Burger Time

The simplest of recipes can be made ahead of time and stocked in the freezer to save money and time. Burgers are a great summer meal and, if your household is like mine, all I have to do is prepare them. Then, the other party (husband) insists on cooking them - even more time efficient. Here are a few tips on freezing burgers and some fun recipes to stock the freezer. Make four batches of your favorite, or two of each.

1. Mix all ingredients together. Form patties and stack two-by-two onto layers of wax paper with an extra layer of paper on the bottom and top.

2. Wrap the patties first in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn.
Label and freeze.

Fiesta Burger
2 lbs Ground Beef
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Turkey Burger
2 lbs ground turkey
3 tablespoons mayo
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 scallions chopped
4 basil leaves chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt

Chicken Burger
2 lbs ground chicken
3 tablespoons mayo
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Paula Dean's Essence (or other spice blend)
2 scallions chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Adantages of Make-Ahead Cooking The Suburban Challenge Style

Keeping a supply of homemade, ready-to-eat food in the freezer or pantry is one of the smartest things you can do to save time and money and improve the quality and nutrition of the food your family eats.  I began this journey because I found myself resorting to too many frozen pizzas and take-out meals for evenings when there was no time to cook (a meeting after school followed by an aerobics class, then handbell practice....). Before you get out the army-sized pots and pans, here are some helpful tips I recently found at redplum.com:

1. DO automatically think, every time you make a meal, about whether you can cook extra and save it for another meal.

2. DON'T make a double or triple batch and put it all on the tale, expecting to freeze what's left. If it was really, really good, it may disappear.

3. Try a recipe - or more importantly, have your family try it - before you make a quadruple batch!

4. Label everything clearly and well. The label should have a description, date, and any cooking instructions. Write with something big and bold enough that you can read it through a little frost if necessary.

5. Start small. Instead of trying to cook every meal for a month in one day (a task so daunting especially by the time you clean up, you may never repeat it), make large batches of your family's favorite freezable recipes. It's not much more work to make a bigger pot of chili, for example.

6. Clean and sort your freezer before you start your make-ahead plan. Don't feel guilty about throwing away freezer-burnt old food no body's going to eat. It has to go, or you won't have room for you new, money saving make-ahead meals.

7. Put safety first. Keep your freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Don't add too much food at once, and never add hot food to the freezer, or it will warm up the whole freezer.

Spinning Away Monday

This past Monday, Abby commented in our Spin Class that she looked forward to "Spinning away her Monday." We all then laughed about how that sounded like the title to a new pop song. But, in all seriousness, she was really spinning away all of the drama, fatigue, and frustration that follows any "Monday, Monday - can't trust that day..."

"Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away," - Barbara DeAngelis

Personally, I love Spin Class. I can sit, with the lights off, listen to great music, sweat off 350-400 calories, and just daydream by myself. For me, it is the perfect marriage between being productive towards my Suburban Challenge goal and rewarding myself. For all of us, working out should not be dreadful and regretful. It should be that 45 minute period of the day where I can say "Thank you for the opportunity - this is for ME!" Of course that high also comes from the body's release of an all natural Prozac or Zoloft, GO SEROTONIN AND DOPAMINE!

Frittata: AKA "Clean the Fridge Out Frittata"

I love Frittatas! It is a crust-less quiche that is easy to make and has limitless possibilities. It is also a great way to clean out all of the odds and ends of produce left in your refrigerator. Since you are using up produce that would otherwise be thrown out, it is also saving money.  I use to work with a person at Camp Tekoa who would always say, "Waste Not Want Not." That phrase has always stuck with me.

You can make up your own Frittata with any combination of vegetables and meat with this easy guideline:
8 eggs
1 cup of grated cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
chopped fresh herbs
Whisk these ingredients and then incorporate your cooked leftovers/odds and ends. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes in a 10 inch pie pan. Presto, a main entree four four or a side dish for six.

Here are two examples of how I cleaned out the fridge this month:
Zucchini Tomato Frittata:
I had one left over zucchini from the Mango Pasta Salad recipe that was one day away from mold and a pint of cherry tomatoes that I have no idea why I bought them almost three weeks ago.
I cooked two slices of bacon chopped up. Removed the bacon and used the grease to saute the chopped zucchini, 2 leaves of Bok Choy, 1 red bell pepper, and the pint of halved cherry tomatoes. I sauteed them for about five minutes and then added 1 teaspoon minced garlic and four leaves of basil chopped. I sauteed them for one more minute. Then combined the vegetables with the cooked bacon and the egg mixture and into the oven it went.

Sweet Potato Swiss Chard Frittata:
Last year in the garden we grew sweet potatoes. I still have some that we have not eaten but they are too small for baking. So, I pealed one and finely chopped it for a Frittata. Once again, I started off with two slices of bacon chopped up. Once they were crisp, I removed them and used the grease to saute the chopped sweet potato and 2 leaves of Swiss Chard from the garden. I sauteed them for about five minutes before adding the herbs. I used fresh rosemary this time along with the salt and pepper. Returned the bacon and added the egg mixture. FIN.

In preparing your vegetable filling, her are my suggestions. Start out with the thick vegetables in olive oil or grease from meat such as bacon or sausage. Adding bacon or sausage allows some people (men) to be convinced that this egg dish is actually a main serving. But, you can always keep it vegetarian by sauteing the vegetables in olive oil. Soft vegetables like green onions, broccoli, and spinach can go in towards the end of the sauteing time. Cook them for about 5-8 minutes until they all seem soft, then add your herbs and cook for one more minute.

Spicy Marinade with a Mango Pasta Salad

Cuisses de Poulet Epicees et Salade de Pates

This is another great marinade to stock up on and make all four batches. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about two months without having to freeze.  The pasta salad is just awesome and should only be made fresh.

For each batch of the Marinade:
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
1/3 cup pineapple juice (It is cheaper to buy canned pineapple, drain it, then reserve the fruit for snacks or another use. If you are making four batches of marinade, you will need 2 20oz cans of pineapple)
3 teaspoons curry powder -or other spicy spice blend
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and store till ready to use.

This marinade is great on Chicken. I used it two different ways.
1. I marinaded chicken breast for one hour, then grilled them. The picture below also has the pasta salad in it.

2. I browned 8 chicken thighs in 2 tablespoons of canola oil on medium high heat, about 5 minutes each side. Then placed all the chicken into a slow cooker with the marinade. I topped the dish with fresh cut green onions and the reserved pineapple from the juice. I then cooked it on low for one and a half hours.

The Pasta: I love this salad because it has one fruit serving, one vegetable serving, one dairy serving, and no oils (my old days of LA Weight Loss of counting servings are coming back to me now).
1 pound of pasta
1 mango
1 cup plain yogurt
white pepper
1 medium zucchini
2 green onions chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

1. Cook the pasta.
2. Peal the Mango and cut the pulp into small cubs. Add to the pasta with the yogurt, salt and pepper. Toss well.
3. Slice the zucchini into fourths, seed, then slice. Blanch the zucchini with the green onions (drop into boiling water for 60 seconds then remove quickly and drop into ice water to stop the cooking process). Toss the vegetables into the salad.