Filed under: bulk buying, bulk cooking, cooking, cooking ahead, freezer, freezer cooking, freezer meals, frozen assets, frugal living, make-ahead, mealtime, oamc, once a month cooking, recipes, saving money, simple living, vegetarian
SUBMITTED BY: Stephanie (reposted from A Frugal Simple Life)
MOSTLY VEGETARIAN MONTHLY MEAL PLAN (for the freezer)
Here’s one of my plans:
This is only main dishes. I always serve greens, salad, muffins, etc. to go with my meals.
Enjoy! I hope this can help someone eat a few meatless meals.
The Full Month Plan:
1. Meatless Tamale Pie
2. Popeye Pie
3. Lentil Stew (more…)
Filed under: cooking, cooking ahead, dinner, freezer, freezer cooking, freezer meals, frozen assets, frugal living, holidays, make-ahead, mealtime, seasonal, simple living, sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving, vegetarian
This is so tasty, I always try to hide a little for breakfast the next day. It’s so delicious, it would almost work as dessert. 
Debi’s Sweet Potatoes with Pecan Streusel
Ingredients for Casserole:
- 5 medium-to-large sweet potatoes
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 eggs, beaten well
- 1 stick butter, melted (you can use margarine but it won’t be as yummy)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for Streusel Topping: (more…)
Filed under: bulk cooking, cookbooks, cooking, cooking ahead, dinner, freezer, freezer cooking, freezer meals, frozen assets, frugal living, ground beef, homemade, italian food, make-ahead, noodles, oamc, once a month cooking, pasta, recipes, saving money, vegetarian
This is one of those recipes my family can never get enough. I remember my youngest daughter when she was about three, holding out her plate with a huge smile and asking in a sweet little voice, “More yummy noodles, Mommy?”
Always such a pleasure when the kiddos enjoy an easy meal the grown-up folks love, too.
This recipe is reprinted with permission from my book, Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month (SourceBooks). (more…)
Filed under: bulk buying, bulk cooking, cooking, cooking ahead, freezer, freezer cooking, frozen assets, frugal living, gluten-free, groceries, homemade, make-ahead, mealtime, oamc, once a month cooking, recipes, saving money, sugar-free, Uncategorized, vegetarian
Over the past few years people in our home have developed various food allergies, and have required special diets for things like Celiac, etc. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more complicated food-wise, my son and I both developed an inability to digest meats (beef for me, anything flesh-related for him). Crazy.
So now in order to make a meal to feed all four of us at the same time, it needs to meet the following criteria:
- Gluten-free (essentially only rice noodles and rice bread)
- Sugar-free (no honey or fructose, either)
- Aspartame-free (no Nutrasweet)
- Vegetarian (or at least beef-free, but then my son needs something else to eat)
- Peanut-free
- Mushroom-free (including mushroom soup)
- Carrot-free
- Apple-free
- Light on the eggs (can be an ingredient, but not the main thing such as in omelettes or scrambled eggs)
- Mint-free (not usually much of an issue except with teas and desserts)
- Green tea – free
I think that’s all. LOL! 
I’ve decided to try to figure out a list of menus I can prepare that we can all eat so I’m not preparing separate meals for our various special diets. Sadly, doing bulk freezer meal cooking has sort of fallen by the wayside as one after another of our regular recipes have bit-the-dust.
So, any suggestions for cheap eats that meet the above requirements? And of course freezer-friendly recipes and ideas would be ideal!
Filed under: bulk buying, bulk cooking, cooking, cooking ahead, freezer, freezer cooking, frozen assets, frugal living, garden, gardening, homemade, italian food, make-ahead, mealtime, oamc, once a month cooking, recipes, seasonal, simple living, spaghetti, summer, tomatoes, vegetarian
Do you have an over-abundance of tomatoes right now? It seems like just about anyone with a garden has their tomatoes all come in at the same time. If you’re looking for a simple and delicious way to use them up before they go bad, try this tasty marinara/spaghetti sauce.
Garden Spaghetti Sauce
Makes about 4 pints
Ingredients:
- 6 pounds (15 – 18 medium-size) fresh ripe tomatoes or 4 large cans (28-oz. each) whole tomatoes, drained
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 large onions, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 Tbsp sugar (or honey)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
- To peel fresh tomatoes, dip fresh tomatoes in boiling water to cover for ten seconds. Core and peel. Chop fresh or canned tomatoes.
- Pour olive oil into large frying pan; add onions and garlic; cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown (about 15 minutes). Add chopped tomtatoes and basil. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. Add sugar (or honey), salt and pepper.
- Ladle sauce into four 1-pint canning jars or freezer containers. Be sure to leave at least 1-inch headspace to allow for liquid’s expansion during freezing. Cover tightly. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 1 year.
~Debi
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Filed under: bulk cooking, cooking, cooking ahead, freezer, freezer cooking, frozen assets, frugal living, make-ahead, mealtime, oamc, once a month cooking, recipes, simple living, vegetarian
This tasty recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen for a simple dinner on one of those “too-busy-to-cook” days we all have from time to time.
And before you ask, yes, this recipe really is cheese-free and vegetarian.
Enjoy!
Tofu and Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna (8 servings)
Sauce**:
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 (16-oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 (8-oz) can tomato paste
- 2 additional cups water
Filling:
- 1 pound medium tofu
- 2 bunches fresh spinach (or 10-oz. package frozen spinach)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- pinch of sage
- 1 (16-oz.) package lasagna noodles, uncooked
**To save time, you can substitute two jars of Ragu or Prego (or whatever your favorite pre-made sauce is) for the sauce portion of this recipe. Easy peasy. :-)
To prepare sauce, in large saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water, green pepper, onion and garlic. Heat to boiling. Turn down heat to medium-low and simmer until soft, stirring frequently. Stir in crushed bay leaves, basil, tomato sauce, tomato paste and 2 cups water. Simmer for 15 minutes.
To prepare filling, rinse fresh spinach in cold water. Cut off thick stems. Keep the water clinging to the leaves. Place in large stockpot. Heat covered over high heat, stirring frequently until spinach is soft. Drain spinach and squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside.
Drain tofu slightly (don’t squeeze out excess water). Place in blender container or food processor. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of container frequently. Spoon blended tofu into mixing bowl. Add spinach, oregano and basil. Mix well.
To assemble, spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of 9×13-inch pan. Top with 1/3 of the uncooked noodles, then 1 more cup of sauce. Spoon the tofu mixture by dollops over top of sauce. Add a second layer of noodles, followed by 1 cup sauce, and then spooning in the remaining tofu mixture. Add a third layer of noodles, pressing down firmly all over the lasagna. Spoon the remaining sauce over noodles, making sure that the noodles are completely covered with sauce. If preparing to freeze for eating later: wrap, label and freeze.
To serve: If frozen ahead, thaw completely. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Uncover lasagna and continue baking 15 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Cut into squares to serve.
~Debi
Deborah Taylor-Hough, author of the bestselling Frozen Assets cookbook series.
