Tip Tuesday: Lengthen the Life of Your Produce

Some of you may have been looking at my shopping trip that I posted yesterday wondering how I am able to use so much produce before it goes bad, especially because I mentioned that it will last me into this coming week. This week for Tip Tuesday I will show you how I package my produce. By taking the extra time to care for you produce when you bring it home, you will

• Waste less because food stays better longer
• Spend less money becuase you are throwing less out
• Save time. Prepping vegetables at once will improve your cooking time
• Eat more produce because you will have it prepped and ready to go

When I go produce shopping, I make sure that I have about a 2 hour window for prep work. This might seem like a lot but I am actually doing to enough chopping and washing to last for over a week.


Celery:

1. Each Stalk for celery into 2-3 pieces, removing any pieces you won't normally use.

2.  Clean sink and then fill with water. Add celery and swish around to clean.

3.  Drain in stainer until mostly dry before packaging

4.  Fold paper towel twice over. Wet and ring out, so that it is damp.

5. Place paper towel in bottom of gallon sized ziploc bag, this is what I do with all my produce. Add celery to top.


Tomatoes:  Clean, Dry, Bag.  I also chop 2-3 days worth of the ripest for easy salads

Romaine Lettuce: Chop, Clean, Dry well in salad spinner, Bag. Make sure not to store under heavy veggies in crisper.

Peppers: Clean out inside, Wash, Dry.  Normally I just package in halfs, so if I want to roast a pepper, I have that option.  But this week I knew I was making sausage, peppers, and onions, so I cut into strips.

I use these same techniques with all of my produce. At the same time I wash all fruit and chop any melons, as long as they are ripe. Plus I chop some onions so they are easy to grab.  The longer that I've done this, the less time it takes me. In the long run it is well worth a couple hours of work at once.

Money Saving Monday

Each week I will be giving you an update on how I did on sticking to my $100 budget. I am happy to tell you, that I have $7.32 to spare! Here is what I bought and some tips on getting a lot for a little:

ShopRite:

• 1 Hammermill Copy Paper
• 4 Oscar Myer Angus Hot Dogs
• 2 Mission Tortillas Wraps
• 1Friendship Cottage Cheese
• 1 Friendship Light Sour Cream
• 6 DelMonte Ready to Blend Fruit Smoothie Kit (Free after coupon)
• 1 Large Package of London Broil
• 1 Large Package of Ground Beef
•  Thai Kitchen Instant Noodle Soup (Free after coupon)
• 1 Carolina Rice (Free after coupon)
•  4 Ears of Corn

Aldi:

• Half and Half
• 2 Orange Juice
• 1 Gallon Milk
• 1 Oregano
• 1 Paprika
• 2 Dozen Eggs
• 2 Blocks of Mozzarella cheese (that I'll grate myself)
• 1 Pack of Hamburger and Hot Dog Rolls
• 2 Bags of onions

Produce Junction:

• Ton of Banana's
• 2 Cantaloupe
• 1 Pineapple
• Celery
• Red Peppers
• Potatoes
• 1 bag of white onion
• 2 Large Eggplant
• Large bag Plum Tomatoes
• 3 lbs carrots
• 3 Bundles of Scallions
• 3 Heads of Romaine Lettuce

 Styer Orchard

• 13 Pounds of Veggies
• 12 Pounds of Tomatoes for Homemade Sauce
• 3 White Eggplants
• A few small peppers
•  10 Pounds of Peaches

By the time I was done, I got enough produce to last us well into the following week. One way I save money is by using coupons.  If you would like to learn more about using coupons, check out Living Rich With Coupons. It is a great blog that will teach you the ins and outs in the beginners section. Then each week, the deals for multiple supermarkets are listed. Including where you can find the coupons that you need.

Another way to save is by getting to know your prices. While I saved this week at shop rite buy using coupons, it saved me even more by not buying my produce there.  It is unbelievable how much cheaper Produce Junction is then buying from a supermarket. Check out whatever local produce stand that you have, and find which one is cheapest!

Aldi is a supermarket that dells mostly Aldi brand items.  There products are either exactly the same as the original or very close. I shop there for anything that I can't get on sale. Again, if you get to know your prices, you will be able to see what is cheaper here compared to the regular supermarket.

This weekend was the first time that I visited Styer Orchard, a local "Pick your own" farm.  My husband and I had so much fun picking our own produce! I would really recommend looking into local farms, especially if you have children.  It was so refreshing to hear a very young girl get off of the hayride and exclaim, "Oooh Mom!! Peppers!! They have peppers!!". By the time we left, we had 23 pounds of produce and only spent $16. Plus, the atmosphere is so different then from living in a city. The employees of the farm are so friendly and caring. We will definitely be going back a few more times before winter hits.

This coming week is going to be a pricey one. I've found some good prices for meat to stock up on for the up coming month, so most of the budget will be going towards that.

Anyone have a great shopping trip this week to share? I'd love to hear about it!

