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by Nanci Slagle & Tammy Davis
In
This Issue:
NOTES FROM NANCI
BONUS RECIPES
MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES FROM TAMMY
CONTESTS
GOURMET Q & A
CONSULTANT NEWS
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
COMING UP IN FEBRUARY
NOTES
FROM NANCI
For those of who have been
with us at least a year, you’ll remember that I give myself the WHOLE
month of January to begin implementing those New Year’s resolutions that
always seem to involve my exercise, my house cleaning and my cooking. Oh
sure, I have professional goals and lists of books that I want to read.
But those other three always seem to pop up at the top every year. It’s
not that I didn’t meet last year’s goals. It’s just that the goals keep
changing and need to be modified every year to fit “life as I know it”.
I think I’m finally learning to base my goals on ME and MY life not on
some infomercial with Daisy Fuentes doing Winsor Pilates on a beach or
that guy who vacuum packs every single food in his Hollywood set
kitchen. Have you learned that nothing walks into your house and “does
it for you” (except a full time maid/cook and they are very expensive☺)?
So base your goals on YOU. For me, that means that in 2003 I plan to:
-
keep walking 4 miles every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning with my friend, Susan, who picks
me up at 8:40 am. Left to myself I would never do it. Treadmills and
gyms don’t work for me. I have to be talking to someone!
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keep using the Flylady
system for keeping my house clean and presentable. If you haven’t
heard of Flylady and you have problems with C.H.A.O.S. (Can’t Have
Anyone Over Syndrome) check her out at
www.flylady.net.
It will change your life!
-
modify my freezer cooking
plans to fit life with three teenagers, a 9 year old and a hubby who
is now getting home from work about 7 pm. The old ways aren’t working
any more and I need to adapt.
In the February newsletter
I’ll be walking you through the cooking day that I have coming up next
week. I’ll be making recipes and using planning tools that I have never
used before. Hopefully, this will all result in food that my kids will
actually eat (Bob will eat anything!) and many foods that they can cook
themselves. It will also include purchasing almost everything needed for
each meal in one big shopping trip. And the biggest change -–it will
include the use of a menu planner that I plan to post on the fridge and
follow for one month. Some of you are laughing right now. Yes, we have a
menu planning calendar in the manual. And no, I have never used it
before. Just didn’t fit me but now I think it will help.
So while I’ve been planning my cooking, Tammy has actually been DOING
it! I asked her to do a cooking day using our new software and to share
her process and procedures with us. Take it away Tammy!
My cooking day…
I cooked last week using the 30 Day Gourmet Advantage Cooking Software.
Click here to go to the message boards to read all about my
assembly day(s), getting sick, going to the doctor and the dentist and
still trying to cook.
I posted on the 10th, saying I had gotten the granola bars and snack mix
and muffins done, and had to go package them up and then clean the
kitchen. After posting, I went around the corner into the kitchen, and
just stopped and stared at the mess I made. And I had to laugh! And I
had to take a picture!! The kitchen was SO full of cooling food and
dirty dishes, there wasn’t room to make a sandwich on the counter! When
my husband saw the picture, he said there wasn’t room to change your
mind in that kitchen!!
Click here to see my “beautiful” kitchen! And, make sure you see
the “after” picture, when I got the food put away and the dishes done.
So when I said in my post that I had to “find” my counters before I
could get started, I wasn’t kidding!! Cooking with an empty dishwasher
and filling it as you go is definitely the way to do it!
I tested the software before it was released, but I had to familiarize
myself with it again before I got started. I entered a couple of my
personal recipes and got my cooking day planned. I found it very easy to
add new recipes, as well as new ingredients. I also found it easy to
make changes to the software based on how I’ll use it.
The reports are the best part of the software, I think! Not only do they
keep you in line as to what you need to be doing, but they really help
you find the “bugs” in how you’ve entered your information. I printed
the Grocery Report and the Ingredient Report to start with. The Grocery
Report showed I needed 8 1/4 pounds of flour, so I needed to buy a 10
pound bag. Great! But then I get to evaporated milk, which shows I need
192 teaspoons. This is an obvious sign that I missed something in the
Reference section, and need to go back and check my ingredient packaging
and conversions so it shows ounces instead of teaspoons! Having the
Ingredient report to refer to is invaluable in figuring this out,
because it shows I need 24 ounces and 1 cup (8 ounces) of evaporated
milk, or 32 ounces total. Once I got those worked out, I reprinted the
Grocery Report.
