Lately on my Wish List of Pretty Boring Things is a deep freeze. My freezer is always stuffed. Someday I'll get one, and stuff it with dinners, produce, and cow parts.
Have you ever bought bulk beef straight from a farm? I really want to try it. Not that we eat that much beef. But I think I would eat more if it were the real deal.
For now I am using my little freezer which does the job OK. I freeze a lot of stuff. Fruit, vegetables, butter, bread, muffins, cookies, cookie dough, and, dinner. At least once a week, whatever I make for dinner I freeze the leftovers immediately and therefore always get at least 2 meals if not 3 out of it, without having to deal with immediate leftovers. Am I the only one who gets tired of leftovers 3 days in a row? But frozen leftovers from a month ago, I can deal with. Sometimes I make extra to begin with, other times we just eat less of whatever dish, depending on the size of the recipe. This works especially well in the winter, when we want to eat lots of saucy, cheesy, meaty things for dinner to warm us up. and give us heartburn.
Some of my faves to freeze are: any kind of beans and rice; any kind of soup; any kind of sauce; any kind of pasta dish; any kind of casserole. Here's one I made a month ago and we just had the second (defrosted) half of tonight.
Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti (via Real Simple)
Ingredients
12 ounces ziti (about 4 cups)*
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 pound lean ground beef**
kosher salt and black pepper
1 26-ounce jar marinara sauce***
1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup ricotta ****
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
1 cup grated mozzarella (4 ounces)
Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain it and return it to the pot.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the beef, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon until it’s no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes.
Toss the pasta with the meat mixture, marinara sauce, spinach, ricotta, and ¼ cup of the Parmesan.
Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or 4 large ramekins. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and the remaining ¼ cup of the Parmesan.
Freeze immediately, or bake until the cheese melts, 12 to 15 minutes.
If freezing, remember to bring the casserole to room temperature before baking uncovered; or bake covered with foil until warm, then bake uncovered, 12-15 minutes.
---
*We have whole-wheat pasta maybe 80% of the time that we eat pasta. I have never found whole-wheat ziti. You could do whole-wheat penne instead. I really like ziti though, and I like the excuse to use starchy white pasta once in a while. Besides, even if it's whole-wheat, pasta isn't really that good for you. So, that's that!
**If you're on the east coast, Wegmans Organic brand has grass-fed ground beef which I think is really tasty and not too pricey.
***Wegmans also has a great basic marinara sauce with few ingredients and no added sugar. I have been pondering the whole BPA-tomatoes thing as of late. (Tomatoes absorb BPA readily.)(The linings of pretty much all cans and mainstream jar lids contain BPA.) But not so much that I've started canning my own spaghetti sauce. Especially since I don't want to drop tons of money on BPA-free canning jars.
****Did you know you can make ricotta out of milk and lemon juice? (cream and salt optional) Yeah, not there yet either. Someday. Maybe.
6 comments:
We got a deep freeze from my parents for Christmas a few years ago and it changed my life. I love it and I *think* I save a lot of money, time, and sanity by being able to freeze so much. I do the same thing with dinners and it's amazing to have real dinners on hand for when things get busy!
We had a large freezer in the garage for years - and I hardly ever froze anything. But we always had lots of ice cream available!!
I like this recipe. Thanks for sharing. Since a Trader Joes moved in down the block last year, we've been eating organically and grass fed and felt better for it.
We have a deep freeze and I realize I couldn't live without it, but I also have 4 kids, 3 of whom are boys. We got ours pretty cheap at Costco, but i see them on craigslist all of teh time. I like to think taht I have saved anough money buying freezing more food so that I have recouped my casts already:)
This year we bought a 1/4 of a cow and it has been a great thing. it is nice to always have meat available,. Since we don't eat a ton of it, it has lasted pretty well. I think we will do it again next year. We found it for 2.99 a lb and that includes a variety of cuts (roasts, steaks, ground beef, etc.) so it's pretty much a cheap as you can get. I recommend checking it out!
okay -- we did the 1/2 a cow this last year with the big ol freezer in the garage - (the whole organic, grass fed is important to me so I did the research etc) -- anyway the cow is great -- the butcher - not so much - and as it turns out the butchering is rather important -- we are trying our darndest to eat all the "bad butcher" meat so I can try a different grass fed dairy here. Maybe just ask someone who has bought the meat because on paper our meat should be divine....
crazy butcher!
good luck
love,
Deb
I keep thinking about the episode of I Love Lucy where she buys two sides of beef because she thinks it will be the same size as a side of bacon. They don't have enough room in their giant walk in freezer, and hi-jinks ensue!
Post a Comment