Ideas for Easy Freezer Cooking

I love the idea of freezer cooking but you don't want to spend all day in the kitchen cooking? Easy freezer cooking is for you. Well, like a lot of other things, the the thought of one day in the kitchen cooking for a month is absolutely overwhelming to me.

Here is how I cook ahead with easy freezer cooking:

1. Whenever I cook a meal that is freezable I make at least two and sometimes three meals so I can cook one that night and freeze the others. Tonight it is lasagna. Of course having a small freezer our garage makes this possible. Now that there are only 4 of us in the house I can easily make two meals and pop one for later in the freezer.

Most Frugal Soup - Garbage Soup Recipe

The Most Frugal Soup Recipe Ever!

Garbage soup is probably one of the most frugal soup recipes you can make. Garbage soup is basically a recipe made from all of our food scraps that would get thrown away.

Do you just hate throwing away food? So Do I. My solution to this is to save up soup type ingredients to make a pot of soup. In our freezer is a big tub that I put all the leftover vegetables and meat that I would have to toss from not being eaten. I am always looking for what to make with leftover cooked vegetables.

What Leftovers Can You Save For Your Soup:

1. Always error on the side of caution. I save meat only a few days and it has to be frozen and freezing vegetables for future soup is easy and can be saved after a little longer from the refrigerator. 
2. Think about what you save and if you would like it and the flavor of it in your soup. I once saved baked beans and tried that and yuck! Let me just say they can't just go in a veggie soup.
3. If you have some carrots or onions that are not cooked but getting ready to be tossed go ahead and chop and add to your freezer future soup container. Same goes for celery.
4. Rice is great to add to soup but I try if I can to add that at the last minute so it does not get too mushy. If it is already mixed in the soup bucket, no worries just add it.
5. Potatoes are tricky. Leftover potatoes can become mushy so I don't usually save them for soup. I might scramble up with some eggs and use them up like that. Now if you have leftover mashed potatoes I have the best potato cheese soup recipe to make from leftover mashed potatoes so check that out here...frugal potato soup
6. If the meat I have saved is mostly chicken, I use a chicken broth, if it is mostly beef then beef broth and vegetable broth is great with both.

Preparing The Soup:

1. Crock pot or stove top is fine. I usually add broth to the pan first and add my ingredients, adding more broth if needed. This is really a cheap crockpot soup recipe.
2. Thawing the ingredients isn't necessary but I try to take the container out that morning as I save cook time (saves money) and I can separate out any ingredients I need to.
3. Add a can of diced tomatoes if you like a tomato base for your soups.
4. If you want to really jazz up the soup then you can add some shredded cheese on top or a small bag of frozen meatballs.
5. You can of course add some boiled noodles as a filler if your soup is too brothy.

Please visit our Simple Recipes page for more meal ideas.

Our Favorite Ground Beef, Ground Turkey and Chicken Recipes

Ground meats are a frugal way to cook and stretch the ever increasing grocery prices. Save money and follow some of these yummy family friendly ground beef, turkey and chicken recipes. Our Favorite Ground Beef, Ground Turkey and Chicken Recipes will save you money but more importantly your family will be happy when you serve up these scrumptious family friendly recipes.

Ground Meat Recipes:

1. One Pot Slow Cooker Supper

2. Crockpot Turkey Meatballs

3. Freezer Breakfast Burritos
4. Easy Notsagna
5. Greek Chicken Burgers
6. Homemade Meatballs
7. Cheeseburger Quesadillas
8. Taco Salad
9. Mexican Meatball Soup

And here is a great tip on lowering the fat content in your ground beef and pork: Tip to lower fat in ground beef.
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Cheeseburger Quesadillas - Frugal Cooking

Who doesn't love a simple week night easy meal idea? I like to buy my ground beef and cook up in big batches for easy meals and cheeseburger quesadillas are great for those quick dinners.

Lately we eat a lot of soups, various quesadillas and mixed bowl meals on weeknights. Remember to check out entire recipe page for tons of meal and frugal cooking ideas.

