Did You Know...?

Did you know that you can freeze milk?

I had done a little research on this topic before my shopping trip last week, and I decided I'd give it a try.  I bought 2 gallons of 'whole' milk - for the baby.  After all, the Wal-Mart sells it for quite a bit cheaper than what my local store does. When I pulled into the garage after shopping, the first thing I did was plop one gallon right into the deep freezer that sits next to my car's parking spot.

9 days later (that would be today) I pulled the frosty jug of milk out of the deep freeze and am happy to report that - so far - my experiment has been successful.  [That is to say - it did not explode in my freezer!]

In this post, I am going to address some of the more common questions regarding this process, however, I am sure a quick Google search can answer any additional questions that I can't answer.

A quick lesson in Homogenization and Pasteurization

We've all heard the terms before, but do you really know what they mean?

Normally, if left to sit, milk will separate into a high-fat cream layer on top of a larger, low-fat milk layer.  Homogenization is a process where the milk goes through a treatment that prevents a cream layer from separating out the milk.  This process breaks down the fat globules, which are then left exposed and vulnerable to certain enzymes already present in the milk, which could break down the fats and produce rancid flavors...SO...to prevent THAT, milk goes through pasteurization, which inactivates these enzymes.  (Is that the longest run-on sentence ever, or what?!)

Homogenized milk is said to taste blander but feels creamier than its unhomogenized counterpart and may be more digestible by some people.  Both processes help to extend the shelf life of milk.

There are many people following the "raw milk" trend, siting that these processes remove all bacteria (good and bad) and that raw milk is the way to go. I am all in favor of this opinion, however, there are some serious conditions to consider before switching your whole family to raw milk. In addition, it may not be legal for farmers to sell raw milk where you live.  There are a lot of websites out there with a lot of information - and not all of it is true.  Do your research FIRST.

Does frozen milk look different?

Frozen milk will turn yellow. Trust me, it just looks wrong.  The yellow color comes from the fat separating from the milk. Once it thaws, though, it will return to its normal color.

Does freezing milk affect the nutrients or taste?

I've heard rumors that long, long ago milk was delivered to people's homes and left on the doorstep.  It came in glass jars and, sometimes, if left outside during winter it would freeze.  No one though it odd back then because the "milk" was already separated from the cream.  When it would freeze, it would not look any different.

The nutrients do not change in frozen milk, but the fat does separate (that yellow color - eww!) and this is sometimes referred to as reverse homogenization.  Since the milk and milk-fat separate, you will need to shake thawed milk before each use to help blend the fat back into the milk.  It will not taste any different, but it may have a different texture since you're used to the commercial process of homogenization...versus shaking a jug of milk in your kitchen.  For this reason, some people don't like thawed milk - and that's okay.

How long can I store frozen milk?

You can keep milk frozen for about 3 months.  It's not going to spoil in the freezer, so you CAN leave it in longer, however it has a greater chance of absorbing other flavors from within your freezer, so be careful!

What temperature should I freeze milk at?

When freezing, milk should be stored at 0°F or lower.

Is it okay to freeze milk in the plastic jug from the store?

Yes, HOWEVER, don't forget middle school science...freezing liquids expand!

Most milk jugs are flexible enough for expanding milk, but some containers may not have enough room - so take precautions.

If you're not sure if your container will work, just pour out 1 cup before freezing.

How should I thaw frozen milk?

As with most frozen items, the best method is to thaw it in the fridge.  This process can take 2-3 days.

If you need it quicker, it can be thawed in the sink with cold running water.  Do NOT use hot water, however, it will damage your milk.

Once thawed, your milk should be good for up to a week, HOWEVER, that can depend on how cold your freezer was, how cold your refrigerator is, and how fresh the milk was when you first put it in the freezer. 

I compare the date I went shopping with the "best by" date on the milk - this lets me know how many days I can expect out of the milk once I thaw it out.



I hope you find this post informative.  As I stated above, any additional questions can probably be best answered online.  These were just some of the highlights I found from a couple different sites and felt it was a good idea to compile them.  While I don't know how necessary it will be for me to use this method on a regular basis, I do like the fact that I can pick up all my milk for the month in one trip (and from a store where it's cheaper) and have it on hand when needed.

Adventures in the Aisles of Wal-Mart

So last week commenced our adventure of "limited" grocery shopping in an effort to trim the fat from our grocery budget.

The Plan:   Meal plan for two weeks & grocery shop ONCE to cover everything we'd need.


