Fwd: Simple Times - 02/03/.09 - Saving on groceries by cooking ahead

February 23, 2009

dsimpleTo: CyndikrallSent: 2/23/2009 11:11:35 A.M. Pacific Standard TimeSubj: Simple Times - 02/03/.09 - Saving on groceries by cooking ahead

Simple Times________________________________Vol. 11, No. 4 -- February 23rd, 2009http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/ DSimpleCopyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-HoughISSN: 1527-1269 ________________________________Subscribe: join-simple-timesUnsubscribe: leave-simple-times________________________________Celebrating more than a decade of saving your time, money and sanity!________________________________IN THIS ISSUE:-- "Dear Readers": Pacific Northwest Freezer Cooking Workshop-- Simple Living Quote-- "Help! My Freezer's Too Small!"-- Basic "Use-It-Up" Quiche Recipe-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)________________________________< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > > Save Money with Easy Way to BudgetUnique budgeting system helps you stop unwanted spendingand effortlessly get control of your personal finances."BudgetMap is compact, tidy, and amazingly effective." --Mary Hunt, author of Debt-Proof LivingCarry it with you -- it replaces your checkbook and fits inyour purse or pocket. Instantly see your finances as youmake each transaction. Eliminate month-end surprises!See it now at:http://www.budgetmap.com/A1/simpletimes/20080220________________________________Dear Readers, In recognition of National Frozen Foods Month in March, I'll bebringing my "Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month" workshop toWhite River Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Washington onSaturday, March 7th, 2009 from 10:00 am to 12 noon. Theworkshop is free and open to the public. Auburn is easy driving distance from Seattle, Tacoma andmost areas of Puget Sound. Please feel free to tell your friendsand family who live in the area about this workshop. It's beenmore than five years since I've done one of these workshopsin the Seattle/Tacoma area. For info and driving directions:

