Why I Buy Extra Turkeys

Just because turkeys are only on sale once a year, doesn't mean you can only eat them once a year! My local grocery stores usually offer incredible deals on turkey around Thanksgiving, hoping they can sucker you into buying all your other holiday items there.

If you have room in your freezer, now is the time to stock up. Last year I bought SIX turkeys, all for $5 - $8 apiece. I probably get a week's worth of food out of each turkey I cook. What else will feed you for a week for $5? Of course it helps that I'm only feeding two people, but if you have a larger family, you can always get larger turkeys!

Besides the initial roast turkey feast, we usually have several days of open faced turkey sandwiches for dinner, and turkey sandwiches for lunch. When we're sick of that, I make turkey pot-pie, turkey noodle casserole (recipe below), or salad with roast turkey on top.  I also boil the carcass for turkey stock, and usually end up with enough for two batches of soup (like this Turkey and Wild Rice soup) - each of which makes enough for several days.

If you don't want to eat turkey for a week straight, just portion it out into freezer bags and stick it in the freezer. You can use it just about anywhere cooked chicken is used.

If you don't have room in your freezer for a full turkey, consider just getting a frozen turkey breast. They are a little more expensive per pound than a full turkey, but it is still pretty economical. Plus, turkey breasts can usually fit in a crockpot, which makes for a super easy meal.

And even the Ninja Pups get a treat when I make turkey! Giblets and the neck get mixed in raw with their kibble for an extra special treat! (Dogs can eat RAW poultry bones - but don't give them cooked poultry bones because the cooking process dries out the bones, making them brittle and liable to break into sharp shards which can injure their digestive tract).

A freezer full of cheap turkeys works for me!

Turkey Noodle Casserole

• 2 cups cooked turkey, diced (white meat is best for this recipe)
• 1 cup white sauce (or a can of your favorite cream soup)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 cups egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. Stir the white sauce, milk, black pepper, vegetables, turkey, noodles and Parmesan cheese in a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish
2. Bake at 400°F. for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
3. Stir the turkey mixture. Top with the Cheddar cheese.

Filling the Freezer!

Money Saving Mom is hosting a "Freezer Cooking Day" and stocking up her freezer, so I thought I would share the results of my most recent freezer cooking fest I did a few weekends ago.

First of all, let me just say that the thought of cooking for 8 (or more!) hours straight makes me want to curl up in a ball, crawl under the table, and cry. Seriously! I just can't do that much. I am so impressed with all the ladies out there that regularly do full day cooking sessions, but I am nowhere near that level. The best I can usually do is about 4 to 5 hours before my lower lip starts to quiver. But I love love LOVE the convenience and flexibility I get from having a freezer full of meals ready to go. My solution is to do half day freezer cooking sessions, spreading it out over a few days if neccessary.

My main goal this time around was to get some easy LUNCH items stashed for Ninja Hubz and me to bring to work. I'm usually pretty happy with a sandwich, yogurt, and some fruit, but Ninja Hubz likes something closer to a real meal for lunch. If there isn't something easy and ready to go in the fridge or freezer, he will end up eating out. And I admit I do like having something different now and then.

I also had bags full of chicken bones, turkey bones, and old veggies waiting patiently to be made into stock. Since I needed to make room in the freezer and I would be in the kitchen all day anyway, I decided to get that going as well. I had a big bag of potatoes sitting on the counter, so I added twice baked potatoes to the list, and threw in some meatballs and muffins just because they're nice to have on hand :)

So my freezer weekend went something like this:

Friday Evening
Bake Blueberry Oat Muffins (1 dozen)
Bake Orange Raspberry Muffins (1 dozen)

Saturday
Put Chicken Stock on stove, let simmer all day
Put Chicken Taco Meat in crockpot, let cook most of the day
Make twice baked potatoes
Make home made Hot Pockets (recipe below)
Cook Mexican Rice
Prepare Chicken and Rice Burritos (recipe further below)
Cook Chicken Tortilla Soup

Sunday
Put Turkey Stock on stove, let simmer all day
Make meatballs

It all made for a busy weekend, but it was totally worth it!

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Home-Made Hot Pockets (Beef & Veggie)
This was my first time making these, I got the idea from the blog "Our Best Bites".

Dough
I think that any french bread recipe would work great for these. I chose french bread instead of a pizza crust or other options I've considered because I knew these would end up being microwaved and would not be crispy. I think french bread is still pretty tasty when its warm and soft, but pizza crust just isn't the same without the crispiness.