First off, create your menu. I find this is the best method to avoid over-buying and forgetting anything while you're at the store. Also, do an inventory of what you already have since it makes no sense to go out and buy more of what you already have at home!  Don't forget to plan your side dishes & veggies!! Our menu plan looked like this:

Week One:
Tuesday (shopping day)   -   General Tso's Chicken
Wednesday                     -   Philly Cheese-steaks w/ homemade fries
Thursday                         -   Sloppy Joes w/ salad
Friday                             -   Grilled Steak & Portabella w/ salad
Saturday                         -   *No Meal* (We attended a wedding that served dinner.)
Sunday                           -   Broccoli & Cheddar Soup
Monday                         -   Chicken Marsala w/ Roast potatoes & peas

Week Two:
Tuesday                          -   Cheeseburgers w/ salad
Wednesday                     -   Pulled Portk w/ asparagus
Thursday                         -   Chicken Cordon Blue w/ rice & salad
Friday                             -   Sausage & Spinach Soup
Saturday                         -   Baked Beans, Hot Dog, Salad & Biscuits
Sunday                           -   Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Monday                         -   Chicken & Dumplings
Tuesday                         -   Turkey Taco Soup


At this posting, we are currently on the last day of week one. Our menu plan has held up, however, Sunday night we were invited to a family member's house for dinner and I did not end up making the soup.  Rather than pushing everything back a day, I am skipping it and continuing with the rest of the meal plan.  Since it is summer and fresh produce is cheap, we are eating a lot of salads with our meals...at least, for as long as our salad supply holds out!  We have a large surplus of frozen veggies, so we can easily substitute something in for salad, if we do end up running out.

Side Note:  Some of you may be thinking that we eat a lot of red meat...or a lot of meat in general and - we do! We enjoy it.  We try to eat more poultry than red meat, but turkey is expensive and chicken can get boring.  At 4 & 1/2 months pregnant, I literally CRAVE red meat. (I regularly struggle with anemia and while I am well aware of all the alternative sources of iron, my body always feels better after indulging in a yummy steak, or a perfectly grilled burger.)  My husband is a work-out nut (in my opinion, since I do NOT work-out!), and always needs plenty of protein in his diet and since neither of us have any health issues or restrictions in our diet, we pretty much eat what we like!  Our goal in eating "well" is to avoid as many preservatives and "fake" foods as possible.
     Obviously if you feel differently or have other dietary needs your menu plan and recipes will look a lot different than ours.  I just want to point out, that I do add a lot of beans and spinach into our meals for alternative sources of protein and iron.

The menu plan is for dinners, with the idea that we will prepare extra and have leftovers the following day.  This has worked out quite well in the first week.  It was my objective to plan at least 3 soups into a two week time-frame and make double batches to freeze.  This means that in the coming months, we can take a jar of soup out of the freezer and dinner is even quicker & easier than the first time.




Secondly, go alone.  While I absolutely adore my husband and my two-year old attachment, it is a nice change to get out of the house completely & 100% ALONE!!  Being alone helps you to focus (there are enough distractions as it is...especially in the Wal-Mart) and there's less of a chance you'll buy extras - if your partner or children are anything like mine!!

Okay...so two hours in Wal-Mart and a quick trip in to Hannaford to pick up what Wal-Mart didn't have, had our grocery total just over $300 ($326.48, to be exact) and $75 under what I would 'typically' spend in two weeks time.  Good start, so far. I was quite pleased with this, even though some of you may be thinking this number is severely high for a family of 3.  It's less than normal and that's a start!  I did purchase a few extras that I don't normally buy, but we'll see how much carries over into weeks 3 & 4 and hopefully I will have redeemed myself!!

Before I get blasted for shopping at Wal-Mart, here's my defense...I have no other options! While I would love to support every farmer in a 50-mile radius by purchasing locally grown produce, and locally raised meat, it's not financially possible.  Our yearly income, after taxes has us WELL below $30,000, half of which goes towards our house payment, property taxes & insurance.  As part of our adventure to eat well on a budget, we will explore home-grown solutions to some of our more expensive expenditures.  This, of course, takes additional money for set-up and supplies.  It's not out of the question...just a matter of time before it gets done.  In the past, we have raised a pig and chickens for meat.  We currently have a large flock of chickens for eggs, but they have taken over any space that would allow for any other farm animals.  In time, we plan to re-build a larger space for animals and hope to raise as much of our own meat as possible.  In the meantime... it's Wal-Mart all the way!


Thirdly, prep everything when you get home.  I know. You just spent hours shopping. You're tired. You're worn out. You're probably hungry. But if you get all your food prepped, you'll make the rest of the week (or two) go by so much quicker!  I have hubby help with this project.

I write on my freezer bags what the meal is - for example:  "Chicken Marsala". I also write how many       chicken breasts I want in the bag (for his reference) and he goes to town dicing, slicing, and splitting chicken to put in all the different bags.  If the meals are to be made after the date the meat should be used by, I just throw them in the freezer.  A day or two before, I grab that bag, let it thaw, and my prep is THAT much quicker for dinner.  I put all my meat into freezer bags for the next couple weeks. It keeps clutter out of my fridge, keeps prep time at a minimum throughout the next couple weeks, and I don't have to wonder which bag of chicken was for which meal.

