beigeonbeige's Profile

Burritos freeze splendidly, allrecipes addictive sweet potato burritos are my personal favorite. we also freeze a lot of meat-in-marinade, it marinades as it thaws.

Ditto the kale--Costco sells a sweet kale salad kit that lasts in the fridge for weeks on end *and* is delicious :)
I love to roast frozen vegetables, it's my sanity saver--no prep and always on hand.
Brooklynnina, pounding the chicken helps thaw times AND cook times immensely. I learned a neat trick from Rachael Ray--put the chicken breast inside a cheapie gallon sized baggie, pound it flat, and then stack the baggied chicken up inside a ziplock for freezing--no mess and easy to pull out as many pieces as you need. Also freezing meat in marinade or sauce is a huge time saver, it marinades while freezing and again while thawing.

I have the Orka silicone pop molds and LOVE them, super easy to remove and no breaking if you drop them. Sure wish Tovolo would make their molds out of silicone or Orka would make Tovolo shaped pop molds--either way would make my day!
My favorite pop filling is sugar free jello mixed with crystal light and water, almost zero calories and super refreshing. The guar gum in the jello makes them less icy than straight juice pops, and way less drippy.

Don't forget Lentil Snobby Joes! http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/snobby-joes/

Buttons_whims (and anyone else looking for coconut oil) I hadn't seen it in my small town grocery stores before but noticed a huge tub of Organic cold-pressed extra virgin Coconut Oil at Costco last month so it can't be too exotic :) I remember a few years ago hearing people were ordering it online from Amazon's grocery section when it was harder to find.
Sd0126, thank you so much for figuring out the nutrition info and saving me the hassle! :)

Super cute!!! I wonder how long it would stay cute looking, doesn't candy corn "melt" in contact with moisture?

I love it! My spice drawer looks very similar, except I used tiny 4oz jam jars and 8oz wide-mouth half pints. ($7 &$10 a dozen reespectively) I wish I had see thru lids like this, it would be fun to see the contents at a glance. (I used the little white labels that came with the jars)

This is a great soup recipe that calls for ground beef, I make it a lot, kids love it.
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
64oz V8
2 10.5 ounce cans condensed cream of celery soup
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
3 cups shredded carrots (the bagged matchstick carrots give a heartier texture but cost more)
Brown meat & onion, add everything except the cream o soups, simmer on low for an hour. Add creamed soup and stir/simmer until welll combined. Freezes beautifully and reheats easily.

I make this bean soup in the crockpot at least once a month, delicious! (I use the bag of mixed dried beans from the regular grocery store, I've never seen the blend she mentions at Costco)
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/gourmet_bean_soup
I also adore the ground beef/shredded carrot/V8/cream of celery soup my Mom made groing up, I know there's a lot of creamed soup haters but it's just not the same without it!
And the Peanut Butter Chicken Veegetable soup off of allrecipes is the best broth ever, hands down. I use "normal" chicken soup veggies instead of their veggies, but in similar proportions. My soup-averse husband loves this one especially.

I ride the fence on this one, I don't tolerate pickiness, we are blessed far beyond most of the world and I'm trying to raise grateful thankful kids. That said, there were a few vegetables that tripped me up as a kid. I didn't realize until I was an adult that it was mostly the texture and not the taste so I try to be especially aware of that in my kids by offering disliked veggies in their preferred textures. Mine don't like the texture of mashed veggies like potatoes or squash. No problem, they eat baked potatoes and roasted squash. Not huge fans of the more nutritional raw leafys, but Kale chips, spinach nuggets, and green smoothies slide right down. I've yet to find a veggie they won't eat in *any* form.
The veggie I hide most often is pumpkin--it blends invisibly into mac n cheese and sauces. But my FAVORITE veggie hider is chocolate cupcakes! Yup, super sneaky. One can pumpkin, one box chocolate cake mix. Stir, bake @400 for 20 minutes. Extra good topped with mini chocolate chips before baking.