Beginner’s start by making double or triple of dinner and freezing the extras in meal size easy to thaw portions.

Ice cream buckets of frozen food take forever to thaw and reheat, try using flatter longer lower containers. The flat, long low package freezes faster, and thaws better resulting in safer food, and better taste.

This is why I use ziploc freezer bags a lot, plus they save space in my freezer. I also use cheaper no name sandwich zip lock baggies, for things I use up fast or things like my crumbles or grated cheese in 2 cup amounts. They can sit in a grocery bag in the freezer to keep them corralled, and also to protect them a bit more.

Bake extra muffins, and freeze. It's another way to make one mess, get tired once and have lots on hand.

Make a bisquick style homemade baking mix.

Try cookie dough logs. Most cookie dough can be formed into logs, saving space in the freezer then sliced and baked as needed. You can spend a quality day with your food processor, doing up batch after batch. Clean up and for months you can enjoy homemade conveniant fresh cookies without the fuss.

THEN consider a "meat plan" .

Technically I don't cook for a whole month in any one day. I spread it out. A LOT!

You can work more efficiently and cheaper by concentrating on a single "meat" plan in a day. You take advantage of sales, and spread out the cooking over a month. By the time you do several "meat plans" including some beans and dairy, you have a lot to choose from in fast food meals in your freezer.

If you need help planning a menu around your new frozen foods or help planning a shopping list, I will cover that later.

Right now lets consider using electricity to give us a big helping hand:

USE YOUR APPLIANCES TO GIVE YOU SOME HELP

The Joy of Food Processors:

Here's what mine does for me:

--Chops 5 lb packs of cheese into crumbly "grated" 2 cup portions for the freezer. I don't bother with the grater attachment, I use the chopping blade all the time for everything. Pulse it.

Most recipes calling for cheese ask for it in 1 or 2 cup portions. Don't freeze bigger amounts of pregrated cheese unless you enjoy chipping away at a block of frozen glued together grated cheese. A bit of flour or cornstarch keeps it from sticking together. Use the ziplock sandwich baggies for a perfect size bag to freeze in.

--Blends the spices and goop for the meatball mixture

--Chops onions, celery, cabbage, red pepper, mushrooms and so forth for cooking sessions. Chop (pulse briefly) into BIG chunks and tray freeze on wax paper then loose pack into a freezer bag for later use in a recipe or a big cooking session. Saves time and cleanup. If you don't want to use the veggies in a cooking session right away they stay good in the freezer.

NOTE HERE don't keep chopping till they are a mush . That will freeze in a solid block and be hard to use. You want biggish chunks so they tray freeze well, and can be loose packed once frozen, then scooped out in the quantity you want.

--Chops carrots for carrot salad, carrot cake or cabbage for coleslaw in a flash. These are both good salads to have in the fridge over several days of use.

--Chops veggies for a soup instantly. I like to pulse it thru with canned tomatoes for my veggie soups. My grannies frozen green pea soup is pureed cooked green peas with onion in a broth. Yummy and the fp does a great coarse puree.

--Chops my peel for homemade marmalade. Can be used for other type jam and pickle sessions.

--Chops and mixes onion, seasonings, mayo, pickle relish and salmon, tuna or hard boiled eggs for sandwich fillings. Ditto leftover hardened roast ends of meat. You can make chopped roast beef, steak, pork chop, turkey, ham sandwich fillings all the same way. Chicken breast cooked in broth, makes a wonderful chicken salad filling.

--Use miracle whip type salad dressing instead of mayo if you want to freeze selected portions of sandwich filling either in a plastic container or right in the sandwich, it won't separate like mayo. If you dislike miracle whip as my dh does, then freeze chopped meats for a few weeks at most, and thaw and use for fresh made sandwiches.

--Puree's cooked beans into a low fat refried bean mixture if you use salsa to "thin" it out a bit. That's how I liked them. Use as a dip, burrito filling whatever.

--Makes cheese balls and dips for parties.

--Makes pastry in a flash , chops in the lard into the flour and mixes in a moment.

--Makes homemade Bisquick (later).

--Mixes those biscuits in a flash . I like to make a batch when I am finished mixing up a new batch of bisquick.

--Mixes pizza or bread dough , although heavy doughs over time will damage the centre column. That's what killed my last fp. However it took many years of bread dough to do that. Pizza dough is actually better in the fp rather than the bread machine. It comes out ready to use, with a 5 minute rise.

--Chops dates, oranges, etc into muffins and mixes muffin batter FAST. Make batch after batch.

--Then there are cookie dough logs. Make your own pillsbury cookies for the freezer. Sugar cookies, shortbread and refridgerator cookies all work well for this. I have even made chocolate chip cookie dough in this manner. Mix them in the fp batch after batch. Roll them into a long sausage, wrap in wax paper, freeze on cookie sheets to keep them straight as they freeze then double wrap. When you want fresh cookies, thaw a roll or two, slice and bake. Any cookie dough that can be rolled out and cut, or dropped and pressed will do for this. They thaw quickly. slice while still chilled and bake as per recipe.

--When you are finished with all these uses it even cleans itself. Pour in some hot water and a drop of detergent and pulse it clean. Any leftover bit on the lid etc, just use a dish brush and the soapy water. Rinse well, and let it drip dry.

Joy of the Crockpot:
You heard my opinion of the food processor, now for the crockpot. BTW these 2 appliances are like having an experianced OAMC chef working for you in your kitchen. You only have to use them and that is often just getting used to what they do. I suggest you tape a list of uses for these 2 appliances to the front of your fridge or somewhere handy till you start making them a habit in your kitchen.

Crockpots can:

--Make soup and chowder (leftover chopped veggies in the freezer or fridge after cooking day? don't let them get whiskery with age, dump them into the stock from the ground beef crumbles and make a great homemade veggie soup). Eat one meal tonight and freeze the rest in meal size amounts. (smaller or flatter containers are faster to thaw)

--Soups with barley or lentils won't scorch and will get the best and creamiest flavour ever.

--Make stews, chilis, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, chicken fricassee and eat one and freeze 2! Any stew like casserole will do. Beef Bourgignon is a great example.

--Make pot roast. Some leftovers are sliced and frozen in gravy for another meal. Other leftovers are chopped into delicious meat spread sandwich filling.

--Make chicken pot pie filling in the cp and freeze in meal size portions in ziplock freezer bags. Thaw, and cover with pastry or biscuit dough and bake.

--Same procedure for shepherds pie or tamale pie (make bottoms in cp, cover with topping, bake, freeze rest of bottoms in ziplocks for later thawing, topping and baking)

--Make extra stuffing and cook OUTSIDE the turkey, (saves time stuffing the turkey, is safer, and makes more stuffing anyway) and keep it hot for serving at the big meal. Makes enough for a crowd.

--Make mashed potatoes an hour ahead and keep hot on Low in the crockpot. Makes enough for a crowd so is great for company dinners.

--Make spiced cider or hot cocoa for a crowd and keep it nice and hot for hours without a problem. Set it before going out christmas tree hunting or skiing and come back to a hot treat.

--Cook beans overnite so in the morning you rinse them in cool water, drain and freeze in 2 cup portions. Far cheaper and healthier than canned beans and if you use a microwave to thaw them, they are almost as fast as opening a can of beans. Do this with one variety after another and build up a frozen stash of chickpeas, pinto beans, red beans, white beans etc.

Cook the best baked beans and vegetarian chili ever. The beans have time for the molasses or chili flavour to bake right in, and they never scorch.

Canadian Gardener, your the BEST!! Thanks for coming to our rescue. :chef:

Boiling ground beef has a big advantage or two:

CONVENIANT: (pull out a package of pre cooked and browned "crumbles" for any recipe calling for a lb of ground beef, browned)

WAY EASIER and WAY LESS MESS! Think of it, the ease of stirring a simmering pot for 10 to 15 minutes instead of pan frying it all, splattering grease all over, when boiling it makes the same product, less fat and way less mess.

LOW FAT: It's even lower in fat than if you pour boiling water on it. This is the meat with most of the fat gone. Because of that defatting that happens, I buy the cheapest fatty regular ground beef and enjoy spectacular savings while discarding the fat in the EASIEST way possible

CHEAP: Because you can be sure of getting the fat out, you can use whatever grind of ground meat is cheaper, whether regular or lean or extra lean.

TASTES THE VERY SAME AS IF YOU WENT TO THE MESS AND FUSS OF BROWNING IT IN A FRYING PAN!!!!! Yes it does. Think of the clean ups you can avoid.

I use to season the water that I boiled the beef in, then I found out it made NO difference.

That meat still has all the normal browned ground beef flavour whether or not you use seasoning, and whether or not it is boiled or browned. Why go to the trouble of doing it any other way when doing it faster and simpler results in the same taste and less fat.

BUT WHAT ABOUT the ONIONS AND GARLIC AND STUFF??????
I simply take the chilled or thawed crumbles and add to a wok or frying pan with a little olive oil sauteeing the onions and garlic that the recipe calls for, and any seasonings and stir fry it a little to bring it to the usual stage in the recipe where it calls for browning the meat with onion, garlic and seasonings.

THAT IS IT!!!!!! Talk about simple. This way the seasonings are fresh and give the best flavour.

HOW DO I DO IT?
No seasoning, put just enough water to cover the bottom of a stock pot or big saucepan about an inch or so, add the ground meat. I do a big 5 to 6 lb package all at once.