http://whiteriverpres.org

Cooking for the freezer helps the home cook to plan ahead,purchase items in bulk, cut down on waste, and stop thoseall-too-frequent trips to the local drive-thru. Plus, your kidswon't be on a first name basis with the pizza delivery mananymore! By cooking my regular family meals for the freezer, I actuallysaved $24,000 on my familyâ€™s total grocery bills over five years.At one point, I spent $700 per month on groceries and food-related expenses for our family, but was able to trim it downto around $300. By saving $400 a month, it multiplied out toan overwhelming figure when I did the math. Cooking in bulk or the freezer became my part-time job -- the techniqueactually allowed me to stay home full-time with my kids whilethey were young. For more information on cooking for the freezer, visit me onlineat http://frozenassets.wordpress.com or to http://WhiteRiverPres.orgfor details about the upcoming workshop in Auburn, Washington. Discounted copies of my books will be available for sale at theAuburn workshop and all proceeds will benefit White RiverPresbyterian Church's weekly SpiritFest Community Dinnerfor the homeless. For those who can't make it to the workshop, my books canalso be purchased online (usually at a discount) from: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/all-my-books/ Hope to see you in Auburn next month! :-) Simply Yours,Debi(Deborah Taylor-Hough)Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter--Author of the popular Frozen Assets series; A Simple Choice: Apractical guide for saving your time, money & sanity; and FrugalLiving for Dummies®--Editor, Simple Times and Bright-Kids email newsletters________________________________Visit my simple living blog!http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/________________________________SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." --John Wesley ________________________________ "HELP! MY FREEZER'S TOO SMALL!"Copyright Deborah Taylor-HoughUsed with permission. All rights reserved.http://frozenassets.wordpress.com One of the most common concerns I hear about preparing mealsfor the freezer is this: â€œI only have the small freezer above myrefrigerator -- how can I still do a full month of cooking ahead?â€ For someone with only a fridge-top freezer, don't despair. I usuallyrecommend starting with twice-a-month cooking, or just doublingand tripling recipes as you go about your regular cooking duringthe week. As you get used to the method and learn ways toefficiently pack your freezer, you may eventually be able to storethe entire monthâ€™s worth of entrees in your fridge-top freezer. When I first began cooking ahead, we only had a small refrigeratorfreezer. It was at least a year before I finally had a second largerfreezer to store my Frozen Assets -- so it can be done. It justtakes careful planning. 1) Before you do a big day of freezer meal cooking, clear out allthe various non-essentials from your freezer. 2) Wait until the freezer empties later in the month before stockingup on frozen bread, ice cream, etc. 3) To save freezer space, use heavy-duty freezer bags for storingmost of your frozen meals, rather than baking dishes or disposablefoil pans. 4) When using freezer bags, remove all excess air (suck the air outwith a straw, or press the air gently out of the bag from the top of thefood toward the opening of the bag); freeze the bags flat; and thenpack them in the freezer carefully. 5) To prevent a possible landslide of stacked freezer meals, storeyour frozen bags of food standing on edge -- much as youâ€™d stackold-fashioned record albums (Iâ€™m dating myself a bit, arenâ€™t I?). 6) Another way to conserve freezer space is by preparing meals ofsauces to pour over pasta or rice. Simply prepare the pasta or riceon serving day so it doesnâ€™t take up precious space in your freezer. If youâ€™re still in the market for a separate freezer but canâ€™t afford tobuy a new one, don't give up yet. Ask friends, relatives and neighborsto keep an eye out for people moving out of state or updating theirkitchens. Iâ€™ve known many people who have found perfectly goodfreezers for free just by making a few phone calls. Check your local newspaperâ€™s classified ads under Appliances, andalso look through Garage Sale listings for any that are selling appliances. Happy freezer cooking! ABOUT THE AUTHOR:--Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is theauthor of several popular books including Frugal Living For Dummies®,Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month, and ASimple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money andSanity. Visit Debi online and read articles about simple living, frugality,parenting and much more: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/ ________________________________O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R Don't you love a good travel deal? (How about 20?)We research thousands of travel deals. Only the bestmake our Top 20 list.Sign up today to get the Top 20 delivered free,every week.Sign up. Travel Zoo Top 20.http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2719639-10564353________________________________BASIC "USE-IT-UP" QUICHE RECIPECopyright Deborah Taylor-HoughUsed with permission. All rights reserved.http://frozenassets.wordpress.com You can use almost any leftover vegetable or meat in this recipe.It's a great way to save money! If you have eggs, milk, rice andcheese, you can practically clean out your fridge right into yourquiche pan. I always add the cheese last when making this quiche. Thecheese makes a beautiful mellow-brown crust on the top. I usuallyadd a bit of chopped onion to my quiches for flavor, and broccolimakes an especially nice vegetable quiche. Crust Ingredients: 2 cups rice, cooked (white or brown) 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp soy sauce Filling Ingredients: 1/2 lb any leftover vegetable, chopped (single vegetable or a mix) 4 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups milk, or light cream 1 cup cheese, grated (your choice: Swiss, Cheddar, Jack, etc.) 1/2 tsp salt (optional) 1/8 tsp pepper Dash nutmeg, or ground mace Crust Directions: Mix together cooked rice, egg and soy sauce. Spread evenly to cover well- buttered quiche pan or pie plate. Bake rice crust at 350 F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Filling Directions: Place chopped vegetable in bottom of crust. Mix together: eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour over broccoli. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven,and let sit ten minutes before slicing, if serving fresh; or wrappie pan, label and freeze. This quiche can be served cold afterthawing for a yummy hot weather treat; or reheat the thawedquiche at 350 F for 20 minutes. Enjoy! ABOUT THE AUTHOR:--Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is theauthor of several popular books including Frugal Living For Dummies®,Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month, and ASimple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money andSanity. Visit Debi online and read articles about simple living, frugality,parenting and much more: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/________________________________Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)________________________________LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPSWe'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.Send your simple living comments and tips to: DSimple Re: Magazine recycling informationThank you for telling us about the different places to donate them.I had an Inside Yard Sale today with an 8 ft table full of piles ofdifferent magazines I've collected over the years. My MIL also gaveme some of hers. I was thinking of donating some of the youngerones to a daycare down the road and 2 of our libraries have placeswhere you can drop off to recycle magazines & books. Most of themagazines I have are geared towards women, but I like the idea ofthe fire station for my "Readers Digest" & "Down East". I think Iwill check with them to see if any women are in the dept. beforegoing. I just thought of a couple more places, I bet a local nursinghome & hospital. It is amazing how attached people can get tosomething for the most part that just collects dust & takes up spaceafter you're done with them. I have decided to read magazines I canget from the library & return or if I get one it will leave the house soonafter reading. Thanks again!--Brenda <><Re: Regarding the magazine recyclilng infoI live in a small town with a nice library -- but not a town with money,nor is the library able to afford much without grants or donations. Sowhenever I to a magazine, I read it and immediately takethem to my library -- then she has current mags without cost!--Christine G.a saving friend! Re: Saving on winter utility billsWow! What a timely article. I mean I know that you have alwaysadvocated frugal living, and I have done so for over 40 years myself.But in light of the recent economic situation in this country, it issomething that a lot of people need to hear again. It is a legacythat needs to be passed down to another generation. Thanks foryour faithfulness of reliable information.--SandyWife, Mother, Grandma Re: Pacific Northwest workshopsI enjoy your newsletter immensely! I sure do wish that I lived in thePacific Northwest to attend your proposed classes! We all canlearn to live our lives more simple. Is it possible to send out anywritten format of your workshops to those of us residing outsideyour region?--Monica M. Note from Editor:I've often thought about putting together a written format of myvarious workshops, but in the meantime, the basic information isalready available in my books. For ordering information, go to:http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/all-my-books/~Debi, Editor, Simple Times________________________________SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKSBook list for frugality and simple livingGo to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks_______________________________< < B E . O U R . S P O N S O R > >Would you like to place an ad in this newsletter? ContactLaura at marketing Subject line: simple-timesDiscover the modest rates for reaching this targeted market.________________________________As always, a special "Thank you!" goes out to Gary Foremanand the friendly folks at The Dollar Stretcher for making thismailing list possible!== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==________________________________EDITOR'S BOOKS AND RESOURCES:Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-HoughEditor, Simple Times Email Newsletterhttp://snurl.com/debisbooks________________________________DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.comCooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.comTupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperwareKids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids________________________________NEWSLETTER INFORMATIONSubscribe: join-simple-timesUnsubscribe: leave-simple-timesPlease feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. This is a private mailing list which isn't sold or shared with anyone else. Tips and articles are printed for entertainment purposes only. This free service is brought to you by www.SimpleMom.comCopyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-Hough. .3930 A Street SE, Ste 305-119, Auburn WA 98002Contact us at: DSimple