Cheeseburger Quesadillas

Recipe by Elaine @ Sunny Simple Life

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients

• Flour tortillas
• Ground beef
• Taco seasoning
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced pickles
• Butter
• Toppings of choice

Cooking Directions

1. Cook your ground beef and season with taco seasoning. Assemble all of your ingredients and a large flat bottom pan or griddle pan. Heat your pan and spread a little bit of butter on the pan on half the tortilla. Lay tortilla flat and spread a layer of cheese, the meat and finally a layer of sliced pickles. Fold over the tortilla and brown on both sides. Serve with thousand island dressing or ketchup or even salsa. Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup - Frugal Cooking With Sunny Simple Life

It is soup weather and I have been making a variety of healthy homemade soup recipes. This is my favorite frugal recipe this year and I have made creamy tomato tortellini soup a few times already since the new year.

The hearty soup makes for a filling dinner and I have even frozen it. Freezing dairy based soups can separate a bit but I found it was still super delicious. Let's do some frugal cooking with Sunny Simple Life.

Watch our video of the simmering creamy tomato tortellini soup...

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Recipe by Elaine @ Sunny Simple Life

This is a hearty frugal soup recipe.

Yield: Family size
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
• 1 cup diced zuchinni
• 1/2 cup green beans (frozen, fresh or canned)
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
• Dash Garlic Powder
• To taste Salt and Pepper
• One box Vegetable Broth
• 1 can Condensed Tomato Soup
• 1 1/2 can Water
• 1/2 cup Half and Half
• Garnish Fresh parsley (optional)
• One small package Cheese tortellini or kind of your choice

Cooking Directions

1. In a large pot, saute onion, celery and carrots. Add the vegetable broth and simmer for a few minutes. Add condensed soup and water, stirring well to mix. Dump in rest of vegetables and seasonings. Simmer until veggies are tender about 10 minutes. Add tortellini and simmer until tender about 8-10 minutes but don't overcook. Add half and half, stir to mix and bring to boil. Ready to serve, garnish with fresh herbs if you like. Enjoy.

November Grocery Pantry Stock Up Prices

In this day of rising food prices, I am always looking to save. Every month I try to stock my deep pantry when I find rock bottom grocery prices. I like to keep a stockpile sale price list so I know when to stock up.

November grocery stock up shopping is the time to save on:

1. Baking supplies. From butter to flour and sugar, stock up now. Butter freezes well.

2. Snacks and party foods. Holiday gatherings spur the stores to use these foods as loss leaders.

3. Canned goods. If you live in a state that has case lot sales you may find better deals then but for the rest of us, November is the month to stockpile canned goods.

3. Soda and adult beverage ingredients. Again party season.



Check out our entire page of Frugal Tips.

3 Of My Easy Go To Soup Recipes Using Leftovers

Frugal cooking is my thing and here are three great soups made from leftovers and the easy recipes to make them.

More frugal cooks in past generations could stretch a meal into many more. Leftover vegetables into a pot of soup the next day was a regular practice. There was no throwing good food in the trash. So turn leftovers into soup for an almost free meal. Here are 3 of my go to soup recipes from leftovers.

Leftover Soup Recipes

Zesty Mexican Soup

This is usually the soup I make with leftover taco meat and Spanish rice. 

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Easiest Ever Potato Cheese Soup

Potato cheese soup from leftover Thanksgiving potatoes is a tradition. This one if my favorite. My all time comfort food soup recipe.

Banana Coconut Smoothie

When we have overripe bananas, here is a great way to use them in an easy smoothie recipe. Banana coconut smoothie is a great breakfast idea. A tropical smoothie treat.

Weekly Menu and Shopping Plan to Save Money and Frugal Grocery Haul 5-17

Due to Mother's day and two birthdays our grocery budget was blown so here is my Weekly Menu and Shopping Plan to Save Money and Frugal Grocery Haul 5-17.

 See how I did with a plan to spend between $50 - $70 for a family of six for the week.

How To Make Homemade Calzones

It is so easy to make calzones at home. By using an easy dough recipe, I will share how to make homemade calzones. You can fill them with so many custom fillings that suit your taste. This meal is a frugal family meal but a real favorite.

Stock Up Alert - Vanilla Bean Shortage

Stock Up Alert - Vanilla Bean Shortage!! Get ready to start paying a whole lot more for vanilla. 

Due to a vanilla bean shortage in Madagascar, vanilla prices have been skyrocketing.  According to CBS News:

Seventy-nine percent of the world’s vanilla fields are in Madagascar. A shortage there has helped drive up the cost of vanilla beans from about $11 per pound in 2011 to $193 by the end of 2016.

via CBS

So if you bake or use vanilla stock up now before prices rise even more. Vanilla lasts a long time to I always keep an extra bottle or too in my deep pantry. How to stock the pantry on a budget.