Now bring to a boil and stir to keep from sticking on the bottom of the pot. Turn down to an active simmer. Simmer till no more pink. Take off heat.

Drain by pouring the meat and the broth into a heat proof (mine is stainless steel) colandar or sieve placed on top of a big bowl or pot.

I use my big stock pot to drain the broth into and stick the whole thing in a sink of cold water to start cooling while the crumbles are draining.

Reserve the crumbles and let cool. They will cool faster if you put them onto a cookie sheet and run a fan over them for a few minutes stirring a bit. Bag and freeze.

(Chill broth overnite and skim fat in morning. Now you have lovely jellied beef stock ready to use in diluting canned soups or for any recipe calling for broth.)

When the crumbles are cool, you pack by 2-1/2 cup measures into no name ziplock sandwich bags and freeze flat. Those are equal to a lb of browned ground beef. The ziplock sandwich bag is a perfect size.

More boiled beef tips--- Chill overnite in the fridge, and either package and freeze the next day, or use it making casseroles, and freezing them. Whichever you have the energy for.

Handling cool crumbles and broth the next day is easier than if they are hot still.

Chilling broth before putting in the fridge-- Set the pot with the broth in a sink of cold water and change the water every 5 minutes or so and stir the broth to cool faster. In about 20 minutes to half an hour it will be cool enough to stick in the fridge safely without making the fridge work harder and possibly warming the other food in the fridge.

If you have a secure outside porch, set it out to cool and take advantage of winter nights. In the winter I stick the stock pot lid on top of the colandar which is still on top of the stock pot and set it all out in the porch. By morning it's all nearly frozen.

Have it either way, enjoy pre cooked frozen packs of crumbles or use them the next day in a bunch of recipes and freeze the made up dishes. Whatever you have time for. Both will help.

ONE LAST TIP------- Have several freezer friendly recipes handy that use a lb of ground so you aren't left scratching your head wondering what to do with 48 bags of ready cooked crumbles. I'll be giving a few just below.

A simple Spaghetti plan (the non tomato based crumbles plan will follow)

here are some things you can do with Ground beef crumbles made into a spaghetti sauce. I like to make one serve many. I vary it to make the following dishes BUT I do have another Spaghetti-- here it is:

Simplest of all Spaghetti is a tin of Hunts thick and rich Spaghetti sauce and a package of crumbles served on cooked spaghetti.

WHEN I WANT TO DO UP A NUMBER OF TOMATO BASED RECIPES HOWEVER this is what spaghetti night looks like:

Large vat of Spaghetti Sauce adapted from Sue Gregg's cookbook Main Dishes. This is a useful basic recipe, the sauce is the basis for a number of other meals so it's worth making a lot.

Basic Spaghetti Sauce
In a large stock pot combine:
3--28 oz cans of diced tomatoes
3-- 6 oz cans tomatoe paste
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP oregano (dry)
1 TBSP Basil (dry)
1/2 head of fresh garlic crushed in clove by clove.
3 cups fresh or frozen mushrooms or 3 cans sliced
2 fresh or frozen diced green pepper
3 medium onions or 2 big ones chopped

6 cups or a bit more of ground beef crumbles or 3 frozen packages.

Bring to boil, turn down to a simmer and simmer 20 minutes.

The first night I serve this, as spaghetti sauce. Later I will assemble a lot of other dishes from it.

French Bread Pizza is simply this sauce spread on loaves of French bread, split lengthwise, with extra chopped onion, mushroom, red or green pepper, topped with grated Mozzarella cheese and wrapped in plastic and frozen for a pizza night. A friend of mine shared it with me, and I've seen this recipe on 30 day gourmet.

Almost Lasagna is simply this sauce combined with a container of cottage cheese and cooked multicolour pasta spirals or Rotini. Makes a yummy casserole.

Boil 4 cups Rotini

Mix with 3 cups of this sauce above (or 1 pkg crumbles and 1 tin Hunts spag. sauce)

and 2 to 3 cups cottage cheese (I use a carton that contains 750 ml or 3 cups)
Dump in a 9x13 casserole OR in a freezer ziplock and freeze.

Thaw and bake in the casserole for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes at 350, longer if frozen, till the center is hot and cooked thru.

Real live Lasagne goes together like this:
Layer sauce then
Uncooked lasagne noodles (the ordinary ones)
Cottage cheese (mix cottage cheese with frozen spinach, squeezed almost dry, some parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and egg and oregano and garlic for a nice variation)
Uncooked noodles again
Lots of sauce on top to cover
Repeat till done but don't over fill the pan, it tends to bubble over when cooking
sprinkle with grated mozzarella and parmesan.

Freeze in baking pan, and THAW before baking. Lasagna is notoriously dense and difficult to bake in the middle without burning the edges if you don't thaw it first. Bake till center is cooked. This will take a while. I allow an hour and a half at a lower heat like 300 to 325 if it's not thawed thru. If it's reasonably thawed then an hour at 350.

YOU DON"T HAVE TO PRE COOK THE LASAGNE NOODLES. The freezing and baking does it for you. No more burnt fingers or wrestling slippery sheets of wet noodle.

Manicotti is simply:
Fill UNCOOKED NORMAL MANICOTTI SHELLS with the special cottage cheese mixtrue above. Cover WELL with Sauce. Freeze and follow instructions above for reheating.

Mindless Moussaka:
Take 3 medium eggplants and slice. Salt them and let them sit in a colandar to drain the bitter out for 1/2 an hour. Rinse well. while they sit make the sauce below so it's ready to use.

Layer with the spaghetti sauce in a 9x13 pan

Cover with the following white sauce which you make in the microwave.

white sauce part:
In a big microwave proof bowl melt:
3 Tbsp Butter
Mix with 6 Tbsp flour and microwave till bubbly.
Add 2-1/2 cups hot milk and nuke on half power stirring with a whisk every few minutes till thickened.
then add
1/2 cup Parmesan.
Spread on top of the spaghetti sauce and eggplant and bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.
This doesn't freeze, it is simply something I like to make with this sauce.

If I don't have the spaghetti sauce, I mix up a can of Hunts with a pkg of frozen crumbles and proceed with this recipe.

Sloppy Joes:
4 cups of the sauce (add more crumbles to make it nice and thick)
and about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup ketchup (squirt by eye)
a spoon of dijon mustard or yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
some chopped celery
1/4 cup brown sugar
Freeze in family serving sizes

Shepherd's Pie:
In a big freezer ziplock bag combine:
One package of crumbles or 2 cups fresh
2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 cups of the spaghetti sauce approximately (another measure by what looks right)
any other veggies you want to add to use up
Freeze. Thaw in baking dish and pour out into dish when you can, chopping the frozen chunks up a bit.
Cover with mashed potatoes
Bake at 350 for half an hour or till bottom is cooked and bubbly, and topping is browned.

Tamale Pie:
SAME AS FOR SHEPHERDS PIE BUT
Instead of frozen mix veggies use FROZEN CORN
AND ADD 1 to 2 TBSP of CHILI POWDER to taste (cayenne if you need it hotter)
When you thaw it, simply top with either a recipe of corn bread or mix up some polenta, stiff cornmeal mush and bake a THIN layer on top.

Another way to do tamale pie is adding crumbles to leftover chili, add frozen corn and freeze. Top as above.

NO you wont' get all of these out of one batch of spaghetti sauce, but you can pick and choose from these variations on the spaghetti sauce theme

OK so now we are sick to death of spaghetti sauce and it's marvellous variations on a theme, what can we do with crumbles that ISN"T tomato based.

Ground beef Stroganoff from the Friendly Freezer:
Dump into freezer bag and freeze the following:
1 pkg crumbles (2 to 2-1/2 cups remember?)
1 cup fresh sauteed mushrooms (or frozen or canned)
1 cup beef broth (I save the broth from boiling the crumbles for soup or something like this)
3 Tbsp red wine
3 Tbsp lemon juice

To serve: thaw and heat the meat mixture.
Cook a bag of noodles till tender then combine with the meat and a cup or so of sour cream.

Serve (you can reduce the amount of noodles if you like)

Curried Creamy Zucchini:
1 pkg crumbles thawed stir fry in a Tbsp of olive oil with:
1 to 2 tsp to Tbsp of curry depending on what you like
Mrs Dash to taste
1 chopped onion
1 big honkin zucchini all chopped
till everything is nicely sizzly then add
1 can mushroom soup or 1 cup yogurt or sour cream depending on what's on hand.

Spinach Beef Biscuit Bake from Taste of Home by Bonnie Bootz: this is a FAVOURITE!!!
Combine the following in a big ziplock freezer bag and goosh to mix before freezing:
1-1/2 packages of crumbles or 3 cups fresh
1 small to med onion diced
2 eggs
1 pkg spinach thawed and squeezed dry
1 can sliced mushrooms (I use about 1/2 cup frozen sliced)
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 cloves garlic crushed.
pinch of salt and pepper.

Goosh well and freeze.

When it's time to bake I make up 2 of my homemade Bisquick biscuit recipes for biscuits and line a 9x13 glass pan with the biscuit dough. Pour in the thawed filling and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or a bit less.

I'll include a homemade Bisquick mix later.

I am hoping you can see the possibilities in a humble and cheap package of regular ground beef once you defat it.

I'm in awe. You should write a book. That's great information. Thank you! I need all the help I can get on just getting myself together in this kitchen.

I seem to do some basic tried and true recipes, but hope to broaden our meals a bit too. I need to start gathering some recipes to try and then seeing if they will incorporate into things.

