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Tips for cooking
2 or a few:
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Divide
casseroles into two smaller baking pans. Bake one right away and wrap and freeze
the other- you will have leftovers for lunch, and a quick dinner another day.
If you freeze in individual microwavable containers, you will have your own
frozen entrees for lunch at work or home
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Is a whole chicken too big? Enjoy what you want of it, then pull
the rest off the bones and freeze. Makes great BBQ sandwiches, chicken fajitas,
and casseroles. Rock Cornish game hens are a nice substitute for chicken. They
are easy to work with and don’t take too long to roast. They can be found in the
frozen meat section at the grocery.
Fruited rice stuffed Rock Cornish game hens for 2
2 Rock Cornish game hens, thawed
1 cup cooked rice mixed with ¼ c chopped dried fruit such as
apricots, figs and raisins
salt and pepper to taste
butter for basting
Rinse game hens and stuff with rice mixture. Sprinkle hens with
salt and pepper. Baste with butter.
Roast at 400
degrees for 35-40 minutes until thermometer registers 170 degrees in the
thickest part of the thigh. Remove from oven and let rest, covered with foil,
for ten minutes. Serve whole.
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When the meat
prices are good and you want to purchase more than you will use in a meal, wrap
the extra in heavy duty foil or freezer bags and freeze
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Don’t avoid the
fresh produce section because the packages of veggies are too large. Most items
are available in smaller packages and already cut up for you. You can get
individually sized items by creating them yourself at the supermarket salad bar.
You can also get already prepared chopped vegetables that you can use in
stir-fries and casseroles.
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Lots of stores
have a self-serve bulk foods section where you can choose exactly the amount you
want to buy.
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If you need
only part of a can of food, make sure you empty the can out into a plastic
container for storage in the ‘frig or freezer.
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When you are in
the mood for your favorite cake, make cupcakes. You can also cut up a cake into
portions and freeze. I recommend cutting up the cake and freezing it before
wrapping it. Then unwrap before thawing so that the icing doesn’t stick to the
plastic wrap.
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Too much cookie
dough? Never! Bake off the cookies you want and freeze the rest of the dough.
Using a levered ice cream scoop, place individual mounds on a cookie sheet and
freeze. When the dough is frozen place in a gallon freezer bag. Readily
available to bake fresh cookies at a moments notice.
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Freeze leftover
pancakes and waffles. Toast to reheat, for a quick breakfast.
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Freeze leftover
vegetables together and uses them in soups.
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Leftover meats
can be cut up and frozen for future soups and casseroles.
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Think about
cooking once and eating twice whenever you are in the kitchen.
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Just simply
bored with cooking for 2? Challenge yourself to try a new recipe or ingredient
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Since you are
cooking for fewer, you may want to consider smaller appliances, like a toaster
oven and a mini food processor.
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Label all items
you freeze. Trust me on this one. In a month you won’t remember what it is if
it is unmarked
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