Nanci Slagle

Apple Cider Cupcakes

 Recipes, Snacks and Desserts, Under 350 Calories  Comments Off on Apple Cider Cupcakes
Nov 012009
 
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These cupcakes are super moist and really taste great. They actually taste good without the butter cream frosting too so if you want to save some calories, try them “plain” or with a dusting of powdered sugar on top.

cupcakes close up

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Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

24

48

72

96

120

144
Ingredients
Butter

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Eggs

4

8

12

16

20

24
Sugar

2 C.

4 C.

6 C.

8 C.

10 C.

12 C.
Chopped apples

4 C.

8 C.

12 C.

16 C.

20 C.

24 C.
Flour

2 C.

4 C.

6 C.

8 C.

10 C.

12 C.
Salt

1/2 t.

1 t.

1-1/2 t.

2 t.

2-1/2 t.

1 T.
Baking powder

1 t.

2 t.

1 T.

1 T. + 1 t.

1 T. + 2 t.

2 T.
Baking soda

1 t.

2 t.

1 T.

1 T. + 1 t.

1 T. + 2 t.

2 T.
Cinnamon

1 t.

2 t.

1 T.

1 T. + 1 t.

1 T. + 2 t.

2 T.
Nutmeg

1/2 t.

1 t.

1-1/2 t.

2 t.

2-1/2 t.

1 T.
Frosting Ingredients
Butter

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.
Apple cider

1/4 C.

1/2 C.

3/4 C.

1 C.

1-1/4 C.

1-1/2 C.
Powdered sugar

4 C.

8 C.

12 C.

16 C.

20 C.

24 C.
Chopped walnuts

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.

Assembly Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large glass bowl, melt butter in microwave. Cream together butter, eggs, and sugar. Stir in apples. Stir in flour and remaining ingredients.

Spoon batter into 24 cupcakes or one 9×13 pan or 2 8×8 pans. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, 9×13 or 8×8 pans for 25-30 minutes.

While cupcakes bake, beat butter about 2 minutes until creamy. Add 1 C. powdered sugar and mix. Add apple cider and remaining powdered sugar. Beat on medium-high about 2 minutes. Stir walnuts in by hand. Frost cupcakes/cakes when cooled.

Freezing Directions:
Flash freeze to harden the frosting then put into individual sandwich bags. Then put all of the sandwich bags into a 2 one gallon freezer bags. Seal, label, and freeze.

Servings Directions:
Thaw and enjoy!

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 323 Calories; 14g Fat (37.9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 49g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 62mg Cholesterol; 244mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1/2 Grain (Starch); 2-1/2 Fat; 2-1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Apple Bundt Cake

 Low Sodium, Recipes, Snacks and Desserts  Comments Off on Apple Bundt Cake
Nov 012009
 
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I decided to tackle one of my cooking “mountains” and make a bundt cake. I can’t remember how many years it had been since I blew the dust off my pan, but I’m happy to say that this cake turned out great!

piece of bundt cake

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Advantage Cooking owners click here to download this recipe.

Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

16

32

48

64

80

96
Ingredients
Sugar

6 T.

3/4 C.

1 C. + 2 T.

1-1/2 C.

1-3/4 C. + 2 T.

2-1/4 C.
Cinnamon

1 T.

2 T.

3 T.

1/4 C.

1/4 C. + 1 T.

1/4 C. + 2 T.
Chopped apples

3-1/2 C.

7 C.

10-1/2 C.

14 C.

17-1/2 C.

21 C.
Oil

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Sugar

2 C.

4 C.

6 C.

8 C.

10 C.

12 C.
Eggs

4

8

12

16

20

24
Flour

4 C.

8 C.

12 C.

16 C.

20 C.

24 C.
Baking powder

1 T.

2 T.

3 T.

1/4 C.

1/4 C. + 1 T.

1/4 C. + 2 T.
Salt

1/2 t.

1 t.

1-1/2 t.

2 t.

2-1/2 t.

1 T.
Orange juice

1/4 C.

1/2 C.

3/4 C.

1 C.

1-1/4 C.

1-1/2 C.
Glaze Ingredients:
Powdered sugar

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.
Orange juice

2 T.

1/4 C.

1/4 C. + 2 T.

1/2 C.

1/2 C. + 2 T.

3/4 C.

Assembly Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Toss with apples and set aside. In a large bowl, beat oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and orange juice alternately to egg mixture.

Grease a bundt pan with shortening being careful to get the shortening into every part of the pan to prevent sticking. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan, then 1/2 of the apples. Repeat the layers ending with the rest of the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool for a few minutes then loosen sides with a knife and invert onto a platter.

Mix powdered sugar with orange juice in a 1 C. measuring cup. Drizzle the glaze over the bundt cake.

Freezing Directions:
Freeze cake whole by cooling the cake, wrapping it in plastic wrap and putting it into a 2 gallon freezer bag. Seal, label, and freeze.

Servings Directions:
Thaw and enjoy!

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 385 Calories; 15g Fat (34.9% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 59g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 47mg Cholesterol; 106mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1-1/2 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Fruit; 3 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

July 2009 Chewin’ the News with Nanci

 2009, Chewin' the News  1 Response »
Jul 082009
 

FREEZER COOKING NEWS FROM NANCI

Nanci 2009

Is your summer flying by like mine? Don’t they always? Ours has been great so far. I have graduated 2 kids, spent a fantastic week in the Outer Banks, moved our daughter Becky to DC, attended a week long “camp” for AP English teachers, and cleaned my pantry and refrigerator. It doesn’t get any better than that, right? I always think of the 4th of July as the halfway mark since my first day of school is August 11th. Since it poured rain here the whole day, I decided to have a quick cooking day instead.

