October 7, 2012

Dear Diary...Cooking on a Rainy Day for a Rainy Day

This weekend has been W-E-T wet! So I decided it was time to put my "culinary skills" (ha) to good use. I had been inspired a few weeks back by Natalie over at ATurtlesLifeForMe.  This super mom posted about preparing freezer meals on less than $100 budget for 4 people!
I knew I needed to try this, so I picked up about $15 worth of veggies from my local farmers market and then about $50 worth of meats from the grocery store.



This was my shopping list:

Farmers Market:
-fresh spinach
-4 cloves of garlic
-2 med. spanish onions
-2 green peppers
-2 red peppers
-2 yellow peppers
-3 ears of corn
-1 bag of carrots
-canned sweet roasted red peppers
-1 head of green cabbage
-1 head of purple cabbage
-5 sweet potatoes

Grocery Store:
-3 lbs chicken breasts or tenders
-3 lbs chuck roast
-sirlion steak (enough for 2 servings)
-1 bag of large cooked/peeled jumbo shrimp
-15 pieces of fresh crab meat (fish section)

What I should explain is that none of the food (except the chuck roast & spinach) was cooked in advance. All the meats & veggies were just cleaned, chopped & sorted into portions (2 servings per bag). I also prefer to cook dairy/salt free as much as possible. The only meal that has added sea salt is the chuck roast.

Meal 1 (3 bags - 6 servings):
-Chicken fajitas (3 chicken breasts, 1 green pepper, 2/3 red pepper, 1/2 onion)
 I added cumin & cayenne pepper as seasoning. Cook and serve with tortillas, chips, etc

Meal 2 (3 bags - 6 servings):
-Mixed seafood (15 sticks of crab cut up, 3 cups of shrimp & garlic clove)
Cook and add to pasta & alfredo sauce.

Meal 3 (3 bags - 6 servings):
-Chicken & spinach (3 chicken breasts, 6 cups of spinach cooked down first on stove top, sweet roasted red pepper, 1 garlic clove) Cook and add to pasta, orzo or quinoa.

Meal 4 (2 bags - 4 servings):
-Sirlion Seak (1 sirlion steak, split in 2 for 4 servings. Seasoned with Worcestershire sauce, sea salt & fresh ground peppercorn.) Serve with a roasted ear of corn (1 ear is 2 servings) and salad.

Meal 5 (3 bags - 6 servings):
-Shredded beef fajitas (3 cups shredded chuck roast, 1 green pepper, 2/3 red pepper, 1/2 onion)
 I added cumin & cayenne pepper as seasoning. Cook and server with tortillas, chips, etc

Meal 6 (2 bags - 4 servings):
-Kung Pao Shrimp (2 cups shrimp, 1/2 orange pepper, 1/3 red pepper, 1/2 onion, fresh garlic clove, red pepper flakes). Cook and serve over brown rice (add soy sauce if desired).

Meal 7 (1 bag - 2 servings):
-Dijon chicken (1 chicken breast, 4 tbsp dijon mustard, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar). Cook and serve with brown rice or quinoa.

Meal 8 (1 bag - 2 servings):
-Lemon chicken (1 chicken breast, 1/2 lemon sliced thinly, white cooking wine) Cook and serve with pasta and alfredo or a light cream sauce.

Meal 9 (1 bag - 2 servings):
-Beef stuffed peppers (1 cup shredded chuck roast, 1 orange pepper cut in half & stuffed with meat). Cook at 350 degrees for 25 min (oven times may vary!)

BONUS!
-Sweet potato fries  Cut 3 sweet potatos into round thins & season with cayenne pepper. Bake for 1 1/2 hrs before freezing. When ready to eat, pop in the oven for 10 min on broil or toast.

-2 sweet potatoes cooked and frozen to enjoy with one of the delish meals above. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 min (oven times may vary!)

-Baked green cabbage (1 head of green cabbage, cut into 4 thick slices, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp EVOO, Ms Dash salt-free garlic seasoning). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min (oven times may vary!) I like mine crispy!

-Shredded cabbage salad (1/4 head of shredded green cabbage-I used what was left over from the baked cabbage, 1/4 head shredded of purple cabbage, 1 shredded carrot). Season with 1 tsp sesame seed oil, 1 tsp soy sauce)




Well, that's it! That's what I cooked up this weekend! It will last my family for about 2 1/2 weeks or so. It was worth the few hours it took to prepare, what a stress relief to know I can come home after work, take out a bag & have dinner ready in less than 20 minutes! If this has helped or inspired you, let me know!

Yours truly,
The Decorating Diva

1 comment:

  1. I love these kind of meals and have made several after my daughter was born. However, most of mine are done in the crockpot. When your meals say " Cook and serve", how are you cooking the contents of the ziplock bags?

    ReplyDelete