Wednesday, March 3, 2010

6 Dinners For Less Than $25.00! Multi-Meal Preparation

OAMC ... OAWC ... freezer meal preparation ... multi-meal preparation ... assembly cooking...What do all these terms have in common?
  • They are all strategies used to prepare more than one meal in a single cooking session and then store the extras so they can be eaten later.
  • They can shorten food prep time by hours to days each month.
  • Using one of these strateges can decrease transportation, grocery, and utility expenses more than you can imagine.
I generally do mult-meal preparation once each week and store between 4 and 5 meals. I purchase enough of whatever meat is on sale and double or triple each of 1 to 2 recipes that freeze well.

A few weeks ago, I purchased two 3# bags of fresh chicken tenders. I had 2 bottles of jamaican jerk marinade, a bottle of italian salad dressing, and the fixins for vegetable soup in the pantry.

-- From the first bag of tenders, I divided the chicken equally into 3 freezer bags, poured jerk chicken marinade over them, squeezed as much air out of each bag as I could and placed the sealed freezer bags flat in my freezer.

-- With the other bag of chicken tenders, I used a third of the chicken for chicken vegetable soup which we ate that night with cornbread. I sauteed the rest in italian salad dressing for chicken salad dinners, divided the cooked chicken pieces in two freezer bags and placed the sealed freezer bags flat in my freezer.

--Once all the chicken meals were frozen, I turned them on end like old fashioned album covers.

All 6 dinners took less than 30 minutes to prepare, cost less than $22.00, and used less than 2 inches of freezer space!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Tasty Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

What better way to finish a meal than to indulge in the ultimate dessert,  custard-style vanilla ‎ice cream. This finish is great by itself, or topped with dark chocolate curls, fresh strawberry ‎syrup or a mix of toasted coconut and chopped macadamia nuts.‎

Here's a quick, never fail recipe for tasty vanilla custard ice cream that my guests enjoy ‎whenever I serve it. They never believe that it only takes 30 minutes to prepare!‎


TASTY VANILLA CUSTARD ICE CREAM

‎1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk‎
‎1 can (14oz) Evaporated Milk‎
‎1 pint Whipping Cream‎
Pure Vanilla Extract, to taste‎

Pour all ingredients into a 8+ cup blender. Mix on low speed until well incorporated and slightly ‎thickened. ‎
Pour the custard into an ice cream maker. Process the custard according to manufacturer's ‎directions.‎
Once soft-frozen, remove ice cream from ice cream maker and place into an 8 - 10 cup freezer ‎container. You can serve this ice cream immediately or freeze for 1 – 2 hours for firmer ice ‎cream. ‎
To "firm" freeze, place a layer of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream then cover the freezer ‎container with an air tight covering. Place the container in the freezer for 1 - 2 hours, then serve.‎
Yield: Approximately 16 servings‎


Enjoy!
                                                   Kathy