pjlla
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2003
- Messages
- 11,654
Love seeing new people jumping aboard!
I am totally with you on the soup front. I am more excited than a normal person should be about the list of soups I have pending for future meal plans. Just remind me of this when I'm complaining about the ice and frigid cold temps
So I'm gonna sound like a complete kitchen/cooking goofball, but I have a question about freezing foods. We planted our first garden this year and I am now drowning in yellow squash and green bell peppers. Are these both suitable for freezing? And do you just dice and store in freezer ziploc bags? It's okay if you laugh, I really am clueless
I would also love to know how to make beef and chicken stock, I'm sure it has to taste a million times better than the store bought can kind I currently use!
Wish I had some tips for the dressing, I'm obviously a cooking newbie, so I use dressing for salads and marinating...boooooringHopefully somebody else can help you out. I know @jiminykrikkit has had lots of great recommendations on utilizing foods in the past!
Okay.... as far as garden overages..... peppers can be diced and frozen as is..... pull out a handful or cupful over the winter as you need for soups and stew. sautes, and other cooked recipes.... just no good trying to use the in a salad or anything. Summer squash..... doesn't hold up as well to freezing unless you cook it into something (like a casserole) or shred it and use it in place of shredded zucchini in things like zucchini bread. That being said, my layered ratatouille recipe calls for summer squash and I often make it and cook it and then freeze it. I can share the recipe if you are interested.
(Found that I had posted it on the WISH boards recipe thread, so here it is!
URL="http://www.disboards.com/threads/wi...thread-new-title.2447512/page-6#post-46123331"]WISH Away the Pounds--Healthy Recipe Thread (new title)[/URL] )
I make most of my own stock..... vegetable, chicken, and beef. We don't eat a bone-in cut of beef very often, so I don't tend to make that very often.... maybe twice a year? I just put the bones (and any bits and pieces of leftover meat and fat) into a big stock pot with a few bay leaves, an onion sliced in half or quarters and a lot of water. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to just barely a simmer and let it cook down slowly until it has reduced significantly. I usually just eyeball it or even taste the stock. When it seems to have a good amount of color and flavor, I call it done. Cool it, strain it, let the fat rise and then skim it off (helps if you refrigerate it). Use or freeze.... I usually freeze my stock in 5-6 cup batches.... that is often just the right amount for a batch of soup. Same for chicken..... I usually make the stock as I have the carcasses/bones, but it was so hot this summer I didn't want to overheat the kitchen making stock, so I frozen a few carcasses. I put the bones, skin, and other bits and pieces (including the neck and organs if I have them) into my big stock pot with a bay leaf, a few peppercorns, an onion or two and maybe even a carrot or celery stalk. Then follow the same process as with the beef.
Some folks claim that roasting the bones and veggies before making the stock brings out more flavor, but I haven't found it to be worth the extra time and effort. And sometimes I get really into it by making bone broth for the extra nutrients, but generally I don't bother with the extra steps.
For vegetable stock, I save onion skins, celery leaves, carrot peels, broccoli stems, leftover cabbage leaves or spinach and kale stems, cauliflower stems,.... pretty much anything that is clean (like cutting off the cut end of the broccoli stem) in a big bag in the freezer. I often use organic vegetables or vegetables from my own garden, so I don't worry too much about pesticides and such.... plus I usually scrub things. I stick with mostly GREEN/YELLOW veggies.... no tomato or corn, nothing starchy like potatoes or winter squash. I save all of this in the freezer until I have a really big bag. Then I toss it into my biggest stock pot with a bay leaf, pepper corns, fresh parsley (if I have it), and let it cook (just like the meat stocks). When it is all done the veggies are totally MUSH.... I've been told they would be good to feed to a dog, but we don't have a dog, so after I strain them well, I put the remaining mush into the composter.
Because of the vegetable particles, this tends to be a cloudy stock unless I take the time to put it through a fine strainer. I use to to make many soups that call for chicken stock, since my DS is allergic to poultry. Use it in my broccoli cheddar soup, curried carrot soup and vegetable soup primarily.
Let me know if any of this is unclear!
BTW friends.... ended up changing my cooking plans..... bashed my knuckle pretty badly while making the beef soup, so I skipped the chicken soup....it is too hard to cook and clean while trying not to bleed on the food!
That being said, the beef barley soup smells amazing right now!..............P
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), a container of lunch meat and a gallon of milk.
. I am planning a new leaf with regards to money management and how I approach shopping and food for 2016 and have been getting a head start. We have managed to eat foods left-over in the pantry and fridge from Christmas day until last night/this morning so around 5 days! Last night was chicken breast from the freezer to make soft tacos and this morning the kids got cheese & bacon rolls from the bakery whilst I finished off the last of the leg ham. I can't tell you how many times over the years I have thrown money away in the form of unused food from the pantry and fridge - I like this thread 
