Week 6- Home Made Real Fast Food

[Anne-Marie McCormack]

When you're in a rush to get something good to eat. You've come home late and don't know what to cook here's a few ideas...that works for me. I make up my own fast food, instead of stopping and picking up junk food on the way home. Here's how I do it:)

I'm used to cooking for four but now there's only two of us at home. So, I still cook for four and freeze the rest. For instance when I make a spaghetti sauce..I double the recipe again. So, now I've made 8 portions of spaghetti sauce with meat, onions, mushrooms etc. It only takes 5-10 minutes to double up on your recipe and that's the time to slice the onions and mushrooms etc. I serve up what we will eat that evening and once the sauce has cooled, freeze the rest.

The trick is, how to freeze it so, it thaws quickly.

With the remaining sauce, I put 2 servings of the sauce in strong freezer proof gallon size zip lock bags..( write on the front of the bag, the contents and the date you're freezing it). I use the large bags so the mixture can spread out and I remove the air from the bag so the sauce lays in the bag,
(taking care not to let the sauce come up to within an inch of the top).

I lay them flat in my freezer ( folding the top inch over so the sauce doesn't flow to the top of the bag). I put a sheet of kitchen towel roll in between bags so they don't freeze together).

I use the same sauce recipe as a starter for all kinds of Italian meals... you could convert it into a lasagna, a baked ziti etc. or just use it next time you have spaghetti.

To serve your fast food in 20 minutes..first turn your oven on to about 400 degrees F...
Take the bag out of the freezer...run it under cold water for about a minute, so the bag opens and slips off easily.

Now you have a flat block of meat sauce..next put it in a large deep saute/frying pan..and apply a low/med heat to the pan..(it takes about 20 minutes to have it defrosted and warm. Then, all I have to do is cook either the linguine or spaghetti noodles).

Garlic Bread
I also buy large french bread sticks, slice them into a a length we'll normally eat...make a few slits down into the bread, add some garlic slices or small pieces into the slits and slide some butter in there.

I double wrap the garlic bread in aluminum foil..place if the freezer all together in bag ( so I can see at a glance when I'm getting low). Take a foiled bread out of the freezer...straight into the cold oven. on a baking tray/sheet ..and after about 15-18 minutes...take one layer of foil off and open the top so the bread can crust up a little.

When you've cooked your noodles and added the sauce and served it up..now it's time to take the bread out of the oven and serve it with it.

I freeze all kinds of dishes this way...shepherds pie filling, braised steak, ( some call Swiss Steak) etc. For casseroles and roast dinner. I tend to freeze them in deeper dishes that go straight from the freezer to the oven.

I also make a vegetable soup up and freeze it the same way. It makes a great winter lunch. You can add leftover meat, or cooked meat to it as you're heating it up.

Please share your tips and or recipes with us for your quick and easy food that's made from scratch and add them to this discussion. :)

[Herminia Haydeé Suarez]

Very tasting recipes. I love garlic bread!!! Thank you Annemarie!!!!

Herminia

[Jessica]

When I make pancakes I double the recipe and make up a bunch for the freezer, that way my kids can grab one in the morning before school! I place wax paper between the cakes so they don't stick together.
Jessica