Procrastination has its own rewards.

I needed to write out a bunch of instructions for y’all about freezing marinades, and then one of my fab, fab, readers did it for me. Here is a perfect (and succinct) description of how to freeze marinades from Mary at Canay’s Corner (BTW, adorable blog!) Here is what Mary had to say:

Thanks for all you have done so far. You have really inspired me. I marinated two flank steaks the other night. I had bought three like you suggested but I ended up having one that night. I didn’t use the recipe I put in the previous post because I found a recipe that I used to make when I was first married and decided to use that. I haven’t read how to do the marinated meats yet. But what I did was just put the meat and the marinade in a Ziploc bag and then put that Ziploc bag in another Ziploc bag with the zipper part going the opposite way. Looking forward to seeing how you recommend. Rest up and we will see you later…

Thanks for the break Mary!

Now – on to Meal Swapping or Six Chicks Freeze and Fix

When my kids were in elementary school, there were a few years where I was working flexible, but full-time hours and I needed to do the whole Freezer Cooking thing on speed.

I believe it was my friend Vikki who came up with the idea of six of us doing a Freezer Swap. (But I do say with a stupid amount of pride that I came up with the name Six Chicks Freeze and Fix.)

At first we tried to all cook together. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun, but then we realized we were giving up one of the greatest benefits of Freezer Cooking – the ability to cook when it is convenient to you.

After our first time, we each cooked at our own homes and then met to swap.

Here is how our group worked:

Each of us chooses three recipes to cook for our group and then we each send out the suggested recipes to the rest of the group for discussion. (Example: if someone suggested doing a bell pepper dish, I, being a hater of all things bell pepper, would ask for either a different dish or swap a substitute dish.)

Here are the three types of recipes that we would exchange:

1 Marinade (half the group does chicken breasts, the other half would do another meat such as flank steak, pork roast or pork chops. Then we would swap meats the next month.)

1 Casserole

1 Wildcard (this is something like a soup, another marinade, another casserole, a chili, etc.)

Each of these recipes would be x6.

So here is a sample of what I would make:

Six family sized-meals of Teriyaki Chicken

Six family sized-meals of Baked Ziti

Six family sized-meals of Chicken Cacciatore

Once I had all my meals prepared, packaged and frozen, I would pack them all into my cooler and go to the pre-determined time and place of “the swap”. (Usually at church or in the parking lot of our local Costco before it’s open.)

That way, each of us would go home with 18 different meals. Cool, huh.

OK, now you have the basic concept. Tomorrow I will give you some of the etiquette of meal swaps and how to remain friends while swapping Dreamy Spaghetti.

Here are the winners:

*J. Wong

August 26, 2009 at 8:07 pm

*Christine

August 25, 2009 at 10:50 am

*Jessica Fall

August 24, 2009 at 10:35 am

Ladies, please send me your mailing addresses and the books will be in the mail.

OK – I am going to give away three more books this week – leave a comment and I will put you in the drawing (yes, I love y’all that much.)

The rest of this week I will be answering your questions.

OK – I was gone for three days and today had an ALL DAY meeting at church and I am just so exhausted I cannot blog about Freezer Swap Groups – but I will later today – promise! Plus, I will announce the winners of the cookbooks later today. To tide you over, here is one of our favorites: Green Chile Enchiladas

Mexican food in minutes – YUM!

5    Tortillas

3 cups    Chicken breasts, chopped

3    Green onions, finely diced

1 small can    Diced green chilies

1/2 lb    Monterey jack cheese, shredded, divided

1 large can    Green chile enchilada sauce

1. Prepare: Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce to cover bottom of square baking dish. Combine chicken, chilies, onions and cheese, leaving a small amount of cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Place an equal amount of chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll. Pour remaining sauce on top of enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

2. Freeze: Cover pan with foil and freeze.

3. Serve: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until bubbly.

Servings: 4

***Give Away Alert! I will be giving away three copies of my freezer cooking cookbooks The Frozen Gourmet Just leave a comment on the blog sometime this week and I will pick three winners – the more comments, the more chances to win!***

