At Your House After the Mouse--Beat the Heat Tacos

Another great benefit of freeze ahead cooking is the ability to prepare dinner without heating up the house.  A huge plus this summer!  It's supposed to feel like 115 here today. 

Tonight we are having tacos.  From the freezer, I have retrieved one pack of taco meat and one pack of black beans.  We always have tortillas and the other fixin's on hand.

Taco Meat:
I usually make 3 pounds at a time.  One big pot to clean and I have many easy meals stored away.  A little secret of my taco meat mixture...it has carrots in it.  You can know that your family is getting a little more of their veggie requirement without a fuss.  The carrots also add a little sweetness to the mixture.  They hide well behind the tomatoes.  If they need to be totally incognito for your crowd, just make sure you puree them really well, adding a little water as needed.

My kitchen posts are more about teaching concepts and inspiring ideas, so again, this isn't a hard and fast recipe.

Per Batch:
1 pound ground beef, ours is really lean, but that's up to you
3 carrots, pureed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning

Brown and drain your ground beef.  Add in the can of diced tomatoes, the carrot puree, and taco seasoning.  Bring it up to a boil and allow to cool well before packaging for the freezer.  Use the same trick as the round steak.  Prepare freezer zip top bags with the amount your family will eat in one meal.  I still freeze these flat in a cake pan, but folding the bag in half makes this smaller quantity easier to deal with later.

Black Bean Dip/Side Dish/Burrito Filling:
I've been making a version of this for a while now.  For a super fast addition to your taco dinner, combine one can of black beans, drained, with one can of tomatoes with cilantro and lime.  Cook until the tomato juice has condensed by about half.  This is a great side on its own, rolled into a tortilla for a burrito, or combined with some cooked rice for a heartier option. 

I've started cooking dried beans since they are less expensive.  Prepare a one pound bag of black beans according to the package directions.  Add in two cans of tomatoes with cilantro and lime and one can whole kernel corn, drained.  The yellow of the corn looks really nice in the mixture.  It could use some green too, so I think I'll try some green pepper or fresh cilantro next time.  If you are making this with dried beans, you'll end up with a rather large quantity, so freeze it using the tips above. 

For both the taco meat and the black beans, I allow them to thaw on the counter for a half hour or so and then cut off the bag.  I reheat them each in a microwave safe bowl covered loosely with plastic wrap. 

With your freezer and pantry stocked with these recipes, you can easily cook a quick meal with minimal clean up and without heating up the house. 

Homemade tacos with black beans-- a great simple meal At Your House After The Mouse

At Your House After The Mouse--Round Steak

Between WDW vacations and visiting out-of-state family, it feels like we travel alot.  A few years back, I found a method of cooking that helps put a good meal on the table when you're short on time.  This is really handy when you're just back from vacation and having a hard time dealing with the real world again.  I am referring to "freeze ahead" or "large batch" cooking.  No matter what you call it, it's great.  I love it when my freezer is full of items I can use to quickly and easily feed my family.

While this is a little off topic for a Disney blog, we're all busy all the time, so why not make life a little easier between trips?

Let's start with a very simple recipe for round steak.  One of the great things about cooking and freezing large batches is that it allows you to take advantage of good prices on food items.  The next time round steak is on sale at your local market, buy a couple of packs and try this recipe.  I am fortunate that my inlaws raise cattle and give us beef, but I never quite know what to do with the round steak.  Now we enjoy this ridiculously easy meal.

Per Batch:
1 pound (give or take) round steak
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pack dry onion soup mix
1/4 cup water
Sour cream to taste

Slice the round steak into strips.  I like to cut mine while it's still slightly frozen so it slices more easily.  Place into your crock pot.  Top with remaining ingredients and stir well.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Stir a little sour cream into the portion of the mixture that you'll be eating immediately.  Leave the sour cream out of the portion that will be frozen.  I serve it over rice, but potatoes or egg noodles would be good too.

Freeze the leftovers in quart-sized freezer zipper bags, pressing out as much air as possible.  The amount you'll put in each bag will depend on how many people you need to feed.  These were set up for two adults.  Be sure to label and date the bags.  Lay the bags flat in a cake pan and freeze until solid.  The frozen bags stack really nicely in your freezer.  This trick works great for all sorts of recipes: soups, sauces, taco meat, etc.

When you are ready to serve, open the bag a little to vent and microwave it for about a minute.  Once it's thawed enough to break apart with your hands, transfer the mixture into a saucepan and heat thoroughly.  Before serving, stir in a little sour cream. 

In the picture, I've served this with what I call Italian green beans and Granny's carrots.  Both are also freezer-friendly.  I'll cover them in a future post if this one goes over well. 

Freeze ahead cooking requires a little planning but it pays great dividends.  It's wonderful to know you can have a homecooked dinner on the table in the time it takes to cook rice.  And since you've done all the real prep and cooking on another day, the clean-up is minimal as well.  Just what you need as you're readjusting to the real world. 


Please check out our other recipes and home ideas.
Pumpkin Crisp
Cheesecake Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookies
L.A. (lower Alabama) Caviar 
Nutella Brownies
Beat the Heat Tacos
Ribbon Window Valance
Christmas Card Display

At Your House After The Mouse--Improv Cooking, Roasted Tomato Sauce

Since it's Food & Wine week here on the blog, I thought I'd share the pasta sauce I made for dinner.  It's delicious and looks more impressive than it is difficult.  It's an improvisational recipe, so if you need measurements, this isn't for you.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place about a pint of small tomatoes in one layer in a large baking dish.  For cherry tomatoes, I leave them whole.  I had some romas that were an impulse buy at the farmer's market and cut them each into eight pieces.  Top with a few good gulgs of EVOO.  Add in whatever you have that sounds good.  Tonight I added some bell pepper cut into small pieces and some whole black olives.  Add a good sprinkling of salt and fresh ground pepper and then pop it into the oven until the tomatoes are well cooked.  Stir it occasionally during the cooking process.  My tomatoes needed about 45 minutes tonight.  I had some fresh garlic on hand but that was being roasted, so I added a little jarred chopped garlic to my sauce with about 10 minutes to go.  Those tiny pieces will burn if they cook the whole time.  Once it's all cooked, you can adjust the salt and pepper to taste and add any other seasonings you like.  Fresh basil is good but I'm not growing it this year so I used a little dried basil.  I serve this over angel hair pasta.

Not the fanciest meal (or blog post) but it's really good.

Let me know if this inspires you to try something new in the kitchen.