Food Prep Day
One of my best money saving tips
is food prep day. Having the food items
already prepped for the week makes it highly likely they will be used. I don’t want to waste food and having
ingredients just sitting around until they go bad is not good. But, I also don’t want to have to cook bacon
or a waffle or French toast, etc. every time I want some.
By cooking a pound of bacon at a
time, I can snack on a piece whenever the mood hits. Same thing goes for fruit smoothies and
chilled Frappuccino’s. I make a mess for
one day during the week and then can enjoy the fruits of my labors the rest of
the week. There are several things that I only make about once a month as they
last longer than a week. Prep day is a
lot of work but then no fuss, no mess to clean up the rest of the week. Here are some of the things that I make:
Bacon
Chilled Frappuccino
Keto Friendly Fudge
Pumkin muffins
Fruit smoothies
Belgian waffles
French toast
Let’s get started!
Making the Bacon
There are quite a few ways to make
bacon. Frying pan, oven, air fryer . . .
to name a few. But there is also another
way. Using a deep stock pot – cut the
pound of bacon in half – separate the strips and layer it on the bottom of the
pot. Don’t worry about all the bacon
being in a pile – it will cook. Cook on
a low flame and flip them over every 2-3 minutes so that they all get cooked. It took approximately 26 minutes to fry the
pound of bacon up in the pot. Here’s how
it looked:
If you don’t like your bacon cold,
it only takes about 15 seconds (give or take) to heat up in the microwave.
If you want to make the bacon in
the oven, see blog post dated December 21, 2020
Chilled Frappuccino
For instructions on making the
Chilled Frappuccino, see blog post dated June 2, 2020. I store the Frappuccino in mason jars in the refrigerator. One batch will make a quart and a pint of Frappuccino.
Use a smaller cup and you will get
a few more servings. This also will last
me for a week (if I use a smaller cup, not the one pictured).
Keto-friendly Fudge
If you are on a keto diet, you may
have heard of fat bombs. This fudge
recipe is similar to a fat bomb. They
are really rich and just one piece usually satisfies those cravings.
Ingredients list
4 tbsp of creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp cocoa powder (no sugar
added)
1 oz cream cheese
1.5 packets of non-sugar sweetened
(Truvia)
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Put all ingredients into a
microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
Remove from microwave and stir for
10 seconds. Put back into microwave for
30 seconds more.
Remove from microwave and stir – until blended all together. Pour into a
greased pan (8” x 8” or smaller)
Put the pan in the freezer. After 30 minutes, take the fudge out of the
freezer and cut into pieces (it is easier to cut at this point). Store them in a plastic bag and put back in
the freezer.. They will keep in the
freezer for a long time – if you don’t eat them all . . . (I don’t make this every week as this lasts
me several months - I usually make a double batch)
(The pan that I used in the below photo, holds a double batch of the fudge)
Pumpkin Muffins
Fall is now upon us . . . and
there are pumpkins everywhere. What to
do, what to do . . . Make pumpkin
muffins! If you will be using a fresh
pumpkin, it will need to be cooked.
To cook the pumpkin: cut
the pumpkin into several pieces and scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff.
(You can also toast the seeds for an extra treat!). Put the
pumpkin on a cookie sheet (have the outside shell be on the top and cut side
face down on the pan). It will take
approximately 45 – 60 minutes in a 400 degree oven to cook (depending on how
big your pumpkin is). Once the pumpkin
is done (the insides are soft), allow the pumpkin to cool. Once it is cool, scoop out all the flesh and
puree it in a blender or food processor.
If you don’t want to mess with
cooking a pumpkin, a can of pumpkin puree will do just as nicely.
Recipe
3 eggs
1 cup of oil (I use olive oil but
any oil will do)
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of pumpkin (or one can)
3 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
½ cup of nuts (optional - I like to use macadamia nuts but I will use whatever I have on hand)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325.
Stir together eggs, oil, sugar,
pumpkin
Add flour, baking soda, salt,
cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla and nuts
Grease and flour muffin pan –
unless you are using the paper cupcake liners
Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a
toothpick comes out clean
Makes 24 muffins
I wrap each muffin individually with plastic wrap and then put in a ziploc bag for the freezer. This will last me for about 1-2 months.
Fruit Smoothies
I use the big bag of frozen fruit
from Costco – it has a good variety of fruit.
A couple of handfuls of the frozen fruit along with one banana, water
and flavor enhancer is all I use. I fill the blender
with water and add a couple of squirts from a flavor enhancer (the kind you mix
with water). A full blender will make a quart and a pint of the smoothie. Gives me plenty for the
week!
Belgian Waffles
I use Krusteauz Belgian Waffle
mix. Typically, I use the ingredients
for the 4-5 waffles but I always get about 8 waffles when all is said and
done. After they are done and cooled
down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap and then put them in a Ziploc bag and
throw in the freezer. When I want one for
breakfast, I heat it up in the air fryer.
It tastes like I just made it!
(I don’t make this every week as
it lasts me longer than a week)
French Toast
Another breakfast treat that I
make is French toast. I usually cook 8
or 9 slices of bread. It takes 3-4 eggs
and some milk beaten until blended. I
butter the frying pan and then cook them up.
After they are done and cooled down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap (and put in a ziploc bag) and
throw in the freezer. I also reheat these
in the air fryer and they taste like they are freshly made. (I don’t make this every week as it lasts me
longer than a week)
That’s it! I now have either Belgian waffles, French toast,
bacon or pumpkin muffins for breakfast along with a fruit smoothie. I also have chilled Frappuccino for after
dinner with a piece of fudge. And I won’t
have to mess up the kitchen to enjoy any of it!
At least not until it is food prep day again . . .
Great tips!!! It’s me jana
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDelete