time saver

Just posting something I do that makes cooking very convenient some nights - freezing cooked meat.

We will grill up a bunch of chicken breasts or thighs on the grill, then freeze them individually in zip lock freezer bags. I can just pull out how many I need for a quick chicken caesar or other salad, or any recipe calling for cooked chicken.

I also cook up 5 lbs of hamburger at a time and freeze the cooked meat in 1 lb portions. I cook it with chopped onion, because nearly every recipe I use with cooked hamburger calls for onion as well. It is sooo much better than freezing 1 lb portions of uncooked hamburger like I used to do - it thaws so much easier and is ready to go.

Hope that helps.

Pasta Sauce Tips

1. When herbs are in season, mix large quantities of fresh herbs with pasta and a simple base of live oil and garlic for a delicious, quick dish.
   
2. Add a little butter to your sauce for creaminess and flavor.
   
3. A can of anchovies - packed in olive oil - is a quick way to add great flavor to pasta. Use with garlic, as the base for a tomato sauce.
4. Chopped scallions work very well in place of chives.
5. For any pasta dish that isn't being served right away, oil the pasta to keep it from sticking. Just coat your hands with live oil and run them through the pasta.

A super tip for Strawberry Freezer Jam

,I learned this tip somewhere last year when I was making strawberry freezer jam, and really I LOVE it! It's so easy and fast! The first time I made freezer jam was right after Neil and I got married, and I don't know why, but it took FOREVER!! Now it is super fast and I love it! Yummy!

Today we bought a bunch of strawberries...and now we have lots of freezer jam! I can't wait for tomorrow when I can eat it! :D

Ok, here's the tip:

When washing your strawberries just rip off the leafy top, and then to hull the strawberries (taking out the center part) ...

take a straw (I just use one from one of my big water mugs)


and shove it all the way through the center. The center of the strawberry, that you don't want, just goes up the straw, and sometimes the strawberry splits, so you don't necessarily lose any of the juicy goodness.


And there you go! Your strawberry is hollowed out, and your are ready to smoosh! :)

*My other favorite tip: USE A POTATO MASHER to smash the fruit! It really does work the best, and leaves the perfect chunkiness! Trust me, I've tried everything! Blender, food processor, etc. The potato masher wins two hands down!

Pumpkin Anything

I don't have the recipe, but if you have access to real pumpkins, try making pumpkin anything with the real thing! It is so much better (lighter, fluffier and healthier) than the canned pumpkin. It does take a little more work, but the outcome is way yummy and worth it I think.

Basically to prepare the pumpkin you gut out the pumpkin and cut the exterior into chunks (the hardest part) then once in manageable sizes, you boil til soft. Then I just put the soft pumpkin in a food processor, but I am sure a blender would work fine. You are supposed to chop til really fine mush, but I left mine a little grainy so there was a little bit of pulp which made a great texture to the pumpkin pie.

Then, you follow recipe the exact same way, just with real pumpkin instead of canned.

My mother and I made 2 pumpkin pies from some of her own pumpkin patch and we just used one medium sized pumpkin, just so you know proportions. Anyway it was a great pre-Thanksgiving treat that I will make again for Turkey Day!