Now that we have a kitchen again and I can cook/bake normally, I really need to get back into freezing half of some of my meals for another meal. I've just been being lazy about it. (Honestly, I think we are still trying to recover and recoup our energy from the long build). Especially casseroles, where we typically only eat about half of what the recipes make. We aren't leftover people (well, DH isn't) so there's no point in me putting the cooked leftovers in a container in the fridge. They won't get eaten. By freezing half, before cooking, I will save money and save having to make it a second time.
I did discover something new to me. Frozen Pillsbury Grands biscuits. These are a much better way to buy them, then in the refrigerated tubes! You can make as many as you want at one time. Plus they are nearly half the cost per biscuit as the refrigerated tubes (at least for Walmart pricing). Win win. For just 2 of us we can never eat all of them in the tube. Usually I buy crescent rolls, but we are really getting tired of them and those don't seem to reheat well. There's no way we can eat 8 rolls at one time. I have purchased the smaller 4 size tube, but they are pricey. I baked 4 of the frozen grands biscuits yesterday. Had one leftover, on purpose, so I could see how it heats up. It was great. I had it for lunch, with some butter and jam on it. They do take about 10 minutes longer to bake, since baking from frozen, but that isn't an issue for me.
I usually buy the 32 oz Coffeemate creamer. DD said she had tried the Great Value brand and liked it, so I tried it. Tastes fine and cheaper. The 32 oz usually last me just at 2 weeks. This last trip I decided to buy the half gallon (64oz) carton if it. That was 25% cheaper (per oz) than the 32 oz size and almost half what the Coffeemate brand costs.
I have been splitting the loaf of french/garlic bread in half and freezing the other half for use later.
and all this speaking of food just reminded me a have a 5lb roll of ground beef I need to get cut up into 1 lb sections and get into the freezer!
Our goal is to sometime soon get a medium sized chest freezer to put out in the garage. And then gradually start stocking up on meats and frozen things. I'd also really really like to try freezing milk. We drink quite a bit of milk. I buy 2 gallons each shopping trip, but we typically run out before the end of the 2 weeks are up. Plus, our cooler we bring food home in isn't big enough for another gallon of milk, along with our other froze stuff and the ice in the cooler. Often I end up making a trip into town or just going without milk the last 2-3 days before my next shopping trip. But, even 10 miles into town isn't economical for a gallon of milk. We do have several of the "cooler bags" we put everything we can't fit inside the cooler and those seem to work well until we get the food home. I'll just have to put a couple gallons of milk in those. From everything I've read, freezing milk (as long as you let a bit out of the jug) works fine. Definitely something I want to try.
We'd like to get so that during the winter months, when the roads aren't that great to make trips every 2 weeks to the city, we maybe can go another week or two. For example, if it's our weekend to shop and suddenly we are in the middle of a snow storm for a day or two, we obviously aren't going to want to go out. But then the next days, during the week, I'm working, so we aren't going to be able to go into the city until the next weekend. It would be nice to have plenty of food to get us by.
Awhile back I saw something somewhere online about A&W root beer powdered singles packets you could put in a bottle of water, but the only way I could find to purchase was buying a case, and I didn't want to spend $15 for a case, when I didn't even know if I would like it! I came across them sold per box on Walmart grocery, so for .97 I bought one box. Glad I didn't buy more. While the flavor is good....it's really like drinking a flat root beer, LOL. I also bought a box of fruit punch flavored individual packets and those are good. I'm trying to drink more liquids/water per day. I don't like drinking soda very often, but just plain water is a bit boring. I've tried the lemonade flavored packets, but they are a bit tart for me. DH always drinks the ice tea packets in his water. Those are ok and I drink those once in awhile. Mostly I'm just lazy and don't take the time to make myself drink more throughout the day.
We like drink packets and I always buy them at Dollar Tree, way cheaper than Walmart typically but they are about $2-3 at my Walmart. I like the flavored lemonade varieties and the tea ones.
ReplyDeleteDH (as usual) only likes the Crystal Light Lemon Ice Tea packets. I tried a different/cheaper brand once and he didn't like it (as usual,haha). Walmart or Target seems to be the cheapest. Sometimes I can get them at Target on sale for $2. Walmart and Amazon are around $2.50.
DeleteI freeze milk sometimes. Skim or 1% seems to work best, but the others are ok too-they just separate and you need to shake them. They take a very long time to thaw.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen the grand frozen biscuits but I do buy the Rhodes frozen heat and serve sometimes. They aren’t as good as homemade but a heck of a lot easier! After cooking for a large family I struggle to cook for just two of us. Dh will take leftovers for lunch. I am the one here who really doesn’t eat them. I think a freezer would be a great investment for you. We have two-a smallish one and then a pretty big one. My advice is get one size larger than you think you need. They are never big enough lol. Hunting season is here and I barely have room for an elk even with two of them.
We drink 1%, so should be good then with freezing. I buy the Rhodes frozen rolls for a pizza dough I make! But haven't made just rolls, LOL. I can imagine a freezer would fill up quick from hunting.
DeleteI buy those rolls too, but the ones I have been buying recently are already baked and you just pop them into the oven for 10 minutes to heat them up. They are very handy to have when a meal just needs a little something extra. There’s another brand of the same type of rolls that my daughter has bought for years but the Rhodes are better.
DeleteI'll look for those rolls. It's nice to have some variety of rolls. Sometimes I buy fresh ones, but then we end up not finishing and wasting food. I'm tired of wasting food! (and money)
DeleteGood idea to freeze half of the meal for a future meal. Once all the prep work is done, it will be easy to thaw and finish cooking, later.
ReplyDeleteBefore we had to move to the shop, I was freezing half and it worked out pretty good. Especially on a day I didn't feel much like making anything for dinner.
DeleteI freeze 1% and 4% milk in pint cartons and they turn out fine as long as I remember to take them out in time! Living in the UK I’ve never seen an elk, never mind frozen one! This is why I love reading blogs from elsewhere x
ReplyDeletethanks for the info! I've only seen some elk steaks and burgers, haha! A friend gave us some elk burger meat. I don't really care for it. Kind of strong tasting. I used it in tacos. I prefer to see the elk alive and in my yard, haha!
DeleteTry it again if you get the chance. In the 23 years we have lived here and my dh has hunted we have only had one elk that was strong and that was an old cow. We grind most of ours up, but dh does cut a few steaks and chops. I wouldn’t eat a burger of elk but I use it for everything else. Sometimes the steaks can be a little chewier than beef but they are pretty good marinated and grilled. When my kids were young we basically lived on elk because we didn’t have a lot of money. I like elk but do not care for deer or antelope.
DeleteI remember buying root beer-flavored drink mixes (probably a Kool-Aid knockoff brand) when the kids were young. I had the same thoughts about it as you did.
ReplyDeleteit's funny, because regular root beer is almost too carbonated for me, but this powdered stuff is too flat. Oh well, it was only .97 cents
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