Freezer meals, to precook or not

This is something I have thinking about.
I recently prepared 13 meals for freezing and cooking in the crock pot, but now I am wondering, should I pre-cook before freezing them, or continue freezing and cooking them after the fact.
So far I've cooked 2 freezer meals on the BBQ, 3 in the crockpot, and 2 in the oven.
There are pros and cons for both making the decision that much harder. The biggest pro for not cooked is saving space in the freezer because they are in gallon freezer bags.
The other pro is the cost of freezer bags is a lot less than baking pans.
The biggest pro for precooking is time saving on the day I serve it.

What are your thoughts, do you precook or just freeze?

Harvest Season part 2 Homemade broth saves money

We recently purchased a half a beef from one of my husband's customers. We split that half into 1/3 and 2/3 and shared it with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. So I know have a freezer stocked with beef. Lots of ground beef in 2lb packages, steaks 3 to a package as the boys share 1, roasts in a variety, and misc stew meat, and soup bones.  We ended up paying about $3.00 lb for the beef which worked out to be a good deal especially since the ground beef is very lean.  How does that fit into the harvest season? Well, the beef was ready the beginning of August just like the beginning of the harvest season.
Now what are we going to do with all of this?
So far I have made spaghetti sauce only once,  hamburgers several times on the BBQ,  taco casserole, homemade sausage and hamburger jerky. 
We had a wonderful Italian pot roast last night with fresh garden veggies simmered with Italian Seasoning.  
Before I made the roast though, I made a batch of Beef Broth. I have mentioned making broth on our Facebook page before and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share how I do it.
I LOVE using broth for rice, veggies, pasta, soup, etc. I don't love the price or the sodium content.

I started with 1 package of soup bones (neck bones this time) and my crock pot.
I added  1/2 glove elephant garlic, 1/2 sweet onion, 1 bay leaf, and 1 Tablespoon of salt to the crock-pot and filled it with water (3 1/2 qts) turned it on high and walked away.
I cooked it all day Sunday (from 1:30 until 7:30) and then turned it onto the "keep warm" setting over night as I didn't want to deal with it that late Sunday evening.

Monday morning I skimmed the fat off the top and put it into pint jars.
7 pint jars of strained broth into the pressure cooker.  Refer to you canning/ preserving books for guide (pressure and time can vary)

Now I have 7 pints of beef broth ready for soups, rice, pasta, veggies, etc...















I have been known to buy some broth in cans when I find an amazing sale (usually with coupons during Thanksgiving) but beef is always more expensive. This way I have it ready and it didn't cost nearly what it would have otherwise.

Do you use your own broth? How do you save it?

Harvest Season part 1

Harvest season is here in a BIG way this year.
Our garden is blessing us, our friends' gardens are blessing us,my parents' garden is blessing us,  and our local gleaners group is blessing us.
Yes I used the word blessing four times. Truly the harvest is a blessing.
So far this year we have harvested and put up: cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, cauliflower, brocolli, kale, corn, greenbeans, apples, and peaches.
On the coming list cabbage, leeks, garlic, squash, pears, more corn, more cauliflower, more broccoli, more kale, and hopefully beets, and root vegetables.

What do I do with all these things?
Can, freeze, and dry them.

I steamed apples for juice. Round 1 on the steamer gave me 4 qts of juice and 5 qts of applesauce as I ran the cooked apples through the Folly Food Mill after the fact so we didn't waste anything.
I added a teaspoon of honey and 1/2 a teaspoon of citric acid for a preservative to each jar.
I still have 8 gallons of apples to juice, dry, and freeze so there will be more to come. I am also hoping for a few more varieties later in the season.

I purged the pantry in late July to get ready for the harvest and took my 18 qts of tomatoes from last year (that is what I had left) and slow cooked them in my electric roasting pan with some italian seasoning for a basic spaghetti sauce. I ended up with 11 freezer containers (a little larger than a pint) ready to go. Now I have the top shelf of my pantry ready for other goodies and I have 11 package of sauce in the freezer ready to add meat , veggies, and past to.

I purchased 4 boxes of peaches (22lbs each) through our gleaners group. I have been putting them in qt and pint jars. I cut them in half, pitting them and stuffed them in the jars. I used a combination of citric acid and honey and water for each jar. We ended up with 13 qts and 7 pints of peaches so far. I am also drying some for snacks and flash freezing the rest for smoothies. I am still planning on at least 1 batch of jam and 2 pies before all is said and done with the peaches.



