Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Freezer Cooking Update: Making Progress!

Well, I worked long into last night (since I didn't start working until after 3:00 pm I thought I did pretty good honestly), but got some things accomplished.  My list so far...

White Bread x 1 (yes, I only got one loaf of bread made yesterday and yes I know that is sad).  I just use the bread machine recipe for white bread, put it on the dough cycle and let it go until it beeps.  I then punch said dough down, remove it to a bread pan (I got some cast iron ones for Christmas from my mother-in-law and am officially in love with them :) that is coated in oil, hit the top of the dough with some oil, cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for about 1/2 an hour or until doubled in volume (I use bread machine yeast so the rising goes a lot quicker).  Place in a 400 degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes.  When bread tapped on the bottom sounds hollow it's done.

I found I have 4 loaves of gluten free bread in the freezer and since I'm only eaten a gluten reduced diet (eating gluten free more) since it helps my stomach issues, I think that'll last me for quite some time :).

I made the following sauces/marinades/dressings too to use as meat marinades.  Now when I take garlic out of a recipe lately I immediately replace one clove of garlic with about 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon onion powder instead.  For the most part it works pretty good (least to me :).  Just an FYI to the garlic allergic out there who are reading the following recipes so you have your conversions.


Teriyaki Sauce (sans garlic and corn starch mixture) with thin sliced beef, cut up and put into freezer bags x 2.  I'll thicken the mixture with some arrowroot powder mixed with a bit of water when the time comes to cook it so that you don't get weird texture issues once you defrost it.  I've heard that if you are allergic to soy you can use coconut aminos to replace soy sauce (since I've been asked), but that's not my camp of food allergies :).

Italian Dressing (sans garlic and with added vinegar and red pepper flake as it just plain didn't taste right otherwise) made into kits that Elisa maps out HERE x 2.  Figure these are definitely worth a shot, especially since you make them in the crock pot when you're ready to cook.

Asian Dressing  in kits x 2 (sans garlic).  I added some extra ginger since I was using dried ginger instead of fresh and then added a TOUCH of orange extract (I'd say like 1/4 tsp).  Turned out pretty good actually :).  I used the Asian dressing to make some asian crock pot kits that Elisa talked about too (both Italian and Asian kits were made with chicken). 

Pizza x 1 (husband decided we needed to eat it for dinner) and breadsticks x 1 (same thing) 

Twice Baked Potatoes.  Got 20 potato halves out of this recipe and they were big enough that we decided that 1/2 of a potato would work for a side dish with dinners.  That makes me have 5 sides taken care of (should the children decide to eat the potatoes) for dinners.  Woohoo!  By the way I make my baked potatoes via the Alton Brown method (I'm sure people are going to die of shock there right ;) and they bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and come out perfect every time.  So, mine took a bit less time to get done.

Diced Chicken made with home made Montreal Steak Seasoning and other spices, sauteed on stovetop and then bagged, tagged and frozen for quick casseroles later.  1 gallon sized freezer bag.

So, on the agenda for tonight is...

  • Doughnuts (got a doughnut maker for Christmas and am looking forward to trying it out, especially when I found out the doughnuts are freezable!).
  • Tortilla Dough, made up and put in freezer to make fresh tortillas later.
  • Gingerbread Waffles
  • Pancakes
  • Easy to Stuff Manicotti
  • Popsicles (for the daughter so I'm not shelling out 5.49 for a box of popsicles at the store!)
  • More Bread (whole wheat, white and artisan breads are on the agenda, but those are going to take some days to get done :).
  • Home Made Yogurt
And other stuff as I think of it.  So, I'm out to do more work.  Enjoy your evening folks!

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