Wrapping it Up – Everything You Need to Know About Freezing Your Food

First – here is a quick list of things that could have problems freezing:

? Cake icing made with egg whites

? Cream filling and soft frostings

? Pies made with custard or cream fillings

? Cooked egg whites

? Fried foods

? Fruit jelly

? Soft cheese (unless mixed into a recipe)

? Mayonnaise (unless mixed into a recipe)

? Sour cream (unless mixed into a recipe)

? Potatoes (you can do potatoes, but it is a bit complicated for the blog and they can sometimes turn a weird color…)

Freezing your food falls into two different catagories:

1. Casseroles

2. Soups, Stews, Chilli’s and Marinades

Casseroles

For casserole freezing, I have used the foil pans pictured below for years.

I think my addiction to foil cake pans strated when I was doing our freezer cooking swap with a bunch of other girls (to find out more about our group, Six Chicks Freeze and Fix, check back on the blog on Monday.) We would each make our dinners at home, and then bring them to a predetermined location, and swap. We didn’t want the hassle of returning dishes, so the cake pans worked for our needs.

But it was a little silly that I was still doing it once I was only cooking for my family. Besides the cost, all I could picture was trees dying in the rain forest because of my wastefulness.

So I finally broke down and bought a dozen of these inexpensive (OK, cheap,) steel pans from Target.

Here are my instructions for packaging the casseroles:

1. Spray the bottom of the serving pan with Pam or some other non-fat cooking spray
   
2. Put your casserole in the pan
   
3. Cover the casserole with foil
   
4. Label the foil with the name and date of the casserole (I’ll tell you why this is bold in a second.)
   

   
   

5. Slip into a Ziploc bag with the printing on the bag facing down
   

   
   

OK – so here is the money/enviroment tip of the day: If you label the foil instead of the Ziploc (which is just keeping your food from freezer burn and is not actually touching any food) you can reuse your Ziploc bag for protecting other meals. If you bag your food with a label on the foil, and you put the Ziploc imprint on the bottom of the casserole, you will clearly be able to see what is in your meal.

You see, those baggies are expensive, and it is my goal to make them last as long as possible!

If you don’t have all the pans that you need, here is a great suggestion from one of my commenters Deanna:

To save more $ may I suggest lining a casserole dish in aluminum foil and then preparing the meal in it. Freeze it, lift the meal out, wrap it again in foil, label and stick it in the freezer! When you go to cook it just unwrap the outer layer of foil, pop back in the original dish and cook. Makes clean up a breeze too! HTH!!!

Monday – I will be sharing about bagging your marinades and how to start a freezer cooking group!

OK – Now we get down to the nitty gritty. I know you all know how to cook, so I am going to just put down some of my Best Practices when it come to Freezer Cooking and preparing all those meals.

• Think Assembly Line When you have four recipes that called for chopped onions, get your food processor (or the food processor that you borrowed from your friend at church) and chop all those bad boys at once. (Another little trick that works well with onions: Light a wooden match and then blow it out. Hold the wooden part in your teeth while chopping onions to keep from crying. I don’t know why it works, but it does.)

  Here is another tip on onions from Kelly (http://www.bittybowsboutique.com)
  

***Give Away Alert! I will be giving away three copies of my freezer cooking cookbooks The Frozen Gourmet Just leave a comment on the blog sometime this week and I will pick three winners – the more comments, the more chances to win!***

I have had so many questions about the whole Zen of Freezer Cooking – recipes, storage, shopping, cleaning out the fridge, etc. that I thought it would be a good idea to address some of the questions that you all have – and share some of my Freezer Cooking philosophy. (Yes, that is exactly how deep I am.)

I am summing up some of the questions that y’all have been asking and trying to give the best answers I can.

Does shopping at Costco really save you money? How about for a smaller family?