Stuffed Shells

Last night I made an AWESOME stuffed shells recipe.  I've never made stuffed shells before, and can't believe how simple they are.  Check out the original recipe at AllRecipes.com

Turkey Spinach Stuffed Shells

• 1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground turkey
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 bag of  Homemade Mushroom Sauce 
• 1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet saute, garlic and onions
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 9 minutes or until al dente; drain. Rinse under cold water.  (Normally I wouldn't do this, because it causes the sauce to stick better, but you need to be able to handle the noodles)

4.  Drain Spinach. Take a Clean dish towel and squeeze until all liquid is gone

4.  Add ground turkey and cook until evenly brown. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.  .

5.  Combine spinach, parsley, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese

6.  Remove ground turkey heat and combine with cottage cheese mixture.

8.  Stuff each shell and place into 9x13 pan. I sprayed the pan with Pam

9.  Cover with sauce

10. Top with mozzarella cheese.
11. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 @ Degrees
12. Finish under Broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown cheese

These were definitely one of the best stuffed shells I've ever had.  I never knew I could substitute cottage cheese for ricotta and not know the difference. The only thing I would change next time, is not adding the mozzarella.  It was a bit to much and made it very difficult to get the shells out without loosing the inside.

Now I have enough leftovers to feed an army!

Labor Day Feature: Burger Patties

Labor Day weekend is definitely a grilling holiday in our family.  For the longest time, before I learned how to cook well or save money, we always bought pre-made frozen burgers. Until one day I realized, I was paying 2 to 3 times more for someone else to freeze a beef patty for me.  Ground Beef is one of the cheapest meats that you can find.  This week, it was on sale for $1.67lb! Plus homemade tastes better! So why not give making you're own burgers a try?

1.  Separate ground beef into burger sided amounts.  Between 3-4oz per patty.

2.  Pick a seasoning. I like McCormicks, that I buy at Sam's Club pretty cheap.  It is much easier to season your beef before you grill. This is another plus, because with boxed burgers, you don't have that option.

3.  Mix ground beef with seasoning. This can be done before you separate the beef if you prefer.

4. Line plate with wax paper.  If I'm making a lot, I will use a cookie sheet instead of a plate.
5. Form burgers into patties
6. Use your thumb to make an indent in the center of the burger to promote even cooking time.
7. Place In freezer for 1-2 hours, until solid but they don't need to be frozen all the way

8. Remove burgers carefully using a butter-knife

9. Package in freezer bag

Throw it on the grill just like you would a frozen burger that you paid twice as much for!

Menu Planning Saturday

Last weeks menu didn't go exactly as planned, but we still had a great week of home cooked meals! I never made the Flavorful Flounder that I had planned, so it's going back on the menu for this week.

• Sunday:  Smoked Brisket (Hubby's doing the smoking), Corn on the Cob, Potato Salad
• Monday:  Leftovers
• Tuesday:  Taco's / Burritos 
• Wednesday: Sausage Stuffed Eggplant, Salad
• Thursday:  Flavorful Flounder, Grilled Green Beans, Rice, Salad
• Friday:  Pesto Turkey Burgers, Salad
• Saturday: Wacky Spicy Sausage Broccoli Pasta

Cooking anything good this week? I’d love to hear about it!

Homemade Dog Food

 

A few years ago we decided that we weren't happy with what was on the market to feed our dogs.  Any food that I found at a reasonable price included ingredients I wouldn't want to feed anyone.  When we looked into healthy, more expensive food, it was just to expensive.  So after doing a lot of research, I adapted a few recipes to make what we feed them now.  It is healthier, cheaper and has no added chemicals like in processed dog food. Plus they love it!  They get fed this for dinner and a high quality kibble is down during that day (Taste of the Wild)

• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Evoo)
• 2 lbs Ground Turkey
• 1/2 Cup of whole Oats
• 2 tsb. Dry Parsley
• 1 1/2 lbs Carrots - Peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 1/3 Brown Rice (uncooked)
• 7 Cups of Hot Water

1.  Heat Evoo in a large pot

2.  Add Ground beef, stir and cover. Reduce heat to low

                                  

3.  Cook until done, break into loose meat (I use a potato masher)

                                  

4.  Add Carrots and Water. Stir, Cover, turn heat to high and bring to boil 

                                  

5.  Add Rice, Parsley, Oats. Stir, Cover, Return to boil then Reduce heat

Jack and Jill patiently waiting for me to get done cooking.

6.  Stir every 10 minutes for 40 minutes

7.  Uncover and cook for 10 more minutes.

                                      

This feeds our two small dogs for 6 days. I reheat it in the microwave each night and mix in a doggie vitamin in daily.

Tip Tuesday

Each Tuesday, I will feature a tip or two on cooking. This week, we have two basic tips that are very important about searing meat.  If you master searing meat properly, your steaks, pork chops and chicken breast will have a deeper flavor and a delightful crunchiness.

•  When heating oil in a pan to sear meat or fry anything, make sure to check to see if the oil is hot enough before adding anything to the pan. Check one of two ways:
• Place the top of a wooden cooking tool into the oil; if you see bubbles, you're good to go.
• Drip a very small drop of water into the oil. Again, if you see bubbles, you're good to go! Just make sure not to add more then a drop, or else oil will splash all over
• Before adding meat to a pan, dry both sides with a paper towel. For the longest time, I couldn't understand why my meat was not getting a good sear. It was because I wouldn't dry the meat!

 If you're oil isn't hot, and your meat isn't dry, then you'll be missing out on that yummy caramelized crust. Remember that a seared piece of meat will require further cooking because it will still be raw in the middle.