Freezer to Crockpot Mexican Sweet Pork with Beans

It is difficult to photograph the filling in a tortilla - that said, this is so tasty! I cooked up a large pork roast and shredded it as the recipe below describes. I wanted to stretch it and use it for a few meals so I decided to throw some beans in the mix. I am so glad I did. The beans added a nice texture and everyone loved it. 

To prepare this for the freezer, place the pulled pork in a ziplock freezer bag. You need about 4 cups of pork. Add the salsa and brown sugar. Throw in 2 cans of kidney, pinto, or white beans, drained. (You could also cook dry beans and use them. You need about 3 cups.) Label and freeze. To eat, thaw and heat through in the crockpot or microwave. Wrap in a tortilla and add cheese and lettuce. (You can see some purple cabbage and a carrot in the photo because we just used a lettuce salad mix to make it easy.) This recipe was enough for two meals. You can choose to divide it into additional freezer bags before freezing or just know you'll have leftovers or enough to share with company.

Mexican Sweet Pork
This becomes a speedy dinner if you already have pulled pork cooked and frozen in the freezer.
1 pork picnic roast	1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup medium salsa	½ cup chicken broth, optional
Place pork roast in a crockpot and cook on low for 12–15 hours. I usually put the roast in just before going to bed. Test the pork by stabbing it with a fork and twisting. If the meat shreds easily, it is ready. Remove from the crockpot and place on a baking sheet. Using two forks, pull the pork apart and separate out all the visible fat and bone pieces. It pulls apart more easily when it is still warm. Combine 4 cups of the shredded pork with the salsa, and brown sugar. Add a small amount of pork juices or chicken broth if the mixture seems too dry. Return this all to the crockpot. Heat through and serve wrapped in tortillas or top a taco salad with it.

Using your Food Storage in the Freezer

Remember your freezer space is part of your food storage! It can be used to “save the day” when the schedule gets tight. It allows you to buy in quantity when the price is right on items like beef, poultry, veggies and fruits. Even your "daily bread" can be kept in the freezer to allow school lunches for weeks at a time.  Many great casseroles can be made several at one time and frozen for later use.

    A friend of mine taught me that the freezer is great for easy make-ahead meals. Meal portions can be frozen in ziplock bags allowing for quick and simple fixing. It also allows everyone in the family to help out following the easy instructions. If you haven’t tried freezer meals, now is a great time to spend a day or an afternoon putting some together. You'll be so grateful to have some pre-made casseroles or quick to fix homemade meals you can pull out in a pinch. I love to turn a rainy day into a freezer- meal- making day.

As you find produce or groceries on sale, think about the space you have to put some away for later.

 For instance:

                  - When chicken is on sale, buy a little extra and prep it before putting it straight in the freezer. Cut up portions and place in a ziplock bag  with the ingredients for your favorite recipe. When you pull it from the freezer, the chicken can go in the crock pot or be cooked on the stove with little to no effort.

         - Fry up a large amount of hamburger or ground turkey and portion it into ziplock bags to add to meals another time, cutting down prep time the night you serve it. You can even spice some of the meat for recipes like tacos.

           -   Place meat into the  marinade before you freeze it and as it thaws, the juices will combine.  Then cook it in the crockpot or on the grill - from freezer to done with very little work.

          - As  you rotate storage and find canned goods close to their best used dates, spend an afternoon putting together sauces or casseroles that can be placed in the freezer. 

Most everything can freeze so try some of the family favorites. As one of my cook book proclaims…”Dinner’s in the Freezer!” What a great relief that can be for you or a neighbor in need.

Here are some recipes and ideas. Talk to your friends about what they put in the freezer for more helpful ideas.

Breakfast:  Make pancakes, muffins, waffles, French toast, or breakfast burritos ahead of time and freeze for morning time ease. Most recipes will freeze nicely.

Cookies! Freeze the dough in rolls to slice and bake later or make the cookies and freeze ready to eat! My kids love to make a BIG batch to put some away for later. We even bag the cookies in snack baggies to be quick to grab for cold lunches.

Fruit for smoothies - Always rewarding - especially when the produce came at a decent price or was picked by your own hands.

Meals: Any recipe your family likes can probably freeze. So when you make one lasagna double the batch and you've got one for another day. Soups can easily be doubled and leftovers  frozen. This works with most casseroles as well. With minimal planning, extra dinner can be made and frozen  for later use.

Here are some favorites!

Sweet n’ Sour Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

Onion salt and garlic powder to taste

1 Egg

Oatmeal or cooked quinoa (optional)

Mix and form into 1” balls. Place on cooking tray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Drain, allow to cool and place in Ziplock bags. (Make a large batch while your hands are dirty. Pre-cooked meatballs can be used in many recipes.)

