Get Out of Your Food Rut !

        

Here are 2 videos to get you out of your Food Rut

Foodie Friday!!! 19 Freezer Meals Start to Finish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS6BYPxhcqM
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Foodie Friday: Long Grocery Haul and 17 Freezer Meals!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDNxvKEkiKA

These video's are really long. I know.
I watched on a computer so it was easy for me to fast forward while watching what frame it was on an stopping where I wanted to.
It is a good idea. Nice to have some homemade meals so you don't have to go out and be around a bunch of people when everywhere you go folks are sick. It's also nice when you are tired or sick or tight on grocery money this week to just go to the freezer and pick out your dinner for the family without all the stress and mess.
   It was way weird for me to see her grocery list and her method of cooking. Most everything she bought was in a can, box or freezer bag already cooked, chopped or whatever. Another thing.... I don't see her rinsing off these meats, or the tin containers from the store. I would do that just because I want to know at least I may be able to confirm that other residue isn't on it from a outside source. When I do things everything is prepped by me. I clean, chop or fix that step instead of buying it already done at the store. I don't know what is cheaper but for me it is also a control thing. When you buy things in cans, boxes etc. your getting so much more added preservatives, coloring and flavor enhancers that I just don't want in my foods. Not everything she bought is like that but if I do it old school I know what is in my food as a rule. Not only that with all my food issues if I want to continue breathing it is a must do for me. Still the lady has a lot of good ideas and she knows how to turn out some quick food! We can all learn something and adapt it to the way we like things done.
   My biggest problem for me is how the heck long to cook something straight out of the freezer! I am not a food oven cook other than baking things.
   I saw all the veggies and cheese she was putting in and it all looked soooo good! Hubby won't eat veggies and I can't do the cheeses. This does encourage me though to take a better look from a different angle as to how I can adapt my regular foods to the freezer. I am so used to cooking everything fresh I have no clue as to do oven cooking like this. Same goes for the silly crock pot.
   The tin containers I know are cheap but I hate to throw things away. I like to use reusable stuff I can just clean and put the next meal in. Problem is I have been trying to use those single meal plastic containers with the red or blue lids and I haven't had much luck with them holding up to the freezer without getting holes in them or cracking. Think I will try the aluminum angle again.

Love
Ranchmama

Kitchen Baking area 1

Spring Cleaning is coming soon but I try to keep my kitchen fairly organized. I admit some days you can come in an can't find a clear spot to put a spoon or glass down. LOL I mean it gets bad when I am cooking! What do you expect for a main baking area only 4.5 feet long!
   I was talking to another baker about her kitchen and discussing how in a home kitchen it's hard to have a place for everything that works for you when your baking. We have to find all kinds of ways to stash what we work with to have it not only handy but where you don't have to dig though a pile of other goodies to get to it!
   A commercial kitchen has dedicated area's for whatever cooking you are doing. Well this is my baking area. This house is at least 30 years old so we aren't talking about marble this and pretty that's. Just a regular kitchen. I don't know how those wedding cake bakers and home commercial kitchens do it! Just finding refrigerator room to put dough in to chill, Cakes to chill or store overnight is a huge challenge! This kitchen has a hole for a refrigerator that only fits that 18 or 21 sf size. If I ever get lucky enough to get a commercial size with some room the whole kitchen will have to be torn apart or it get put in the garage. I still have to clean off a kitchen table to roll out a pie crust or sit down with a big bunch of stuff to chop or peel. It gets really messy when the icing gets mixed up and you need to decorate a cake or cookie ! Sticky stuff everywhere! At least in my kitchen that's the way it goes. I swear I wear 1/2 the recipe on my shirt front! That is exactly why I wear some of the rattiest looking house shirts when baking. Son in law laughs when he comes over and I have been baking. I asked him if Nikki wears 1/2 the recipe on her front also.
   Like many other home bakers this also means when it comes time to cook a meal everything has to be shoved over and stacked up so you have the room to cook food to feed the family. What a pain ! Why do families have to eat ??? I just don't understand! Baking is so much more fun than stopping everything your doing, cleaning up stuff or just finding a stopping point at all to switch gears and do the meat and potato thing!
   I laugh when my daughter or husband says it wouldn't be so bad if I would clean as I go. But I do!!! All the time. I clean mixing bowls and tools to reuse somewhere else in the process. I clean off the counter tops to keep flour, powdered sugar and other stray flying stuff out of the mixer from getting all over the place even more. They just have no clue!
My 4.5 foot baking area          
measuring stuff on door
Baking powder, soda,vanilla
etc and seasonings             Sink directly to the right                                          
Left cabinet with flavor extracts on the left
Fridge storage bowls
On the right, mixing bowls, sprinkles and food           Glass
coloring                                                                     Measuring cups    
Middle drawers with my limited supply of baking tips and baggies
Side drawer with the handy parchment paper