Like today, I am making chicken cacciatore in the crockpot. Now, if I had planned better, I could have had a stash of sauce and even chicken in the freezer already for multiple sauce like or chicken meals and could map out a month ahead from things that were already at least partically started.

I'm ok with things like making roasts and then creating meals from it, but instead of cooking a roast and breaking it up and freezing, I end up having roast two days in a row and that gets dull for the taste buds kwim? (even if it's made differently the next day...it's still roast two days in a row)

Thank you again. I am going to be working hard in this area this year.

**edited to add** AND my husband bought me a food processor that is just wonderful, but unused! It's been just sitting there. Your post is encouraging me to get that thing out and get using it. :)

edited to add, you are so welcome. I wasn't sure if this OAMC stuff would fit here, and I didn't want to hijack the site, and hold it to casserole hostage! CJ knows me well and I do love the OAMC concept, although mine is more a component cooking style which is what I would call it if I write a book.

Here is some more

Supposing you find lean ground beef on sale, and are wondering how to use up great quantities.

The ground meat mixture:
I buy lean ground beef to make this following mixture. I do it more or less by eye.

This is DIFFERENT FROM CRUMBLES

Raw basic mix:
To a 10 to 14 lb package of meat dumped in my biggest steel mixing bowl I add the following:
2 packages of onion soup mix
1/2 cup or more ketchup
1/2 cup or more BBQ sauce (I like the Kraft classic one, it adds a nice smoky flavour)
Some Mrs Dash
about 3 cups to 4 cups oats
4 eggs

Mix it up using your hands till it's well mixed. Now make it into meatloaf, patties and meatballs.

Meatloaf: I use a loaf tin as a "measuring cup" and measure one loafs worth and dump into a big freezer zip lock and freeze flat. This is so much easier to thaw and bake later. I prefer the taste of freezing raw mix which I thaw and fresh bake versus baking the meatloaf then freezing it.

It is food safe too. The meat freezes faster in a flat ziplock shape. When you thaw it thaws all at once the edges aren't warming up with a frozen core and when you bake it, you aren't coping with overbaked edges and a cold middle (which probably didn't freeze as fast as the outer edges either).

Stuffed Meatloaf variation: It's nice to stuff the meatloaf for a company meal. Put about 1/3 of the thawed meat mix into a bundt or other ring pan. Make a stuffing, either boxed or homemade, (I use bread, onion, celery and sage, enough to make a few cups, moisten with egg) and kind of squish it down a bit on top of the meat then cover with the rest and BAKE.

Meat patties for burgers: Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out pattie portions onto wax paper lined cookie sheets or cutting boards. Flatten. Top with more wax paper and repeat. Freeze as is. Later when frozen, cut the wax paper, leaving it attached to the frozen burger patties and loose pack in jumbo freezer bags.

Meatballs: I like to make baked square meatballs using jelly roll pans or cookie sheets with side. Pat out a big rectangle leaving room at the sidesfor the fat to go!. Bake, drain fat, cut in squares, and freeze. Gently lift off when frozen and bag frozen "balls" in a big freezer bag. I also like to score the raw meat before baking, it makes cutting easier. Sometimes if I don't want to wrestle the fat out, I pop the meatballs out, cool then tray freeze on another cookie sheet, lined with wax paper. Freeze then pop into ziplock bags. Shake out what you need for a meal.

I also like using a mini scooper that I got from pampered chef, the size up from a melon baller.

You can scoop balls of meat out, and bake on the pans for round meatballs.

Now you have meatballs for anything you like from a meatball sub to spaghetti but I really like a bunch of wonderful sauces to ring the changes in.

Sauces to reheat the frozen meatballs in: Most of these take about 24 to 30 meatballs for each recipe of sauce. Most you just mix, pour over the meatballs and bake for half an hour to reheat at 350.

Meatball Bourgignoun or however it's spelled. Burgundy wine sauce anyway I got it from the Better Homes and GDNs Make Now Serve Later book.
1 tin mushroom soup
1/2 cup burgundy or red wine (I use our Ubrew red)
1/4 tsp Thyme
Parsley if you have it.

my dear friends' fast BBQ sauce which she kindly shared with me
Strawberry's BBQ sauce
1 can Tomato soup
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Brown sugar

Swedish meatballs
Combine in a microwave proof bowl:
1 cup water
3 Tbsp of bisto gravy powder (or 3 Tbsp flour, plus some beef boullion granules)
1 tsp dried dill weed
pinch of nutmeg and
pinch of allspice
Cook water, and bisto and spices together in microwave, whisking till thick, combine with
1 cup sour cream
and
1 cup mushrooms or 1 can sliced.
Pour over meatballs in pan and bake.

Meatball Stroganoff
1 can crm mushroom soup
1/2 c sour cream or yogurt
1 cup mushrooms or 1 can sliced
Pour over meatballs and bake or simmer on top of stove.

Meatball stew
Use meatballs in place of stew beef (which is SOOO expensive now!) and the broth from cooking the crumbles with a bay leaf, some carrots onions, celery, and pototoes in your slow cooker. YUMMY! edited to add, if you like your stews thick, at the end when the veggies are tender, stir a bit of flour into some cold water till the lumps are gone, then pour into the simmering stew. It will thicken up in a minute or two. Salt to taste.

and those are some ideas to use up an inexpensive ground lean beef.

If you want to experiment with making it even leaner, reconstitute TVP (textured vegetable protein -found at health food stores) equal amounts TVP and water and use it for part of the ground meat. It will take on the flavour and reduce the fat. It is made from soya and has little if any fat.

OK that was it for the ground beef section, lets take a little change and go do some vegetarian meals to bring this OAMC into real budget relief.

A gentle primer for the humble bean, on how to cook and eat with less gas!

Cheapest EASIEST way ever to cook is using the crockpot. Pour beans to about a quarter of the crock. Fill with water, stir, drain and fill again. That rinses the beans the first time.

Put a tsp or half tsp of GARLIC POWDER in with the beans. (smells good, BUT the reason to do this, is IT REDUCES THE GASSINESS OF THE BEANS!)

DON'T put anything else, not salt, not sugar, not tomatoe sauce not vinegar NOTHING else! in there with those beans or they will go all tough and won't cook down to tenderness EVER! it's a chemical thing, trust me.

Now let er rip (ahem, cook) for several hours and when you think about it, change the water, drain out, replace with fresh hot water and some more garlic powder.

That reduces the gassy factors again AND LISTEN TO ME HERE ---RINSING DOESN"T GET RID OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS! The B vitamins and all the minerals are still happily tucked in the middle of the bean all safe and ready to use. The bean has a natural little jacket on remember?

Now at some point towards the end of the day, you will come by, and test the beans by

pulling out a spoonful and blowing gently on them. When the skins crack and peel away they are done. Or you can mush them gently, but I always like the weirdness of the skins cracking and peeling.

RINSE ONCE MORE WITH HOT WATER! or cold if you plan to freeze the beans.

You now have COOKED beans ready to use in any recipe calling for them.

You can now proceed onwards to chili or baked beans or soup.

I like to then take 2 cup portions of the cooked rinsed beans and put into no name zip lock sandwich bags and freeze flat in the freezer.

EACH ONE IS NOW EQUIVALENT TO A ONE LB CAN OF BEANS or so in a recipe

I am now badly allergic to legumes so I don't do this anymore but that is how to precook huge amounts of beans.

2 more never fail beany favourites from my recipe files:

Sue Greggs Baked Beans: (these come out like the best baked beans in a can)-- sue has a website with more of her recipes and techniques at www.suegregg.com

Cook in crockpot overnight or till tender
3 cups dry white beans in 6 to 9 cups water (follow my bean cooking in the crockpot directions above) Rinse well when done.

Drain those beans and combine back in that crockpot with:
1 big onion chopped
1- 28 oz or 29 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup molasses
2 TBSP Honey (I have omitted at times but it adds a nice flavour)
2 tsp dry mustard (that is the mustard powder)
up to 1-1/2 tsp salt to taste.

cook on low all day.

Freeze leftovers (they freeze best if its' a bit soupy).

My friend Cheryl's Vegetarian Chili (mother of many, she is a versatile and frugal cook)

Cook 2-1/2 to 3 cups dry kidney or pinto beans (crockpot method)
Rinse and reserve

Dice up and cook till tender, drain and reserve to the end
1 big potatoe
2 big carrots

Saute in bottom of big big soup pot with a little olive oil:
2 onions chopped
4 garlic cloves diced

Now add to frying onions mixture the following:
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 small tin tomato paste
2 stalks celery diced
2 diced green peppers
1/2 bunch parsley chopped
1-1/3 cups frozen corn kernels
Juice of one lemon (or equivalent bottled juice)
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp oregano
1-1/2 to 2 TBSP of chili powder

Bring to boil, turn down and simmer for 1/2 an hour.

Now add the beans

Now YOU CAN ADD the POTATO and CArrot mixture. (too early and it will stick)

simmer a bit longer, stirring well and FREQUENTLY. Once the potatoes are in there it is thick and burns easily to the bottom of the pot.

Serve up, freeze leftovers in meal size portions.

Now if you want you can add one or two packages of ground beef crumbles

Big warning here, if you cook the potatoes and carrots, in this chili, instead of adding at the end they stick and burn like nothing on earth. I did this mistake when I first made this recipe, thinking to simplify, and boy was I wrong. We had a charred goopy mess on the bottom and it flavoured the whole thing, not nicely I may add.

and Lentils
Sausage Lentil Soup: this favourite was adapted from an old Canadian living recipe and kept us going during some pretty hard times one year.