Prep also include fruits & veggies - if they need them.  Having your produce washed, cut up & ready to eat makes snacking so much easier for the whole family.

Where are we: Currently, we're on track to finish up our two week meal plan without going to the store.  Next week is our daughter's birthday, though, and that will require it's own special trip which will not be a part of our plan.  Some of the fruits/veggies for her party would just not have survived until the end of two weeks!

I'm hoping to update about my grocery trips weekly - once when I actually go shopping, and once at the halfway mark to let you know if my plan is working out or not.  I will be adding additional tips in between grocery posts, but hopefully if you're thinking of trying a shopping method like ours, you find some of these tips a helpful start!

General Tso's Chicken

This recipe turned out to be super easy & an instant classic for our family.  

What you need:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cubed)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute - if you're into that type of thing)
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (use sparingly if you don't like too much spice)
• rice (2 servings, prepared)

What you do:

1. Whisk together broth, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar and set aside.  Cornstarch will be added to this sauce JUST before it is poured over the chicken.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or  non-stick skillet and add scallions, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add chicken and brown (adding more oil as needed).  Cook about 5-8 minutes.  The chicken should be almost done before you add the sauce.

4. Add cornstarch to your sauce and whisk to create a slurry (isn't that a fun word?!).  Add to your chicken in the pan.  Heat until boiling, then reduce to a simmer.  The boiling of the sauce will cause the cornstarch to thicken.  Cook until the sauce is the consistency you desire.

5. Serve over rice.

Servings:

The recipe listed served 2 adults and 1 toddler and no leftovers.
(Check out the "variations" to make this meal stretch & easily feed a larger family.)


Tips:

** Prep your chicken when you're home from the store.  Label your freezer bag with the meal it will be used for, along with the day you have planned to make it.

** I buy my garlic prepared, by the jar. It saves a lot of time in cooking, since I use garlic in as many recipes as I can.  If you use prepared garlic, use a good spoonful as an equivalent to 4 cloves.

Variations:

- Add LOTS of extra veggies to this one to make the meal stretch. Some of our "favorites" include pea pods, broccoli, peppers, baby corn or water chestnuts.

Turkey Taco Soup

This recipe is a favorite in our house, is SUPER easy and a huge hit with my husband who claims not to even like soup! 

What you need:

• 1 pkg ground turkey (we can only find them in 1.25lb pkgs.)
• 1 pkg of taco seasoning
• 1 pkg of ranch seasoning
• 1 large can (28oz.) of no salt added diced tomatoes (we prefer the 'petite' style)
• 1 can of pinto beans, or cannellini beans (drained & rinsed well)
• 'some' frozen corn
• reduced-sodium chicken broth

What you do:

- Cook the turkey meat until no longer pink.

- Add the seasoning & ranch mix and coat meat well.

- Add tomatoes & beans, and as much corn as you like. 

- Add chicken broth to thin some to preferred consistency.

- Serve with your favorite cheese & tortilla chips. 

Servings:

The recipe listed serves 2 adults and 1 toddler and provides enough leftovers for to make lunch for 2.

*** Double the recipe and freeze for an even easier meal next month!!  ***

Variations:

- If you don't mind larger tomatoes in your soup, try the Mexican style stewed tomatoes.

- If you can find it in your store (ours doesn't always carry it) there is frozen Mexican corn mix that includes black beans, onions, and peppers.

- Once we use up our stock of 'packaged' taco seasoning, we will be making our own homemade version.  Allrecipes.com has a standard recipe HERE.

What do YOU consider "healthy eating"?

This post will be much shorter than the previous one and involves your participation...or at least your brain to ponder a few questions  I'm curious what people consider to be "healthy eating"?
- Is it only eating salad & drinking water?
- Do you consider some veggies healthier than others?
- Are you more concerned with how your food is prepared vs. what it contains?

On our quest to eating well, we're phasing out processed foods.  This, of course, is hard to do if you consider baking supplies - white sugar, enriched flour, etc. etc. - to be processed.  However...is white sugar healthier than fake sweeteners? And if you know what's going in your food, does that make it healthier than the unpronounceable ingredients, or preservative forms of the same thing?

It is our goal to cut down, dramatically, on the fake food...but it's a work in progress Being able to name your ingredients is HUGE!  Making meals out of 'whole' ingredients as close to their natural form as possible is important to us.  My pantry no longer contains pre-packaged food or mixes...and I'll admit it - it's intimidating that if you want something to eat you have to CREATE it...from scratch!

My definition of eating healthy is progressive...it will take time.  It's a lifestyle change that will take practice. We want to eat 'whole foods' - so that we know exactly what is going into each dish.