Here is my very uneducated opinion about Costco: If you are super organized, use coupons wisely, follow loss-leader sales, and can shop on a frequent basis to take advantage of those sales, you can probably save as much money shopping more traditional stores and outlets as you can at Costco.

I admit that we make some trade-offs re: money/convince. If I can get it at Costco, I usually do – especially when it comes to Freezer Cooking. (Although, we tend to buy our fruits and veggies at Safeway or Farmer’s Markets, and do grow a few things – tomatoes, peppers, and some herbs – on our tiny back patio. We have not been as happy with the quality of the Costco fruit and vegetables. )

I think if you get your stuff home and have a plan for dividing up your big Costco-sized items, you can save money. Money is lost when you forget that you bought that bag of frozen chicken and discover it 18 months later.

What about Low-Fat versions of the recipes – where can I find those?

Most recipes – low fat or not – can be frozen in some state. You can always use low fat substitution for the ingredients that are stated in a recipe as well.

Obviously you are not going to freeze a salad, but, low-fat soups, chili’s, marinades, stews, (that are not cream based) work great.

I have some recipes in my book that are great for low-fat cooking. And then there are others. There will never be a low-fat version of “Poppy Seed Chicken” or “Dreamy Spaghetti”. Maybe lower-fat, but they are just not healthy. In those cases, we serve a lot of veggies, and treat those casseroles as more of a side dish (and I have a bowl of chili instead of the casserole.) These are the recipes that my kids LOVE so it is OK to slip them in every once in a while. (Trust me, the meal I am serving them is better than what they would order at McDonalds.)

Here is a family favorite for low fat cooking. If I could only freeze one recipe – this would hands down be it. You can spice it up and add chicken sausage to make a great Jambalaya – serve it over pasta, or if you are looking for lower-fat versions, over steamed white or brown rice.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 lb    Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

1 Tbs    Vegetable oil

1 1/4
cup    Onion

2 cups    Mushrooms

1 tsp    Minced garlic

1-28 oz     Can of crushed tomatoes in puree

2 Tbs    Parsley

1/4 tsp    Pepper

2 tsp    Italian Seasoning

1 tsp    Basil

    Parmesan cheese

1. Prepare: Cut chicken into cubes. Slice onions and mushrooms. Chop garlic.

2. Cooking: In a large skillet, sauté chicken in vegetable oil until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from skillet and sauté onions, mushrooms, and garlic until the onions are transparent. Add chicken and remaining ingredients except for Parmesan cheese. Simmer for 15 minutes. Allow sauce to cool.

3.  Freeze: Freeze in a 13×9 pan.

4. Serve: Thaw sauce in the refrigerator overnight. Place the foil-covered pan in a 350° oven for 30 minutes to warm. Serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

Servings: 4

Can I store my freezer meals in glass – I am worried about the health reports re: plastic bags.

If you are likewise concerned about plastic bags, I would encourage you to take a look at This Article. Basically my philosophy (this is just for me and my family, you need to make your own decision,) is that I store and freeze in plastic, but I don’t reheat in plastic anymore.

Day 3: Prepping for Your Day

You have already decided what you are cooking and made your shopping list. Now before you rally the troops for Expedition: Costco, make sure you have a place to put all that stuff when you get home.

• Clean out the fridge and the freezer. In our house, that means if I won’t be using it for meals, and I can’t remember when I bought it, it gets tossed. I try very hard not to buy things that we are not going to use immediately because I don’t want to waste resources (economically, or environmentally.) Either that or we have a meal that consists solely of freezer stuff we need to use up. (Guess what kids? Organic Fish Sticks, mixed vegetables and puree of pumpkin for dinner! Oh boy!)