Cut up and fry in bottom of soup pot in a little olive oil:
1/2 lb of sausage

drain fat and add:
6 cups water or stock
1/4 cup barley
1 cup red lentils

Bring to boil, turn down and simmer 1/2 an hour.

Now add:
1 big chopped onion
1clove garlic diced
1 finely diced carrot
1 stalk celery diced
500 ml tin (28 to 32 oz) of diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf

To taste add the following:
salt
Pepper
thyme (about a Tbsp)
basil (big pinch)

and simmer till done, adding more liquid if necessary.

If you have cabbage on hand, a few chopped leaves go nice in here, as does leftover cooked spinach.

I've even added cut up lettuce leaves to soups, especially chicken broth, when they are getting wilty. Quite nice.

Now for chicken quarters which are another cheap menu item. I find the loose pack frozen ones in big cases, at super low prices. They have the back attached. (leftovers from the chicken breast cuts that people want)

I like to bounce a few loose by throwing the frozen blocks of legs onto the cement floor (in the bag still) then pick out a few for dinner to thaw.

If I'm doing a chicken plan I often do a whole bag of quarters (an oven load) of the oven fried recipe, then I tray freeze them and pack into big bags after frozen solid. Take out and use as many as needed for dinners, thaw and reheat in the oven. Either plain oven fried, or with sauces (see below).

Like all cheap meat, it's got a lot of ugly fat attached. I take my kitchen scissors and snip off the globs when thawed. Helps. You can even skin them if you are going to cover in a sauce to bake them.

Now this next recipe I use as a basic-- I make the whole box of quarters, eat some the night I make it, and tray freeze the rest for serving plain, reheated in the oven or in BBQ sauce or honey Garlic wing sauce. The coating makes the sauce stick.

Oven Fried Chicken:
Mix:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
3 tsp salt
3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground pepper
THIS IS ENOUGH FOR A BIG BOX OF QUARTERS but if you don't want to make them all at once, the extra will keep fine for later shake and bake.

Heat oven to 375
Melt 1/4 lb butter in 2 big 9x13 glass roasting pans (I use big pyrex ones) in the oven, while dipping the quarters.

Dip thawed snipped (get the excess fat off) chicken quarters in
1 egg
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

then shake in a bag with the coating mix above. Let set on wax paper, then when all coated, take the pans with melted butter, place and turn each peice to coat, then

Bake for an hour or till done when joint runs clear, turning over once or twice.

Eat your fill, then tray freeze the rest (lay out on wax paper on cookie sheets till frozen) and bag them once frozen.

To reheat, put in 350 oven till hot thru. Drain any fat that comes off after 15 to 20 minutes.

Here are a couple of my favourite sauces to reheat in

Honey Garlic Wing Sauce:
Place precooked oven fried chicken in shallow pan and reheat for 15 to 20 min at 350 THEN DRAIN OFF EXCESS FAT!!!!!, pour on this sauce and finish baking at least a half hour more till hot thru.

Warm in saucepan or in microwave till sugar or honey dissolves:
3 TBSP Soy sauce
3 TBSP water
1/2 cup sugar OR OR OR 1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup vinegar
Garlic powder or granules to taste.

BBQ sauce
Put precooked oven fried chicken in 425 degree oven to reheat for 15 minutes (while you make sauce) then defat the pan, reduce heat to 375 and pour the sauce on to finish reheating for another 20-25 minutes.

Heat to a boil in a sauce pan:
1 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 to 2 tsp ground up dry ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion diced fine.

And finally soup, chicken soup is an art form.

Chicken Soup: here is my guidelines.

I use those cheap IQF chicken quarters (the leg and thigh with back attached) that have become such a bargain since the chicken breast craze.

Start by frying the chicken with skin on, in the bottom of a heavy big pot, with a little olive oil and a pinch of curry powder.

OK that gives that golden look, and deep chickeny flavour. Once the skin is browning, and sticking, then add water to cover chicken and simmer gently with

an onion cut up
a couple stalks celery
a carrot cut up
a tsp of poultry spice,
pinch salt
few grinds of pepper
pinch thyme

Cover and simmer till meat is tender and done. Fish chicken out onto a plate, let cool, pick meat off and throw back in pot. DISCARD BONES AND SKIN! they have given their all.

Add any other veggies and cook gently till tender, about 20 minutes max.

If you worry about fat, then chill overnight, skim off fat and discard .

Don't add potatoes or noodles in an uncooked form to cook. Put them in already cooked in salted water or they will draw all the flavour and salt out of the soup as they cook.

when you fry the skins (and wing tips if you've saved them like I do, when tidying up a roaster chicken, or turkey, or cutting whole chickens), you don't need boullion cubes or powders to have that full chicken taste. Save extra skins, and wing tips for this purpose.

A pinch of curry powder and a little salt when you start frying will make it even stronger and better coloured. The turmeric that gives curry it's golden shade (and will give your broth a wonderful colour) even prevents cancer. Can't beat that.

JUST HAVING A BAG OF FROZEN QUARTERS ON HAND IS ALSO OAMC

Simplest chicken of all:
Thaw Quarters, sprinkle with Johnnies Pork and Chicken seasoning or your favourite seasoned salt and bake at 375 till the joint runs clear when poked. The skin goes all nice and crispy, and if you bake it on a rack, the fat will drain out.

Smothered Chicken:
Put thawed quarters in a 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam. SKIN THEM if you want a low fat meal, or at least snip the globs of visible fat off.
Mix:
1 can mushroom soup
1 can milk and
1 tsp garlic powder or a couple crushed cloves garlic
and spread on the chicken.
Sprinkle with paprika and
Bake for an hour at 350 or so till done.
serve over rice to soak up the delicious gravy.

I like to buy big lots of cheese and eggs and make a bunch of meals from those and freeze them too.

HOWEVER just like the crumbles, or the quarters of chicken, or the frozen precooked beans, sometimes it's nice to have frozen "components" for faster meals that aren't "ye olde, really really olde casserole in ye freezer"! :hubba:

I freeze cheddar, mozzarella and feta and Swiss.

Before freezing I chop them (the grater is too fiddly and I'm lazy so I use the chopping blade) in the food processor into tiny crumbles and then I package them into 2 cup portions using no name ziplock sandwich baggies.

Why? because once I froze the grated (chopped) cheese all together and had a terrible time chipping off what I needed. One day I sat down to think, and realized most of my recipes call for 2 cups so why not kill 2 birds with one stone????? I needed smaller packs so why not premeasure in the commonest amount that I need?

Small pre measured pkgs of frozen grated cheese now speed me on my merry way to: mac and cheese, homemade pizza, cheese biscuits, cheese sauce on cauliflower or broccoli or other veggies and several other recipes.

the feta and swiss I use in smaller quantities but mozza and cheddar are ideal in the 2 cup packs.

Oh and small FLAT packs are faster to freeze and FASTER TO THAW!

Freeze em flat and you will thank me if you've ever had to wait while the centre of a frozen ball of something is cooking on the outside, and still frozen in the middle.

Trust me with cheese this is NOT a good thing. Freeze in smaller baggies and freeze flat.

I like to use up the end of the 5 lb block I buy, before payday (when I buy a new block) by running it thru the food processor and freezing up some more "grated" cheese packages.

That way I can buy fresh for slicing always have nice grated cheese in the freezer.

Those small flat packs, can be used almost right away. Whack em a little and break them up, then use in whatever you are making. Works fine.

If I remember to thaw them in the fridge, fine, if not then WHACK AWAY!!!! I've tested this often in my kitchen and I KNOW that you don't have to thaw ahead from experiance.

So 2 cups in a little no name sandwich ziplock and away we go to Dairy Meals R US! :chef:

Mac and Cheese:

Preheat oven to 350

Boil 4 cups dry macaroni in salted water and make the following sauce while the macaroni cooks

Fry in bottom of heavy pan till bubbly:
3 TBSP butter
4-1/2 TBSP flour

whisk in
1-1/2 cups milk
pinch of salt and pepper
and cook till thick

add 2 cups grated cheddar

Take OFF heat, and whisk till cheese is melty, then whisk in
2 eggs

Now mix the sauce with the hot cooked pasta (a little undercooked is best) and pour into a GREASED long low casserole (for more of the crispy tasty top and faster baking)

and top with some crushed saltine cracker crumbs and sprinkle with a little Parmesan if you have some. It is fine without.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350

Comfort food at it's finest.

Another classic, mentioned earlier in the spaghetti plan:
French Bread Pizza:
Take a loaf of french bread (day old outlets are cheapest) and split lengthwise.

Spread pizza sauce on and top with
chopped mushrooms, canned or fresh,
diced onion
any diced leftover sandwich meats or leftover chicken etc

and sprinkle grated mozzarella and or cheddar on top.

Either bake now at 350 till done, or

Wrap in plastic and freeze for another meal.

Microwave Cheese Sauce: This is embarrassingly easy, and faster and easier than using a mix!!!!

Nuke 1 cup milk on high for 2 minutes

In a 4 cup glass bowl or measuring cup, put 2 TBSP of butter and nuke on high for 1 minute

Add 2 TBSP of flour and mix then nuke for 1-1/2 minutes on high.

Add the hot milk and whisk.