Sauce:

2 cans pineapple chunks, drained and reserve juice

2 Tbsp cornstarch

4 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

Green and red peppers

Carrot slices

Heat up juice and cornstarch. Add vinegar, brown sugar and soy sauce and bring to a boil while stirring. Mixture should be thick. Allow to cook and place in ziplock bag with pineapple chunks, green and red pepper and carrot slices. Label and freeze.

To prepare, thaw, pour sauce over meatballs and heat through in the microwave, on the stove, or in the crockpot. Serve over rice that can also be cooked in batches, portioned out  and frozen for quick heat up.

Stuffed Rolls

This one is a basic hot pockets recipe and any filling can be used. This is one of those recipes that makes plenty so you know there will be some for the freezer. We like these filling options:

1 - Hamburger browned and drained, mushrooms, onions, cabbage all diced and sauteed. Mix together with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

2 - Diced ham, cheddar cheese and spaghetti sauce. Sometimes we use the leftover spaghetti dinner for the filling. Yum!

3 - Chicken, broccoli, rice, grated cheese, cream of chicken soup and sour cream mixture.

Make your favorite bread dough recipe or used frozen dough that has thawed. Roll out dough into a thin rectangle. Use pizza cutter to cut dough into squares or rectangles. Place desired filling into center of dough. Fold over corners to wrap up and squeeze the edges together. Place seam down on greased cookie tray and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes until dough is golden brown. Rub top of rolls with butter when they come out. Cool completely before putting in ziplock bag and freezing. Heat up and enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Bag 1 , combine:

2 cups  cooked, diced chicken

3 cups tortilla chips, crushed

2 cups frozen corn Kernels

Bag 2, Combine:

8 oz pasteurized process cheese (Velveeta) cut into 1 inch cubes

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

2 Tbsp Taco seasoning

Seal Bag 2 and place into Bag 1; seal. Freeze.

Add contents of Bag 2 and 2 cans chicken broth  to 4 qt pan. Bring to simmer over medium heat; cook 12-14 minutes or until cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.

Add contents of Bag 1 to pan; simmer 4-6 minutes. Soup should thicken.

Serve soup with toppings such as shredded  cheese, diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro.

Dijon Chicken Noodle Toss

In bag 1, combine:

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

2 cups frozen peas

In bag 2, combine;

¼ lb. deli ham, diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

Seal bag 2, place in bag 1; seal. Freeze.

Cook 12 oz rotini pasta as directed and drain.

Meanwhile, place 1\2 cup water and contents of Bag 2 in skillet; cover. Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally.

Add 8 oz sour cream to skillet. Add contents of Bag 1 to skillet. Cover and cook 4-6 minutes.

Toss over cooked pasta . Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and Parmesan, if desired.

Dried Beans – The How To’s of Preparing, Cooking and Storing

How To Store Dried Beans

Dry beans should be stored at room temperature in covered containers. They will keep almost indefinitely. Do not keep dry beans in the refrigerator. The plastic bags beans are packaged in are good for storage if they are airtight. Once opened, the bag may be reclosed with a twist tie. For the longest storage life, keep beans in a glass or plastic container with a tight fitting lids.

Rinsing

Do not rinse beans until you are ready to soak or cook them. Even then you do not have to rinse beans if you’re going to soak them. Any field dust will be removed and discarded with the soak water. If you cook the beans without soaking, rinse them after sorting.  

Soaking

The purpose of soaking is to begin rehydration before cooking, thereby reducing cooking time. Unsoaked beans take longer to cook and require more attention so they won’t cook dry. During soaking, beans make up their lost water, increasing up to twice their dried size. Enough water must be used to keep the beans covered while soaking. Once rehydrated, beans cook in 1 to 3 hours, depending on the type of bean.

There are basically two methods for soaking: long-soak and quick-soak. Both work equally well and differ only in the amount of time required to rehydrate the beans. Choose the one which best suits your time and schedule.

Long-soaking takes time and some advance planning, but needs very little effort. First, cover the beans with water at room temperature. Soak them overnight or for 8 to 10 hours. Keep the beans covered by water while soaking. Be sure the soak water is at room temperature. Hot water may cause the beans to sour. Cold water slows rehydration and the beans will take longer to cook. Cooking time will also be longer if beans are not soaked long enough – at least 8 hours. Beans soaked longer than 12 hours can absorb too much water and lose their characteristic texture and flavor. If you plan to cook beans for dinner and you want to use the long-soak method, start soaking in the morning. To cook beans for lunch, you’ll have to soak them overnight.

