Hello everyone! I hope all the mothers out there had a very happy Mother's Day. We spent the weekend visiting with both sides of the family. We went shopping for flowers. I love going to the local nursery in the spring. It was a beautiful day and many people we know were there so it was wonderful to spend time catching up. I enjoy planning our garden. I make my own planters for the deck and front porch. We also plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and cantaloupes. It is worth all the effort of tending the garden when you eat that first ripe tomato. Nothing can match the taste of home grown vegetables.

We also welcomed a new addition to the family this Mother's Day. In March, our dog, Maggie, passed away. Click here to see a picture of Maggie. She was with the family for almost 16 years. That's a long time! I do not know how many of you have pets but it is hard to lose one. We decided that we could not live without a dog in the house so we brought Cassie home. It has been a long time since we have trained a puppy. I am trying to remember how we did everything the first time. She is a good dog and we are happy to have her as a new member of the family. 

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who passed along great tips since the last newsletter. I received several emails over the last month in response to my request on how you make your meals healthier. This has become a priority to many people I have spoken with in the last month. Several of you shared tips on how to get your family to eat more vegetables. Here are some of tips that I received:

I am in the midst of getting my "summer" batch of meals in the freezer, and re-discovered your website (after 18 months of absence) for inspiration. Cooking healthy is a huge priority for me and here are a few of the things I do.
 

1. Since we are not huge fish eaters, I sprinkle flax meal in anything baked and anything saucy (i.e. spaghetti sauce, chili). My family can't even tell it is in there, and it has more Omega 3 than salmon.
2. When making spaghetti sauce, I will often microwave some spinach or other veggies, puree them, and add them to the sauce. I have noticed a lot of healthier pastas on the market lately, whole grain, or with flax, so I cook with those.
3. I also try to shred some zucchini or carrots into muffins - they keep them moist and my family doesn't even notice them.
4. Lately I have been draining all the fat out of cooked hamburger.
5. I shop organic whenever I can afford it and am trying to reduce my dependence on Cream of soups.
    

Deb

I have tried adding zucchini and carrots to muffins. They do make them very moist. They work great in chocolate muffins so the kids can't see the vegetables. Give it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised! 

I also drain my hamburger when I cook it. You can also rinse the hamburger to remove even more fat. There are exact instructions for this method included in The Freezer Cooking Manual. Here are some more hamburger tips from Gina:

This is what I do to make my meals more nutritious and get my 10 year old to eat veggies (don't tell him!)

 

I put RAW veggies in my food processor and puree them. I add the puree to ground beef and fry them together in a skillet. I use about 3/4 cup veggies per pound of hamburger. Once cooked, you cannot see the vegetables. I have used any combination of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, onion and green pepper. I am going to try spinach, squash and sweet potatoes next. I have used this in spaghetti, chili, burgers and Sloppy Joes. I am going to try a meatloaf next. This makes the meat so moist and I have even used the puree in sausage at about a 1/2 cup to one pound ratio.

 

Thanks so much for your tips. I enjoy this newsletter so much.

 

Gina

Salem, Indiana

I have done this with onions and green peppers but I have never tried it with other vegetables. 

I also received some emails on what people are doing to try and save money. It is amazing how much the prices of food has gone up over the past couple of months. Here are some emails that I have received from newsletter readers:

As for the cost of food - I have been in complete shock over my grocery bill lately, so just like you, I am scouring the specials and making my freezer meals accordingly. Last week hamburger was on sale, so I bought 50 pounds (! - I never want to see another piece of hamburger...) and spent all last weekend making meatballs and gourmet hamburgers (just add whatever flavor you like of Lawry's Marinade and a handful of shredded cheese). Today I am going to tackle spaghetti sauce, taco meat and fajita meat
 
I enjoy the website, and I am a complete devotee to freezer cooking! I try to convert everyone I know to this lifestyle. After all these years of doing it this way, I can't imagine having to cook a complete meal from scratch every night! Freeze On!
 
Deb

I also had the same experience as Deb. Our local store had a one day meat sale a couple of weeks ago. I had to buy the hamburger in bulk to get the discount. I have never seen tubes of hamburger that large in my life! They were almost too long to fit in the refrigerator. I made hamburgers, meatballs (using the Master Meat Mix), plain browned ground beef in 2-1/2 C. packages and Sloppy Joes.

I finally cooked the extra turkey we had in the freezer from Thanksgiving. I ended up with over 14 cups of chopped turkey in addition to the turkey and stuffing that we ate for dinner. That turned into two recipes of Chicken/Turkey Patties (members can access online), Turkey and Noodles and Bowtie Soup (from the Freezer Lunches to Go e-book). 

To save even more money I have tried to eliminate food waste. I plan out serving quantities so that there are fewer leftovers. If I do have leftovers, I try to serve them as soon possible. If this is not possible, I freeze what I can. 

One thing that has worked out well is freezing left over pasta. I have had great success reheating it by boiling water, adding the frozen pasta, and heating it just until the water begins to boil again. I drain and serve it immediately. It is a great way to reuse left over pasta.

Here's a comment I received from Teresa about the cost of eggs:

Since I wrote the March newsletter, eggs are now up to 2.39 a dozen at some of the stores. It is extremely hard to deal with. I did have the opportunity to take advantage of an egg sale recently. I was able to purchase them for 1.00 a dozen. I used these to make Breakfast Burritos, Breakfast Egg Casserole, and Oven French Toast Sticks from the Freezer Cooking for Childcare Providers and Busy Parents ebook sampler. 

I also agree with Teresa about shopping around at several stores. It is hard to do with the price of gas at 4.00 a gallon. I try to group all my errands into one day so that I can get the most out of my gas. I also send my husband to the store to pick up sale items on his way home from work. 

How are you and your family coping with the rising prices? Do you have any helpful hints or cooking day tips to share with the rest of the readers? Send your suggestions to me at carol@30daygourmet.com and I will share them in the next newsletter with the rest of the 30 Day Gourmet cooks.

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