It prints by Ingredient Category (baking, canned, dairy, frozen, etc.)
so that helped make the shopping quicker, since like-items were grouped
together. While I was shopping and crossing items off my list, I also
noted the aisle number each item was on. So I could quickly update my
software with aisle numbers when I got home. And next time, I’ll print
the Grocery Store Report, which will give me my list by aisle number.
When it came time to actually cook, the reports were great! The Action
Report tells you how much onion you need to chop and dice, how much
cheese you need to grate, etc. Might as well do it all at once and get
it done! If you have time the day before you cook to do some prep-work,
the Action Report is the one you need to tell you what to do. The
Appliance Report helped me keep track of what needed to go in the crock
pot and the oven to keep them busy. I realized I needed to leave the
Appliance line blank for recipes that are frozen raw, like the Master
Meat Mix. It showed up under “Oven” on my cooking day, when I don’t use
the oven for it until serving day. I think I’m going to add Cooked
Burger, Raw Burger and Cooked Pasta to my appliance list, so all the
recipes with those in them will print under that heading. Then I’ll have
a list of all the recipes that need raw hamburger together, so I can
make them at the same time. And I might as well do all the cooked pasta
recipes together, so I only have to dirty the pot once to boil pasta. I
could add them to my Recipe Category List, but I think I want to keep
that the same as the tabs in my Cooking Notebook. That’s the nice thing
about it… personalize it so it works for you!
Another neat report is the Recipe Inventory. I will admit, as Nanci did
above, that I don’t use the menu planning sheets from the manual either.
But this report prints a list of all of your recipes, as well as the
items you need for serving day. And there’s a little box in front of
each recipe for how many batches of it you made, so you can post it on
the fridge, and check it off as you eat the meals. Great way to keep
track of the freezer inventory too!
I really like the software, and am glad I have it! I’ve imported some of
the recipes from the newsletter, and that worked easily enough. I’m
looking forward to hearing from those of you that have the software and
how you’ve personalized it and made it work for you. We have a Software
category on our message boards for Q&A, hints and ideas about the
software. Check it out, and share your ideas!
Now what I’m really looking forward to is the next time I cook, and
seeing how long it takes me to plan my cooking day and get my grocery
list together. I’m expecting it should take me less than 15 minutes!
Wow! What a great time saver!
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BONUS
RECIPES FROM TAMMY
This month, we decided to
feature some side dish recipes. I’m sure everyone is like me and gets
stuck in a rut with the same old side dishes. So I’ve come up with 5
“easy to make and freeze great!” side dishes.
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
This is a family favorite that I’ve posted on the message boards before.
My mom always makes it for holidays, and I adapted it to freezer
cooking.
Click here to view/print the Cheesy Mashed Potatoes recipe.
Country Baked Beans
Baked beans don’t get any better than this! With the hamburger in it,
you could even use it as a main dish if you wanted to.
Click here to view/print the Country Baked Beans recipe.
Baked Corn Casserole
This is an old-fashioned recipe, and just as tasty as ever! It’s quick
and easy to put together, and freezes great.
Click here to view/print the Baked Corn Casserole recipe.
Freezer Cole Slaw
My husband loves this recipe! He said it’s “just like Mom used to make!”
We were amazed at how crisp the cabbage stayed after being frozen! It
was still crisp after a couple days in the refrigerator too.
Click here to view/print the Freezer Cole Slaw recipe.
Broccoli Rice and Cheese
I don’t like rice, but I love this dish! I adapted it from a friend. You
can use low-fat or fat-free soup and Cheez Whiz to lower the fat and
calorie content too.
Click here to view/print the Broccoli, Rice and Cheese recipe.
If you find you have too many leftovers from your side dish, don’t cut
the recipe down. Just divide it into smaller portions when you freeze
it. Instead of freezing a whole batch of the Cheesy Mashed Potatoes,
which fills a 9x13 pan, divide it into two freezer bags, which will each
make an 8x8 pan. If there’s just one or two in your house, or the kids
don’t eat much, divide it into three or four freezer bags, and then cook
it in a loaf pan. Just watch the cooking time to make sure it doesn’t
get over-done. I’ve found 9x13 and 8x8 pans take about the same time to
cook as what the recipe says. But a loaf pan will take less time. Start
checking it after about half the time is up, and go from there.