Here's the recipe I used (if you don't have a bread machine, you can make the dough by hand or maybe buy some Pilsbury dough):

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast

Combine all ingredients in your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Set on dough cycle.

Filling
I wanted to do something that would incorporate some vegetables, always a challenge! So I went with sort of a pot-pie like filling. I used about 2 lbs of ground beef and ended up with a lot of extra filling, so I think 1.5 lbs would be better. My amounts here are estimated... sorry but I just kind of made it up as I went along :

• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mixed veggies (I used some frozen peas and fresh chopped carrots)
• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• salt and pepper

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add vegetables and cook through.

Making your pockets
Roll dough out flat and divide into 16 equal rectangles (I divided the dough in half and did 8 at a time, it seems easier to work with this way). Place a couple spoonfuls of your filling and a spoonful of the mashed potatoes in the center of each section of dough. Fold the sides of the dough in so they overlap and cover all the filling, then fold a bit of  he top and bottom up to make your pocket. Pinch the edges to form a good seal so your filling stays in. It may take a few to get the hang of it... even if they're not pretty they will still taste good :)

Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes (until golden brown). Let cool completely, wrap in foil, place in freezer-proof Ziploc and freeze. To heat up, allow to thaw and microwave for 2-3 minutes. If you take them out of the freezer in the morning, they will be ready for nuking at lunch time.

Other Filling Ideas
We both liked this meat and veggie pocket, although next time I will probably add a little cheddar cheese. Some other ideas I would like to try are:

• Pizza: spaghetti sauce, pepperonis, mozzarella and parmesan cheese
• Meatball: same as pizza but with meatballs instead of pepperoni
• Ham & Cheese: diced or sliced ham, shredded cheddar
• Taco: Seasoned ground beef or chicken, cheddar cheese, maybe some salsa
• Spicy Chicken: diced or shredded chicken, cream of chicken soup, pepper jack cheese

I think there's all sorts of great possibilities for these.

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Chicken and Rice Burritos
These are really quite easy, they freeze well, and they are super yummy!

Prepare Chicken Taco meat
Prepare Mexican Rice

To make burrtios:
Take a flour tortilla. Place a couple spoonfuls of chicken taco meat in center of tortilla, add a couple spoonfuls of rice. Top with grated cheddar and monterey jack cheese. Roll up burrito, wrap in waxed paper. Repeat until you run out of tortillas. Place burritos in freezer-proof Ziploc and freeze. Heat in microwave when ready to eat.

Use any remaining chicken taco meat and mexican rice in Chicken Tortilla Soup.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday

Hooray for the Stockpile!

There's loads of benefits to having a well-stocked kitchen and freezer: I save money by stocking up when things are on sale, I rarely need to run to the store because I'm out of something, I can skip or postpone shopping when I don't feel like going... the list goes on and on.

On Labor Day I had yet another reason to be thankful for our stockpile.

The backyard fence between our yard and the neighbors has been in a sorry state for awhile now. We've talked with them a few times about replacing it but hadn't yet gotten around to doing anything about it. On Sunday, my neighbor (who is also a contractor) came over and said he was getting a bunch of his friends over, and would it be ok if they took some measurements and replaced the fence the next day? Umm... yes!

In the morning, Ninja Hubz went over to assist with the tear-down of the existing fence and offer what help he could on the project (he's not terribly handy and didn't want to get in the way, but wanted to contribute as much as he was capable). Our neighbor mentioned he was going to thank his friends for their help by feeding them a BBQ lunch and would soon be heading to the store for provisions.

Ninja Hubz immediately offerred to help in the feeding of the workers, and came back home asking what we had in the freezer. We ended up making about 3 lbs of hamburger patties to send over, along with a couple packages of hot dogs, all pulled from the freezer. I can't tell you how nice it was for us to be able to just whip this up without having to worry about the cost.

We were happy to help feed the guys, and they all seemed to enjoy the food. For the cost of half the materials and some stockpiled meat, we now have a beautiful and well-constructed fence!

And I'm not the least bit concerned about having depleted my ground beef stockpile to share with others, because when the grocery ads came in the mail the following day, I noticed ground beef on sale for 1.49/lb! Things have a way of working out like that :)

Having a well-stocked freezer Works for Me!

Mom's Meatloaf (Freezable)

There's a million variations on meatloaf, but I say why mess with perfection? :) This is the recipe my mom always made while I was growing up, and its still one of my favorites today. Its not glamorous but it is quick, easy, and yummy!

