Hello everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed seeing the sampler of our new book, 30 Day Gourmet's Big Book of Freezer Cooking. Nanci and I approved the book and it is in the process of being printed. It should be available mid-April. We are excited and can't wait to share it with you! If you haven't had a chance, click here to check out the sampler.

New Website Preview

In the meantime, Nanci and I have been working with our webmaster, Curtis Dicken, on a new web design. We think you will like the new design. There are so many enhancements that we have made. Some of the new features of the website include:

• Navigation – We’ve made navigation around our website easier and more intuitive. The latest Cooks' Corner posting are displayed on the home page so you can see the latest news from our cooking community.
• Searching – Whether you are looking for recipes, tips or anything else related to freezer cooking our new search engine will make finding information a breeze.
• Cooks’ Corner Message Boards – Manage your profile, search for topics, post topics and comments – we’ve made it all better. We've even added an RSS feed for the message boards so you can monitor board activity from your browser or home page.
• Design – We’ve spent countless hours improving our design to make it more visually interesting and intuitive.
• Images – There are now hundreds of recipe images so that you can actually see the finished recipes.
• Recipes - All recipes on the website have nutritional information and links to the matching rcp file.
• Newsletters – Now are searchable and easier to find.
• Store – Our online store has been upgraded to provide a much better shopping experience.
• Members Only – An expanded Members Only section provides over 300 recipes just for book and software owners.

 

Pantry Challenge

Are you up for a challenge? I saw a news story recently that talked about doing a "pantry challenge" to reduce the amount of money that you spend on groceries. It is a month long challenge where you are supposed to prepare and eat foods that come from your pantry. Your pantry consists of food that is in your freezer or cupboards. They set goals for the challenge such as setting the maximum number of shopping trips for the month, a certain dollar amount to spend for the month, and list of items that you are allowed to buy during the challenge. This would include any perishable items such as dairy (eggs, cheese, milk, etc.), produce, and breads.

 

You have to be creative in this challenge! If you are not getting your meals from the freezer, you have to be able to cook and create different recipes from what you have in your pantry. This challenge lets me use one of my favorite features in the Advantage Cooking Software. You can go to the Ingredients tab and choose an ingredient, such as "Chicken Breast, boneless". Then click on the Recipes tab under the list of ingredients. It will show you all the recipes on file that use chicken breast. It's amazing!

 

This is the perfect challenge for freezer cooks! I want to clear out my freezer of all the foods we would not normally eat in the summer. I know, we were supposed to eat it during the winter months... But you know how that goes. Sometimes you are just left with food in the freezer at the end of your cooking cycle. Maybe a recipe made more servings than you anticipated or maybe the entree just got buried at the back of your freezer! Either way, this challenge is a good way to clean out your freezer. My family is going to take this challenge for the month of April. At the beginning of May we'll schedule a cooking day to restock. GFS normally has a great graduation/Memorial Day stock up sale in May that I love to take advantage of - especially the chicken and steak burgers. Yum! They also have large bags of frozen fruit that we like to serve for lunches or for a light dessert. I'm looking forward to cooking on the grill on a regular basis. Aren't you?!

My challenge rules:

 

1. Buy only dairy, produce, breads, and lunchmeats.
2. Try to cut at least 50% off my grocery bill. The money will be set aside to pay for my May cooking day. Any extra can be used to pay off debt or give to charity.
3. Try to limit my shopping to once per week.

 

Another take on this challenge is to base your freezer cooking day solely on what you have in your pantry and your freezer. Nanci wrote about this in the April 2006 newsletter. This is a great option if you have lots of meat left in the freezer from stocking up on sale days. Or you can concentrate on sides and desserts like Nanci did. Either way, the pantry challenge will save you money.

 

Follow me on the 30 Day Gourmet fan page on Facebook®. I'll post weekly shopping and menu updates for everyone. Feel free to join me in the challenge. I would love to hear from you!
 

Return to Top

Return to Top

 

BONUS RECIPES

---

Spicy Baked Fish

I am always looking for good fish recipes. We try to eat fish at least once a week. The great thing about fish is that it cooks so quickly. If your fish is defrosted, you can have dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes (depending on the sides you make). I like tilapia for this recipe. It has a nice light flavor. You could use cod or Pollock as well.

 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

 

 

Yellow Rice

Rice is one of our favorite side dishes. There are so many things that you can do to it! We have been trying different flavored rice at our house. Yellow rice is a great side dish to have on hand. You can freeze it fully cooked or as a "mix" to be prepared on serving day.

 

 

 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Return to Top

CLOSING COMMENTS FROM CAROL

---

I hope you enjoy the recipes and the preview of the new website. Next month I hope to show you the updated version of the Advantage Cooking Software.

We're look for your recipes and for your stories of your cooking days. Post your favorite recipes on the Cook's Corner Message Board or email me at carol@30daygourmet.com.

Do you have any other topics that you would like to cover? Do you have any cooking questions that need to be answered? Email me at carol@30daygourmet.com. I enjoy hearing from you!

See you in April.

Carol

Return to Top

 

---