Freezer cooking

In anticipation for the holiday season and the birth of our baby, I have decided to do some bulk cooking to put in the freezer.

This week the stores have great sales, so here I go.

Pork Roast .88 cents a pound
ground beef 2.00 a pound and
chicken quarters .59 a pound
Sausage .99 a pound

Today I spent a lot of time cooking 30 pounds of chicken quarters.  Then I boned it and shredded it- blech!!

I ended up with around 100oz of chicken, great right?

Well I spent $18 for 30 pounds of chicken.  It was reduced to around 7 pounds of chicken after cooking and throwing away bones and skin.  That is about 2.80 a pound.  Moral of the story...  next time boneless skinless chicken is on sale for 1.99 buy it and save a lot of work! :)

Tomorrow I'll continue my quest for 60 freezer meals...

I sat at the table while I shredded though and watched a great movie- Take Me Home.  It's and independent film about driving cross country in a cab and the relationship that ensues.  I really enjoyed it.

Time is Money

I love to make it myself and save.

Sometimes though, time is more valuable and it pays to know when to buy it instead of make it.

Reading at this blog has helped me to make decisions about whether or not it's worth it to make it myself.

I am a stay-at-home mom.  Occasionally I work as a substitute teacher.  When I work, I make $12 an hour.

My logic:
Spend my time wisely by buying things:

• that would take me more than an hour to make 
• and that cost less than $12. 

Today I made a judgement call.  I was given an enormous box of organic- non GMO tomatoes from a friend.   I'm leaving town for the next two weeks the day after tomorrow.

I gave away many tomatoes yesterday, but still the box stared at me from across the room.

My decision?  Spend time to make them into sauce, or throw them away.  Spaghetti and pizza are some of our families favorite meals.  Still, I was tempted to carry the treasure to the can since it's trash day.

Instead, I found a recipe and got to work.
I set the timer to see if my time would pay off.

Washed and ready to go- the bad spots were trimmed off.

While I waited for the water to boil, I set up my assembly line. 

I decided to add a blender because
I don't like chopping and my littles like smooth sauce.

Boiling to remove skins. The worst part! :)
Tip: recipes say 30 seconds to split, mine took much longer.
Just keep boiling, enjoy your free steam facial!

Put in ice bath- yay for ice makers!  This is the first one I've ever had! :)

Another tip- keep your cutting board in cookie sheet and catch all that juice- no drips!

Slide skins off.  Some tomatoes never split, I made a slice and they slid off.

Put in blender- whirl em up.

Between batches I cut up onions, peppers and garlic.
 I added WAY more garlic and onions!

Done! It has to simmer a long time to thicken.
I remembered to rinse all pots, blender and utensils so they won't have glued on terribles.
Also I used the damp towel from drying the tomatoes
 to wipe all cabinets/counters that may have splashes or drips.  :)
After it thickens and cools, I'll freeze it.
Real canning intimidates me and I don't have jars. 

 It took me one hour and twenty minutes to do all of this.  It should yield 18 cups of sauce.

My hour and a half yielded about 9 family servings. My time is worth that.  Also this is organic sauce and I know exactly what is in it, which is priceless to me. 

Now I'm going to nap while it simmers.  I'm six and a half months pregnant and I've been really busy, so I think I've earned it.

An hour of sleep is worth more than $12 to me!

PS- logging back on to offer one more tip.  When I went to stir the sauce, I noticed the water/juice had risen to the top.  I ladeled it off and got four bowls of tomato soup so that it would have evaporated away. I loaded it up with cheese and sour cream for my lunch! :) Gotta have a full tummy for my nap!