Nuke on high till bubbly. If too thick, thin out with a TINY amount of milk.

Whisk 1 cup "grated" cheese into the hot white sauce (whack the frozen package and scoop half out, put the other half BACK in the freezer)

Add any salt and pepper or tabasco (I like a couple of drops) that you like for seasoning.

The cheese will melt right in. (I make it with frozen cheese straight from the freezer, and it melts just fine)

This is a thick smooth cheesy sauce with no lumps or scorching.

BTW this is white sauce by any other name if you leave out the cheese, and add the correct seasonings that you want.

IT WILL ALSO SUBSTITUTE NICELY FOR CREAM SOUP IN ANY RECIPE, AS LONG AS YOU ADD THE FLAVOURINGS YOU NEED

CHEESE BISCUITS:
I make a double batch of Bisquick biscuits recipe and add 2 cups "grated" cheddar to the dry ing before adding the liquid.


FROZEN QUICHE in SQUARES (freeze squares, and reheat for a fast breakfast)
this makes 24 servings:

Fry up
20 slices bacon which is 1 lb normally which I chop using scissors into 1 to 2 inch lengths and then stir fry all together in a big non stick pan. Drain and reserve.

Mix
4 cups of cottage cheese
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour mixed with 2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I don't bother)
4 cups sharp cheddar (I've been using some pre grated Pepper Jack, and Cheddar cheese from Costco sold for nachos and it's lovely)
1 small to medium onion diced (ok I blenderize it or run it thru my food pro with the eggs, milk and flour and salt if you want it and then add this "onion soup" to the cottage and cheddar) and mix with a spatula.

So you mix this mess up and bake it in a long pan, actually I think I used my 10 x 14 or whatever it is, sprayed with PAM,

and sprinkle the drained bacon bits on top then bake at 375 for about 20 to 25 minutes or till knife comes clean.

Serve some for breakfast and freeze the rest in squares after cooling. I wrap in plastic wrap individually so my dd can nuke her breakfast before zipping out to her classes.

Enjoy, it's very good

I like to buy a good boneless loin chop super size pack on special and take out and tray freeze a bunch of good chops which I can repack after freezing solid, in family size bags.

Shake out how many you need and make dinner. OAMC doesn't have to be precooked.

The rest can be semi frozen then sliced (works better that way) into stir fry meats.

which is also what you can do with round steaks--buy on sale, freeze partially, then cut into stir fry meat.

and repack into small flat bags for faster freezing and safer quicker thawing.

When I get a frozen chop out and thaw it, here are some things I do:

My Mother in Law's chops
Dice up a medium onion fine
splash on some lemon juice (I have a bottle on hand in the fridge)
add some brown sugar
then ketchup
a sprinkle of ground ginger
some garlic powder

and stir it up. It should be thick enough to sit on top of the chops as they sit on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake till done.

this is a really good thick BBQ style topping and it's mostly onions held together with ketchup with a little lemon and ginger and garlic zing.

Plain fried:
Sprinkle lightly with Johnnie's Pork and Chicken seasoning and fry gently in a little olive oil. YUM

I'll add more later

IQF, individually quick frozen pollock or frozen whole salmon are good components for OAMC, and make nice meal starters.

IQF clams are another bargain and can be turned into a lovely clam chowder.

That pollock fillet, frozen a while, it tends to weep BADLY when thawed. There are only 2 things I do to deal with that.

One, make chowder or steam it, but thicken the broth that comes off as you cook, and TWO- let it weep as it thaws, and pour the liquid away, pat it dry and get the fillet coated and fry them up. Don't expect the coating to work well if the fillet hasn't thawed and is weeping while you fry.

Results are quite good. You do lose a lot with shrinkage but the savings are still there as long as it's half the price or less than half the price of fresh.

Clam and Pollock Chowder:
2 med potatoes
1 or 2 onions
salt and pepper to taste
Clams, one tin, or IQFrozen about a cup to cup and half
Less clams if using pollock to stretch the clam supply
1 quart milk divided
3 TBSP flour
Fried bacon bits as garnish

Set 2 medium potatoes, diced to cook in a little water with some salt in a small saucepan, and while they are cooking--

In the bottom of a soup pot, fry up an onion or two (diced) in a little butter, and brown it a little to give good flavour, then just barely cover with some water, into which you add a little salt, and some fresh ground pepper and put in some IQF clams, about a cup to cup and a half of them, depending on if you are doing a bit of pollock to stretch the clams out a bit.

and simmer on low till clams are done. Won't take long. Scissor the clams a bit to chop them up. I put kitchen scissors in and use them to cut.

Pour 3 cups milk into the pot and bring to a simmer, stirring to keep from sticking. When bubbles are starting to break the surface, whisk 3 TBSP flour into 1 more cup of milk till blended (will be a sort of creamy paste) and add to the pot along with the potatoes and the water they cooked in. This will need stirring from now on,

Now if you want extra protein, and if you only added a cup of clams, you may want to add some chopped up pollock fillets, add them, and cook stirring till they are cooked thru.

THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO USE UP YESTERDAYS LEFTOVER FRIED OR BAKED FISH, JUST PULL OFF THE COATING IF IT WAS FRIED! Drop in cooked or raw frozen chopped pollock.

When soup is thick, and pollock is done turn the heat off and serve with some bacon bits if you have any as a garnish on the bowls of soup.

adding frozen corn, or diced raw red pepper, or finely diced cooked carrots right at the end are nice additions to this soup.

So is a tiny tiny pinch of thyme, but watch out because milk soups are easily overpowered by herbs and seasonings. The original recipe for this soup starts by frying bacon but it just overwhelms the delicate milk and clam flavours so I don't do that anymore.

Moving right along here with a breading that always works and tastes great on white fish:

Pan fried fish:
Mix in a bag:
1/2 cup flour
1 + 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Shake thawed, dried (pat dry with paper towel) fish fillets to coat, fry in a bit of butter in the bottom of a non stick pan.

Oven Roasted Whole Salmon:
Put it in a sprayed roasting pan, add some lemon juice and a sprinkle of garlic powder and thyme, cover with foil and bake at 300 till it flakes.

Carefully peel the skin away and serve the meat hot with butter and lemon juice.

After it cools, separate the meat from the bones and the skin, carefully, so there are no bones left, (flake it with your fingers as you do this)

and chill in the fridge. You can freeze any extra that you can't use up the next day in sandwiches or salads. Thaw and carry on with the salad recipe.

The next day it makes the most wonderful salmon salad sandwiches ever.

Crush a little garlic into some mayo, and stir that and some lemon juice into the mayo and mix with the flaked cooked salmon to make a wonderful tasting salad or sandwich filling. For salad, serve on a bed of butterhead lettuce leaves if you can find them, or any lettuce you can get on sale.

Salmon has the best essential fatty acids in it, serving it often is terrific for health. Fish is overall one of the healthier choices for protein and something that is often neglected in a restricted budget.

I hope you can start to see the possibilities in a simpler form of OAMC (once a month cooking) where the emphasis is on having frozen components ready not just a bunch of casseroles although they are handy too.

It's more about using the freezer as a tool to make homemade conveniance food.

Not like "ye olde, really really olde casserole in ye freezer". :icon_lol:

I'm going to add in another post on homemade Bisquick which is another handy component to have with some useful ways to make it work for you.

Wow, you re certainly awesome at this. This gets my wheels turning because I still have a week off before I go back to work and school, man this would eb great to get some of this in the freezer. Thanks Canadian Gardner

My favourite Bisquick alternative homemade baking mix:

10 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour (and if you have access to a grain grinder you can use any combination of rice, barley, corn or buckwheat flours to dilute the wheat or replace it altogether)

1/3 cup baking powder (I like Magic Brand, but any good double acting b.p. that doesn't contain aluminum compounds is fine)

1 TBSP Salt

2 cups (1 lb) of Lard or up to half Butter combined with either lard or shortening or Shortening. I prefer Lard. Shortening is really bad for you, butter and lard are better fats from a trans fats point of view.

Use a pastry blender or a couple of knives to chop this altogether in a big bowl till pea size lumps remain.

Store in fridge or freezer (if using butter, lard or whole grain flours, the freezer is best to prevent rancidity).

Use in ANY recipe calling for Bisquick in equal amounts

Pancakes: 2 cups mix, 1 cup milk or a bit more, 2 eggs and a pinch of sugar and a dash of vanilla.

Waffles: 2 cups mix, 2 Tbsp oil, 1 egg, 1-1/3 cups milk, pinch of sugar, dash of vanilla.

Dumplings: 2 cups mix, 2/3 cup milk, and any herbs you fancy ---a pinch.

Biscuits: 2-1/4 cups mix, 2/3 cup milk, bake 8 to 10 minutes at 450.

Dont' forget to add some pregrated frozen cheese to make cheese biscuits for something special. see above for doing cheese.

Muffins: 3 cups mix, 1 egg, 2 TBSP sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 cup of any addition like chopped apples, walnuts, cranberries, blueberries, chopped rhurbarb. (frozen is fine, use from freezer, I like having berries and rhubarb all ready to add in freezer-- more component cooking again) Mix and use an ice cream scoop to dump into greased muffin tins.

I don't usually use this muffin recipe, it's been years. I include as what you can do with bisquick alternative, but I prefer making huge batches from scratch. This is more for a quick dozen or something.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

some impossible pies using the bisquick alternative that I love from an old out of print Bisquick cookbook I got in the mid seventies:

Family size Tuna Melt: I changed this a bit, using cheddar instead of plastic cheese for health reasons.