If you have a favorite side dish that freezes great, please share it
with us on the Message Boards! You can also check out the Boards for
some good side dish recipes posted by our cooks. Don’t forget the
recipes from the Old Message Boards when you’re checking. Also, the
Recipe tab at the top of the site has lots of recipes to offer too!
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WEBSITE NEWS
New & improved shopping cart
Thanks for your patience while Curtis upgraded our shopping cart. We
have added a few things, changed a few things and given you some new
options. You can now e-mail info about a product to a friend. You can
also store several addresses under your user name and password. Makes it
easy to have gifts shipped to friends or relatives.
Click here to check
it out!
Free Shipping on orders over $50
Software Owners!
Curtis has begun posting links on the site for the recipes that we have
.rcp files for so watch for those on the site. I have zip files for the
Winning Contest Recipes and for the Chewin’ The News Recipes that
can be quickly imported into your software. Please e-mail me at
nanci@30daygourmet.com if you’d
like me to send them.
Holiday Book or eBook Owners!
I also have a zip file for the holiday recipes that you can import into
your Advantage Cooking software. E-mail me
at nanci@30daygourmet.com
for the file and let me know your invoice number or approximate date of
purchase of the holiday book.
Ebook News – Freezer Cooking for Childcare Providers and Busy Parents
sampler NOW available for FREE!
Sampler includes: cover, introductory letter, table of contents and
these three recipes to try -
- Oven French Toast Sticks
- Beef and Cheese Crescents
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
Click
here to download your FREE sampler.
The full e-book with more than 25 recipes plus info pages will be
available in our February issue. A must-have for all daycare providers!
Author: Childcare Provider and busy mom of 3, Cindy Clark is
always prepared with a home-cooked meal.
Freezer Desserts to Die For! Available for $6.95
The hints and tips are worth the price of the e-book alone but you also
get 25 dessert and 4 frosting recipes. Learn how to have a variety of
delicious desserts ready in your freezer.
Time-saving tips, helpful hints, packaging info and recipes that really
are to die for!
Click
here to buy your copy of Freezer Desserts to Die For. Download
it straight to your computer and start whipping up some delectable
desserts!
Other eBook Information
We have a total of 4 ebooks available now on our website. If you’re
looking for more freezer recipes, this is the place.
Click here
for more information about Freezer Cooking on a Budget,
Freezer Lunches to Go and Holiday Freezer Cooking. All ebooks
include 25 recipes and loads of great info.
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MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES FROM
TAMMY
Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas season! We did. To see a
picture of my youngest, in his Christmas attire,
click here. He just
turned 5, and this picture will tell you everything you need to know
about Christmas at my house! From the twinkle in his eyes, to the ornery
grin and the saying on his shirt… that says it all! In spite of how busy
everyone is in December, we had 159 posts on the message boards. We’ve
had quite a few new cooks join us, including a “House Dad” on our “Where
is Everyone From?” thread. We have over 50 posts on this thread now!
Click here to visit this thread and introduce yourself!
For a great tip about starting your crock pot when you aren’t home,
click here. Why didn’t I think of that?
For a great tip to help you get all the food out of your freezer bags,
click here. I did think of this one, but why didn’t I think of
it sooner? Sure would have saved on some messes!
Be sure to check out the message boards for lots more great ideas and
new recipes too!
If you have any questions about our message boards, please email me at
tammy@30daygourmet.com
for help. I’ll be more than happy to help you out!
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CONTEST
WINNERS
CRAZY COOK’S STORY APRON WINNERS –
chosen by Nanci from entries posted on the
message boards or sent by
e-mail to
nanci@30daygourmet.com
Crazy Cook’s Contest Apron Winner – Lisa Y. from Bethany,
Missouri
This past December my family's home was featured
in a Christmas tour of homes. I spent DAYS cleaning, decorating, and
redecorating. After teaching all day and cleaning all night, being able
to pull 30 Day Gourmet suppers from my freezer was one of the few things
that saved my sanity....most of it, at least. In the midst of a cleaning
frenzy I pulled a bag of chicken noodle soup from the freezer and
plopped the contents into a kettle to heat. As I was doing most of my
cleaning on another floor, I rushed into the kitchen a few times to give
the soup a good stir, and then hurried back to my cleaning. When the
soup was finally heated through I hurriedly spooned it into bowls,
called the family to the table, and quickly sat down to eat my share. I
was well into my portion when I realized no one else was eating, just
sitting looking at me and then at their soup. Finally, one brave family
member got up the nerve to ask, "Just what are we eating?" When I
answered, "Chicken noodle soup," they still looked puzzled. What I had
failed to notice in my mad dash for supper were the bags of frozen
noodles and chunked chicken still on the counter. I had inadvertently
served a grand meal of chicken broth and had even eaten a good portion
without noticing something (everything) was missing. It took a lot of
crackers, but my family graciously downed the "soup" and I got back to
my cleaning.
