Frugal Living

How To Freeze Broccoli

Did you get an above average harvest of broccoli this season? Maybe you found a killer produce sale. Whatever reason, what do you do when you have an over abundance of broccoli? You learn how to freeze broccoli, of course!

If you already know how to freeze yellow squash and zucchini, then this method will be pretty familiar. If you have not tried your hand at freezing, you’re in luck because it is super easy. Welcome to the world of freezing vegetables!

How To Freeze Broccoli

So, you decided to grow broccoli this season and you had WAAAAY more success than you expected. What do you do?

You do what we recommend for almost every bit of food that could potentially go to waste; you freeze it!

Step One

First things first, gather up your broccoli and prepare it for washing. We like to use a colander to allow the water to flow over the broccoli and not pool in the bottom of a bowl.

You can also run the water directly over the broccoli but we find the colander method to be much easier, quicker, and effective.

Break you broccoli head into smaller florets and place them into your colander. Then just run water over them, gently moving the colander from side to side and tossing the florets to turn them over.

Step Two

Now that your broccoli is clean, we will learn how to blanch broccoli for freezing. What is blanching? Blanching is the process of heating your broccoli to destroy the enzymes that cause vegetables to continue the decaying process even while frozen.

Blanching is really easy and makes your frozen vegetables taste better for much longer. To blanch you will need to bring a stock pot of water to a rolling boil. Once boiling, simply put your broccoli into the boiling water.

Set your kitchen timer for about 3 minutes. You want your broccoli still crisp but not soggy. You may need to adjust this time.

While your broccoli is boiling, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When your time goes off, pull your broccoli out of the boiling water and immediately put into the ice water bath. The reason you do this is to stop the cooking process as soon as possible.

Can I freeze broccoli without blanching?

You can simply stick a head of broccoli into the freezer and call it a day. The problem with doing this is due to a enzymes that many vegetables contain.

These enzymes cause the vegetable to essentially still age even while frozen. So, while you can freeze broccoli without blanching, it is not advised. Your broccoli will change in color, texture, taste, and quality rather quickly without blanching.

With blanching your broccoli should stay high quality in your freezer for up to a year. Of course, always follow FDA guidelines when preserving your own food.

Step Three

Once your broccoli has sufficiently cooled in the ice bath, it’s time to get it ready for freezing.

Pull out your measuring cups and scoop your desired portions. We like to sort 1 to 2 cup portions into quart sized freezer bags. These are great for single meal servings or recipes.

If you are cooking for a family, you can always use the gallon size freezer bags. Just scoop whichever portion you decide and put them in the baggies.

Step Four

After you have your bags filled, flatten them out. This removes all of the air and excess water and cuts down on freezer burn. Flattening them also makes them easier to stack in the freezer.

How do you store broccoli in the freezer? You don’t need to do anything else special to store them. Simply find a space and put them in the freezer. They will typically freeze in an hour or 2.

broccoli in ziplock bag next to measuring cup

Common questions

Is frozen broccoli good for you?

There is a popular belief that states that fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than frozen. This is a myth. In fact, produce is typically preserved when it is most ripe. So, yes, frozen broccoli is healthy for you. You can now end the fresh vs frozen debate in your mind!

Should you thaw broccoli before cooking?

It depends on what you need it for. If you want a snack, you will probably want to. If you’re adding it to a smoothie, it’s not necessary.

To thaw, you just need to put it in the fridge over night. You can also heat it on the stovetop, in the microwave, or put it in a casserole or some other dish.

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Free Meal Plans

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

If you are trying to get your food budget under control then you definitely need to start meal planning. What better way to do that than with free meal plans from others who have perfected the art?

There are a few reasons you may want to consider meal planning. For us, we wanted to start eating healthier and we wanted to start saving money. When we put together our budget tracker we realized we were spending a ton on food!

We decided we were going to crack down on that spending and start getting ourselves more organized and really reach our food budget goals.

So, if you are feeling similarly and you’ve already done your pantry inventory, stocked up on your pantry staples, and ready to take on the pantry challenge, you know you need a meal plan to be successful.

Here are some free meal plans

Printables

Download this free printable weekly meal planner to help you organize your kitchen, plan your meals and see what delicious food you and your family can look forward to over the upcoming week.

Meal planning saves time, money and sanity! Get your free 2020 Meal Planner printable here. It includes a weekly planner, monthly planner and more!

Looking to save a ton of time with your meal planning? Here’s an awesome guide to help you plan 5 weeks of menus in under 2 minutes!