Quick-soaking rehydrates dried beans in little more than 1 hour. For most cooks, this is the most convenient method. Bring the beans and water for soaking to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and cover the pot. Let the beans stand in the soak water for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, discard the soak water and cook the beans.

Hot-soak. The Preferred Hot Soak is the newest method for soaking beans. Instructions for the Preferred Hot Soak are as follows:

After sorting and rinsing the beans, in a large pot add 10 cups of water for each pound (2 cups) of dry beans. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 or 3 minutes, remove from heat, cover and stand at least 1 hour (quick-soak method), but preferably 4 hours or more; maximum 24 hours. (The longer soaking time is recommended to allow a greater amount of sugar to dissolve, thus helping the beans to be more easily digested.) Whether you soak the beans for one hour or several, discard soak water; rinse beans and pan. Return beans to pan, add fresh cold water to fully cover the beans, 1-2 teaspoons oil or shortening and 2 teaspoons salt, if desired. Simmer the beans gently with the lid tilted until they are tender, to avoid breaking the skins. If you wish to further season your cooked beans, adding vegetables and spices to the cooking water will enhance their flavor.

Bean Arithmetic

• A pound of beans measures about 2 cups.
• Beans triple in volume when soaked and cooked.
• A cup of dry beans yields 3 cups cooked.
• A pound of dry beans yields 6 cups cooked.
• Use 3 cups of water per cup of dry beans for soaking.
• Simmer each pound of beans 2 hours after soaking.
• A pound of dry beans makes about 9 servings of baked beans.
• A pound of dry beans makes about 12 servings of bean soup.
• A one-pound can of cooked beans measures about 2 c.

Freezing Cooked Beans

If you plan to freeze all of the beans you cook, it’s a good idea to undercook them. This usually means cooking about 30 minutes less than the suggested cooking times. If you cook beans in your pressure cooker, reduce the cooking time by 1 to 1½ minutes. Undercooking will help the beans maintain their shape and texture as they thaw and reheat. Freeze beans in 1 to 2 cup portions so they’ll be easy to thaw and use. Freezer containers should be airtight and moisture proof. Leave enough space at the top of the container for expansion of the beans. Fill the container to 1 to 1½ inches from the top, making sure the beans are covered with liquid so they won’t dry out. Cooked beans will keep in the freezer 2 to 3 months. After that time their flavor and texture will begin to deteriorate.

 Thawing and Reheating Frozen Beans

Beans maintain their shape better if they are thawed slowly. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, for several hours at room temperature, or for about an hour in a pan of warm water. When the beans can be removed from their freezer container, put them in a saucepan to reheat and finish cooking

Source: www.countryconsultant.com/blogspot/?p=383

If you are interested in recipes that use dry beans, do a google search for "bean commission recipes" You will find quite a few states that have collected impressive lists of recipes.

Homemade Fruit by the Foot

Here is a great family experiment that turned out fabulously!

I mixed sugar free jello with applesauce. I did about one quart of applesauce to one small box of jello, but really you can just do it to taste.

I then spread the mixture onto parchment paper as thin and uniform as I could get it right on my dehydrator racks. (I have a huge, old dehydrator that takes a while to get things done, but lets me do huge batches.)

I fit three quarts of applesauce in. We did three different flavors - raspberry, peach, and strawberry-banana.

Here is my big, behemoth! Without a thermostat, it doesn't do as well with evenly drying so I have to rotate the racks, but I can sure get a lot done. I had to leave these in all day and over night.

Here is my more common sized dehydrator with a thermostat. It probably would have dried a batch in about 6 hours so I could have completed just as much in the same amount of time I just would have had to refill it a few times - and worry about getting up after only 6 hours of sleep to turn it off. It also has round trays so the parchment paper would have had to be trimmed and it wouldn't do the long "fruit by the foot" I was imagining. I opted for the big behemoth.

When it was thoroughly dry and leathery, I cut it in long strips.

Rolled them up.

And packaged them all ready for school lunches. So easy, no sugar added, rolls of sweet goodness - 

The kids have been loving them!

Chewy "Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally snagged some time to post this recipe you have all been asking for. These are the most amazing tasting chocolate chip cookies! No one ever believes that they are lower in sugar and contain only half the fat of a traditional recipe. They are also egg-free, which for some is important.

