Helen Writings
Until recently, I had been a stay at home mom who cooked every single day. Last month, I started working and decided it was too much for me to come home form a full day’s work and then start the dinner from scratch. The fact that I am not very fond of cooking did not help at all. That is when I discovered once a month cooking with freezer recipes.
When I first heard about it, it seemed like a lot to cook once a month for the whole month. I was not sure I had enough freezer recipes I could prepare.
I thought I would give it a try though and that first day was tiring. I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew. With two small children who couldn’t really help, it was all upon me. I didn’t give up though and somehow pulled myself through the day.
I came home the next day, exhausted from work but I had this bounce in my step because I knew I would not have to make dinner. I had a freezer full of healthy home-made dinners. I could even ask my kids to choose what they wanted to eat that night.
The whole week went by without me having to do any major dishes and I was hooked. Now I prepare dinners once a month with freezer recipes and can’t imagine life any other way. Here are five reasons you must give once a month cooking with freezer recipes it a try.
1. You have nothing to lose. Just try it once to see if it works for you and if you feel it is not for you, you will still have a month’s worth of dinners in your freezer.
2. Making freezer recipes, we save a lot of money. We used to resolve that we would not eat out during the week but some days, I would be so tired to cook, I would cave. For our family of four, an inexpensive dinner at the fast food place can cost a minimum of $20.00. Do that once every week and it can add up to $80.00 a month, that’s close to $1000 a year.
2. Having food in the freezer that was prepared at home is obviously healthier than eating at that inexpensive fast food place. Over time, my kids will develop healthy eating habits and grow to love wholesome home cooked meals as opposed to a cheeseburger.
3. I save many trips to the grocery store because I shop only once a month and buy in bulk to save even more money. Before, I used to fill the fridge with supplies I planned to cook with but when we ate out most of those supplies would just rot in the fridge. Now I only buy what will be used for my freezer recipes the next day. Moreover, my fridge has more space.
4. The most important benefit is all the extra time I get with my family. I come home and help my daughter with homework, we all go swimming and then we all sit down for a healthy dinner together. It can’t get any better than that. Now if only feeding my 18 month old could get any easier…
So you see how preparing your dinners once a month with freezer recipes is the way to go? You should seriously give it a try. The guide I use for my freezer recipes has over 70 easy recipes with step-by-step instructions. It has grocery lists and menu plans, which in itself can be a daunting task.
Find out if freezer recipes are right for you or click here for ‘Frugal Mom’s Guide to Once a Month Cooking’
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Tags: cooking on a budget
Posted in Cooking · August 26th, 2010 · Comments (0)
Your kitchen spice rack may look like an innocent piece of kitchen decoration — but it holds far more history and intrigue than you ever may have realized.
While the wonderful spices from all over the world that fill your cabinet shelf or wall spice rack may be common and easy to get today – a simple trip to the store and walk down the spice aisle – it was not always this way. Many spices have been extremely rare and much valued throughout most of history. In fact, many spices have interesting histories of their own.
Here is just one.
Why is it that we have two distinct kinds of pepper or peppers?
One the one hand it the all-important black flakes that appear with every meal from the fanciest 5-star restaurants down to the greasy burgers and fries in a take-out bag.
On the other is the entire family of pepper pods — that range from the sweet bell peppers to the incineary habaneroes.
Why are these two completely different foods both called “pepper?”
Actually, it’s not a random coincidence and the answer is more interesting than you might imagine.
The History of Pepper
Okay, it’s not as interesting as this weeks CSI or Brad and Jennifers weekly drama — but it is a fasinating story (especially if you are a foodie. Or geek.)
The story of the naming of peppers (the pod kind) is one of global conquest, wishful thinking and false advertising.
To understand this you must know about the history of pepper (the black powder kind.)
Black Pepper was the First World-wide Commodity
Black pepper originated in the mountains of Southern India and made it’s way to Europe almost 2,000 years ago.
Europeans very quickly fell madly in love with the taste. So great was the love and desire for the spice, that entire cities were built with the money that changed hands as it travelled the spice-route from India to Europe. Family fortures were created that are still around today.
And new worlds were discovered looking for faster, cheaper ways to get the goods to the consumers. Columbus was looking for a route to India when he bumped headlong into the Americas.
Which is where he discovered…
No Pepper
Pepper does not go natively in the New World. But several plants unknown to the Old World do. Tomatoes, Chocolate, Corn and, of course, peppers.
Okay, that’s the world conquest and wishful thinking part. Now comes the false advertising. When Chris and the explorers that came after 1492 didn’t find pepper (the black powder kind) to take back to Europe, the decided to do the next best thing — sorta. They dried pods of the native plants (the pepper pods — are you still with me?) and called it “Jamaican Pepper.”
It makes sense from a financial point of view — they couldn’t go home empty handed — and a bit from a culinary point of view — both powders are hot to the taste.
Well, the name stuck and eventually the name came to mean the plant and the fresh pod, not just the powder.
They are more properly called “Chilies”, by the way.
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Tags: Cooking
Posted in Cooking · July 22nd, 2010 · Comments (0)