Build a shopping list

Here’s your easy weekly ALDI meal plan for the week of 4/5/20 — Six complete dinners for four, $60 out the door!

Single meals

Here are some of our favorite meals in a jar ideas for easy, ready to eat, homemade to-go food for families who insist on nutritious meals even when they’re busy. From dance class to lunch bags, these meals in a jar will keep the family full and happy.

Cooking For One? You’ll love the easy weekly meal plans found in our Meal Planning For One series. You will find a week’s worth of recipes which will serve one (maybe two) people including grocery lists and cooking tips. Perfect for anyone cooking for one, caregivers, and empty nesters.

Reach your weight loss goals with meal prepping! Our complete guide shows you how to meal prep for weight loss, how to reach your calorie and macronutrient goals in your meal prep, and a list of 40 healthy meal prep recipes for weight loss!

free meal plan pinterest image with various single serve meals in mason jars

Family meals

Using some of the same ingredients in multiple dishes throughout the week is the key to getting delicious, wholesome, good for you, home cooked meals on the table several nights of the week. Each recipe in this 5-day meal plan include some prep-work for another meal later in the week.

Are you into weekly meal planning using core recipes? If so, here is an awesome healthy weekly dinner meal planner for you.

four meal images. Top left: Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast; top right: Skillet Shrimp; bottom left: Gourmet Meatloaf with Mozzarella and Sundried Tomatoes; bottom right: London Broil Marinade

The secret to a stellar food budget is bringing the cost of each meal down. Here is a great planner to help you stretch each meal just a little bit further.

Easy Air Fryer Dinners Anyone Can Make is a meal plan that anybody can use. Seven easy air fryer dinners and seven easy air fryer sides to keep you fed all week long!

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Pantry Staples

By MrAnimal Farm 1 Comment

If you’re ready to take the pantry challenge and you’ve already done your pantry inventory, you know you may be missing a few pantry staples.

Pantry staples are the building blocks that every home should have. If you have these on hand, you should be able to deal with any unexpected situation.

What are pantry staples?

We like to make sure that our pantry is fully stocked at all times. You never know when a small emergency (or even a global catastrophe) may land you stuck at home longer than you anticipate.

In just such a scenario, having all of the pantry staples you need will help to alleviate some of the stress that may come along with uncertain times.

What staples should you always have in your pantry?

These are the essential items you need for your pantry.

Dry goods

Dry goods can come in a couple of different forms. You can make sure you have a good amount of easy or quick to cook items.

We like to have a lot of pasta on hand. It’s easy to make as you really only need boiling water to cook it. If you have sauce on hand, you can add that, melt some butter, or add some oil & vinegar.

Rice is another great staple to always have available. Like pasta, you only need water to cook rice. You can also pre-make it and freeze rice for later.

Rice is also a great base for a variety of dishes for a variety of preferences. For example, if you like Mexican food, rice is the base of this DIY Chipotle Burrito Bowl. If you are craving Chinese, Vegetable Fried Rice is another easy and tasty recipe.

Maybe the most valuable dry good items are things you can use to bake. If you have flour, sugar, and baking soda, you can bake just about anything.

Canned goods

The next pantry staple is canned goods. Canned goods are especially great because they are designed to last for a very long time. Often times, you can still eat whatever is in the can well beyond the ‘best by’ date. Obviously, you will want to abide by FDA guidelines but if it’s only out of date by a few months it will just suffer in taste.

We buy a lot of beans. I mean, A LOT of beans. So many beans that when we go through the checkout at the grocery store we get odd looks and are often asked if we own a restaurant. like I said, we eat A LOT of beans.

We always make sure we have at least 2-3 months worth of canned beans in our pantry at a time. Beans are a great because, like rice, it makes a great base protein for so many meals.

cabinet full of beans — Did I mention we eat a lot of beans?

You can slow cook it and make crockpot chili. You can cook it on the stove and add in some garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper for some delicious refried beans.

Canned fruits and vegetables are a few other canned goods you may want to stock up on. Obviously, if you have a garden and you have been freezing your squash, zucchini, strawberries, or other vegetables, you may not need them in cans.

However, if you have a bad crop yield or your freezer goes out, it never hurts to have a few cans tucked away in case of an emergency.

You can also stock up on tuna. You can get cans, or pouches, of tuna for relatively cheap. It will stay fresh for a long time and is a great protein for a quick snack or meal.

pantry full of canned soup and canned beans

Spices

You may be thinking that things like rice, beans, and pasta are some pretty bland necessities. You’re not exactly wrong either.