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix 2 cups mix with 1/3 cup mayonnaise, and 1/3 cup milk. Roll out or pat out into a rectangle 8x12 onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes till light brown.

While it bakes, mix the following:
2 cans tuna drained and flaked (6 oz size)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sweet relish or chopped sweet pickles
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated cheddar

Spread onto hot rectangle and top with
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Bake till filling is hot and bubbly and cheese is melted about 5 more minutes.

Serves 6

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie (a perfect place to use a lb pack of frozen pre cooked crumbles-- more component cooking going on)

1 lb of ground beef (or one pack of frozen crumbles)
1 large onion diced
pinch of salt and pepper
1-1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
3/4 cup bisquick mix
2 tomatoes sliced
1 cup grated cheddar

Heat oven to 400. Grease 10 inch pie plate. Stir fry ground beef with onion and drain if you aren't using the crumbles. (if you are you will need a tsp of olive oil to prevent sticking as you stir fry them with the onion) Stir in salt and pepper.

Spread meat mixture onto pie plate. Top with milk, eggs and baking mix that you either blended in a blender, or used a hand whisk to whisk together.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Top with tomatoes and cheese and bake another 5 to 8 minutes or till knife comes out clean.

Impossible Turkey and Stuffing Pie (makes it's own "stuffing", you just need leftover chicken or turkey for this one)

Heat oven to 400. Grease 10 inch pie plate. Mix the following:
2 cups cut up leftover chicken or turkey
1 cup celery
1/2 cup fine diced onion (one small one)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sage
3/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp pepper

and put on the greased pie plate

Now whisk together:
1-1/4 cups milk
3 eggs
1 cup Bisquick mix
and pour over top.

Bake till knife comes clean from center. About 25 to 30 minutes.

Quick Chicken and Dumplings: (a leftover chicken recipe--if you don't have some, then fry up or boil up a frozen chicken breast or two or a few quarters to have some chicken meat)
Heat:
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup frozen veggies
1 cup cooked leftover chicken
1 tin mushroom soup (they call for cream of chicken but this is cheaper)
till it comes to a boil in a saucepan. Turn down and let simmer uncovered.

Mix together
1 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup milk
and drop 8 lumps by spoonfulls, onto the simmering mixture. try not to dump into liquid, but let them rest on the meat or veggies.

Cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes

THEN COVER AND DO 10 MORE MINUTES

serves 4.

you are very welcome, glad it's a help.

My style of OAMC is more what I'd like to call Component Cooking, and it's what I'd call it if I ever write it in a book form. :cutie:

edited to add, a note regarding using the food processor to make the bisquick mix above.

I like to put the flour and salt and B.Pwdr together in a bowl and mix, then I scoop out about 1/4 at a time which is 2-1/2 cups approx of the dry mix

and run it thru the food pro with 1/4 lb of the lard. This makes it easier to process. I remember trying to do bigger bits at once, and it doesn't work.

I also cut the 1/4 lb of lard into smaller chunks, and dump in on top of the dry stuff in the food pro and then pulse chop it in.

Dump out into an ice cream bucket (a 1 gallon or 4 liter bucket is PERFECT) and repeat 3 more times till it's all processed.

Stir the bucket a bit if you like, but doing it this way is pretty uniform and even.

I like to make the first batch of biscuits, using the floury dirtied up food processor. Seems like a good idea.

Buttermilk is a nice liquid, you don't have to stick to milk. I like the creamy flavour that you get using butter milk.

BTW my idea of cheese biscuits is way way cheesier than most. I love to add 2 cups grated cheese to a double biscuit recipe, but most people would find 1 cup more than sufficient.

If you like you can add a 1/4 tsp of garlic powder to the cheese biscuits.

when it's part of a plan.

Freezing whole blocks of tofu when you can get it on sale has some advantages. It texturizes the tofu, and makes it more meat like.

You can also freeze in marinades in thinner slabs or cubes if you like. When you do that the flavour penetrates this rather bland "meat".

Thaw, and bake or fry or make cubes into shish kebab. Crumble into a big green salad.

Pan fry marinated thin slabs in a little olive oil for a steak, or hot sandwich filling.

Thaw plain tofu, drain and crumble up with mayo, chopped green onion and mustard as an eggless egg salad.

Fry plain tofu, with green onion and soya sauce and a dab of mustard for scrambled eggs.

Breakfasts:
Frozen Quiche from above in the dairy meals post is excellent as are

Breakfast Burritos

makes 12, double it, I do

12 eggs beaten
1 lb sausage (i can't get bulk, but I get the super size tray of links and 12 links equal about a lb, so I bake em, then chop them)
1/2 cup chunky salsa (i like mild)
2 cups cheddar cheese grated (I like the pepper jack blend from Costco here)
12 big round flour tortillas (casa mendosa from Superstore, tomato kind)

Bake the sausages in a long low pan, till brown and done. Drain, cool, and chop.

Scramble eggs in big nonstick frying pan till done, and stir in salsa and cheese and sausage bits.

Dump into microwave warmed tortillas (to soften) with a 1/3 cup measure or a scant 1/2 cup.

Roll up, lay out on cookie sheets lined with wax paper and freeze.

pop off paper, dump in big plastic bag,

when you want one, nuke for 30 seconds on high, cut in half, turn ends to middle and turn upside down and nuke another 30 seconds.

this is from Frozen Assets by deborah Taylor-Hough, one of my 2 most favourite OAMC cookbooks the other being the
30 Day Gourmet manual

and if you do get either, they are full of basic OAMC recipes you can adjust to suit your tastes, budget and family.

You are the queen of OAMC, thank you SO much! I did this on and off this past year and what a difference it made in time and budget. I loved just going to the freezer and supper was ready! I did some pancakes and french toast last month and they turned out great! Thanks again, I am referring to this post OFTEN, heck, I'm printing it ou!!! :hurray:

You are so welcome. Glad it's a help.

Freezing in marinades is Also OAMC! And makes a lot of sense too, when you consider it.

Marinades to freeze stuff in for summer salads, BBQ, easy OAMC preparations

first 2 are from Once A Month Cooking by Wilson and Lagerborg, the book that began it all. It is also a good one to have around, but a lot of the recipes tend to expensive or highly processed ingredients.

Chinese chicken morsels Marinade:
(chicken, tofu, cooked beans)
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Soya Sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne (I use Tabasco sauce, a few drops)
2 Tbsp oil (I use olive oil)

This makes WAY more marinade than you need for the amount of meat they call for. I use it to do between 2 and 3 packs of 6 to 8 chicken breast halves each.

Don't worry if they are frozen, just dump the chicken in frozen into the bag with the marinade, it will soak up the flavour in the whole freezing and thawing time.

Then you broil or grill or even bake the chicken breast in the marinade after thawing. Yummy. Leftovers go ontop of a mixed greens salad. If you plan to use the marinade as a sauce, you must either bake it alongside the chicken or boil it on the stove for 5 minutes to kill salmonella and other chicken or raw meat/tofu germs.

This is GREAT to marinate TOFU in for grilling tofu steaks/shish kebabs, also you can marinate cooked drained beans in it for adding to summer salads or mashing in marinade for a sandwich filling!

Marinated Teriyaki Flank Steak Marinade
I have changed it by adding a dollop of honey and some sesame oil and leaving out the veg oil. they call for 1/2 cup of veg oil, which I routinely leave out, works fine.

A FEW DROPS OF SESAME OIL if you have it, adds a fine oriental flavour. I like to do that when and if I have some. The dark kind has the most flavour.

Add a bit of sugar or honey if you like. I PREFER IT THAT WAY-- dollop of honey off a soup spoon is what I add.

1/4 cup soy
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger. (see my note below)
1 tsp minced garlic (1 clove crushed) (I USE MORE!!!)

(I like to grate a chunk of real ginger in for zing and flavour, you can freeze little lumps of grated ginger to make ginger tea or add into stirfries or marinades)

I like to cut up steak meat and leave in this. The best is stir fry meat, which you can do using any tougher steaks, cut ACROSS the grain in thin strips.

Flank steak is a classic for this treatment, and in the orig recipe they said to marinate a flank steak, freeze in marinade, thaw, grill on BBQ or broil THEN cut across the grain.

Flank steak is expensive so I don't use it. I can often find round steak for good prices. It is already cut thickly across the grain though so I slice it on an angle to thin cut it further almost across the grain if that makes sense.

It's easiest to partially freeze the meat, then slice it cross grain while semi frozen.

Actually it's easiest to cut almost any meat semi frozen. It kind of holds it stiff and stable while you hack away at it.

So then you take your stir fry strips that you cut and freeze in the marinade ready for the NICEST stir fry.

OR
Round steak in serving sizes (this will be a little tough still, and I often sprinkle with tenderizer and poke with a fork on both sides about 20 minutes to half an hour before I BBQ)

This marinade is excellent for whole chickens. You buy them, slosh this in, freeze and thaw and bake, basting the chicken in it)

I start the chicken upside down in the pan with the marinade all around it, then after 20 minutes I turn it over, and baste it about every half hour till done. COOK ON LOWER heat, I use a 300 to 325 as it tends to burn due to the honey.

DO NOT USE THE MARINADE for basting unless you bake it alongside the meat or boil it 5 minutes on the stove.