“Shop the Sales” and Bag It Cooking Day

Grocery stores always run great deals the week of a major holiday. It’s too late for you to grab the 4th of July specials but the same low prices will come around again on Labor Day. Plan now to take advantage of that.

I spent $160 and “bagged” the meat for 31 entrees with about 156 servings. That’s $1 per entrée!!

And I did it all in about 5 hours. I basically just followed the steps that are outlined in the Freezer Cooking Manual (go figure).

STEP 1 – PLAN IT!

*Gather Grocery Store Ads (you can usually view them online as well)

Our local Kroger store had great sales on ground beef, chicken and steak.

Our local Kroger store had great sales on ground beef, chicken and steak.

I based my choices solely on the grocery store ads and the season. Meats in marinade are great for summertime. We love to put the meat on the grill and round out the meal with some fresh sweet corn or homemade mashed potatoes. I take a quick look through the ads and jot down the big sales.

chicken breast (boneless, skinless) – $1.87 lb. – Kroger
pork ribs – $1.69 lb. – Kroger
round steak – $3.49 lb. – Kroger
ground beef – $1.28 lb. – Marsh
pork tenderloin – $2.99 lb. – Marsh
spare ribs – $1.68 lb. – Marsh

*Choose Recipes

When choosing recipes, I generally go to the RECIPES section of our website, choose a category (poultry, for example) and then scroll through the list to see what sounds good. It’s best to make at least 2 of each recipe to save time. Looking at the recipes on the website also saves time because I can quickly see the ingredient list and the cooking method and make a decision. Once I have my list of recipes, I have a huge 3 ring binder full of 30 Day Gourmet recipes sorted by the same categories as our RECIPES section of the website. I pull the recipes out so that I can create my shopping list. Here’s a list of the recipes that I decided on:

1 – Chicken breasts in Caesar Marinade – 1 recipe – 6 servings
2 – Elegant Chicken in Marinade – 3 recipes – 18 servings
3 – Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips – 2 recipes – 8 servings
4 – Boneless BBQ Chicken Bites – 1 recipe – 6 servings
5 – Chicken Quesadilla meat – 1 recipe – 6 servings (I don’t use a recipe for this. I just boil 1 chicken breast for every 1 C. of shredded meat that I want. Once the meat is boiled, I shred it and cook it in a frying pan on medium with some taco seasoning mix and water.)
6 – Pork in Marinade – 4 recipes – 24 servings
7 – Polynesian BBQ Pork Marinade – 3 recipes – 18 servings
8 – Beef Teriyaki – 2 recipes – 8 servings
9 – Steaks in Marinade – 4 recipes – 18 servings
10- Swiss Steak – 1 recipe – 6 servings (these came in a sale pkg. – I coated them with flour, flash froze them to keep the flour on and then bagged them with the sauce)
11 – Burger patties – 1 recipe – 6 servings (these came in a sale pkg. – I just bagged them)
12 – Cooked ground beef – 8 recipes – 32 servings (cooked the beef in 2 batches and bagged in 1 lb./3 C. portions)

*Make Shopping List
100_3852
*Take a quick inventory of your pantry, refrigerator and freezer. I do this with the printed recipes in hand. Since I would be planning, shopping and cooking in a space of 5 hours, I just pulled the usable inventory out and set it on my counter. If you are doing a big cooking day or cooking with a friend, use Worksheet A from the manual.

*Make a list of the recipes you will be making either using Worksheet C from the manual or on a separate piece of paper. Later on, you’ll need to remember how many of each recipe you planned for. At the least, write down the recipe title and how many of each you plan to assemble.

*Create a shopping list from your recipes.  I use Worksheet D from the manual. Many of you use our software. Some of you have other nifty gadgets to make your list with. Whichever you use, be specific about how much of each ingredient you need to buy. No need to purchase a gallon of Dijon mustard if you only need a tablespoonJ

STEP 2 – GO SHOPPING

My “quick run” to the  local Kroger, Marsh and Walmart ended up taking almost 2 hours. Why??? Because I chose to try a few new recipes that called for 2 ingredients I had never purchased before. Who knew that combing through the aisles of 3 stores looking for Anchovy paste and Chinese 5 spice powder would take so long.

A few shopping tips:

*Take a cooler if you’re going to be leaving perishables in the car for very long.

*Don’t use those crazy U-scans when you buy meat. Sheesh! The bar codes wouldn’t scan and the “helper guy” had to do it all by hand keying in each number. Learned my lesson.

*Have the butcher slice your pork tenderloins.

*Don’t forget your little “discount” card. I saved 31% at one store and %15 at another by using my member discount.

Here’s a picture of all of the meat I bought:

100_3845

 

Since I chose mostly marinade recipes, I didn’t have to buy much else.
Here are the rest of the groceries:

100_3849

 

 

 

 

STEP 3 – GET READY

Since I planned, shopped and cooked in one day I didn’t really do any prep work this time. On second thought, cleaning my pantry and refrigerator out the day before counts I think. (Not that I’m going to be storing my entrees there!)