This is where the final staple category comes into play. The world of spices can open up your eyes to so many more flavor possibilities than you ever thought possible. Learning how to cook with different spices is such a valuable skill to learn.

What spices you keep in your cabinet is really going to depend on what your personal preferences may be. You can’t go wrong with salt and pepper. From there, the possibilities are endless.

If you like Italian food, you may want to have a good supply of things like basil, garlic powder, and oregano. A lot of Latin cuisine also uses garlic powder but also onion powder, chile powder, and cilantro. Indian food will often feature spices like cumin & curry.

Figure out what kind of flavors you can NOT live without and make a list of the spices and different ethnic flavors you need to fill out your pantry. Or you can just pick up a large spice set and have a variety to choose from.

How to stock your pantry for a year

How do you stock up your pantry for a year? The first thing you will want to do is take a pantry inventory.

Once you have a list of how much you have, you can start to calculate how much of your pantry you go through a month. Multiply that by 12 months and you know how much you need for a year.

For example, between the two of us we probably eat 2-3 cans of beans a day. That is around 14-28 cans per week. With 52 weeks in a year we will need around 728-1,218 cans of beans in a year (did I mention we eat a lot of beans?).

Obviously, we can’t fit that many cans in our pantry at once, but it gives you an idea of the scope of what you should have on hand if you are truly trying to fill your pantry with the essentials.

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How To Freeze Yellow Squash

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

Did you overestimate how much yellow squash you needed to plant? If so, you need to learn how to freeze yellow squash.

holding yellow squash just picked from the garden

If you already know how to freeze zucchini, freeze broccoli, or freeze strawberries, then learning how to freeze yellow squash will be a breeze for you. If you have never preserved anything before, it’s easy to do and there is a whole host of vegetables you can freeze (not to mention fruits and other foods).

How to Freeze Yellow Squash

Let’s say you are growing yellow squash this season and you’re having an awesome harvest in your garden. Now you have more yellow squash than you know what to do with. How can you preserve it without it going bad? You wouldn’t want to waste food.

Step One

Gather up all of the yellow squash that you think you won’t eat anytime soon. Now you will want to give it a good scrub to remove any dirt, bug poop (ew!), pesticides (double ew!!) or anything else you don’t want to put in your mouth.

yeloow squash and zucchini on colander prior to washing

We usually put everything in a colander and run cold water over the veggies while we scrub with a vegetable cleaning brush. You can also get cleaning sprays that are specifically made for vegetables (don’t worry, they make organic ones).

Step Two

With a whole pile of fresh and clean squash, you want to prep them for blanching. The way we do this is by cutting them into slice.

To get the best results in slicing squash, we like to use a mandolin slicer. This kitchen utensil is the most accurate way of getting even consistent slice every time. Be careful though, it is really easy to cut yourself on one of these tools. Trust me, you will want to wear protective gloves while using it.

You can also go the old fashioned route and use a knife and cutting board. The mandolin slicer just makes things quicker especially if you have a lot of squash to cut. But if you want to use a knife, here are a few ways to safely cut squash.

Step Three

This is the most important step of the entire process. Now, we blanch your yellow squash. Don’t worry, it’s not hard, at all.

Fill a large stock pot with water and bring it to a boil on your stove top. Once you have a good rolling boil, place a portion of your squash chips into the water. Let the water continue to boil and set your timer for 3-5 minutes.

This time range may seem pretty wide. It just depends on the size of the squash and how large of a portion you boil at once. Test out your chips during the process. You want you squash to still be pretty crisp.

Once your timer goes off immediately put your squash chips into an ice water bath. The sudden shift from hot to cold will stop the cooking process so your squash will stay nice and crisp.

Can I freeze squash without blanching?

Yes, you can, but we don’t advise it. Squash, in general, has an enzyme that does not die during the freezing process. So unlike most things when frozen your squash will continue to age and degrade over time. This will cause a drop in quality, changes in color, and the flavor will suffer.

My blanching prior to freezing, this enzyme is destroyed and your squash will last much longer in your freezer. So, we totally recommend blanching as the best way to ensure long term quality.

Step Four

Once all of your squash has been cut, blanched, and cooled, pull out a measuring cup and start sorting out portions. We prefer to portion in 1 cup increments and freeze in quart bags. For larger families you can freeze entire batches in a gallon freezer bag.

Whichever size you pick remember to squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Any excess water in the bag will turn to ice once frozen and may cause your squash to frost bite.

