Did some freezer cooking:
I was very excited to see 2 of my spinach plants survived the winter and are now actively growing again, meaning I had fresh spinach to put into my freezer batch of stuffed shells!
Below, I was able to make enough for dinner plus freeze enough into gallon bags for about 4 more dinners. It's always a pain to do freezer cooking, but it's soooo nice to just pull them out of the freezer, top with sauce and pop in the oven when I'm feeling overwhelmed!
For you meat lovers out there.... mmmmmm! The kids were also excited to see the twice baked parmesan & garlic potatoes, but of course were NOT excited to see the nightly reappearance of the beans! Good news is that I can finally see the end of the garden beans in the freezer!
Just for fun, notice anything about the cheese below? We kind of have a running joke here that whenever hubby slices cheese for me, it breaks up into states. I'm not kidding, this always happens! This night however, it was exceptionally weird since instead of one state, I broke my slices and they fell into these shapes: do you see them?
Utah, Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisana, Idaho, and Tennessee maybe? It seems to be our household version of the vision of the Virgin Mary in a cereal bowl or something. Hey, I warned you of the random food musings!
How does this happen?
Is it even possible to love reading yet be unable to keep up with the constant flow of reading material that finds its way into the house? One day...
Off to drown in paint again!
I need to figure out some "freezer cooking" ideas. Love the thought of pulling it out and having an instant dinner. Hope your painting goes quickly. I love the look of new paint but absolutely hate painting.
ReplyDeleteOh! Lookey! See that little nubbin on the left of the Idaho Panhandle? That's where I was born! My rabbit got to the atlas one day and chewed the page of the state of Arizona into the shape of...Arizona!
ReplyDeleteI subscribed to a half dozen magazines this year. Couldn't help myself at around $5 per subscription, but I'm not finding time to read them all right now. Maybe next winter, in the recliner, in front of the fireplace.
Oh those stuffed shells look good! What kind of cheese is it that always breaks up into states? How funny.
ReplyDeleteI only subscribe to one magazine and it's a gift from my mom. Any other magazine I have are hand me downs from my mother-in-law or sister. Once I'm done with them I pass them off to my other sister to use at the hospital where she works. Magazines last exactly 6 months in my house and then get shuffled out cause I don't have room to store them for longer.
I left a comment and it disappeared. Yep, I have a pile of books and mags that I barely flipped through. I thought for sure I would get some reading done this winter, but nope. So at least I am not the only one. Those shells look really good too.
ReplyDeleteOkay, this is the second time you've posted about your stuffed shells and I can resist no longer. Gonna make up a batch for our freezer. They look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSo your cheese breaks into states, huh? Is this before or after indulging in the wine? Didn't your mama ever tell you you shouldn't play with your food?
Ugh, I have my own stack of magazines that I can't seem to catch up on this winter. What's with that? I'm even two issues behind on my quilting magazines! Something's wrong here!
ooooh, those stuffed shells with fresh spinach looks amazing! I'll have to make those, I love spinach. Your kids are so funny about green beans. Those are my favorite veggies! Maybe one day they will grow to love them! LOL those cheese pieces do look like states. I was going to say, it looks like you cut them out of cookie cutters. Haha. Awesome. That large pile of magazines and catalogs is exactly like our house! I have no time to read them.
ReplyDeletePS, I am so amazed that you grow your own hops and brew your own beer. You're seriously my garden role model! Amazing!! How did your husband build a kegerator? Do you have a blog post about that? I keep telling the hubs that he needs one, for his garage man cave. Haha
meems, I have done some posts on brewing and the kegerator build, but the search box on my blog seems to not be pulling them up! I'll have to find them! We didn't brew but a couple of batches last year since hubby was deployed, but since he's back he's eager to start again. We have our own labels, too! Now I really need to find those posts LOL
ReplyDeleteRuth, it's a pain but definitely worth it when you are too tired to cook!
ReplyDeleteGran, LOL I see the nubbin!
Sparkless, I only subscribe to 2 of them, but I get a couple of gift subscriptions, too - and those darn seed catalogs just won't quit! Burpee insists on sending me 2 a week until I order from them LOL
Jane, I think we are definitely not the only ones with a stack of magazines!
Mama Pea - these would be great for you since Papa Pea doesn't care for pasta - you can just pull a couple out for yourself! I bet Chicken Mama would love some too! Ooooh, quilting magazines! You better get to reading!
You are making me hungry. I want some cheese states and shells for my freezer. STAT.
ReplyDeleteYum to your stuffed shells. And was that milk in one glass, wine in the other? I had to giggle. :) And now that I'm hungry at almost 11 pm, i'd better hop off your blog... :)
ReplyDeleteLove stuffed shells---but mine sure don't look "purty" like yours! LOL! For some reason, my shells always tear.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get back home, I'm going to try and get the freezer well stocked for the summer-much easier to pull a ready-made meal from there when the garden gets going.
And I NEVER get tired of beans! I'm hoping mine hold out until the new ones are ready.
How do you cook up your fresh beans from the garden?
ReplyDelete