Chewy "Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies
You and your kids can eat all the dough they would like since there are no eggs! These cookies are lower in sugar, lower in fat, and lower in cholesterol. You can't get much healthier than that and still enjoy a cookie! This is the result of a year's worth of experiments. I'm so glad I didn't give up!
½ cup butter	2 tsp baking soda
½ cup white bean puree	1 Tbsp vanilla
⅔ cup sugar	¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar, packed	1 cup chocolate chips
3 cups all-purpose flour	Oatmeal, coconut, chopped nuts (optional)
Cream together butter, bean puree and sugars. Add flour, baking soda, and vanilla. It will look pretty dry at this point. Slowly add in the oil and mix until it has pulled together into cookie dough consistency. Stir in chocolate chips and any other optional ingredients you'd like. Roll into balls and place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° F for 8–10 minutes. Pull them out of the oven just as they are beginning to turn light brown in a couple of spots. They still look pretty doughy overall. Allow to rest on baking sheet for about 5 minutes to set and them move to a wire rack to cool. Makes 3 dozen.

Here it is just before adding the oil.

Slowly add the oil, and watch the dough pull together. (I have also made these cookies using 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour. When I use the whole wheat flour, I sometimes have to add just a touch more oil to see the dough come together.)

Here it is all ready for chocolate. Isn't it beautiful!

Add the chips and any other goodies you would like.

I always roll some of the dough up in plastic wrap and freeze to bake later.

Form into balls by pressing the dough together. Place on a baking sheet and flatten slightly with your hand.

Bake for about 8 minutes. You just want them to barely be turning brown. They still look quite fluffy. Allow them to sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes after pulling them from the oven so they can finish the baking process.

Cool on a wire rack.

This recipe consistently make these gorgeous cookies!

Sometimes I bake a few trays of just plain chocolate chip cookies, and then I add some other goodies to the rest of the dough. Here I added oatmeal, coconut, and chopped pecans. Be careful not to add too much or else you won't be able to press the dough together into a ball. (This batch was right on the edge of too much.)

I was still able to press the dough together, but the cookies didn't spread out much on the tray. They were still good, but know that you have been fairly warned - too much of a good thing can be too much. Enjoy!

Whole Grain Pancake Mix

Here's my latest and greatest attempt at a whole grain pancake that doesn't require eggs. The battery is dead on my camera so you'll just get to imagine how good they look. I'd wait until I could take pictures again, but that could be forever with as crazy as my life has been. I decided you would probably rather get the recipe now and not wait on photos. Enjoy! Whole Grain Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour	1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats	1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup corn meal	5 Tbsp dry milk powder
1/4 cup sugar	Approx. 1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp cinnamon	2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the water and mix well. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to soften the oats. Stir in the vinegar just before baking and add more water if needed to give you the right consistency. Cook on a hot griddle. This recipe can easily be turned into a large mix. Just multiply the recipe of the dry ingredients by 6 or more and store in an air tight container. To use: Measure out 3 cups of mix and then add the water and vinegar as in the recipe above.

Homemade Kettle Corn

Who doesn't love the kettle corn you can buy at the fair or other sporting events? It's just a little sweet and a bit salty - a combination we all go for. It is also very simple and inexpensive to make. It costs $5 around here for a bag of it from one of the food booths. I can make it for mere pennies and in a matter of minutes. It is an often requested snack around here.

It takes 1/4 cup hot oil, 1/4 cup brown or white sugar, and 1/2 cup popcorn seed.

It's helpful to have a Whirley-pop pan, but not necessary. (We found ours at the thrift store for $3.) You can just use a large pot with a lid and shake it over the burner until all the popcorn is popped.

When it is done popping, transfer to a bowl and sprinkle in a little salt while it is still warm. Stir to make sure the popcorn doesn't stick together as it cools. 

We use this as a snack often. We have also made batches to share with teachers or friends for gifts. It is great to give those who need a gluten-free snack or dessert. It is inexpensive,easy, and loved by all - what are you waiting for? Give it a try this week.

Homemade Kettle Corn
¼ cup oil	½ cup popcorn seed
¼ cup brown sugar, packed	Salt
Heat oil in bottom of a large, covered pan. We use a special Whirley-pop pan made for doing popcorn on the stove, but you can use a regular pan. Drop in 3 popcorn kernels. When the kernels pop, the oil is ready. Quickly add the brown sugar and popcorn seed. Replace the lid. If using a Whirley-pop pan, twist the handle until all popcorn is popped. If using a regular pan, shake the pan back and forth on the burner until all kernels are popped. Pour popcorn into a large bowl and add a little salt. Mix the popcorn with your hands as it cools so it doesn't stick together. You can use white sugar in place of the brown sugar. It gives it more of a popcorn ball flavor instead of a caramel flavor.