Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Cooking Tip: Mozzarella Cheese on a Budget
I have four kids so I make A LOT of pizza. That means we go through A LOT of cheese. Here's how I always have cheese on hand.
I buy pre-shredded mozzarella cheese at CostCo in bulk. One bag is about 40 cups of cheese. Even through it's shredded, it's cheaper than buying it in a block. And it's one less thing for me to do!
I also buy sandwich size Ziploc baggies at CostCo. You'll need them for this tip. Add 1 cup of cheese to one sandwich baggie. Jiggle the cheese around so that it's flat and uniform in the baggie.
Seal the bag all except for a finger widths amount. That's the air escape valve. So technical!
Roll up your bag to squeeze out all the air.
Seal up the opening.
Look! It's vacuum sealed! I just saved you $100 on a vacuum sealer! I take checks and credit cards.
Nice and flat and air tight! Now stack them up and put them in your freezer. One bag it good for one good sized pizza. And since you just bagged up 40 c. of cheese, you can make 40 pizzas!
I buy pre-shredded mozzarella cheese at CostCo in bulk. One bag is about 40 cups of cheese. Even through it's shredded, it's cheaper than buying it in a block. And it's one less thing for me to do!
I also buy sandwich size Ziploc baggies at CostCo. You'll need them for this tip. Add 1 cup of cheese to one sandwich baggie. Jiggle the cheese around so that it's flat and uniform in the baggie.
Seal the bag all except for a finger widths amount. That's the air escape valve. So technical!
Roll up your bag to squeeze out all the air.
Seal up the opening.
Look! It's vacuum sealed! I just saved you $100 on a vacuum sealer! I take checks and credit cards.
Nice and flat and air tight! Now stack them up and put them in your freezer. One bag it good for one good sized pizza. And since you just bagged up 40 c. of cheese, you can make 40 pizzas!
Cooking Tip: Immortal Lettuce
Unwrap your lettuce and give it a rinse in cold water. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Wrap it in a dry paper towel or two and put it in a gallon bag. Mine are not ziploc, they just close with a twist tie. You can find them in the baggie section. You don't need to close the bag or anything, you can leave it open to give it some air.
Don't cut lettuce off the head until you're ready to use it. Keeping the head intact helps it stay fresher longer. Just tear off what you need and put it back in the paper towel wrap when you're done. If the paper towels start to get too moist, replace them with fresh ones.
Now put it in the fridge and it will be there whenever you need lettuce (Taco salad anyone?). The paper towel helps suck up extra moisture. Of course, you could just eat more salad before it gets a chance to go bad. But that's just crazy talk.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Multipurpose Taco Meat
After 14 years of marriage I had an
epiphany while making taco meat. If you add beans it stretches the
quantity to twice as much. I will now present you with the most multipurpose, easy, budget friendly dinner of all. Get ready to save money!
Brown your beef (I'm using 3/4 of a pound), and drain the grease. Then drain one can of black beans and add to the ground beef. My beef was from the freezer and the beans were in the pantry. No shopping required!
Add 3/4 cup water...
Add 3-4 tablespoons of McCormick Taco Seasoning.
Simmer until the sauce is thick and delicious.
Here's the multipurpose part...Make it into a Burrito! Jason added salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese with a "Daddy" flour tortilla.
Or make it into taco salad! Heidi put her taco meat on a bed of corn tortilla chips with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Or make it into a taco! You can toast your taco shells in the oven using the directions on the box. It makes them so much more delicious than right out of the box! Liz is a taco purist, she added taco meat and cheese. She's often anti-vegetable. But that's okay because so am I. We get our vitamins so don't judge us!
If ground beef is $1.99/pound and a can of black beans is about $0.50-$0.79 than the beans are half the price of the meat. It may not sound like you've saved much, but if I cook Taco Meat once a week for 14 years of marriage, here's some math fun for you.
Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
3/4 lb. ground beef = 1.99*3/4 = $1.50
1 can black beans = $0.50 (thanks to the caselot sale at Smiths!)
Total = $2.00
Once a week for 14 years = $1,456
NOT Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 pound = $1.99
another pound of ground beef instead of a can of black beans = $1.99
Total = $4.00
Once a week for 14 years = $2,912
Savings = $1456 over 14 years or $104 a year
What would you do with $104? And this is just the money saved on one meal. Imagine if you had a whole collection of budget meals? Never underestimate how much you'll save by being wise for every meal.
And what if I bought dry beans and cooked them? One pound of dry beans is about a dollar and makes a huge quantity of cooked beans. I also have a recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning! Let's save those recipes for another day...
Multipurpose Taco Meat
Serves 6 (that's $0.33 per person, not including toppings)
3/4 or 1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
3/4 c. water
4 T. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or more or less depending on how hot you like it)
Extras:
Taco Shells or Flour Tortillas or Tortilla Chips
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
1. Brown and drain ground beef. Drain beans and add to beef.
2. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning (mine is McCormick, it's 3/4 c. water and 4 T. mix) and add to beef and beans. Simmer until thickened and heated through.
3. Prepare extras and serve with hot taco meat.
4. Plot how to use all your extra money...
Brown your beef (I'm using 3/4 of a pound), and drain the grease. Then drain one can of black beans and add to the ground beef. My beef was from the freezer and the beans were in the pantry. No shopping required!
Add 3/4 cup water...
Add 3-4 tablespoons of McCormick Taco Seasoning.
Simmer until the sauce is thick and delicious.
Here's the multipurpose part...Make it into a Burrito! Jason added salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese with a "Daddy" flour tortilla.
Or make it into taco salad! Heidi put her taco meat on a bed of corn tortilla chips with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Or make it into a taco! You can toast your taco shells in the oven using the directions on the box. It makes them so much more delicious than right out of the box! Liz is a taco purist, she added taco meat and cheese. She's often anti-vegetable. But that's okay because so am I. We get our vitamins so don't judge us!
If ground beef is $1.99/pound and a can of black beans is about $0.50-$0.79 than the beans are half the price of the meat. It may not sound like you've saved much, but if I cook Taco Meat once a week for 14 years of marriage, here's some math fun for you.
Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
3/4 lb. ground beef = 1.99*3/4 = $1.50
1 can black beans = $0.50 (thanks to the caselot sale at Smiths!)
Total = $2.00
Once a week for 14 years = $1,456
NOT Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 pound = $1.99
another pound of ground beef instead of a can of black beans = $1.99
Total = $4.00
Once a week for 14 years = $2,912
Savings = $1456 over 14 years or $104 a year
What would you do with $104? And this is just the money saved on one meal. Imagine if you had a whole collection of budget meals? Never underestimate how much you'll save by being wise for every meal.
And what if I bought dry beans and cooked them? One pound of dry beans is about a dollar and makes a huge quantity of cooked beans. I also have a recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning! Let's save those recipes for another day...
Multipurpose Taco Meat
Serves 6 (that's $0.33 per person, not including toppings)
3/4 or 1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
3/4 c. water
4 T. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or more or less depending on how hot you like it)
Extras:
Taco Shells or Flour Tortillas or Tortilla Chips
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
1. Brown and drain ground beef. Drain beans and add to beef.
2. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning (mine is McCormick, it's 3/4 c. water and 4 T. mix) and add to beef and beans. Simmer until thickened and heated through.
3. Prepare extras and serve with hot taco meat.
4. Plot how to use all your extra money...
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