• After cleaning out your freezer and fridge, make sure you have a clear working space in your kitchen. This is when I will pack away the crock pot, the toaster over, and any other knick-knacks on my counter.
• Empty the garbage and recycling.
• On the cooking day, wear super-comfy clothes that you don’t mind getting tomato sauce on and your comfiest shoes (if you do it barefoot, you will be exhausted early on.)
• Figure out what you are going to eat for dinner on cooking day. I can’t tell you how many times we have gotten to the end of a cooking day and had nothing to eat. Some of the ways we have planned for that dinner in the past:
  
  • Buy an extra chicken at Costco and eat that with a salad.
  • Leave one meal unfrozen and put it in the over.
  • Order a pizza (totally legit option after all your hard work.)

Tomorrow – I answer more of your question AND we go to Day 4 – making the meals!

***Give Away Alert! I will be giving away three copies of my freezer cooking cookbooks The Frozen Gourmet Just leave a comment on the blog sometime this week and I will pick three winners – the more comments, the more chances to win!***

Before I get to the steps for shopping for your freezer meals, let me answer a few questions from the blog yesterday:

How do you fit all those meals in your freezer?

I will give a fuller explanation later in the week, but one thing is important for you to keep in mind if you are shopping for things like foil pans to prepare your meals. Squares and rectangles pack better than round pans.

The other key is to freeze thing like soups, stews and marinades as “flatly” as possible. (I will have pictures later in the week.)

How long can you keep meals in the freezer?

Some people would say longer, but I feel that three months is a good rule of thumb. (Plus, it gets me to clean out my freezer at least a few times a year and not waste meals.

Where did you get all the recipes for all the meals?

A while ago I bought a “Freezer Cookbook” (Without naming names, if you were cooking in the 90’s and going to church, you probably owned – or own – that book,) and tried out all of the recipes. While I loved the technique and learned how to do freezer cooking from that little book, there were a couple of problems:

1. Making 30 entirely different meals was a pain in the rear.
   
2. My family hated most of the meals.
   

That is when I tried some of our family favorites Freezer Cooking Style. As I learned more and more about what froze well (and what didn’t) I got a collection of recipes that worked for us. I have those in my Frozen Gourmet Cookbook.

Carleta – My freezer doesn’t look anything like yours – mine is full of Mystery…

Trust me – if I don’t keep on top of it, my hubby and I have conversations like, “So what do you think that grey lump of meat it?” Roger’s response? “Garbage.” That is why I have to be so vigilant at labeling everything with dates and contents. Trust me – it is better for everyone involved.

How long does it take to make all those meals? Is your grocery bill astronomical?

Pretty much a full weekend. We figure that each meal averages up between $6-7.50. We could make it cheaper (cook our own chickens for casserole meat instead of buying Costco roasted chickens, making our own pesto, etc.) but we choose convenience over cost on some things.

How do you cook the black and white meat under the table?

Just like chicken.

Now to shopping for your cooking day

My shopping system is pretty easy. I triple my recipes, make a list of ingredients and quantities needed, and buy the biggest containers I can to satisfy those need. If I am doing marinades (and I am always doing marinades) I will buy the big Costco-sized bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, divide those into Ziploc gallon bags with five breasts each (because that is usually how many people I am feeding – less breasts for smaller kids who will share,)and then pour marinade in the bags with the frozen breasts. Super, super easy. (I will give more detailed instructions tomorrow about labeling, etc.)

When I got to advanced freezer cooking, I did an Excel spread sheet with my basic menu already tripled – that way I just had to see what I was out of and buy that at Costco and Safeway. My kids are never bored with my cooking and it makes my life SO much easier.

Things you will need besides ingredients

Here are some basic supplies that will make your Freezer Cooking Adventure easier:

• Ziploc gallon bags
  
• Sharpie Markers
  
• Clear packing take
  
• White labels
  
• Pam or some other non-stick cooking spray
  
• 8×8 foil pans (if you will be doing casseroles)
  
• Aluminum foil
  

   

  Tomorrow – I will share how to set yourself up assembly line and make it so much easier.
  

   

Remember, leave your comments and questions to be entered into the drawing for the cookbook giveaways!

