I love to fill my freezer with all sorts of goodies I can use to make easy meals. One of my favorite things to do is to precook things like chicken or ground beef to have them ready to add to a recipe.

Recently I was in the mood for some baked pasta. After a search, I found THIS RECIPE for Easy Baked Spaghetti and had to try it. I already had most of the items needed in my pantry. Since I was putting together a grocery order, it was easy to add the few items I needed.

I managed to pick up around 4 pounds of lean ground beef and rather than freeze most of it raw, I chose to cook it, package it, and tuck it into the freezer for later.

I tend to use what I call a basic seasoned ground beef, which means that I added chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper to the meat as it cooked, then drain off any fat or liquid and separate into approximately 1 pound packages. This gets me a standard starting point for pretty much anything I would use the meat for later.

Once the meat was cooked, divvied up and set aside to cool, I used the remaining pound to dive into the Easy Baked Spaghetti recipe.

The recipe is easy to do but takes a bit of coordination and timing. I adjusted the additions (onion, seasoning, etc.) in the recipe because I had already used the same when I cooked the entire batch of ground beef. If I had thought about it sooner (!) I would have broken the spaghetti into smaller pieces before I cooked it.

I also bought pre-shredded cheeses which allowed me to have just what I needed without extra on hand.

This recipe makes a generous 9 x 13 pan of goodness. It is not soupy with extra sauce. I would add a nice side salad and some garlic toast to round out the meal.

As for that extra ground beef, I have three 1 pound packages in the freezer ready to be used in chili, tacos or another pasta bake. All I will have to do is let it defrost and go from there.

Happy Cooking!

Everyone has one

I have yet to come across anyone who cooks who does not have a stash of recipes somewhere. It could be on their phone, computer, a pile of magazines or on their shelves in books.

We might be more alike that we think… Have you got notes of recipes you <cough> want to try…someday? Did you purchase a cookbook because you enjoyed the author’s videos and wanted to try their recipes? Have you been collecting books and magazines over the years? Did you find an amazing book or collection at a car boot sale or second hand store?

As we start a new year I have a radical idea. Why don’t we pull out our stash, go through it and find recipes we want to make and – brace yourself – make them!

After a month or so of Holiday Food coupled with Winter Food Blahs, we need to find something to bring back a little excitement in our meal plans. Maybe one new recipe a week?

Before you head off in a panic, consider that I am not suggesting you buy loads of groceries you don’t normally buy nor add things to your pantry that might get only one use. I suggest you look at what you normally buy and eat, then look at new recipe with similar ingredients.

Tired of the same old chicken? Why not find a new way to make it? Looking for an alternative to the tried and true [ fill in the blank ] with something different?

Pull out your stash of recipes and a collection of bookmarks/sticky notes and your trusty notebook and see what you find that captures your interest. What do you have on hand that you can use? What do you need to buy?

I would bet that there are lots of options.

I would also bet that if you are bored this could be the start of a new adventure in your kitchen.

What are you waiting for?

Lately I find myself thinking about those foods I actually like but don’t find myself preparing very often. I tend to struggle a bit making sure I have consumed enough vegetables – and I like many vegetables in many forms. Like carrots.

Most of us encountered the lowly carrot as part of a crudites platter along with cauliflower, broccoli, celery and such. Frankly, I think most folks were more into the dip (usually Ranch) than any of the veg. <shrug>

If you are one of us who were raised by cooks who tended to overcook vegetables – any vegetables, we remember those over done, mushey orangey things that did not inspire eating.

I think that carrots need a review if only to remind ourselves that there is potential for something delicious. Consider:

Steaming carrots allows us to cook them without their turning into paste and preserving their sweet flavor. Speaking of that flavor, if you like sweet potatoes carrots should be an easy shift because their flavors are similar.

Taking that a step farther, try adding some butter and cinnamon to your carrots. You might be surprised. Add a touch of brown sugar, too. Remind you of anything?

Roasting carrots deepens the flavor and when combined with potatoes in a pot roast the end result is … divine. It all comes down to the roasting.

Don’t overlook the old standby, carrots and peas. Both are mild flavored, which is not a negative, and are a great addition to casseroles and soups, not to mention as a side with pretty much any protein.

Carrot salad can be iffy but there are quite a few recipes out there that are not the usual mix. America’s Test Kitchen did one a few years ago that changed Julia Collin Davison’s opinion about carrot salad. Search ‘ATK Carrot Salad Recipes’ to see all kinds of great options.

While you are checking out the salads, don’t forget to check out the soup recipes. A nice carrot soup can be an unexpected pleasure.

As I contemplate my meal plan for the next month I will be adding carrots in as many places as I can. They are easy to prepare, easy on the budget, and tasty on the plate.

Care to join me?

Is there anything simpler than chicken and rice? You have so many options when it comes to chicken. My particular favorite is to bake it in the oven. Breaded or not. Sauced or not. A good baked chicken can be so easy and tasty.

Now there is a lot of leeway when it comes to baking chicken. I like to take a flat of boneless skinless chicken breasts and put them in the oven (or slow cooker), season them and let them go until they are cooked tender and tasty. I also have my favorite breaded chicken that is already seasoned. It really comes down to what you have on hand and what you want to make.

Rice, however, can be a bit fussy depending upon how you do it. Or where. When I lived on the west coast I always cooked my rice on the stove top and I never had any issues. Moving to the Midwest, however, brought some interesting challenges. Yes, I can cook it on the stove top and half the time it worked and half the time it was pretty iffy. Keep in mind I used the exact same recipe. My solution: I bought a rice cooker. For the most part it produces excellent rice. Occasionally I have issues…like when I add frozen veg to the steamer basket without allowing for the extra water on the veg.

Dan over at America’s Test Kitchen has done some research and provided excellent information on how to cook rice. Check it out:

FWIW That First Knuckle Trick works every single time.

So, when you are looking for comfort food that is easy to prepare and tasty, why not cook up some chicken and rice?