Later this week I will post more of the harvest season. Kale, veggies, pickles, pears, and organizing it all.

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E is for Electricity #atozchallenge #blogboost

OK this isn’t going to be a huge post about alternative energy or a slam on old fashion appliances. This is however is going to be a quick list of realistic things you can do to cut your energy use.  Since we had a huge price increase over the past year, I’m not going to claim these will save you a ton of money, but I will say these are things you can do to help cut your consumption and possibly save money or at least not feel the pain as much when and if you do get a rate increase.
1. Turn off stuff (lights are a biggy, but the TV, stereo , or gaming system are pretty big on the consumptive scale)
2. Open the curtains during the day and savor the daylight.  As I write this post we are actually having a sunny day ( 4/2/12) and while the temps aren’t high, the sun still feels wonderful on the windows and the natural light is beautiful!
3. Hang your laundry outside whenever possible. Again today since we have a sunny day and a light wind we hung a load of sheets on the line this morning.. It will take longer in the Spring Sun than it does in the Summer but not having that load of sheets in the dryer means the dryer will run half as much today.
4. Again, if the weather is nice… cook outside on the grill (gas  or charcoal.)  This saves turning the stove on and also means you don’t heat up the house.
5. Find the lowest temperature setting on the thermostat that the family can handle and use that as your guide. Our’s is 66 degrees and sometimes I can be stingy and turn it down to 64 degrees.  If  your thermostat is programmable use the feature to lower the temp during the day when you might not be home and set it to come on an hour before you get home. Also lower the temps slightly for late night (everyone can wear extra heavy jammies if needed or an extra blanket)
6. Menu planning, ok don’t think it helps to have a plan? well when it comes time to cook, with a plan I can go to the fridge or freezer and pull out exactly what I need, otherwise the boys and I will stand in front of the freezer with the door open trying to figure out what to have for dinner… what a waste of electricity.

What are your favorite ways to cut electricity use? Share your ideas below and have a wonderful week.

Shopping and Cooking Frugally: Book Review

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Kimberly Eddy has written a wonderful book,  "Joyful Momma's Guide to Shopping & Cooking Frugally".
This book ROCKS!  Yes I know that sounds cliche' but this is seriously an amazing book. One of my favorite parts of the book is actually the various bold print antidotes on nearly every page.
"Joyful Momma's Guide..." is chalked full of real useful ideas and tips.  One quote that really stuck out to me.  "Bulk shopping does not necessarily mean buying huge amounts of stuff but rather it means buying things in the largest usable quantity if it offers you a savings." pg 15
Seriously that stuck with me... Just because is costs less to buy 100 lbs of sugar doesn't mean it is a usable quantity for me... Reality is if I can buy sugar on sale in 10 lb bags at a reasonable cost based on the amount we use that is a better deal then buying 100 lbs and having to store it and risk it going bad, getting bugs, etc....

I could just nod my head in agreement with so many things she writes. Seriously , just because it is on sale and I have a coupon for it doesn't mean I need it or that I will actually use it.  I had to come to that realization as I was getting more serious about my couponing and can totally agree with that idea.  If I buy something just because I have a coupon am I actually saving money, No!  

She has an entire chapter on strategy and couponing.  In another chapter she has a great idea (one I think I might actually try to do). Use Cash when shopping and put the left over into an account or set it aside as a reward. I can totally see that as a better rewards program than any store.   Couponing and deal matching can be a lot of work and what a great reward system, also would be a great way to add to an emergency fund or special event fund.

The second half of the book is stocked full of recipes and frugal cooking idea as well as very useful forms.
Another thing she mentioned that really made me think, especially as we head into the holiday food drive season.  Think about the things that will bless a family in need when you are putting donations together. Ask yourself, "would my family be blessed if we were in that situation".  As one who has been on the receiving end, I can get pretty creative but I know some people can't and when I donate foods I try to keep it real, as in red beans, pasta, canned meats,  basic soups (tomato and cream of mushroom are ones that are easy to use).  Even on a budget we can help each other out.

I can't say enough about this book to really do it justice. The book is honest and real and to me that is HUGE!
Following Kimberly on her blog for more wonderfully frugal ideas, she also have a newsletter available on her blog.  As we head into the holiday season this book would be a wonderful gift for a young couple or a family that is new to couponing and frugal living.

***I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion here on my blog. No other compensation was received.***