STEPS 4 & 5 – ASSEMBLE ENTREES & STOCK THE FREEZER

I didn’t really start “cooking” until 9 pm (I’m a nightowl, can you tell?) and I finished about 12:30 a.m. Here’s how the 3.5 hours went:

*Put the pork & steak in the refrigerator.
*Cook up the ground beef in 2 batches.
*Boil 3 chicken breasts for Chicken Quesadillas.
*Divide the chicken for Chicken breasts in Caesar Marinade  & Elegant Chicken in Marinade into freezer bags & label them. Make the 2 marinade recipes & pour. Seal and freeze.
*Shred chicken, cook with taco seasoning mix & water. Cool. Label qt. bag, fill, seal and freeze.
*Cut 2.5 lbs. chicken into strips for Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips. Divide into freezer bags & label them. Make marinade and pour. Seal and freeze.
*Cut chicken for BBQ Boneless Chicken Bites. Put into labeled freezer bag. Make marinade & pour. Seal and freeze.
*Divide pork for Pork in Marinade & Polynesian BBQ Pork Marinade into freezer bags & label them. Make the 2 marinade recipes & pour it. Seal and freeze.
*Label bags for cooked and cooled ground beef. Fill, seal and freeze.
*Put burger patties into individual flip top baggies. Put all 6 burgers into labeled freezer bag. Seal & freeze.
*Label bag for  Swiss Steak. Coat steaks with flour mixed with some salt and pepper. Flash freeze steaks so flour stays on. Combine sauce ingredients. Put steaks in gallon freezer bag. Put sauce in quart size freezer bag. Put sauce bag inside gallon bag. Seal and freeze.
*Divide steaks for Steaks in Marinade recipe into labeled freezer bags. Make marinade & pour. Seal and freeze.
*Cut strips for Beef Teriyaki recipe and divide into labeled freezer bags. Make marinade & pour. Seal and freeze.
All done!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s a picture of several of the bagged meats in marinade lined up on the counter.
baggedmeats
This picture is of most of my entrees.
35 entrees

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrapping It Up
I hope this was informative and helpful for you. A lot of people have the wrong idea that freezer cooking means 50 casseroles in your freezer OR a 24 hour day of freezing tons of food. WRONG! Make it work for you. And by the way, having this food in my freezer doesn’t mean:

A. I won’t be going out to eat in the next 35 days. Are you kidding me?
B. I will eat meat every day for the next 35 days. No way. It will probably take us 2-3 months to eat all of these entrees.
C. I will throw half of this away because no one actually eats the stuff from their freezer. NO! It will taste great! The only thing I pre-cooked is the ground beef for tacos, sloppy joes, etc. and the chicken for quesadillas. Everything else is FRESH!

Next time, I’ll be sharing some of the emails I got from you about how you have been or are currently teaching your kids to cook. Thanks for all of the great insights!

We’re all about helping you succeed in your own freezer cooking. Be sure to become a fan of our new facebook page. As always, www.30daygourmet.com  has tons of info and recipes available to you for free. If you like what you see, consider purchasing our books and/or software.

Here’s a quick list of our items. Free shipping on orders over $50. Gift wrap only $1.

Nanci 

 

Boneless BBQ Chicken Bites

 Low Fat, Poultry, Recipes, Under 350 Calories  Comments Off on Boneless BBQ Chicken Bites
Jul 012009
 
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My kids and a few of their friends polished these off in no time. The spice powder definitely adds a different (but good) flavor. These could also be cooked in a skillet over medium heat, turning several times and basting with the sauce.

100_3999

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Advantage Cooking owners click here to download this recipe.

Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

12

24

36

48

60

72
Makes: bites

48

96

144

192

240

288
Ingredients
Orange marmalade

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.
Ketchup

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.
White vinegar

2 T.

1/4 C.

1/4 C. + 2 T.

1/2 C.

1/2 C. + 2 T.

3/4 C.
Minced garlic

1 T.

2 T.

3 T.

1/4 C.

1/4 C. + 1 T.

1/4 C. + 2 T.
Montreal chicken seasoning

2 t.

1 T. + 1 t.

2 T.

2 T. + 2 t.

3 T. + 1 t.

1/4 C.
Chinese 5 spice powder (found in Asian section of the grocery store)

1/4 t.

1/2 t.

3/4 t.

1 t.

1-1/4 t.

1-1/2 t.
Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut in bite sized pieces

3 lbs.

6 lbs.

9 lbs.

12 lbs.

15 lbs.

18 lbs.

Assembly Directions:
In medium saucepan, combine marmalade, ketchup, vinegar, minced garlic, Montreal seasoning and Chinese spice powder. Simmer over medium-high heat 15 minutes until thickened. Cool.

Freezing Directions:
Divide chicken into labeled freezer bags (quart size for snacks, gallon size for dinner entrée). Pour cooled sauce over chicken. Seal and freeze.

Serving Directions:
Thaw. Preheat oven to 400. Pour chicken and sauce onto foil lined shallow pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn bites and spoon sauce over bites. Bake another 10 minutes. Turn broiler to 425. Bake 5 minutes under broiler or until browned.

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 180 Calories; 3g Fat (15.1% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 69mg Cholesterol; 226mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 3-1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

May 2009 Chewin’ the News with Nanci

 2009, Chewin' the News  Comments Off on May 2009 Chewin’ the News with Nanci
May 012009
 

Nanci 2009Freezer Cooking News from Nanci

I can’t believe it was September since I last wrote a newsletter. A lot has happened in the Slagle household since then. As usual, freezer cooking helped us through! Hopefully, you’re finding the same to be true. I’ll recap our family info, then share info about my last cooking day and wrap up with some mail from our freezer cooks. 