***Give Away Alert! I will be giving away three copies of my freezer cooking cookbooks The Frozen Gourmet Just leave a comment on the blog sometime this week and I will pick three winners – the more comments, the more chances to win!***

I have been posting my progress reguarding my freezer cooking adventures over the past week. Well, I have to say the reaction has been amazing. Everyone I know is looking for solutions to making dinner easier and cheaper and this is the plan that works for me. I feed five adult-sized people seven nights a week and winging it is so not an option.

Especially since my freezer looked like this. (Ben and Jerry’s wasn’t even mine. No fair!)

I just want to warn you right now – I am a Freezer-Stuffing Sensi. I am super advanced when it comes to meal prep. I did 51 plus meals this week. Do not try this at home.

However, doing bulk cooking to get yourself ahead a few nights a week is a great idea. Tripling recipes that you already love will help you get ahead and take some stress out of your evenings.

After you have success with your first attempt at freezing and get comfortable with the proceedure, then you can pull out multiple recipes and do it all Ninja-style.

Step 1 – Pick Your Recipe

Today all you need to do is pick your recipe!!

The absolute easiest type of dinner to prepare ahead is a marinade. We do several chicken and pork marinades each time we freezer cook –they are super-easy and everyone in my house will eat them – a double bonus.

So go through your recipes and find the one that your family will love and will be easy to prepare. When you find it – please share it here. I will read through them all and let you know if they will freeze well – I am here to serve.

Tomorrow – I will share the shopping stratagy.

Let me get you started with a Lipp family favorite:

Pesto Chicken

1/2 cup    Prepared pesto sauce

6    Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

6 slices    Mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare: Pour pesto over chicken breasts in a one-gallon bag.

2. Freeze: Double bag the chicken. Place the Mozzarella cheese in a separate freezer bag and attach to the chicken bag. Freeze lying flat.

3. Serve: Thaw chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Drain marinade. Place chicken breasts in a pan sprayed with light cooking oil. Place one slice of Mozzarella cheese on each chicken breast. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.

Two of the FAB speakers from the WCA Leadership Summit were Chip and Dan Heath, authors of one of the best books I have read in years: Made to Stick – Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

The book focuses on how to make sure that the ideas that you are trying to communicate stick with your audience; whether you are a speaker, a teacher, a boss or a mom, the key is to make sure that your audience clearly remembers what you want them to remember.

So here is what I would love to do. All of you who are communicators: writers, pastors, administrative assistants, teachers, let me ask you a question:

What do you do to make sure that your audience remembers your message? (And please include examples!)

Let me get the ball rolling:

When I do my talk called “All Things New” I talk about the things that weigh us down in life and keep us from living our all that God has designed for us. During the presentation, I have a suitcase full of really heavy chains that I drag on to the stage and as I pull our each one, I name them (fear, judgment, etc) and then proceed to wear the chains throughout most of the talk – and let me tell you – they can weigh a girl down.

What is so cool is that women really identify with the illustration and can absolutely name the chain that they feel is weighing them down. I have women write me months later able to repreat back to me all that I said about their particular chain.

That is, what authors Dan and Chip call, “Sticky”.

So tell me, how do you communicate your message. I would love to use some of your tricks in my writing, speaking (and let’s be honest,) parenting.

From all the comments that are submitted now through next Monday, I will be choosing a name randomly to receive a copy of Made to Stick.

Can’t wait for all the stickiness.

The title for this session was Hiring, Firing and Board Meltdowns which, I will be honest, didn’t really appeal to me. I do have an Advisory Board, (for more on how I use an advisory board in my speaking and writing ministry, download my article,) but I don’t hire or fire anyone in my organization (actually, I do hire, but it has always happened by either marrying or giving birth to the future employee.)

However, I did find many of the principle that the panel talked about applied to dealing with others in my industry. So far I have had great relationships with my publisher, publicity people, and my agent. But I will be honest enough to say that there have been a couple of event planners that I should have seen coming.