Step Five

This is the easiest step. Flatten out each of your bags and stack them on a shelf in your freezer. If you have a larger chest style freezer we will reuse an old grocery bag put them all in there and label the bag with a date. Then stick them in your chest freezer until you need them.

Common Questions

How long will will frozen squash stay good?

We always recommend abiding by FDA standards for food safety. We have found that squash can stay high quality up to a year after freezing!

How do you thaw frozen squash?

Easy-peasy! Just pull your pre-portioned bag out of the freezer and put it into the fridge over night. They will usually thaw by morning and be ready for whatever recipe you are making.

You can also stick them in the microwave but they tend to come out a bit soggy. You can mitigate this by using a steamer but it’s still kinda iffy.

For best results, use a stove top steamer after thawing overnight.

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How To Make Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

Are you spending a fortune grabbing fast food breakfast every morning? You need to learn how to make freezer breakfast sandwiches!

close up image of reheated freezer breakfast sandwich

This may come as a shock but the guy making your Egg McMuffin is NOT a 15 star Michelin chef. You can definitely make something better at home and with this tutorial, you can have it ready faster than a drive-thru line.

How To Make Breakfast Sandwiches

You can add yet another meal to your freezer meals repertoire. These breakfast sandwiches are super easy to make and pair great with oatmeal. We recommend starting out by first learning how to make a large pan of freezer eggs. They will be the base of your breakfast sandwiches.

Ingredients

1 pack of English muffins (we use Thomas Nooks & Crannies)

6 squares of freezer eggs

1 pack of sliced cheese

english muffin open on plate next to egg square with cheese

Directions

These directions are really easy. Open up your pack of English muffins. Use a knife to cut them in half if they are not already.

Take out your pan of precooked eggs. If you have not already melted cheese on the whole pan, place a slice of cheese on a single square now.

Put your egg and cheese on the bottom half of your muffin. Stack the other half on top and you’re done.

When you are ready to eat stick a toothpick through the top center of the muffin all the way through to the bottom. This will allow you to heat your sandwich without the cheese melting and the muffin top sliding off.

Heat for around a minute and a half and enjoy!

close up of reheated freezer breakfast sandwich being held above plate

Variations

These directions are obviously a very simple version of a breakfast sandwich. You can use this as a base and add your own ingredients to really make something special.

Some other options that we’ve tried are swapping out the English muffin for a bagel. The precooked egg square is perfect for this because it won’t fall apart through the hole in the bagel.

We have also added some turkey bacon before. We’re sure it would work just as well with pork bacon or even a sausage patty.

What’s really great about making your own sandwiches is that you can customize them however you like and you can try out different things.

How to Freeze Breakfast Sandwiches

Once you’ve narrowed down your favorite ingredients and assembled your sandwiches, simply place each sandwich into a freezer safe ziplock bag, or put multiple in one bag (you can usually fit about four in a gallon freezer bag).

You should not freeze your sandwiches with the toothpick in them. You may forget it’s there when you’re ready to heat and that could be dangerous.

How long do they last in the freezer? The main thing to worry about in the freezing process is the egg. No one wants to accidentally eat an egg that’s gone bad. These eggs will generally keep up to six months in the freezer.

Any longer than that and they will likely start to lose quality. And, as always, please follow FDA guidelines for food preservation.

How do you reheat them?

When you’re ready to eat you can stick them in the microwave for around a minute and a half or two minutes. Microwave time varies depending on the microwave and how thick the eggs is.

If you want to prepare overnight you can put a frozen sandwich in the fridge just before bed. It should be thawed enough by morning to heat for around forty-five seconds to a minute and be good to go.

Now you know how to make freezer breakfast sandwiches! Give them a try and let us know how you like them.

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How To Make Lasagna

By MrAnimal Farm Leave a Comment

If you love going out to Olive Garden you definitely need to learn how to make lasagna at home. All you need is a bottomless salad bowl.

We love, love, LOOOOVE pasta in our house. But going to our local Italian restaurant can get pretty expensive. So we decided we would bring a little bit of Italy home to us.

How To Make Homemade Lasagna

This recipe is so easy to make. In fact, other than our DIY burrito bowl, this may be our most made dinner. It is also completely customizable to your own specific taste. This recipe is delicious on it’s own but can also be the base for your own imagination.

Ingredients

1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles

1 jar of Traditional pasta sauce (we use this Classico sauce)

1 tub ricotta cheese (16 oz)

1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

ingredients grouped together. top from left: Ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, lasagna noodles, jar of pasta sauce.