Mom's Meatloaf

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup ketcheup

1. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly (I usually take off my rings and use my bare hands to make sure everything gets mixed really well).
2. Form into a loaf.
3. To cook right away: Place in a shallow baking dish, cook at 350 for 50 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
4. To freeze: wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. To cook, thaw overnight in refrigerator and follow directions above.

Check out more great recipes at The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap!

Bulk Chicken Prep (Crockpot Wednesday)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters for $5.80. Of course my freezer's been so full I couldn't possible cram 10 lbs of chicken legs in it! So I went ahead and cooked it up, shredded it, and then just had some much smaller bags of chicken which I could cram in the freezer. And I have cooked chicken meat ready for a variety of dishes. Batch cooking like this makes my life so much easier!

If you've never had 10 full pounds of chicken legs, believe me, its a lot of meat. I don't have a single pot large enough to cook all of it, so I split it in half. One half simmered on the stove in my big stockpot with some salt and pepper, parsley out of the garden, a bunch of vegetable remnants from the freezer I save for just such a purpose, and enough water to cover it all. I let it simmer all day (about 8 hours), then pulled the chicken out and shredded the meat off the bones. I strained the liquid and kept it for chicken broth. The meat got split into 3 bags which should each be enough for one meal and put in the freezer.

The second half of the chicken went into the crockpot, along with 2 packets worth of taco seasoning mix, and about 1 cup of water. I cooked it on low all day, and shredded the meat from the bones and froze it. This yielded about another 3 meals worth of prepared meat which went into the freezer.

We had some of the taco seasoned chicken in quesadillas last night and it was delicious! Having all this meat on hand is great for casseroles and soups, or even throwing on top of a salad.

Check out more ideas for your crockpot over at Crockpot Wednesday!

Pizza Hoagies (Freezer Meal)

I got this recipe out of an old Taste of Home Quick Cooking magazine. The only problem with this recipe is that Ninja Hubz loves them so much, he usually eats them all within a few days :)

Pizza Hoagies

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (this is my addition, not part of the original recipe... but who doesn't want more garlic in their life? mmm)
• 1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce (I usually use about 1/2 a jar of spaghetti sauce like Ragu)
• 1/4 cup chopped ripe olives (I omit these)
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 8 hoagie or submarine sandwich buns or french rolls (I usually use 6 french rolls, I don't even know where to find 8 packs)
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (another addition)

In a skillet, cook beef and onion (and garlic) over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in pizza sauce, olives, basil and oregano. Cook for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Cut 1/4 inch off the top of each roll; set aside. Carefully hollow out bottom of roll, leaving a 1/4 inch shell (discard removed bread or use for something else). Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese inside each shell. Fill each with about 1/2 cup meat mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese (and parmesan, if using), gently pressing down to flatten. Replace bread tops.

To cook immediately: Place sandwiches on baking sheet, bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until heated through.

To freeze: Wrap sandwich in foil and freeze. To prepare frozen sandwich, place foil-wrapped sandwich on baking sheet, bake at 375° for 60-70 minutes or until heated through.

Check out more great recipes at The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

Ground Beef Freezer Fest

I'm pretty darn happy when I find ground beef for anything less than $1.99/lb. I'm completely ecstatic when I find it for $1.49/lb! Needless to say, I jumped on that deal and stocked up - 12 lbs!

And happily enough, the weather's cooled down a lot, so I was able to spend the day cooking and preparing a bunch of the meat. Now I have some quick and easy freezer meals ready to go! Here's what I made:

3 meat loaves (1lb each)
6 pizza hoagies (1lb total)
5 meals worth of spaghetti sauce (1lb total)

The hoagies used up some sandwich rolls I've had hiding in the back of the fridge, and I was able to incorporate a bunch of my garden tomatoes in the spaghetti sauce.

I figured since I was going to be hanging around the kitchen all day anyway, I would go ahead and simmer up a batch of chicken stock. That used up a bag of chicken bones and half a bag of old veggie bits that have all been hogging precious freezer space. The stock's in the fridge cooling, I expect I'll get 10-12 cups out of it.

One more pound of ground beef will be for cheeseburgers for dinner tomorrow night (I've got some burger buns that need to get eaten before they petrify).

It feels really good to have gotten such a good price on the meat, have some easy meals stashed in the freezer, and to have used up a bunch of stuff that needed to get used :)

Tomorrow I will decide what to do with the remaing 6 lbs of ground beef - I'm thinking of cooking up 3 lbs worth of taco meat and 3 lbs with onion and garlic to have on hand for quick starts for meals. Or maybe I'll just be lazy and freeze it in 1 lb bags to deal with meal by meal. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment! Thanks :)