Stock Up Tip To Save Money On Vanilla!!

But here is a tip on how I just bought two bottles at the old price. Be on the look out at your grocery store in the vanilla section. It looks like the newer shipments reflected the new high price for vanilla, but their were older stock of the organic vanilla, even better, at 3.99 a bottle. I bought two.

The newer shipments of vanilla the same price were triple that and already $22 for a large bottle. So keep your eyes peeled and stock up on vanilla now. This is why I really believe in food storage. You are not panicked because you already have stocked up at the lower prices.

Check out my 50 Best Frugal Tips for Saving Money

Bi-Weekly Menu Planning Ideas

I am vowing to save time and money but especially time but restarting my bi-weekly menu planning.
Join me for a Friday vlog. Remember to subscribe to my youtube channel while you are there.

50 Best Frugal Tips

Living a frugal lifestyle seems for us to be the norm. Income just never outpaces the increases in what it costs live these days. Here are some of my best frugal tips from the blog. I have tried to comb through and collect them all. Some tips I may not use all the time or find better ways which means more blog posts to come just never enough time to get them all down. I hope you are inspired by these ways to live frugally and save money.

Zesty Mexican Soup - 5 Minute Meal Idea

I love to cook once and eat twice and with Zesty Mexican Soup - 5 Minute Meal Idea, you can cook once and eat two different meals. This quick and easy soup recipe is a frugal meal idea my family loves.

You can make this meal on the stove or in your crock pot.  Click over the video below for the recipe and easy meal instructions.

Make Baking Mix And Pancake Mix Last Longer - Kitchen Quick Tip

When you stock up and have food storage you have to stay on top of expiration dates to prevent food from spoiling. If you freeze your baking and pancake mixes you will help them to last longer.

Growing Sweet Potatoes, Dehydrating Tomatoes & New Soft Inexpensive Sheets - Frugal Friday

Now that summer is over we are back on a regular blogging schedule and it is time to bring back Frugal Fridays. I love saving money and sharing our frugal tips with you and a little bit of daily life in our home.

I checked the sweet potatoes we grow in the old wheel barrow this week. I have more out in a front planter but they need at least another month. I think the sweet potatoes out back can be dug up in another couple of weeks. I want to have them cured by Thanksgiving. Here is the post on how we grow sweet potatoes in an old wheel barrow.

Last Christmas I asked for a Nesco dehydrator so I could try dehydrating some of our garden surplus to save for our pantry and long term food storage. First, I did a bunch of herbs and when I had a bumper crop of tomatoes one week, I did tomatoes. Four trays dehydrated down to a quart sized mason jar of dehydrated tomatoes.

Aren't they gorgeous? I used some the other day in a pot of pasta and they tasted so good. I just soaked them in some hot water and put them in water and all.

I needed new sheets for our bed and I picked up these from Walmart. I had bought them in blue for my girls and when they were so soft and cozy, I snagged some for us. I think they were around $30 for a queen set and they are so soft so if you need a set of sheets and don't want to spend a lot of money, I recommend these. I don't have the package still but they are their mid priced sheets.

How To Save Tomato Seeds

One way I save money and garden frugally is by saving my own seeds. Here is how to save tomato seeds.

Growing your vegetables and even flowers from seeds saves so much money. One pack of seeds around 

$1 to $2 can give you many plants where even at our local garden center, one plant is over $3 now.

How to save tomato seeds:

1. Make sure you are using a tomato where the seeds will actually germinate. Grocery store tomatoes might not germinate if they are gmo so try heirloom plants and organic ones to start with. You can try with anything though because what do you have to loose.

2. Pick a great tomato at the peak of season. When you slice it just save some of the seeds in a dish. 

3. Rinse the seeds under cool water in a strainer.

4. Now lay out the seeds on a plate to dry thoroughly. I like to dry them on a plate and not paper so they don't stick.

5. Store in a cool dry place to save for planting next season. These printable seed packets are perfect for saving your vegetable seeds.

You might like these other posts:

Here's how to grow tomato plants from cuttings.
Tomato plant gift idea.
A guide on how to plant tomatoes the right way.

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Stocking The Pantry On A Budget

Whether you live alone or have a large family, stocking a pantry on a budget is one of the biggest money saving moves you can make. Food and paper goods as well as hygiene products are a huge part of every home's budget. Why not save where you can. Here is how I stock the pantry on a budget.