Slagle Family Highlights

100_3473Jenna – Many of you have followed the story of my 15 year old daughter’s heart problems for the last few years. She was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation in September of ’07 and was hospitalized for several days. Since then, we have taken her to local cardiologists at Riley Hospital for Children here in Indy as well as a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. As a family, we had decided that Jenna really needed surgery to have her valve repaired but doctors were reluctant since it’s a fairly tricky procedure and unusual for kids her age. Last month we found a surgeon at Mt. Sinai Medical Clinic in NYC who agreed to do Jenna’s surgery. So on April 5th, Bob & Jenna and I drove to NYC. Jenna had very successful surgery on April 7th and was released on the 10th. She’s been doing great ever since!

 

NKdegreeBKaytee – Our oldest graduated from Indiana University last Saturday with a BA degree in Criminal Justice. She plans to move to Los Angeles in August where she is in the process of applying to the LAPD. We’re so proud of her!

076Adam – Our little boy is all grown up and will be graduating from high school in just a few weeks. He’s such a great kid and I’m going to miss him so much when he heads off to Purdue University in a few months to study Engineering. He plans to live in a house with a few friends from high school and has already hinted that dinners in the freezer would be most helpful.

 

Here’s a pix of Adam receiving the Science Department Award last week at school.

089Becky – That leaves Becky (far left), our 21 year old daughter who just completed her 3rd year at Huntington University. She will be heading off in a few weeks to a 7 month internship near Washington DC. We won’t see her again until Christmas!

 

How Freezer Cooking Keeps Me Sane

Life is busy, isn’t it? Whether you’re dealing with an exhausting job, young children, older children, parents to care for, or all of the above – people have to be fed and food has to be cooked. Those of us who have been freezer cooking for years will be the first to tell you that we aren’t perfect. We don’t have 30 meals in the freezer AT ALL TIMES. We don’t cook every recipe correctly and we still make trips to the McDonald’s drive-thru.

But even if you just spend a few hours every month or two and put an extra 5 or 10 meals in the freezer for those really crazy days or for the company that’s coming, it is SO worth it.

Here’s the list of meals that I made with my friend, Lisa, over spring break. I wanted food in the freezer when we came back from Jenna’s surgery so that my mother-in-law (who was coming to help) could pull something out easily and get it ready quickly. A lot of these are casseroles which seem to be going out of style (according to the Food Network?) but I chose them on purpose for the quick assembly and easy serving instructions. We made about 23 entrees and I actually still have a few in the freezer.

Here’s my recipe list:

Auld Lang Syne Chicken (3) – This is from the Co-op Cuisine ebook and has been a real hit. I love the taste of chicken, mayo and almonds. The crunchy topping is great too!

Swiss Steak (2) – I haven’t made this in ages. I forgot how much I liked it. It’s from the Freezer Cooking Manual. Love the peppers, onions and celery. Yum!

Italian Chicken (2) – This is a favorite recipe of mine and was a Recipe of the Month winner way back in 2002. The Italian salad dressing and cream cheese give it some great flavor.

Beef Teriyaki (2) – Stir fry is a “quick and easy” recipe at my house. Even if I haven’t remembered to take the bag of beef in marinade out of the freezer, I can thaw it quickly, add the vegetables and then cook some rice. By the time the rice is cooked (the 20 minute kind), the rest is done and we are ready to eat! This recipe is from Carol’s Healthy Freezer Cooking ebook.

Poppyseed Chicken (3) – We just had this last night. It’s another keeper from the Co-op Cuisine ebook! It has a lot of the same ingredients are the Auld Lang Syne Chicken does except that it’s made with wide egg noodles instead of rice. My family ate it all up!

Master Meat Mix (meatloaf) (2) – This is a recipe from the Freezer Cooking Manual. I hadn’t made it in a few years but since my kids love mashed potatoes so much I thought this might taste good to them again. I was right! You can always make meatballs with the mixture.

Cheesy Beef Casserole (3) – This recipe from the Co-op Cuisine ebook went together quickly. Lisa and I used disposable foil pans to make the assembly line go faster and to cut down on the cleanup for my mom-in-law later. My family liked this a lot. Lisa’s family wanted it a bit spicier so she “jazzed it up”.

Elegant Chicken in Marinade (3) – I think I make some of this every time I do a cooking day. There’s just SO much that you can do with marinated chicken. Of course, it tastes great grilled. It’s also good for stir fry, for sandwiches and baked in the oven. I usually buy my Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar and soy sauce in bulk at Gorton’s Food Service (sorry – they are primarily a Midwest chain).

Chipped Beef Chicken (3) – This is another tasty chicken casserole from the Co-op Cuisine ebook. It takes quite awhile to bake so plan for that. The chipped beef and bacon add some yummy flavor.

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Lisa putting together the Cheesy Beef Casserole while talking to her son on the phone.

Lisa putting together the Cheesy Beef Casserole while talking to her son on the phone.

 

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Here are my 23 entrees. Lisa has an enclosed back porch that worked great for cooling our foods.

What Our Cooks Are Saying

Amy

Your Cherokee Chicken recipe is also delicious with a (sliced) pork loin in place of the chicken. My last “Cooking Day” – which was actually a day and and half – we (my husband and I) place 53 meals in the freezer. That is so exciting!!!!!

Thanks!

Jenn

I would love to order the lunch e-book. My husband has been taking lunch to work every day to economize but lately it has always been leftovers and he gets sick of the same thing. I thought the lunch book would be perfect.

