Tip of the Week

This tip came from a friend of mine over 10 years ago. She has/had (many have grown and moved on and married, etc) a large family and like most large families we buy in BULK!

I too buy in bulk especially meats and even milk when it is on sale.

So what do I do with ALL of the ground beef, ground turkey, chicken, or sausage? It certainly doesn't keep well in the fridge and it would take up WAY too much room, too. Freezing right after you get it home isn't practical either.

Well I have a MEAT COOKING DAY!

Like this past Sunday when I had 15 pounds of ground hamburger I had just bought, I cooked all of it! I then place it into freezer bags and frOze them. I make sure I portion it out for meals too, so all I have to do is take it out of the freezer nuke it on high for 2½ minutes and add it to whatever recipe I need it for!

It also makes clean up easier. Instead of cleaning out a greasy pan several times over. I only have one pan/pot to clean a month! (you know what I mean)

Today I used it for Taco Soup.

It cuts my daily cooking down a lot! No more thawing, cooking, draining, and then cooking the recipe.

I even cook my chicken ahead of time too. And with my food chopper I chop it all up and portion it out into freezer bags and freeze it as well. Makes my chicken recipes a breeze! Chicken Enchiladas are done in a matter of mintutes! They are literally ready for the oven in no time!

Tater Tot Casserole

This is a new recipe I tried. Kind of "invented" if you will. I know there are many recipes for tater Tot Casserole but I used what I had on hand and it turned out great. The kids LOVED it!

2-3 packages of ground Sausage cooked and drained
2 bags of Tater tots

3 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 Cups of Milk
2 Cups of Shredded Cheese

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Cook and drain sausage and put into bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Add the tater tots on top of the sausage.

In a bowl mix the soup and milk together until it is blended well. Stir in the cheese and then pour on top of the sausage and tater tots as evenly as possible.

Sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

Next take a spoon or spatula and mix everything as well as possible while in the baking dish.

Bake at 350º for 50 minutes.

This was really good.
I'm thinking next time I may add some spinach to the mix to make it more healthy, but we did also have some Green Beans and Salad on the side.