"DO A GOOD COOKING DEED" $25 WINNERS
Our Cook of the Month contest is changing to the “Do a Good Cooking
Deed” contest. Tell me how you use 30 Day Gourmet cooking to help others
and if your story is chosen I’ll send you $25. Again, you can submit
your story by
e-mail or on the
message boards. It’s okay to nominate someone else, too.
Do a Good Deed $25 Contest
Winner – Sharon M. from Corydon, Indiana nominated by her friend
Gena who wrote the following:
Dear
Nanci,
I just wanted to share with you about a friend of mine that used
freezer cooking to do a good deed for me. In anticipation of starting
Graduate School and being very busy, I purchased the 30 Day Gourmet
Cookbook several months ago and invited several friends to join me in
freezer cooking. All of us are busy moms with young children.
For our first Cooking Day we divided into two groups of three and had
a wonderful time cooking together and stocking our freezers. About a
month later, as our freezers were beginning to get empty, I was in
full swing at Graduate School, spending many hours in the library
doing research for my thesis and feeling very overwhelmed with trying
to juggle full-time school and family. I was trying to plan a cooking
day with my friends again but was really having a tough time coming up
with a full day that we could get together because of my school
schedule.
Sharon, one of my good friends, decided to surprise me and planned a
cooking day on her own and made 30 days of meals for us both!! She
contacted my husband and stocked my freezer with all of the meals one
day while I was at school. My husband called me to tell me about it
and I broke down crying in the University Library - what a great gift
and a wonderful friend! Those meals have taken us to the end of the
semester and Sharon and I are planning our next cooking day during the
Christmas Break to get me started for the next semester.
I thank God for good friends, like Sharon, and for 30 Day Gourmet...
They are really helping me get through Graduate School with my sanity
intact!!
Sincerely,
Gena L.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH $25 WINNER –
chosen by Tammy, our message board moderator.
Submit your recipe for the Recipe of the
Month contest!
You too can submit a recipe for this contest! Just post it on our
Cook’s
Corner message boards under the appropriate recipe category. All
submitted recipes are considered, as long as your profile contains your
email address so we can reach you. The winner receives a check for $25.
January Recipe of the Month – Italian Pasta Salad
Congratulations to Catherine
from Idaho for January’s Recipe of the Month, Italian Pasta Salad. What
a great side dish to have on hand! Or, add some chicken and cheese, and
you’ve got a main dish instead!
The combination of vegetables in this salad is a little different than
the “traditional “ pasta salad I’m used to... kidney beans, artichoke
hearts, and mushrooms, as well as broccoli, onions and black olives. Not
only is the combination colorful, it’s very tasty! The Newman’s Own
Salad Dressing isn’t as strong as some of the other Vinaigrette or
Italian dressings on the market, which is a nice change. And with the
flexibility to add fresh veggies and/or cheese on serving day, you’ll
never serve the same salad twice!
Catherine’s original recipe says to cut the artichoke hearts in sixths.
I knew my kids would turn up their noses at that, so I cut them smaller,
and they were eaten unnoticed. I also added sliced cucumbers, since I
know my kids like them. They still picked out some of the veggies, but I
expect that, since they don’t like many veggies. My husband was
skeptical the salad would survive the freezing and still be edible. He
quickly decided it was very good and said he’d like me to add it to our
regular menu. We had some leftovers, and everything still had a nice
texture two days later.
What an all-around great recipe! Try it… I’m sure you won’t be
disappointed! Now, let’s meet Catherine, our winner.