The book has been such a wonderful thing for me and all the recipes I have found on the website. It has been truly life-changing it that doesn’t sound too dramatic. I have had much more time to help my kids with their homework and both of my older children had improved report cards. My daughter is playing baseball this year which she has always wanted to do but I never seemed to have time or be organized enough to get her into it.

I love the website as well. It is like the manual is alive and just keeps on giving. Even for someone who doesn’t want to cook for a whole month there are so many great ideas for snacks or things to take to parties, etc. I just wanted to let you know that you have such a satisfied customer here.

I would recommend the books and this type of cooking to anyone in a heartbeat! Thanks for the book and the great website!!

Closing Comments from Nanci

We’re still working on the new website. Have patience! It will be great!
Enjoy the rest of your May. I will be grading 90 thesis papers, graduating a son, hosting a double grad open house, moving a daughter and taking one last “6 of us” vacation in the next few weeks. What fun!

Here’s to happy times around your dinner tables this summer! I fear that “real” cooking is becoming a lost art. Let’s do our part to keep it alive. Do me a favor and click here to email me your stories about how you are teaching your children (regardless of their ages) how to cook and tell me what benefits you are both reaping from it. I’d like to talk about that in my next newsletter.

Nanci

 

 

Fireman Dan’s Chocolate Cream Pie

 Recipes, Snacks and Desserts  Comments Off on Fireman Dan’s Chocolate Cream Pie
Sep 012008
 
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I can’t think of a better comfort food than chocolate, can you? Wouldn’t it be great to know that you have a stack of chocolate pies in the freezer that you can pull out on a moment’s notice to offer company, take to a sick friend, or share
with your local firemen or police force. This pie has a chocolate crumb crust and 4 Hershey bars in it. What could be better? Thanks to my friend, Dan Smith, who shared this recipe many years ago when he was featured in our local newspaper (our Cheeseburger Quiche recipe is his, too).

Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page
Advantage Cooking owners click here to download this recipe.

Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

8

16

24

32

40

48
Makes

1 pie

2 pies

3 pies

4 pies

5 pies

6 pies
Ingredients
Hershey bars; 1.55 oz.

4

8

12

16

20

24
Milk

1/4 C.

1/2 C.

3/4 C.

1 C.

1-1/4 C.

1-1/2 C.
Cream cheese; room temperature

3 oz.

6 oz.

9 oz.

12 oz.

15 oz.

18 oz.
Whipped topping

8 oz.

16 oz.

24 oz.

32 oz.

40 oz.

48 oz.
Chocolate graham cracker crust

1

2

3

4

5

6

 

Assembly Directions:
Break up Hershey bars. Add to milk in microwave dish or glass measuring cup. Microwave to melt chocolate. With electric mixer, blend chocolate and milk mixture. Add cream cheese and blend well. Fold in 1/2 of whipped topping. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate till set. Top with remaining whipped topping. Garnish with bits of shaved chocolate. (You’ll have to buy an extra bar for this. Too bad, huh?)

Freezing and Cooking Directions:
Cover with the crust’s plastic lid and freeze pie.

To serve:
Thaw, serve and enjoy!

Nanci’s Comments:
Dan was featured as a Cook of the Month in our local newspaper several years ago because of the great cooking he did for his fellow firefighters. I’ve been making this pie ever since and it’s always wonderful!
Jenna and I recently took two pies to Dan’s station and said “thanks” to some of Indiana’s finest.

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 394 Calories; 27g Fat (60.5% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 18mg Cholesterol; 250mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 5 Fat; 2-1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

September 2008 Chewin’ the News with Nanci

 2008, Chewin' the News  Comments Off on September 2008 Chewin’ the News with Nanci
Sep 012008
 

Freezer Cooking News from Nanci

Was your summer as great as mine was? I hope so. Remember all of that organizing that I wanted to do? Well, guess what? I actually did most of it! I organized my classroom and teaching files at school and I’m already reaping the rewards of that with less work in my briefcase going home with me at the end of the day. I did quite a bit of organizing at home too. Closets, pictures, college loans, and my freezer too!

I know that I promised information this month about freezer cooking while dieting but I’m going to put that off until next month. We are making some changes to the website that will really help those of you who want to choose recipes that are low fat, low calorie, or low carb to find them quickly. Hopefully, I can tell you all about it next month.

Back to School Cooking Day

The main idea of a “back to school” cooking day is to do it before school starts. Since I didn’t get that done, we started the year by eating out or eating Mac ‘n Cheese almost every day. Yuk! After almost two weeks of “winging it”, I planned a cooking day on Labor Day. I know, appropriate. Breaking my own “Don’t shop and cook in the same day” rule, I did the whole thing in one big day and ended with over 25 entrees in the freezer (plus cooked beef & chicken for 12 more). I even have a few desserts too. Wow – does that feel great! Those of you who are 30 Day Gourmeters understand exactly what I mean.