It works great for tofu steaks too. Cut the tofu into "steaks" or kebabs and freeze in the marinade. BBQ or grill/broil or even pan fry these. WONDERFUL

For cooked drained beans, freeze in this for a heavenly sandwich filling or salad sprinkle

Here is Maui Ribs.

I made it up a long time ago as a copy of the supermarket one.

Porportions are by eye. Put the meat in the bag, slosh in the soy, sprinkle in the brown sugar, and the sesame oil, goosh it a bit, and freeze.

Soy Sauce
Brown Sugar
few drops dark sesame oil

Marinate beef short ribs in this (freeze) and BBQ them.

My friend gave me a favourite of hers. She uses it on skinned chicken breast (her dh has bad cholesterol problems) to help make them more flavourful.

Louise's Greek Marinade
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Crushed Garlic
Oregano

and that is it. You marinate and then broil the chicken breasts and it smells wonderful. I've tried this and it's really really good.

I love Rosemary and I want to see if a little crushed fresh rosemary (when it comes in season) would be fun as an alternate or an addition to the oregano.

Absolutely no work marinades? ANY SALAD DRESSING-- the liquid kind you pour on salad will do. Use one you love.

more little breakfast OAMC tips: (page 2 the bottom, for the burritos, and the cheese post for the breakfast quiche squares)

Making pancakes? Waffles? Tray Freeze the leftovers in meal size packs. Reheat in the oven at 300 for 5 to 7 minutes on a wire rack over a cookie sheet. this keeps the shape better than the toaster, and doesn't over crisp them, but they aren't soggy like the microwave.

Ditto french toast.

I've also used the big non stick griddle to warm up pancakes and french toast. Just heat it back up, a minute or two on both sides, and you've got the griddle full. A bit drier and toastier than fresh, but not soggy.

I own a big rectangular griddle with a non stick surface from Costco, and it does 8 pancakes at a time. I take the drawers out of the bottom, and slide 2 dinner plates under the griddle to keep hot. I put the pancakes on there, while I cook more.

I also own 2 big size waffle makers. They both make 2 square waffles, Belgian style. So I make 4 waffles at a time which is a help when you are feeding guests or even just 2 hungry teens who love waffles.

Those 2 machines are why I can easily cook up enough pancakes and waffles for freezer breakfasts, it's not any more trouble to double or triple the recipe and keep cranking them out.

A note about waffles. heat your oven to 200 when you start cooking them. Put the cooked waffles on a cooling rack (wire kind) resting on a cookie sheet like I mention above for reheating. It keeps them hot, without letting them steam each other into soggy oblivion.

That way you can sit down to hot crispy waffles with the whole family. :biggrinki

Making muffins? Make an extra one or two dozen. Double or triple the batch. Freeze the extras.

I make them fast and furious, by using a few tricks. The first 2 will help with clean up, the last tip deals with speedy batter delivary!

#1-- use paper liners :wand:

#2-- use spray PAM even on the liners as they sit in the muffin tins. (what you think batter only sits in the cups? or that paper won't stick to the muffin??? LOL, you will love me for this tip, trust me!) :wand:

#3-- use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to dump batter into the liners sitting in the muffin tins. It is exactly the right size and makes it go SO FAST! :wand:

Oh and finally if you love muffin tops and who doesn't and you got batter left over

Use your cookie sheets, sprayed with Pam (I also use terra cotta pizza stones for this) and using the ice cream scoop dump 6 or 8 scoops out onto the sheet and bake for about 10 minutes less than the muffin recipe requires.

WOW!!

My chin hit the floor about 15 minutes ago!! This is a fabulous thread!! Thanks so much CG!! I've been trying to formulate a "plan of attack" for ways to save money in the new year ~ I think I've found it right here under my nose!!

Thanks for the wonderful tips & how to's!! :)

you are so welcome. I tend to scare people with this a bit actually. once I get going it's like Moby Dick the whale "THAR SHE BLOWS!!!!"

But it's such fun and saves so much time, energy, and money that I'm difficult to stop when I get going on the subject. :boat:

Just note for those who may have printed the thread out, I did add a bit more to the post above, re breakfasts, waffle making, and tips for muffins.

I will be adding some more in pork, stirfry stuff and a few other odds and ends.

A word of thanks CG, you've come through for all of us. What a difference this is going to make in 2004. YOUR THE BEST!!!

:groupwave: Thank you so very much Canadian Gardener! What a wonderful thing you are doing by sharing all of your expertise with your Component Cooking.

You are very welcome, I'm glad its a help. Here is another way I'm different from the usual OAMC books and advice.

Something you WON'T find in most OAMC books, is the use of the pantry for meals you put together in a hurry, from dry and canned goods or storage veggies.

It belongs in my philosophy of component cooking though because it's all about being prepared, having stuff set aside, storing for a rainy day financially.

I will be adding more of that type of recipe in the OAMC tutorial thread, but it's worth thinking a minute aobut why you do OAMC or component cooking.

I do this cooking to save time, money and energy

but also

to be prepared for grocery days, when I don't have much money at all, not my usual grocery money.

My pantry, freezer and system insulate me from the ups and downs.

I will be adding some pantry/dry goods/storage veggies meals in here now.

Lentils are an ideal dry storage pantry protein that cooks up in a hurry, so are potatoes. Many Vegetarian recipes qualify here, using lentils, rice, beans and pastas.

This is a FAST simple high protein low cost high nutrition main dish using both. (or side dish if you like, but it's filling, and good)

Nava Atlas's

CURRIED POTATO SALAD WITH RED LENTILS (which I loved before the legume allergy hit, and I can't eat lentils, beans etc anymore)

3/4 cup red lentils, rinsed
4 large potatoes
4 medium firm, ripe tomatoes, diced ( I skip for cost, using cut up radishes)
1/2 cup soy mayonnaise (I used plain)
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt
1 to 2 teaspoons good-quality curry powder, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or more to taste (yuck, cilantro tastes like mildew to me, so I substitute parsley which is much nicer in my opinion)
1 scallion, thinly sliced (green onions, 2 or 3 for the frugal persons like me)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine the lentils with 2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the water is absorbed and the lentils are done but still firm, about 25 minutes. Drain off any excess cooking liquid and let the lentils cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, cook or microwave the potatoes in their skins until tender but still firm. When cool enough to handle, peel and dice them. (I left skins on)

Combine the lentils and potatoes in a serving bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Toss gently but thoroughly and serve at once.

this is a delicious potatoe salad and a favourite main dish with loads of protein.

It's great when still warm! Kind of like warm German potatoe salad. Very very nice.

I learnt it from Nava's site http://www.vegkitchen.com/
where you can find more of the same.

More from the lovely lyrical lentil:

Sausage Lentil Soup: this favourite was adapted from an old Canadian living recipe and kept us going during some pretty hard times one year.

Cut up and fry in bottom of soup pot in a little olive oil:
1/2 lb of sausage

drain fat and add:
6 cups water or stock
1/4 cup barley
1 cup red lentils

Bring to boil, turn down and simmer 1/2 an hour.

Now add:
1 big chopped onion
1clove garlic diced
1 finely diced carrot
1 stalk celery diced
500 ml tin (28 to 32 oz) of diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf

To taste add the following:
salt
Pepper
thyme (about a Tbsp)
basil (big pinch)

and simmer till done, adding more liquid if necessary.

If you have cabbage on hand, a few chopped leaves go nice in here, as does leftover cooked spinach.

I've even added cut up lettuce leaves to soups, especially to chicken broth, when they are getting wilty. Quite nice.

I should also mention something about FREEZING SOUPS

Don't freeze a whole ice cream bucket of soup, you'll be thawing it when the NEXT millenium turns over. Instead, think cottage cheese containers or yogurt containers, something small that fits a single serving for 3 or so.

Many soups when frozen get thicker. So you can make a 3 cup frozen soup go 4 cups by adding water, broth, leftover veggies, tomatoe juice, vegetable cooking water and so forth.

Sue Gregg at http://www.suegregg.com/ has a recipe in her book The 15 Minute Meal Planner called Lentil Rice Casserole and it's one of the most requested recipes.

It's typical of Sue's recipes, packed with nutrition, tasty like Betty Crocker and easy like a mix.

If you are looking to learn more about whole grains, improving your health without the "yuck" factor that health food recipes often have ("honey I told you you'll learn to like kombu and tofu stew!")

then I suggest you look at Sue Gregg's stuff. She does a lot with pantry staples and even has lists of same plus many freezer friendly foods.

Lentil Rice Casserole (it's one of the few dishes I still used my 3 quart round Corning ware casserole for before the allergy hit)

Blend together in a casserole dish:
3/4 cup lentils (either red or green, I used red)
1/2 cup uncooked long grain brown rice
1 small chopped onion or 1/4 cup dried minced onion flakes
3 cups water or chicken broth (if water add 1 Tbsp of soya sauce)
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic

Cover and bake 2 to 2and 1/2 hours at 300.

During last 20 minutes of baking, top with
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Before serving, stir to blend in melted cheese, and garnish with parsley.

Leftovers MAKE:

Lentil Rice Burritos:
In each tortilla put
1/2 cup of this mixture
1/2 cup lettuce
1 TBSP sour cream
a bit of salsa
a bit of chopped raw tomato if you have some.

While we are on the subject of beans and so forth, another Sue Gregg recipe before I quit, --she isn't just beans-- (for people who eat meat, and those that don't --she isn't just vegetarian food, she does great meat recipes and includes meatless variations in her health oriented recipes)

Burrito Beans (refried Beans) for Burritos, Nachos, Dips, and sandwiches.

