Using Your Freezer Effectively

This summer I purchased a deep freezer for $60 on Craigslist. I bought it because I was feeling guilty for all the room I was taking up in the tiny freezer I share with a roommate. However, that freezer has changed the way I eat and cook. It also has paid for itself several times over again. Here is how:

• I can buy large amounts of meat while it is on sale. Meat is easily the biggest part of my grocery budget.
• I can now buy meat at Costco, which comes in such large amounts I could not take up all that room in our little freezer. Costco meat is about the same price as grocery store sales and the quality is much better. 
• I can cook large amounts of things such as wild rice hot dish, sweet and sour stew, chicken soup and freezer the leftovers for quick and easy meals
• While frozen vegetables are not my favorite, it is nice to be able to keep a few packages on hand for a quick meal. 
• When I have food on hand, I avoid extra grocery store trips which saves money 

However, your freezer can cost you a lot of money if you do not use it effectively. You have to store things so they do not get freezer burned. I highly recommend the ziploc perfect portion bags. I tightly wrap food in the portioning bags, and then place those in a freezer bag. I label each freezer bag with the contents and the date it went into the freezer. Another solution is a Food Saver system. My dad uses it and I cannot say enough good things about it. He gives me frozen fish and wild game and I have never had a problem with freezer burn. I would own one if I had more space. From experience, I will tell you that normal ziploc style bags do not work (maybe if placed in a freezer bag?) and tupperware is even a more terrible idea.

Another recommendation I have is keeping inventory of what is in your freezer. I have a chest style freezer and things can very easily fall to the bottom as I am searching for something else and get forgotten. Either you will find something down there and be completely disgusted at how long it has been in there and not want to eat it or you will buy things you do not need because of the forgotten food towards the bottom.

And one last tip--when you buy food you intend to freeze, do it right away. Otherwise it will just sit in your fridge and by the time you get to it, it might be too late to send it to the freezer.

I know eating out of the freezer is not for everyone. I do prefer fresh over frozen any day, but for the sake of my budget and for the sake of convenience, the freezer is great.

Wild Rice Hotdish

Wild rice hotdish was a staple in my house growing up. It makes an excellent side to so much of the wild game that we ate around our dinner table. Wild rice is also incredibly good for you. It is packed with protein, folic acid, niacin, magnesium and fiber. When the leaves start to change color and fall, I know it is time to start filling my freezer with wild rice hotdish, which is actually much more like a pilaf. This recipe is so easy and it freezes really well. It is so easy to grab a dinner sized portion of wild rice from the freezer and then cook it in the microwave with a splash of water or chicken broth.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
10 oz. of sliced mushrooms (baby bella, white)
3-4 sliced of bacon, chopped
splash of olive oil

1 c. wild rice

3-4 c. of chicken stock (use homemade, Swanson's or the Costco brand)*

1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) In a dutch oven, let a splash of olive oil warm up over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, mushrooms and bacon and saute until the onions are translucent and the celery is no long crunchy.
3) Add the wild rice and the chicken broth and place the mixture in the oven for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.*

If you want to freeze it, I recommend measuring the rice out in two cup portions and either using a ziploc bag or one of the ziploc perfect portion bags meant for the freezer, and placing the portions in a larger freezer bag.

*Depending on what kind of cookware you are using, this might change. For instance, I found that in my cast iron dutch oven, the liquid cooked off much faster because it conducts heat better than my non-stick dutch oven. I use 4 cups of liquid versus 3 when I am using cookware that conducts heat better.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Last night before bed, I mixed up a batch of pumpkin pancake batter. I am not much of a pancake person, but I do love pumpkin, so I decided to give these a shot. This recipe is from the farmer's who supply me with a weekly CSA. I did not use fresh pumpkin this time around, but Libby's canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix). I also replaced the milk with almond milk,  the flour with rice flour and added an egg. If you do it this way they are gluten and dairy free. Next time around I might add another egg because these were pretty thick. They don't bubble like normal pancakes while cooking. They were also incredibly filling. One was plenty! I ate them with some turkey sausage and Anderson's Maple Syrup (aka the best maple syrup). I will definitely do these again and they are so quick in the morning if you make the batter ahead of time.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight I made Giada's Chicken Cacciatore, served over spaghetti squash with some mixed greens. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except for a few things. I opted to leave out the flour. I added baby bella mushrooms at the onion/pepper/garlic step. I subbed dried basil instead of fresh. The grocery store did not have any basil and I killed my basil plant (hangs head in shame). The spaghetti squash was easy. I cut it in half, scraped out the seed and roasted it in the over for about 40 minutes at 375. The greens are simple and just served with some vinaigrette.

