and easy to assemble since the noodles are raw when stuffed. The noodles soften in the sauce overnight and taste as though they had been already cooked. The kids love the have the job of stuffing the shells, but be prepared for a little mess:)


Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8
Cost: Approx. $5.50


1 block of cream cheese ($1.00)
2 cups mozzarella cheese ($1.00)
1 egg
1 box large shell pasta ($2.25)
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
Pepper to taste
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce ($1.25)


Mix together cheeses, egg, garlic and pepper well. Place mixture in large Ziplock bag and seal. Cut the corner off the bag to allow cheese to squeeze through. Fill pasta shells and freeze.


Take frozen pasta shells and place in 9x13 pan. Cover with sauces and let set overnight in refrigerator covered.

When ready to bake. Place covered 9x13 in oven at 305 degrees and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Freezer Cooking Short Cuts

Barb and I did our cook-a-thon today. We made 32 meals in about three and a half hours. We spent a total of just over $126.00. So that comes out to about just at $4.00 per meal!! This type of thing used to take more like 8 hours until I discovered some short cuts.

1. Buy frozen vegetables already diced. A 3 pound bag of frozen onions is around $3.00. This is not only cheap but probably saves 30 minutes of dicing and a lot of tears. This idea works for diced peppers as well.

2. Cook meat the night before in the crockpot. This works well for chicken breast or large cuts of beef. Don't spend the whole day cooking or it will take 8 hours. We browned around 12 pounds of ground beef total. I started the moment I woke up this morning cooking the meat on medium and giving it a stir whenever I walked by. Most of it was done by the time we started around 9:00.

3. Buy big cans when possible instead of a lot of little ones. This is a huge money saver and saves the time of opening 12 small cans.

4. Assemble and mix in the bag. Why dirty a bowl which will require time to wash? Stick a spoon in the bag and stir it there.

5. Buy gallon size, high quality bags. There is nothing more frustrating and time consuming than trying to fit a lot of food in a small bag only to realize that it is leaking or won't seal completely. The extra $1 is worth it in this case and saves many messes. My favorite are Ziplock freezer bags.

6. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Mixing with clean hands in a large container takes half the time of trying to incorporate a large quantity of ingredients with a spoon.

If you freezer cook what tips have you found helpful? Do share.

Meals that Freeze

Barbara and I have met and planned out our menu of freezer foods. Each of these recipes will be made four times. I'll have two of each meal and Barb will divide hers into 4 of each because her family is smaller. So I'll end up with 16 meals and she will have 32. This will work out well since she'll be having a baby soon. Here's the list:

Stuffed shells
Chicken broccoli braid
Pulled pork barbecue
Tamale Pie
Fajita Chicken
Poor Man's Steak
Creamy Tomato pasta sauce
Taco Meat

We're trying to keep it simple and invest our time in making meals that we know the family will eat. We made a master grocery shopping list and have about 2 weeks to pick up some good deals. Hopefully chicken will go back on sale soon. Last month chicken breasts were only $1.67 a pound- an all-time low. I should have picked up more.

Stayed tuned for these recipes and freezing/thawing instructions!!

Please share: If you freezer cook, what are some of your favorite and faithful meals to have on hand? Care to share the recipe with us?

Pork Fried Rice

Fried rice from a Japanese steakhouse is one of my FAVORITE things! Recently I ran across a recipe decided to try it. It was incredibly simple to make and tasted just as good as the restaurant.

Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 8-10
Cost: Approx. $4.00

4 cups rice cooked ($.50)
1/2 onion diced ($.25)
oil or butter
2 eggs
soy sauce
frozen peas (optional)
2 pounds boneless pork or chicken ($2.89 sale price)


While the rice is cooking cut pork and brown until cooked thoroughly. Add generous amount of butter or oil into hot skillet, add rice, onion, approx. 1/4- 1/2 cup of soy sauce. When the rice mixture begins to fry move rice to side of pan and add two eggs. Scramble and cook eggs. Then incorporate into rice. Add peas if desired. Cook for 5 more minutes stirring constantly. Stir in cooked pork and serve.

Freezer Cooking Friends

Years ago when there were only two little ones, my friend Beth approached me about freezer cooking. We would get together every 6 weeks or so, plan a menu, make a very large shopping list. The next week when all the ingredients had been purchased we would meet together for a very long day and cook. Sometimes our fun friend, Cindy, would drive up and join us.

We made a huge mess. The trash can would be filled to the brim. Our shirts would be stained. Chopped onions and various other things would cover the floor. The countertops and stove top would be covered in spills.

We were exhausted, but very happy. It was a great feeling of accomplishment to have 6 weeks worth of main dishes for the freezer. There's a lot of satisfaction in realizing that grocery shopping and kitchen clean up at home was going to be minimal.

We cooked together like this for 5 or so years. I seriously can't imagine what my life would have looked like had we not done this. It alleviated a lot of the stress that happens between 4:30 and 6:00 pm. More than anything, it was a great way to build a friendship and for our children to play together. I miss those days with Beth, but our schedules and family's needs changed.

A few times I coordinated a freezer co-op. I think at our biggest we had 8 ladies who prepared 2-4 separate meals for everyone in the group. We met to plan and then again to swap food out of the trunks of our cars. A group that size was hard to manage and many had specific preferences.

After that, I did the co-op scenario with my friend Jennie. This was such a blessing for several years. She really is a great cook and my family's favorite meals were always hers. But since her children have been diagnosed with some food allergies, we've had to stop for now. We do find other occasions to visit and go out to dinner together.

Last fall, I introduced our homeschool group to a freezer cooking party. It was a wonderful way to visit and be productive at the same time. This semester someone else picked it up and has another party planned. Fun!

Tomorrow, my very own sister, Barbara, is going to join the ranks of my freezer cooking friends! I'm so excited. She is expecting her fourth baby in the coming month I just know that this is going to make her life so much more manageable. Barb and I have always lived apart until this past fall. After a lot of prayer, God brought her husband a job here and now she lives less than 10 minutes away!!

Of course, I'll be so glad to have food readily available in my freezer. But more than that I'm looking forward to spending the hours in the kitchen talking and laughing and blessing each other.

I'll be sharing our menu and the recipes in the coming days so stay tuned. Also, feel free to ask questions or email me if there's anything I could help you with.