This session also gave me some great insight into working with other teams – retreat planning teams, family, and book teams. Here are the people on the panel:

Dr. Henry Cloud is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author, and business consultant with unique insights on relational dynamics in organizations.

Carly Fiorina is the former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. She was the first woman to head a Dow 30 company and was named “The Most Powerful Woman in Business” by Fortune for six years in a row.

Dr. David Ireland is senior pastor of Christ Church in Montclair, NJ, a 6000 member multi-ethnic congregation which he founded in 1986. The author of several books, he holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership.

Patrick Lencioni is founder and president of The Table Group, Inc., a specialized management-consulting firm focused on organizational health. He is the author of six best-selling books, including Death by Meeting.

And here are the best things that they said (my thoughts are in italics):

Hiring

Most of these ideas apply whether you are hiring someone to be the Junior High Pastor at church or a contractor to repair your roof. I would also say that these principles, in a large part, would apply to volunteer teams.

• “First impressions are frequently wrong.” Carly Fiorina
  
• “The best way to hire someone is spend 8 hours with them on a plane.” Patrick Lencioni
  
• Question to ask: What would other people say about you? (I can’t remember who said this, but it is a great way to get an honest answer out of people.)
  
• Ask the same question 3 times, just like they do on CSI Miami.
  
• Question to ask: “How would your weaknesses affect the rest of our organization?”
  
• “Organizations that have a strong culture – the right people will flock to it and the wrong people will be repelled.” Patrick Lencioni
  
• Before hiring someone for a job, list the needs of the organization and make sure those are met.
  
• Follow the process – don’t tweek the process to meet the needs of that applicant.
  
• Bill Hybles said – Every time we feel desperate to meet a need and hire quickly, we have failed.
  

Firing

Bill Hybles – A firing should never be a surprise.

Dr. David Ireland’s Three step process of firing someone:

1. Retrain – Have I trained them well enough to do the job I have given them? If not, it is my responsibility to retrain them.
   
2. Reposition – Maybe their gifts would be a better fit in another part of the organization.
   
3. Retire – Last resort.
   

“The kindest form of management is the truth.” In churches “The kindest form of management is avoidance.”

Every year, my church is one of the satellite locations for the Willow Creek Association Leadership Conference. This conference is broadcasted to locations all over the world, and for many leaders in the Bay Area, Church on The Hill is where they land to participate in the satellite event.

My hubby is the guy (along with his crew) who makes sure that all the buttons are pushed, microphones are on, and giant jumbo-tron screen is in place. He spends the better part of a week prepping for the conference (this in on top of the other hobby he has – working for HP full time,) and by the time the event arrives, I can be found some muttering some not-so-Christian-leader stuff under my breath. It take Roger away – a lot – the week before.

But then I get there, and I start to hear the speakers, and I take notes and see people from churches in the area that I love, but don’t get to see very often, and then I start to think, “We need to do this more often.” (I know, I know, just try living with me.)

So in case you didn’t get to go this year (and I highly recommend that you check out their website so that you can go next year) , I wanted to share some of the best things I heard.

Bill Hybles, the lead pastor of Willow Creek talked about the need to replenish if we are going to lead. Here are some of the best things I heard from Bill: (The words in italics are my thoughts.)

We lead best when we are filled up.

You need to have a planned negligence strategy. He talked about the need to plan on what you are going to neglect – there are going to be a lot of great things that you can’t participate in – and that’s OK- but you need to plan for it.

Who do I need to be around to be replenished? Who do I need to stay away from? There are some people who fill us up, and some who drain us. Make sure you are scheduling time with the ones who feed you, and limiting time with those who don’t.

Doubling exercise. Limiting eating. Pay attention to vacation. Self-explanatory.

Starting the day gently – with God’s word. No leadership material, no communication material. I am working on this, but I am getting better. I have to remember that it is OK not to get something accomplished, but just to linger with God. I am working diligently on lingering.

The best thing you bring to the table everyday is a filled up bucket and a heart that is attuned to God.

More notes tomorrow.