Uh Oh. Someone got a giant freezer. Days of bulk cooking are ahead of me. Maybe then jarring and canning…oh wait I don’t know how to do that! Mom-Help me with my stock pile. Gonna go out in the country and jack me a cow.
Freezer full of food.
Garden full of veggies.
Trees full of fruit.
Oops I don’t have to go to the grocery for a while:) Is it sad that this is super satisfying? Hahaha!
Send me some make ahead freezer recipes y’all!
Dear Haylie (& others)
What can I say? I can never resist your invitations so…
Here it is.
I use to work for one of the top catering companies In NYC. I weazeled this recipe out of one of the Chef's–we all have our talents!
This mushroom sauce is great over pasta, meatballs, green beans or just straight up as soup. It's low in cal, high in nutrition, and the taste…(sigh)–fill that freezer with this and this alone, baby!
And just for the record, the measurements don't have to be exact (adjust according to your taste). I kind of just wing it every time and it always turns out great!
2 10oz pkg of sliced mushrooms–any kind or a mix.
1 large onion, sliced
1/2 to 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
about 2 C. beef broth
1/3 C. red wine 🙂
1/2 C. heavy cream, (or 1/2 & 1/2) at the end
(yes, this adds fat and cals but within the big batch, it's worth adding to all that fiber!)
S&P to taste
Saute the mushrooms till cooked through (7-10min) add the onions and garlic for about another 2 min.
Put that mixture in a blender with about a 1/2 cup of stock and puree.
Return that to the pan and add the rest of the broth–a little at a time till it cooks and reduces down (on low heat).
Add the red wine and reduce a little more (total time 40 min or so the slower and longer the better)
At the very end, (or after you've thawed from the freezer and reheated), add the cream to taste. About a 1/2 cup or so.
This is really one of those knock your socks off tastes, and even people who don't like the texture of mushrooms LOVE this.
Take advantage guys and enjoy what people are paying big bucks to taste! Yours for free!
Thanks for asking, Haylie!
Connie&Co.
Oh my gosh this sounds incredible!!! I will make this in bulk for sure!! The kids are mushroom freaks!! I'm buying the ingredients tomorrow!!
Thank you!
I can't believe that no one else has posted with ideas or suggestions!
Canning, freezing and dehydrating are awesome ways to provide for your family. Knowing where your food comes from is such a comfort and the satisfaction of seeing the literal fruits of your labors in the rows and rows of jars and stacks of meals in the freezer is worth the effort it takes.
Get yourself a Ball canning book, also known as the blue book of canning.
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Blue-Book-Freezing-Dehydration/dp/B000GZ9W12/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318385165&sr=1-17
Inside you will find pretty easy to understand diagrams that will get your feet wet when it comes to canning. Tomatoes are a great starter. A 28 pound box of tomatoes will yield you approximately 8-9 quarts of crushed tomato sauce. I can send you my families version if you want, its similar to what they show but a tiny bit different technique.
You can can 😉 zucchini bread, banana bread, just about any quick bread. Just make the recipe as usual, pour the batter into wide mouth pint jars oiled well, filling jars a little more than half full of batter, bake at temp suggested in recipe but adjust the time for the jars size. Have your hot lids simmering and ready when the jars come out of the oven, being extremely careful, put the hot lids on the hot jars, it is awkward but you have to use the oven mitts when doing this, having an extra set of hands place the lids while you handle screwing them on with the oven mitts is even better. The lids seal to the hot jars and you can store those on your shelf for months. My mom used make a zucchini walnut bread in the fall and she gave it out at Christmas. There was usually an argument in our house over who was going to get the top – the ultimate muffin top before we ever heard of the muffin top!
You should also try pickling. Easy but far more challenging that one would think. Read up on it and see what you think!
Once you're ready to graduate from the water bath canner to the pressure canner, try tuna filets first. It's amazing. Nothing but a solid filet of tuna sealed tight in a jar. It doesn't need salt, it doesn't need anything, it creates its own juices and releases oils. Seriously. Once you've made your family tuna like this, you will never, ever be able to eat the cat food they call "tuna of the sea". I am lucky that my uncle is a commercial fisherman in southern Oregon so I can get the tuna at a somewhat reasonable price right off the dock. After tuna, try green beans.
I love to make things like chili and spaghetti sauce in bulk to freeze. Marinara and meat sauce both do fine. Berries also freeze very well. If you haven't used a dehydrator give it a try, sliced apples and sliced bananas are the easiest and also freeze well after they are dried. If your kids like fruit leather, the dehydrator is great for that too. Applesauce is easy to make in the crock pot and it is freezable too. So is apple pie filling. I have a great recipe for it.
So, there's my long winded suggestions. Let me know if you would like to know more, I obviously love to talk about this stuff. Good luck and happy freezer filling!
Tricia
Holy cow, I had no idea I typed so much! I'm so sorry…I type for a living so I type fast. That's not your typical comment, lol!
Oh, we just finnished canning apple butter. Do you want the recipe? I also can a lot of pickles, yell if you would like any of those recipes. I dont know what you like.
my two little ones got to help with the apple butter, now if we can keep my husband from eatting it all befor winter hits;)
I've been a cooking fool these past few weeks. We should plan a cooking day together. I had one with a girlfriend a few weeks ago and we made and shared so many different things. Turkey bolognese, beef-bacon spaghetti sauce, veggie marinara, cultured gingered carrots, cultured non-tomato marinara, stuffed acorn squash, mini-turkey meatloaves, pork butt cooked in rendered pastured lard for carnitas, beef, chicken and fish bone broth. It was one heck of a crazy day!
Thank you Tricia for these suggestions! I have never done canning before and am very excited to start! I would LOVE the tomato sauce recipe! Never would have thought of freezing apple pie filling!
Steph- Yum! I love apple butter. My kids eat their weight in apple butter. Store bought that is and very expensive! WOuld love your recipe:) Thanks!