I am going to break down in a series all of the ways we stock our pantry and how we use it and keep it organized and used because there is no point stocking the pantry if you are not going to use it and cook it up before it spoils.

You know how I feel about grocery shopping and stocking my pantry. I can care less about clothes or purses but give me a stocked pantry and I get so excited. It means security and plenty for my family. You will want to use some of my tips cause see that basket above? It was jammed full and had steak and chicken breasts as well as craft beers and it was all just over $100. I think $107 to be exact. 82 items for that price is amazing to me.

On average when I coupon and shop the sale cycles I save anywhere from $50 to $70 off of my usual grocery bill. That is at least $200 a month and one benefit of a fully stocked pantry is that if money is tight one week and I don't want to spend money on groceries, I can skip to the following week and cook from what I have.

Budget Friendly Tips For Stocking The Pantry

1. Stock what you will use. Make a list for a couple weeks of what you are cooking with and actually using. That fancy bottle of olives may have looked good but at $8 you could have bought pounds flour.

2. Use coupons. I have started spending time each week planning my shopping list. I stopped couponing for a couple of years but deciding to really get our food storage accomplished as part of our emergency preps made me decide to get back at it so I could save money on groceries and have extra in the budget for long term food. Now when I see how much I am saving, I am so mad at myself for ever stopping.

3. If you don't want to use coupons, then make sure to check out your grocery sale papers when they come and then shop the loss leaders. Loss leaders are the items on special that week that they are selling at great low prices to lure you in and hoping you spend way more. Sometimes I will pop in a store just for those stock up items.

4. Here is the main way you will save big bucks. BUY way more than you need when the price is low. Here is an example. I was in Target, the hand soap I like was marked way low at .69, with a 20% off deal, that made each hand soap .55. Almost half of the usual $1 price. So I bought 20. Stock up on the sale cycles and then wait until they are on sale again before you have to buy them.

Shop at discount grocers or local markets. Our local produce market is such a good bargain and they sell bulk bags of beans and grains as well. You can watch my youtube video of my latest haul here.

5. Consider using subscribe and save from Amazon. We have been ordering groceries and paper goods from Amazon for years now. Once a month my box comes and it has a few regular items like our coffee and toilet paper and then I switch up other items that come every few months and you can't beat the prices if know your price points. I will do a whole post on what I feel is worth order from Amazon to stock your pantry or emergency food storage. And I always make sure I order five items because then you get an extra 15% off the prices. 

Amazon Prime Day is coming up in a few days too, so I am hoping to snag some really good deals. You can find details below.

6. Now cook up what you have and save money eating at home. I am experimenting with good shelf stable pantry foods so I always have what I need beyond just canned soup and beans.

We are now on youtube and am really loving that medium. A new video will be posted tomorrow on how to clean your vacuum and get rid of any smells and make it clean well again. Come subscribe and say hi.

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Saving Money Doing Laundry

With a large family, I do a lot of laundry, I mean a LOT OF LAUNDRY. Saving money doing laundry is important and a skill I have worked at over the years. I am happy to share my money saving laundry tips.

From the cost of laundry detergent to the rising costs of utilities used to wash our laundry, it can be costly to keep our clothes clean. I will break down my steps to save money while I wash our clothes.

Saving Money Doing Laundry

Save on detergent:

1. Make your own laundry soap. Low cost, easy and easier on sensitive skin.

2. Use less. You can use about half and your clothes will come clean. Unless a load is really soiled, try using as little as you can to get your clothes clean. Think about it. According to the laundry container of course you have to use a certain amount so you have to buy more.

Frugal Friday Flashback - Saving Money And Time Freezer Cooking

I have been dusting off very slowly all my old posts starting from the beginning (six years ago). One I worked on this week is worth sharing again for saving money and time freezer cooking. The cook once eat twice or three or four times adage, is really a time saver and money saver.

Say you put a pork roast you found on sale (buy lots at that time) into the crock pot for shredded pork sandwiches, put two or three times what your family will eat. Remove the extra meat before you add sauce or whatever and freeze that in batches for tacos, enchiladas, soups etc. Be the money saving mom expert with freezer cooking. For us it is a way of life to save money with freezer meals.

Go ahead and check out the brushed up post where I added some of my favorite freezer meal recipes.

Do you have a favorite meal for freezing? Let us know in the comments.