Why I Threw Away 3 Liters of Olive Oil

The other day I made a stew that I make all the time and thought it tasted off. I made my roommate try it to see if it was okay, he loved it, so I chalked it off to the peppery arugula I ate alongside it. The next day I made a marinade for flank steak and stuck my finger on it and was absolutely disgusted. I threw it away. It was the grossest thing I have ever made. However, I could not figure out why because I like all of the ingredients I put in it and did not know what would give it a metallic soapy taste. I brought my problem to the Food 52 hotline and got my answer--rancid olive oil. Sure enough, the 3 liters of olive oil I bought from an imported food store was disgusting. I have always sworn by the olive oils from this store which are imported from Greece. I felt like it was better than anything you can buy on the grocery store shelves.

Wrong! After a little research, I learned that olive oil imported from Europe is often adulterated with other oils and even if it says it is from Italy or Greece, Italy or Greece may have just been a stop on the way to the United States. It is expensive to make Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the European producers cannot keep up with the demand in the United States at a price-point that people will pay. The U.S. government does not think olive oil fraud is serious enough to crack down on, so therefore a lot of olive oil gets into the United States that is definitely not extra virgin olive oil, and possibly not even olive oil at all. You can read a short article about the problem here and a longer one here. Sadly, there are a lot of small producer's make really great olive oil in Greece and Italy, but when you are just buying a bottle off the grocery store shelf, it is really hard to tell if it is the good stuff or not. In my research I found that Colavita is a very reputable brand. I have also heard that a lot of cooks love the Kirkland (Costco) brand olive oil and I do not doubt that it is good, as the Kirkland brand is usually high quality.

The stuff I bought--definitely not the good stuff. It could have been a problem in the way that it was stored or the producers just might have gotten a bad batch, but knowing about this problem makes me really nervous to go buy 3 liters of olive oil that is imported from Europe.

So what is a cook to do? The good news is that California is producing some really great olive oils and they have a council that certifies certain brands as meeting its standards. I went to a local cooking store and tried several California olive oils and chose one specifically for dressings, marinades and dipping where a good flavor is important. I went with Lucero Mission extra virgin olive oil. Then I went to Trader Joe's and got a bottle of their less expensive California olive oil for those times where you need a lot of it or I am just using it to saute something. The funny thing is the bottles are incredibly similar and I wonder if Lucero is Trader Joe's supplier? You never know, but I do know that I feel good about purchasing California olive oils. Not only am I supporting businesses in the United States, but I am guessing I am supporting some pretty small farms too. Win-win!

Kale

This is what happens when you grow four kale plants in your garden and you do nothing. This plants got no attention almost all summer and I would say this is hardly 1/4 of this summer's yield. Such an easy plant. All of this got blanched and frozen for healthy additions to soup, eggs, and braised dishes all winter long. I still have more to harvest too!

Nana's Sweet & Sour Stew

Hey! Long time, no see. I have been kind of bad about blogging for awhile now. Life is busy. My schedule is a lot different than it was when I was blogging regularly. I also have made a lot of interesting changes in the way I eat, but I will save that post for another day.

I have posted this recipe before as a crock pot recipe. I decided to do the "other" version of the recipe which is on the stovetop. I also made a change that I am really excited about (nerd alert!). This recipe is apparently from my great-great grandma, lovingly known as "Nana." My Great-Grandma Blanche made it for my Grandma June, my Grandma June made it for my Dad, and while I am sure my Dad is capable of making it, my mother made it for me growing up. This recipe is true comfort food. It will always remind me of home and my family. As for my change--we usually eat this over mashed potatoes. Instead, I put the mashed potatoes (actually mashed squash, potatoes and turnips) on top, like you would for Shepherd's Pie. Yum!

Ingredients

1.5 pounds of stew meat

1/4 cup of flour (I used rice flour) mixed with salt & pepper

2 Tbs. of olive oil

4 carrots, sliced

1 onion, cut into chunks

1 cup of water

1/2 cup ketchup (I recommend Annie's Organic or Simply Heinz)

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

mashed potatoes, mashed root vegetables or mashed cauliflower

1) Dredge the stew meat in the flour.  In a Dutch oven, heat up your oil. Once hot, add the flour coated meat and brown. 

2) While the meat is browning, mix up the base of the stew. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the water, ketchup, vinegar and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

3) Add the carrots and onion to the browned meat. Stir in the sauce and coat. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer  for 35-40 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and the carrots are fully cooked. Stir occasionally. Serve over or under your favorite mashed vegetable.

Optional: You can add just about any vegetable that is sitting in your fridge, dying to be used. This time I used celery and mushrooms because I had them on hand.