I
live in Boise Idaho and have been a "Stay out of the Workplace Mom" (I
don't stay home unless I need to) for over three years now. I have
3-year-old identical twin boys who are so energetic and inquisitive
that it wears out my brain cells every day. But my little helpers and
I go out on outings almost every day. We like to walk the greenbelt
paths by the river, go to the library, and what ever else we can find
to do. I like to be involved in church activities, quilting and going
to TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meetings each week. My favorite
hobby of all is trying to perfect recipes or finding the easiest or
best or healthiest of any type of recipe we like. I really like
"playing" in the kitchen as I call it because I don't yet think of
myself as a really good or experienced cook. I will often make two
batches of one recipe with one change to see what the difference will
be. My boys are starting to get in on the action in the kitchen. I let
them help with Jell-O and the next day while I was making phone calls,
I came back to find them making Jell-O again on their own!
Thanks, Catherine, for
sharing your recipe with us! Your prize-winning check is in the mail.
You too can get in on the winning! Just post your favorite freezer
cooking recipe on our message boards, under the appropriate category.
I’m always on the lookout for great new recipes!
Click here to view/print the Italian Pasta Salad recipe.
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GOURMET
Q & A (from the E-mail Bag)
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Q & A from Nanci |
Q
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I hear and read about “flash freezing”. What does that mean? |
A
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Flash freezing is when you need to get the food
"firmed up" before you package it for long term storage. It usually
involves fragile foods that might crush or casseroles that you want to
freeze and then "pop out" of their pan and freeze in Ziploc bags. When
you flash freeze or open freeze you can just stick the pan, etc. in the
freezer without covering the food. Once it's firm then you pull it out
and package it. I've got Crispy Rice Chicken flash freezing right now
cuz the coating falls off easily if it's not firmed up first before
vacuum packing it.
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OOPS, WE
MADE A MISTAKE
Correction to recipe in
9/02 newsletter:
Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna – I made a mistake in the directions
and it looks like you use milk or cream not both. The Assembly
Directions should read “Add milk, cream or half & half, and reserved
broth.”
Click here to print a corrected version of the recipe.
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CONSULTANT NEWS
We have five new consultants! Please welcome:
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Melissa D. from Evansville,
Indiana
-
Dee H. from Shreveport,
Louisiana
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Michelle C. from West
Jordan, Utah
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Kathy M. from Buffalo,
Minnesota
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Paul M. from Plymouth,
Massachusetts
Click here to check out the whole list with contact info on
the website. Please contact them if you’d like a 30 Day Gourmet
speaker for your local group of frustrated cooks!
Price Increase Note:
You may have noticed that we recently raised the price of our
consultant kit. Check out the contents, though, and you’ll see that it
now includes the software and the e-books. Interested in becoming a
consultant?
Click here for more info.
Attention 30 Day Gourmet Consultants:
I sent an e-mail to each of you this week about the exciting changes
that we have coming up along with information about creating your own
web page on the 30 Day Gourmet site. If you didn’t receive my e-mail,
please let me know at
nanci@30daygourmet.com. Thanks! Return
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WEBSITE
OF THE MONTH
www.flylady.net
is the BEST website to check out if getting your house “under control”
is one of your goals. Because that’s something I have to work at, I’ve
read lots of books over the years about getting organized, clutter
control and cleaning. I was never able to take someone’s “system” and
apply it to my life and have it work. Only bits and pieces of each
worked for me. And then I found Flylady!! If you take the baby steps to
get started, it will work! And you’ll be amazed! Don’t miss this one!
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COMING UP IN FEBRUARY
-
Nanci’s “new way of freezer cooking” story
- Freezer Cooking for Daycare Providers ready for download
- Valentine desserts for the loves of your lives
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FINAL
THOUGHTS
I’ve been trying to start “enjoying” the winter months
rather than just survive them. Here in central Indiana
we woke up to our coldest temps in 6 years this
morning. What’s good about that? The coating of ice on
the trees in our woods is BEAUTIFUL.
Click here to see a pix of Adam, Jenna and our
Siberian Husky sledding on the side yard. The kids
have had a two hour delay for the past 3 school days
due to cold which gives us all some extra “sleep in”
time. We will pick up 44 more minutes of daylight in
January and the best thing – our spring break camping
vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama is only 8 weeks away.
Thanks again for all of the wonderful stories and
comments that have come my way recently. Seems like I
have had several calls lately from cooks who are
“re-discovering” 30 Day Gourmet after purchasing a
manual years ago. They are happy to find us still
“alive and kickin’”.
Click here to read a few of the e-mails I
received in the last month.
Nanci
30 Day Gourmet
P.O. Box 272
Brownsburg, IN 46112
www.30DayGourmet.com
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This
page was last updated on
Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
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