Here’s my recipe list:

  • Shredded Roast Beef (2) – I followed the suggestion on the recipe and frozen individual servings in muffin tins. I also packaged 6 servings in one of those pink storage containers for my colleague who had a baby girl yesterday.
  • Lazy Day Lasagna (3) – I made two 9×13 dishes for days when we’re all here to eat. I made four 8×8 dishes for those other days. One of the smaller ones will also go to my “new mom” friend.
  • Freezer Quesadillas (2)
  • Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips (3)
  • Chicken Noodle Soup (7 individual servings) I packaged these for the kids to take to school since they have access to a microwave.
  • Pork in Marinade (4)
  • Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (3) – from Carol’s newsletter last month
  • Country Chicken Pot Pie (4) – my son loves these. When given the choice today to go out to eat after church or come home and cook pot pie, he chose the pot pie. How ‘bout that?
  • Cooked ground beef (8 bags of 3 C. (1 lb.) each)
  • Cooked shredded chicken (3 bags of 3C. each)
  • Cooked chicken slices in broth (2)
  • Chicken Parmesan with basil (1)
  • Tropical Island Salad (1)
  • Fireman Dan’s Chocolate Cream Pie (2)

People often ask me what happens during an actual cooking day. I think they want to know just how I get the job done because when you hear “25 or 30 entrees in one day” it can seem incredibly overwhelming. So this time I kept track of my day. I hope this helps you realize that you can do this! It’s really not that hard at all.

10-11 am Get out the grocery store ads and plan cooking day using worksheets from Freezer Cooking Manual
11-1 pm Walmart ($170) – Kroger ($50) Aldi was closed because of Labor Day. I probably could have saved another $20-$30 overall by shopping there but my fault for not checking.
1-1:30 pm Kids unload groceries while I get the kitchen prepped. I’m fortunate to have a big kitchen so I have a “groceries” area, a freezer containers/bags area, an equipment area and a prep area (I cover this counter with newspaper for easy clean up). FYI – I don’t leave meat out for long. The pix was just to show groceries for 25-30 entrees.

100_2775

100_2780

 

 

1:30-1:45 pm 2 whole chickens & 12 chicken breasts in the large stock potShredded Roast Beef recipe into the slow cooker

5 pounds of ground beef into the skillet
1:45-2:45 pm Assemble Pork in Marinade recipe & freezeAssemble Parmesan Crusted Tilapia recipe & freeze

Ground beef drained and cooled; another 5 pounds into skillet

 

100_2782

 

2:45-3:15 pm Assemble Lazy Day Lasagna recipe & freeze (use cooked ground beef)Hint: put the cheese filling into a ziptop bag, clip a corner and squeeze it out evenly onto the uncooked noodles. It’s much easier than trying to spread the filling.

Remove chicken to cool (keep broth to use later)

100_2786

 

100_2790

 

3:15-3:30 Diet Mt. Dew break (this pays off later, believe me)
3:30-4:30 Shred cooked chicken; pick whole chickensStart Chicken Noodle Soup in large skillet (use leftover broth)
4:30-6:00 pm Assemble Freezer Quesadillas (use shredded chicken)Assemble Oriental Chicken Strips

Assemble Chicken Parmesan with basil
6:00-6:15 pm Put Chicken Noodle Soup into containers & freeze
6:15-6:30 pm Assemble & freeze Chocolate Cream Pies
6:30-6:45 pm Make filling for Chicken Pot Pies in large skillet (user leftover broth)

 

100_2791

 

6:45-7:00 pm Bag shredded chicken (3 C. each bag) and freezeBag chicken pieces and broth (4 C. each container) and freeze

Bag cooked ground beef (3 C. each bag) and freeze
7:00-7:30 pm Make 2 Chicken Pot Pies and freezeBag filling for 2 Chicken Pot Pies and freeze with bought crust

Make Tropical Island Salad and freeze
7:30-8:00 pm Put slow cooker of beef on porch (covered loosely) to coolClean kitchen and collapse

 

It was a great day overall. I didn’t just put 25+ entrees in my freezer. I also:

 

  • saved our family a BUNCH of money. I spent about $220 for 25 entrees (4-6 servings per entrée) plus 8 pounds of ground beef and 4 pounds of chicken. That price also includes 7 servings of soup and 3 large desserts.
  • shared food with a friend
  • showed my kids what the lost art of cooking from scratch looks like
  • did something with my brain that doesn’t involve American literature, Etymology or Drama. Cooking is actually relaxing for me. I have a theory about that but I’ll save it for another newsletter.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing the process.

We’re all about helping you succeed in your own freezer cooking. Our website has tons of info and recipes available to you for free. If you like what you see, consider purchasing our books and/or software.

 

Here’s a quick list of our items. Free shipping on orders over $50. Gift wrap only $1:

Closing Comments

Watch for big changes to our website. We’re making it better to help you be a great freezer cook! Spread the word. Tell your friends about us and forward them this newsletter so that they can join us.

Nanci

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

 Recipes, Soups & Sandwiches  Comments Off on Stuffed Green Pepper Soup
Aug 012008
 
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A wonderful lady I met in The Wisconsin Dells donated this recipe. I think the flavor is superb, but I would never tell my kiddos the real name of this one. I think I would call it “Pizza Soup” or something that they won’t be afraid of!
Also, for my family, these peppers needed to be very finely diced to get them past a couple of the kids.

Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page
Advantage Cooking owners click here to download this recipe.

Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

6

12

18

24

30

36
Ingredients
Ground beef; browned and drained

1-1/2 lbs.

3 lbs.

4-1/2 lbs.

6 lbs.

7-1/2 lbs.

9 lbs.
Onion, chopped fine

1

2

3

4

5

6
Beef broth

48 oz.

96 oz.

144 oz.

192 oz.

240 oz.

288 oz.
Crushed tomatoes

28 oz.

56 oz.

84 oz.

112 oz.

140 oz.

168 oz.
Ketchup

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Tomato soup; undiluted

10 oz.

20 oz.

30 oz.

40 oz.

50 oz.

60 oz.
Green peppers; chopped

4

8

12

16

20

24
Cooked rice

2-3 C.

4-6 C.

6-9 C.

8-12 C.