Cook 1 lb (2 cups) pinto or black beans, rinsing well (see page 1 of this thread for bean instructions)

When beans are done, Saute:
2-4 TBSP olive oil
1 med onion diced
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves mashed
1-1/2 TBSP chili powder (or more if hotter)
2 tsp cumin powder

Mash together with beans adding water to improve consistency and add
1 tsp salt
1-- 4 oz can of green chilis (optional)

Serve.

Cool and Freeze in smaller portions for the following:

Burritos:
Serve with soft tortillas, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, salsa, chopped tomatoes, and chopped green onions.

Enchiladas:
use taco seasoned ground beef crumbles with the beans and salsa and diced onions, on top of tortillas, and roll up, top with more light sour cream and grated cheddar and bake a little to heat and melt cheddar.

Nachos:
Serve a plate of nacho chips heated in the microwave with grated cheddar till melty, then top with these beans, salsa, sour cream, green onions, guacamole if you have some, and sliced black olives.

Dip:
Layer Bean paste in pie plate, top with Salsa, then Sour Cream, Chopped green onions, then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese, and chopped black olives and serve with nacho chips.

Dress for Success???? In the KITCHEN!!!!

Yup! :cutie:

Anytime you are doing a large batch cooking job:

Wear good running shoes, laced up, that have good supportive cushy soles, and a solid non slip sole for safe walking thru spills.

Wear a heavy apron that will protect your clothes from spills that leak thru a thinner apron and will stain.

Wear short sleeves if you can, they are less likely to get stained, caught in a pot handle, start on fire, than long sleeves.

Tie a scarf over the hair, or use a hair net, or tie the hair up in some way so it doesn't land in the food.

Comfort measures:
make sure you've eaten a good protein snack to keep the blood sugar up while cooking,

use the bathroom and wash hands really well before putting on that apron.

fix the kids a snack, a drink, and settle them with a favourite activity to ensure a steady uninterrupted work time.

Put the answering machine on, and let it take the calls

Put some fun upbeat music on that won't distract you and

enjoy your kitchen. It's the heart of your home, the happy place!

Cook up a storm!

Margery, you have inspired me to try OAMC! I have thought about it in the past, but this post just gave me that push. I am doing my bi-weekly shopping trip this weekend, so I need to get this printed out and re-read and re-read again.

Thank you!

Margery, I tried your recipe for refried beans and they were great. The whole family loved them. It's a good thing to because I figured I might as well make a few batches at the same time and freeze them. I ended up with seven 2 cup bags.

I'm glad to be of help. LOL Strawberry, it's usually you giving me the recipes, I'm delighted to give you one in return. :hurray:

This system doesn't have to hurt to work. You just do doubles or triples and freeze one.

This week isn't great but so far on Sunday I did pancakes and froze the extras for toaster pancakes. (cool on cookie racks, set in freezer on those racks, on cookie sheets to catch crumbs and keep the rack stable, and when frozen, pop in bags. This keeps pancakes firm and flat for easier toasting later)

On Tuesday I made 2 meatloaves, served one, and a pan full of square baked "meatballs" which hit the freezer. 10 lbs ground beef dealt with and it didn't take much more than putting together and baking one meatloaf.

Tonight I'm serving oven fried chicken quarters and freezing the extras from an oven load of them. Later I will fish them out and serve reheated plain or with BBQ sauce or pineapple sw and sour.

Today I have a crockpot of beans going, dumped 2 one lb packs in a crock, covered with water and cooking away. When tender I will rinse and chill till tomorrows crock of baked beans. I will freeze the leftover baked beans for instant microwave meals for dh and dd.

Today I also cooked 2 HUGE yams. We will eat some tonight and I will freeze family size portions out of the rest for other meals later.

It works.

These are great! I'm always looking for ways to freeze and save for my DH's trips on the road! I'll get some good use out of these!

Susie in MN

bumping up for those interested in revamping their kitchen routines for a new school year. :pumpking:

:rockon: This is great!! Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips.bumping up for those interested in revamping their kitchen routines for a new school year. :pumpking:

Oh Brenda I'm so glad you like this thread. You are a kindred spirit in the kitchen! :hurray:

bump :icescream

Just wanted to add a thought: If you find yourself getting burned out w/ the same ole meals, you might try checking out one of the recipe sites w/ users' reviews. I have found some treasures on recipezaar.com.

Margery, you are such a treasure!! I was just talking with my non-cooking SIL about ways she could cut down on their eating out that would be relatively painless for her, and I come back to find your thread! :D

I would also like to see some words about how the OAMC or component freezers are organized. :)

heheheh not very. I tend to sling stuff in, labeled or bag similar meats and things together.

Some components like crumbles I pack it the same way every time and it's really visible to me. I have some wire baskets that fit my chest freezer so in between the baskets, and the grocery bags that hold similar items, things stay pretty tidy.

But it wouldn't look super organized.

I have a high turnover rate, I don't expect to keep stuff in there forever so I like to have a bit of room to rummage around.

the one thing I don't do is pile stuff on stuff so you can't get to it.

My baskets are 3 layers, and they slide. See Sears catalog for their best chest freezers for an example. That way stuff on the bottom is accessible.

One other point, I do buy ziplock freezer bags, size med and x large and I flat pack whatever I can as it saves space.

If you freeze soft food in flat packed ziplocks on a cookie sheet they freeze nice and flat on the bottom which helps.

I tend to throw food like waffles, muffins or meatballs in loose (meatballs on wax paper) and then roll them into big plastic bags, not ziplocks.

Take out kind of like rolling frozen peas out of the giant saver bags, you take what you need, leave the rest.

Note to add:

I've been experimenting again, this time with degreasing meatballs made from reg (translate CHEAP) ground beef.

I find boiling removes a ton of fat and using a small spring load scooper for ice cream, but in the small size, it makes perfect little meatballs. Roll a little more but not enough to make em tough.

Here is my greasy ground meat meatballs recipe that turns out lean and tasty and ready for freezing or saucing:

3 or so lbs ground meat (reg grind, on special)
1 tube no name crackers like premium soda crackers the kind without salt on top. Crush em in the tube till fine, and add.
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 or 3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Montreal steak spice if you got it.
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Mix GENTLY with a fork.

want to know the reason for tough meatballs?

over handling.

Mix lightly, THEN use a scooper to measure and pre shape then VERY gently roll a little more.

Dump each one into a pot of gently simmering water as you form them.

When the last one is in, and the water is still simmering time them for another 10 minutes.

Then drain into a colandar and if you want to freeze them for future reference gently roll them out onto a lined cookie sheet, cool and freeze then bust apart, and put in a bag in the freezer.

If you wish to use some now, or all, make a sauce (Tina's BBQ sauce is great!) in the cooking pot and throw some back in.

For a change of recipes also try 30 day gourmet and their forums for some fine kitchen tested good freezer friendly meals.

So you bought salmon fillets on sale, tons of em and are wondering what else to do.

Margery's own Salmon invention:
Put a bit of mayo on each thawed fillet, sprinkle with garlic salt or garlic powder and a sprinkle of Parmesan and bake on a high heat-- around 400 or so for about 15 or so minutes till done. Kind of like Tuna melts in flavour. the mayo and parmesan puff up all nice and golden with an appetizing hint of garlic. Serve with a dash of fresh lemon juice.

NOW ON TO OTHER THINGS

What to do with Tofu slices or pork steaks or chicken legs for the grill later!

Supposing you have some frozen legs of chicken or some chops or a hunk of tofu which ought to be sliced for this effort, in a baggy, from the last shopping trip.

You will fire up the bbq later today, but right now you have energy, it's morning and you wonder as you wander thru the kitchen, what to do, what to do----

here is what:

Marinade variation:

Dump the Protein thing bag and all in a bowl (in case it leaks) and mix the following in a measuring cup, till dissolved, then pour IN the bag as it thaws all day. It marinades as it thaws.

1/2 cup soya sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 or 3 cloves of garlic squished.

When thawed, this will give a lovely flavour to tofu steaks, pork steaks or chops or chicken legs.

Discard marinade--it's full of raw meat bacteria, or tofu bacteria-- and slap on the grill. YUMMY AND JUICY!!!!!!!

(and if you so desire, boil the marinade to kill off any bacteria and serve on the side as a syrup or baste with it but I don't bother, it's given it's all and I dump it down the drain personally)

Margery,
i just pasted all your hints and recepies in my notepad, and Im going to print off later on cards. Thank u so much for all the info!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of these tips and recipes. I've recently started back to work and am feeling the need to get more organized in the kitchen. Plus I work late and I don't get home until almost 8PM most nights. If I can get this going, hubby can just put something in the oven and we won't be eating so late at night.

I have printed off every single one of your posts and will be putting them in a binder. I plan to get start on this within the month.

That is some wonderful information. Thank you.

Such good info... I just had to bump this up! :)

This Is The Best Site So Far That I Have Found Re: Oamc - Great!!

I registered just so I could say, "thank you for collecting all this realistic, reasonable, low-cost information in your brain and typing it out for everyone." I found you (and this site) by Googling "OAMC cooking" and it has been a lifesaver. And then I peeked around the rest of the site! Lots of good stuff here! I might just stay! Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.

I know I'm going to sound totally illiterate, but, what does OAMC mean?

Once A Month Cooking!

Thanks Russ.

I found this thread, and think its great, so I am bumping it! :sun_smile