Feed Your Freezer!

Have you ever wanted to have food on hand that you only have to reheat? What about snacks - nutritious snacks that are simple to pull out a serving ready to "heat n eat"?

I love Feed the Freezer ideas, so as I come across great ideas and recipes I will post them. I love to be able to make up a large batch of items and stick them in the freezer for later. Then if I want a little something, I just pull one out of the container and reheat it. Simple, easy, not a lot of prep and cleanup.

If you come across some great recipes or ideas, let me know. I'll share them and your link.

Well, I can't have a post about it without a recipe now can I? So here is another one, from Jane's blog that I have edited to make it a Feed the Freezer item:

Not-So-Sloppy Joes

What you need:
1 large or 2 small cans grands biscuits
1 lb ground beef
2 cans sloppy joe/manwich mix - or ketchup, mustard, and seasonings
cheese (sliced or shredded)

Open your biscuits and place on a cookie sheet. Center a 2 inch diameter cup and press down onto the biscuits to cause an indention.

If using ground beef and seasonings - Cook ground beef and onion. Drain any grease and add ketchup, mustard, and seasonings to your liking or add the sloppy jo/manwich mix and drop 1/3 cup of meat mixture into wells in biscuits.

Bake at 375º for 12-17 minutes, until biscuits are golden.

Allow to cool, then place on a cookie sheet so that the sides are not touching. Place in the freezer until frozen (approx 3 hours). Remove from freezer and place in freezer bag or plastic freezer container. Place cheese in freezer with the container.

When you are ready to use, simply remove as many or as few as you would like, place on a cookie sheet, bake in the oven at 350 until warm throughout. Sprinkle with shredded cheese(or place sliced cheese on top) and place back into the warm oven until cheese melts.

These are a great afternoon snack!

To make in bulk - just multiply the recipe to suit your needs.

Make your own Toaster Strudel

At my home, we love the Pillsbury Toaster Strudel but not the price. I will only buy it on sale and hopefully with a coupon. Even then, it is still not cheap. So, when I saw a post about Hot Pockets on Jane's Blog I got to thinking about how to make my own in a Thrift-Worthy way.

Recently, there was a great sale on Pillsbury canned breakfast products and I stocked up. One of the items I stocked up on was the Crescent Rolls - which we LOVE! I used them with some homemade Blueberry Jam to make my version of the Toaster Strudel.

Cost:
$0.00 : Crescent Rolls (actually a moneymaker during the sale)
$0.00 : Blueberry Jelly (homemade from blueberries given to us, we just had to pick and can them)
$0.00 : Butter (free during another sale)
$0.00 : Powdered Sugar (I paid $.35 for a box during a sale, and used only a Tablespoon

Really, other than time and power, these cost nothing to make. Granted you only get 2 strudels per little can, but you can make these smaller for bite-size snacks.

You will need:
softened butter (optional)
canned Crescent Rolls(this was the tiny 4 count) or make your own flaky pastry dough
fruit jam/jelly
powdered sugar
vanilla flavoring
water or milk

Step 1 - Lightly flour your work area and open the Crescent Rolls and unroll. Using your hands, seal the seams in the crescent rolls and stretch the dough a little.

Step 2 - (optional) Spread a thin layer of butter on the surface of the dough

Step 3 - Cut the dough in half cross-wise (not length-wise).

Step 4 - Spread about 1.5 Tablespoon of fruit jam/jelly onto each half. Stay about half an inch away from the edges. You can add more or less fruit according to your taste, but be careful not to put too much or you will have a mess.

Step 5 - Fold each piece in half and use a fork to seal the edges.

Step 6 - Bake according to the Crescent Roll directions.

Step 7 - Cool on a wire rack, then line a baking sheet with wax paper, layer the pastries and freeze. Once frozen, remove and package into Freezer Bags.

To reheat - place in your Toaster Oven for 5-7 minutes, just like the real Toaster Strudels add topping and enjoy.


To make Topping:

1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon water
mix together, add dash of vanilla for flavor
add water as needed to mix to correct consistency.
Drizzle over hot pastry and enjoy.
(Milk can be used in place of the water for a richer topping. But if you make a large batch of topping ahead of time, remember that milk will spoil)