10-15 C.

12-18 C.
Salt and pepper to taste

Assembly Directions:
Combine all of the above ingredients except the rice and simmer for two hours.

Freezing and Cooking Directions:
To eat immediately, add the rice and heat through to serve.
To freeze, cool the liquid mixture without the cooked rice. Freeze the soup mixture in one container and the cooked rice in another.

Serving Directions:
Thaw and combine the two, reheat and serve.

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 544 Calories; 21g Fat (34.0% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 54g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 78mg Cholesterol; 2168mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1-1/2 Grain (Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 3 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

July 2008 Chewin’ the News with Nanci

 2008, Chewin' the News  Comments Off on July 2008 Chewin’ the News with Nanci
Jul 012008
 

Freezer Cooking News from Nanci

nanciwebHere it is summer again. Where do the months go? I have been out of school for almost 4 weeks now. In case you didn’t know, the teachers look forward to summer just as much as the students doJ My goal this summer is to organize-organize-organize. Organize my classroom to save time during the school year. Organize my home so that it is a refuge and not a source of stress.Organize my freezer so that my teens want to eat at home and so that mom doesn’t have to be here in order for a meal to be eaten! Organize my 30 Day Gourmet office to serve you more efficiently.

Take a few minutes to sit back and relax. I’ll catch you up on our family (some of you have been with me for 10 years now), encourage you to save money by freezer cooking in these tough economic times, tell you about all the new freezer cooking talk out there and share some recipes just for “kids” (mine are 15, 18, 20, and 23).

New Edition Released March, 2008

Some of you may have noticed that 30 Day Gourmet released a new edition of the manual recently. What’s different you ask? I basically changed the cover a bit, updated some recipes, deleted 2 recipes and added 2 new ones. Carol and I decided to take out the “Italian Chicken” and “Chicken Spaghetti” and put in the “Santa Fe Chicken” and “Honey Glazed Chicken” for some new flavors. Each page has a new 2008 copyright and my bio is updated on the cover. That’s about it. Should you buy a new book? Probably no need to. I know that’s a bad marketing move but that’s just the truth. Tell your friends, though, and give them for gifts. Click here to order.

Freezer Cooking is Everywhere!

Have you noticed that more people are talking about freezer cooking than ever before? 10 years ago there were only a couple of books on the market and when we told people that we made 60 entrees in one day they gave us that “are ya kiddin’ me?” look. Not anymore.

  • Amazon.com now has a whole host of freezer cookbooks. Very few of them contain information to teach a new freezer cook the steps to being successful at the process but many are filled with great recipes for the freezer. Some of the recipes are multiplied out in some fashion. Others aren’t. I suggest trying one entrée to see if your family likes it before you make 3 or 6 of them. Our multiplication charts will help if you convert the recipes you find to work for 1-6 entrees. Remember, the time saving comes in making multiples. It doesn’t take 3 times as long to make 3 meatloaves as it does to make one.
  • Meal Preparation storefronts (Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, My Girlfriend’s Kitchen, etc.)  have popped up in the last few years and made cooks more familiar with the concept of freezer cooking. From what I am hearing and reading, though, many of them have not been able to weather the tough economic times. We’ve been getting e-mails from cooks who have tried these storefronts and then realized that they could make their own for a lot less money and jumped onto the internet looking for recipes. Of course, you have to do the shopping and the cleaning up afterward! Several of the meat dishes average about $4 per serving. I can generally make entrees for about half that amount. If you like the camaraderie aspect, just invite a few friends to form a cooking club with you. It’s not that hard to divide the work and divide the food.
  • What does 30 Day Gourmet offer that is unique?
    • Our cookbook is a manual. It teaches you how to freezer cook and it provides the tools that are necessary for you to do it any way you wish. Our worksheets (available free online with a book purchase) help you do all of the calculating. We also give you instruction in how to incorporate your own recipes into the system.
    • Our recipes are always multiplied out in the same way. We have saved you a bunch of time and headaches by doing this work for you. It helps you make multiples in an efficient way. Our recipes also are based on 6 servings per entrée. It’s hard to plan your cooking when some recipes have 4 servings and some have 12.
    • 30 Day Gourmet gives you great help along with tons more recipes on our website. Our message boards offer help, stories, recipes and the expert advice of hundreds of seasoned freezer cooks.
    • The 30 Day Gourmet yahoo group is now #3 in the “Cooking and Recipes” groups with over 11,600 members.

     

How can you help?

Spread the word about 30 Day Gourmet to your friends! Talk about us in your blogs and on message boards where you participate. Write nice reviews on Amazon and other book sites. It helps our Amazon sales to have recent reviews. Even though you may own an older edition, please post your reviews under the new edition. Thanks so much!

Here’s a quick list of our items. Free shipping on orders over $50. Gift wrap only $1.

Saving Money by Freezer Cooking

Did you know that?

  • most families spend about $500 a month on groceries (eaten at home)
  • Americans now spend more money eating out than eating at home

If you’re like us, there are no extra piles of money sitting around. We’re doing everything we can to reduce costs. The kids are carpooling whenever possible. We are checking out the bargain movie theaters again. We will cram 5 of us, two tents and a cooking stove into a Toyota Camry next week to drive to Michigan and “mooch” off relatives for vacation. Times are tough.

