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Notes for Menus 4 Moms
In order to make the best use of Menus 4 Moms, please review the Busy Cooks Pyramid before using the menus. The menus will include cooking meals for the freezer, planning leftovers, quick and easy recipes, fast ingredients, and the use of tools and techniques to make your dinner hour low stress.
General Notes
Planning ahead is the best tool you have in the kitchen. You will find that by starting whatever you can in the morning or early afternoon, your dinner preparation will be smoother and less stressful. Although Menus 4 Moms is not a frugal meal plan, you will see that it does save money by using homemade items rather than prepared, store bought equivalents. Refried beans are easy and delicious when made from dried black beans, and you can make 4 times the amount (or more) than one can of refried beans for the same price. If you have never cooked from scratch you will find ample notes and suggestions to help you.
You will notice that I do not ever call for shortening. I prefer to use butter or olive oil, neither of which contain hydrogenated oils. For the same reasons, I prefer to make pie crusts and biscuits from scratch rather than buying prepared products. This also saves money and they are much better fresh and homemade. You will find that they really aren't that hard to make.
Freezer Meat
Most weeks feature recipes that use quick and easy ingredients like chicken from the freezer. This is a way that we save prep time in the evening. When a recipe calls for ground beef, instead of browning one pound of ground beef, buy 5 lbs. and brown all of it, freezing the extra in 4 freezer bags. When you need cooked chicken for a soup or casserole, instead of cooking just enough for that recipe, boil or grill 3-4 extra lbs. for the freezer. When we cook a ham, we dice the leftovers and bag them in freezer bags in 1-2 cup portions for later use in cooking beans or soup.
A good way to start stocking your freezer is to buy 10 lbs. of ground beef when it goes on sale. Brown 5 lbs. as described above, and with the rest make this mixture: 5 lbs. of ground beef, 5 eggs, and *lots* of Adobo seasoning. You may add some bread crumbs if you wish. Shape patties for hamburger (to be frozen with wax paper between each one, or individually frozen and then bagged once frozen), then take the extra meat and divide it equally between a meatloaf and meatball shapes for the freezer. Individually freeze the meatballs on a cookie sheet, then put into dated freezer bags. This will give you 5 lbs. of cooked beef for casseroles, tacos, enchiladas, soups, and more, as well as homemade patties for hamburgers (2 meals), a meatloaf, and meatballs (2 meals).
If you are just starting Menus 4 Moms you will need cook this meat since you won't have it in the freezer. Go ahead and take this time to add a few pounds of whichever meat you are cooking to your list and when you cook for the dish, put the extra in the freezer. If you consistently do this, you will always have extra meat in the freezer for those days when prep time is at a minimum. The best way to store your freezer meat is in quart-sized freezer bags.
Occasionally you will see taco-seasoned ground beef mentioned also. The same principle applies: instead of seasoning one pound of ground beef for tacos, cook several pounds and freeze the extra in one pound increments.
Freezer Onions and Peppers
The same principle of bulk cooking can be applied to onions and green peppers either individually or together. If your recipe calls for a sauteed onion, instead of sauteing one onion, buy a whole bag of onions, chop them all and freeze in casserole-sized servings. When you have these meal-sized portions of meat and vegetables, it is a cinch to throw together a quick meal late in the afternoon.
If you are just starting Menus 4 Moms, you will not have sauteed onions in your freezer. Go ahead and use this time to cook a bag of onions and/or green bell peppers so you will have them ready in your freezer. These are also best stored in quart-sized freezer bags.
Adobo seasoning
Adobo is a Filipino spice that is mostly made up of garlic salt. If you need a substitution, garlic salt is the best one although I would use less. Adobo is inexpensive (less than $2 for a large bottle) and can be found with the Latino foods at most grocery stores. If you can't find it, you can make a substitute.
Adobo Seasoning
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder 3 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons ground oregano
Put all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well and store for up to two months in a cool dry place.
Chili Spice Blend
- 7 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 Tbsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
- 3 Tbsp. dried minced onion
- 1 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients in chili spice blend and store in a leftover container, empty spice bottle, or baggie.
Cream soup substitution
- 2 T. butter
- 2 T. flour
- 1 c. milk
- Salt & Pepper to taste or other spices/vegetables for flavor (mushrooms, celery, chicken bouillon, etc.)
Mix equal parts of butter & flour, stirring into a paste. Freeze in 1 T. balls or in the cubes of an ice tray. To make quick white sauce, simmer 2- T. cubes of the frozen butter & flour mixture w/ milk, then salt& pepper to taste.
Thanks to Holly from Menus 4 Moms Yahoo group for this suggestion.
Dried beans
We regularly cook a bag of dried beans and freeze the beans in their own juice to use in place of canned beans. Dried beans are easy to cook and can be done in a slow cooker. They are far less expensive that canned beans. If you do not have any beans in your freezer and would like to stock up, use this recipe:
- 1 bag dried beans (black, pinto, kidney, etc.)
- water
Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Overnight soak: Leave beans in water overnight. Quick soak: Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour.
Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.
Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags. Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.
Buttermilk Biscuits
- 4 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
Combine flour and butter, cutting with a fork. Stir in buttermilk. Add more flour if too wet, more buttermilk if too dry. When dough is rolling consistency, knead a few times and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter or upside down glass. Bake half of the biscuits on cookie sheet at 475° until brown. Place the other half of the biscuits on a cookie sheet or other flat pan and put in the freezer until frozen. Before going to bed or early the next morning, bag the biscuits in a dated freezer bag for later use. If cooking thawed biscuits, follow normal cooking instructions. To cook frozen biscuits, extend cooking time. Serve hot biscuits with butter and jelly.
Healthier Biscuit Mix recipe
For use in place of Biscuick® in recipes.
- 10 c flour (or whole wheat pastry flour if available)
- 3/8 c baking powder
- 1 tsp cream of tarter
- 1 1/4 c powdered milk
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 c sugar (or Sucanat)
- 1 lb of Spectrum (no transfat) shortening
Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening til mixture has a even, crumbly texture. Store in the freezer and use in place of Bisquick®.
Pie Crust Recipe
- 6 cups flour
- 1 lb. butter, softened (4 sticks)
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water
Mix flour and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in butter until mixture is uniformly crumbly. Add water a little at a time and mix until mixture forms a ball. Add water as necessary to get correct texture.
Divide dough in half, then divide each half into 3 equal parts. Form balls and flatten to freeze. Put in individual quart-sized freezer bags and freeze.