Once we have that mastered, we want to eat lean...cut back on some of the proteins that we consider 'heavy'. Pare down on the veggies that have more carbs than we care to take in. Reduce the amount of overall sugars being consumed.

Finally, we need to remember to incorporate our mission of doing all this on a budget!  Is it even POSSIBLE to live that lifestyle on the national average?!  What are your thoughts, predictions, opinions? I'd love to hear them!


As a side note: I am planning to have a whole tab dedicated to the recipes that I am making (some healthier than others, some less healthy but super yummy).  As I am new to this blogging format, I have to watch a tutorial on 'how to' create these tabs...which I am hoping to do tomorrow so that I can share the recipes I have already started this week.  In the meantime:

-  A rare occasion to catch up with a friend over coffee prompted the even rarer occasion for me to bake a scrumptious breakfast treat - coffee cake!  This version is by far NOT the healthiest that can be found on the web, BUT it's a rare treat, made from scratch, and was just TOO spectacular to pass up.  Check out the original recipe from The Pioneer Woman (reduced to half, since there were only two of us!) HERE

As an additional side note:  Obviously this post was not as short as I thought it would be. Sorry!

Here's to a new beginning!

Have you heard of those people who claim it's better if you "eat to live" rather than "live to eat"? Yea. I think they're crazy, too!  ...  Okay, not crazy!! I have a few friends who are like this and I applaud them for their dedication and ability to resist all those delicious, tempting dishes that exist.  Needless to say (if you read the title of this blog, or the web address at all) I am NOT of the "eat to live" persuasion.  No.  This chica loves to eat. Lives to eat!  I also, however, live on a budget and that makes eating (and eating healthy) a huge challenge.

So why another blog...about eating healthy on a budget?  Lots of reasons!

#1 - Hubby wants to cut down on carbs & processed food (don't we all?).
After hours (& hours & hours & hours) of online reading, it became clear that a majority of "frugal" mom bloggers use cheap carbohydrates to fill their dinner plates.  And lunch plates. And breakfast plates.  I wanted to eat frugally, but eat healthy at the same time.  It seems this is a challenge that has yet to be met!  Our lifestyle has left us relying on a lot of pre-packaged and prepared foods, which in turn left us feeling less than enthused about our meals.


#2 - We don't live near chain, discount grocery stores.
As mentioned above, I spent a LOT of time reading other blogs about saving money on groceries.  The common theme I noticed - they live in areas where they have multiple chain, discount grocery stores.  Here in the Northeast (and you don't get any more Northeast than Maine!) we don't have the luxury of having 3 or 4 stores to hop in & out.  There are 2 major grocery stores in this area, plus Wal-Mart.

We have one of the aforementioned grocery chains 15 minutes away. It is, however, the only one in a 45 minute radius and therefore, does not have much competition.  If we drive the 45 minutes, though, we find Wal-Mart, Target, and both grocery chains. I find that Target rarely has enough of a deal on food to make it worth stopping at, except during Thanksgiving & Christmas, so Wal-Mart it is!


#3  - We want to instill good eating habits in our 2yr old daughter. 
Our daughter has always been big for her age...not chubby. Not overweight.  Just big.  She will be 2 in less than two weeks from this post and currently wears a size 4T.  Needless to say, she loves to eat and while she's young we want her to enjoy her food without falling to the parenting pitfalls of 'pb&j', chicken nuggets, or hotdogs and boxed mac & cheese.  (Don't get me wrong. There are occasions where we have made these our meals, but we don't want it to become the regular & routine around here.)


#4 - Mommy is expecting Baby #2 in about 5 months.
Baby #2 will be born in February, and we live in Maine...which will not leave a lot of exercise opportunity to shed those baby pounds. In addition, most of those pounds will be put on during the Holiday season (which happens to be my FAVORITE season, anyway!)  So getting into a routine of eating healthy(ier) will hopefully help avoid gaining an excessive amount of weight.


So if you find that you have the same problems while researching blogs about "frugal eating", join me on my adventure! I have a few goals that I hope to achieve...

- To eat well while eating well.  Wait. What?!  I want my family to eat healthy, while at the same time ENJOY what they're eating.  My husband gets bored VERY easily with the same old, same old.  Meat, potatoes, veggie. Eat & repeat.  He also doesn't care too much for rice & pasta, but as I mentioned we're cutting back on those anyway, so it's time to get creative!

- To find a way cut back on how much we spend on our healthy eating. From what my blog-search (that's research from within the blogging world) says, the average U.S. family should be spending no more than $100 per person per month.  This amount should include children.  We have 3 people in our family, and let me tell you...my monthly grocery bill is NO where near $300 a month!!! FAR from it!!  Consider this, challenge accepted!

So let's raise our glass to a new beginning.  I've got my fingers crossed that this will be a success...but even if it's not, it will certainly be a learning experience!