We can all save SO much money on our food budget by freezer cooking. Here are a few simple ways:

  1. Plan Ahead. Sit down with the grocery ads when you plan a cooking day. We’ve been saying this for 10 years now but it’s still so true. The difference between boneless, skinless chicken breast at $3.59/lb and $1.88/lb is huge when you are buying 30 pounds of it! (A $51.00 savings!)
  2. Replicate your family’s favorite snacks and fast foods. Many freezer cooking families still swing through the drive through several times a week because the kids want “kid food”. Sometimes they don’t like our freezer cooking because we concentrate on main meals that seem too “grown up” for them. Doesn’t it kill you to pay $3 for a breakfast biscuit or a chewy pretzel or a little box of chicken nuggets?
  3. Save eating out for those foods that don’t freeze well or the ones that seem to cost just as much to make at home. We save eating out for the Chinese buffet (Adam), Arby’s pecan salad (me), Applebee’s riblets (Becky), and Red Lobster’s lobster dinner (Bob).

Cooking for Teens – Adam & Jenna’s Summer Freezer Foods

7-8-07_001_1My son, Adam, is 18 and will be a senior this year. He’s an easy-going kid. 6’3” and skinny as a rail. I sat down with him, Jenna and my huge 3 ring binder of freezer cooking recipes today and came up with these favorites. They said that if we had these in the house for lunch and snacks, they would be happy kids and would not ask to borrow the car and run to McDonald’s (saving food money AND gas money).

 

Catching Up with the Slagles

7-8-07_001Many apologies for not sending out an update on Jenna (my 14 year old daughter with the heart problem). We did take her to the Cleveland Clinic back in November. They confirmed that her heart condition is unusual and will require surgery at some point but they were quite reluctant to do it yet because they had never seen such overwhelming fatigue tied to this condition. They asked us to return to Indy and see several specialists to rule out other causes of her fatigue. So we did. Rheumatologist. Sleep Clinic. Adolescent Pediatrician. Psychologist. Pediatric Heart Clinic at Riley Hospital . The doctors determined that she wasn’t sleeping well and put her on some medication which has helped her fatigue some. Her heart has worsened since November and she has been wearing a monitor for the last 30 days to capture the various “episodes” that she has (racing, pounding, skipped beats, etc.) We will consult with the doctors at Riley again next month. Mitral valve repair or replacement surgery in someone so young is something that they want to put off as long as possible. Jenna would rather have the surgery and get on with her life. She doesn’t like being winded constantly and having her friends see her heart visibly beating hard through her clothesJ Once we get the report from the monitor, I will send everything to the Cleveland Clinic and get their opinion. Thanks so much for your concerns. And thanks for the extra orders around Christmas time. It helped to pay for our one-day fees of $1500 (after insurance!). I’ll try to update you again before another 6 months goes by!

The rest of the family is doing well. Kaytee will finish college this next year at IU and still plans to become a cop for the LAPD. Becky will be a junior at Huntington University and leaves in a few weeks for a missions trip to China . Adam will graduate from high school next year and most likely attend Purdue University to major in engineering. Jenna will come to the school where I teach this year as a freshman (so that I can keep an eye on her!). My husband is working like crazy and asking me how long until he can retire (14 years!).

Closing Comments

Enjoy your summer! I promise to do another newsletter soon. My next one will cover info about:

 

  • dieting and freezer cooking (specifically the Weight Watchers plan)
  • Midwest flooding and reminders about power outages

 

Thanks for hanging in there with us. Please send us your stories, questions and comments. We love to hear what’s going on in your lives. 

         Nanci

 

Becky’s Apple Crisp

 Recipes, Snacks and Desserts  Comments Off on Becky’s Apple Crisp
Jul 012008
 
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Nanci: My friend, Becky, shared this recipe with me at least 10 years ago. It surprises lots of people that you can freeze apples but it works great! My problem with making pies and apple crisp was always having the apples around and finding the time to peel them. Do a bunch at a time. You’ll be SO glad you did!

Apple_Bags

Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page Click here to go to a Printer Friendly Page
Advantage Cooking owners click here to download this recipe.

Recipes

1

2

3

4

5

6
Servings

12

24

36

48

60

72
Ingredients
Cooking apples; peeled, sliced

8 C.

16 C.

24 C.

32 C.

40 C.

48 C.
Lemon juice

1/2 C.

1 C.

1-1/2 C.

2 C.

2-1/2 C.

3 C.
Flour

1/4 C.

1/2 C.

3/4 C.

1 C.

1-1/4 C.

1-1/2 C.
Sugar

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Cinnamon

1 t.

2 t.

1 T.

1 T. + 1 t.

1 T. + 2 t.

2 T.
Topping
Oatmeal

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Flour

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Packed brown sugar

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.
Butter or margarine; melted

1 C.

2 C.

3 C.

4 C.

5 C.

6 C.

 

Assembly Directions:
Mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place the lemon juice in a large bowl. As you peel and slice the apples, place them in the lemon juice and toss to coat well. When all apples have been coated with the lemon juice, pour apple slices into a colander and drain well. In a large bowl, mix drained apple slices and dry mixture. Put apple mixture in a labeled freezer bag or container. Remove excess air, seal and freeze. Mix topping ingredients and put into quart sized freezer bag.

Freezing and Cooking Directions:
Put both the apple mixture bag and the topping bag into a larger freezer bag. Seal and freeze.

To Serve:
Thaw apple mixture and topping. Spread apple mixture into a 9×13 pan. Sprinkle topping over apple mixture. Bake uncovered at 400° for 40-45 minutes.

Nutritional Info:
Per Serving: 388 Calories; 16g Fat (35.9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 61g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 186mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1 Fruit; 3 Fat; 2-1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

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