Directions

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. The oven can preheat while you are putting the ingredients together

Take out a 9×13 baking pan. Open your jar of sauce and put a very thin layer of sauce into the bottom of the pan. You can spread it with a spoon.

You just want enough sauce at this point to make the bottom of the pan wet for the noodles. Now, open up your pack of oven ready noodles and lay them across the bottom of your pan. We can usually do about 3 across length-wise and we will snap one to fit width-wise.

We like to use the oven ready lasagna just because it is quicker. You can also use regular lasagna noodles for this. Just follow the instructions on the package on how to prepare them. Then you can continue with this same recipe.

Once you have put down your first layer of noodles, use a spoon to put down another thin layer of pasta sauce. This layer should be thicker than the first layer. Just remember you need conserve enough for four total layers not counting the bottom of the pan.

On top of the sauce, add a layer of ricotta cheese. Try the best you can to spread it without mixing it with the sauce. You will want to portion this out between three layers. If you want to measure it out you can.

After you have the ricotta spread, make a layer of mozzarella. Same as the ricotta, you will need to plan for four total layers of mozzarella. However, you will want more for the top layer.

Repeat this process of pasta, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella two more times. When you get to the final top layer, you will not put ricotta. You will add the final layer of sauce followed by a super layer of mozzarella.

Finally, add a healthy sprinkling of shredded parmesan. So your top layer will be noodles, sauce, mozzarella, parmesan.

So, how long does it take for lasagna to cook? With your oven already preheated, set your timer for 30 minutes.

Place on the center rack and go relax for a while.

When the timer goes off, grab your oven mitts and pull your lasagna out from the oven. Place it on your stove top or cooling rack.

Once your lasagna has cooled, you can use a knife to cut it. We generally get about 15 decent sized squares.

Variations

As we mentioned above, this recipe is great on it’s own or it can be an excellent base for a more complicated dish. You can add or substitute cottage cheese. You can add various veggies, like peppers from your own garden, into each layer. You can make a layer of spinach, if you like. You can’t beat throwing some sausage in their either.

Be creative. Make this recipe yours and add whatever you think will make it better.

What sides go well with lasagna?

Since, we’ve already mentioned Olive Garden, it’s probably obvious that we think salad and garlic butter bread sticks go great with lasagna. But you can get a little more creative and add a whole host of other lasagna side dish ideas.

How to freeze lasagna

If you want to freeze individual pieces, use a spatula to lift each piece from the pan and put it into a small quart sized freezer bag. Freezing individually is kind of messy, but it is nice to have a quick single serving lasagna sometimes.

If you are planning freezer meals for the family, you will want to make sure your lasagna has completely cooled, put a lid on your baking pan, and put it into your freezer on a flat shelf. If you don’t have a pan with a lid, you can also use disposable aluminum pans.

You may be wondering is it better to freeze cooked or uncooked? Honestly, you can do both. Make two, cook one and freeze the other. Whether or not you bake it before freezing depends on how much time you want to spend reheating and if you want to portion out individual servings for the freezer.

How to thaw

Just pull your lasagna from the freezer and place in refrigerator over night. For a full sized pan, it may take 2 days in the refrigerator.

You can also put individual pieces in the microwave and full size frozen lasagna in the oven.

How to reheat/cook frozen lasagna

If uncooked, preheat oven to 350. Bake for 60 minutes, check around 45 to make sure top is not burning.

If pre-cooked, preheat oven to 350. Bake for 45 minutes or until warm throughout. Check often so that top does not burn.

Frugal Living

How To Freeze Broccoli

Step One

Step Two

Can I freeze broccoli without blanching?

Step Three

Step Four

Common questions

Is frozen broccoli good for you?

Should you thaw broccoli before cooking?

For more frugal living tips

Here are some free meal plans

Printables

Build a shopping list

Single meals

Family meals

For more frugal living tips

What are pantry staples?

What staples should you always have in your pantry?

Dry goods

Canned goods

Spices

How to stock your pantry for a year

For other frugal living tips

How to Freeze Yellow Squash

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Can I freeze squash without blanching?

Step Four

Step Five

Common Questions

How long will will frozen squash stay good?

How do you thaw frozen squash?

For more frugal living tips

How To Make Breakfast Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Variations

How to Freeze Breakfast Sandwiches

How do you reheat them?

For more Frugal Living Tips

How To Make Homemade Lasagna

Ingredients

Directions

Variations

What sides go well with lasagna?

How to freeze lasagna

How to thaw

How to reheat/cook frozen lasagna

For more frugal living tips

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