Prep Night Info

Once a month, usually the first Friday of the month, I host a Prep Night at my house. This is a great time for you to get meals prepared and ready to either cook or put away in your freezer. This nights were a LIFESAVER for me whenever we had the week of snow and ice - my family ate good!! (But my freezer is a little bare...yikes!!)

Here's how it works:
The week before, I send out an email that lists all of the recipes that we will be making at the Prep Night. People then send me their wish list of recipes they want to make. They can make however many they want to. Each recipe can feed 6-8 people (they usually feed more than that). For those who don't need to feed that many, I offer a Half Menu which are three of the same full menu recipes but will feed 3-4 people. Each recipe lists the amount of meat needed for that recipe. On the Prep Night, people bring the meat for the recipes they want to prep. For a small charge, I provide all of the other ingredients for the recipes. Everyone sits around my dining room table. We then begin to "Smoosh". Everyone fills freezer bags with the ingredients and meat for each recipe. The labels on the freezer bags tell you what is in the bag and the different ways you can prepare it. After the freezer bag is filled with ingredients, we smoosh! Smoosh is what we call it when you smoosh up the ingredients in the bag to mix them up. It is a great stress reliever!! Then, we place that bag in another freezer bag. And that's it!! People leave with meals for their freezer and have had a really fun time!! I usually serve dinner. People who are attending sign up to bring snack foods and drinks. If you want to be added to the Prep Night mailing list, let me know!

Cubed Steaks Parmesan

Sunday nights are usually filled with our couples bible study. We have come to appreciate the people in this group and consider them among our closest friends. We really enjoy the discussions and overall humor of the group. In other words, we love these people!! Last night, however, our group did not meet due to family celebrations. So, we got to spend the time at home. I had picked up some steaks at Target that were on sale AND had a coupon - SWEET!! I got 3 lbs of steak for $10 - yes! So, I decided to do some to experimenting. I went to the recipe search engine for Homemade Gourmet and found one that sounded perfect for us. Plus, I had the ingredients on hand - even better!!

I started by having Hubby cut the steaks into smaller portions.

Then I dipped the steaks into the whisked eggs.

The steaks were then dipped into the Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf seasoning.

Next, I placed the steaks into a skillet with olive oil.

I fried them for two minutes on each side.

Then I placed the steaks in a 13x9 baking dish and baked them for 25 min at 350 degrees.

I then sprinkled them with some Parmesan cheese and served.

The meat was very tender and moist. The breading wasn't too crispy nor was it too soggy. It was extremely savory. I was so proud of myself!! Usually Hubby is the steak master. It was nice to be able to cook delicious steak and have people like it!! This is definitely a keeper! It would also work for chicken and pork. I served it with a side of cheesy broccoli. I was going to do more sides but am glad it didn't - gave us more room for steak!! My 3 1/2 year old son did not eat much of it, but he is not a fan of steak.....yet. =) But the rest of the family loved it. Mom and Dad gave it two thumbs up. The best review came for Hubby who said it was REALLY good. We paired it with some Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon which really brought out the flavors in the steak.



http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=6155
The recipe calls for using spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese. I opted not to simply because of time. I think that the Spag sauce would make the breading too soggy. I do think spaghetti or any pasta would make for a good side. But, again, pasta does take up a lot of room in the tummy which means less steak...hmmm.....

Slow Cooker Barbeque

Once a month, I invite my customers to my house for Prep Night. We spend the evening making freezer meals and having a great time. And have those freezer meals come in handy for me and my family. When we had those days of snow and ice, I was able to feed my family delicious meals because I had some Prep Night meals in my freezer. Talk about a lifesaver!!

I have decided to make Wednesday nights my Croc night. Yes, I am one of those crazy people that has their meals planned out on a calendar. But, I have found that this really helps me out because I don't have to try to figure out "What's for dinner??" when I get home from my full-time teaching job. I spend about 10 minutes once every two weeks planning dinners. This takes so much stress off of me. Some people wonder what I do if something comes up and that night's dinner doesn't happen like planned. I simply circle it on my menu so that when I plan for the next two weeks, I know that I have that meal in my freezer and sides to go with it. Super easy!!

So, last night's dinner was the Slow Cooker Barbeque. I placed it frozen in my crock pot at around 6:30 A.M. When I got home, I had totally forgotten that it was cooking.....until I opened my door and smell the delicious aroma - YUM!!

Why, yes, that is a yummy sauce that it made!!

Notice the fork was all I needed to separate it

The thing I love about brisket is that you can serve it so many ways. I ate it kind of shredded (since it was so tender, it was falling apart!)

My 3 1/2 year old son ate his as a sandwich. My husband was going to get home later, so I put his in the fridge. It was delicious!! My son was a bit hesitant to eat it. But once he took a bite, he was sold!

This meal says that it feeds 8 servings. I had enough left over for two meals to go in my freezer, plus lunch for me and my husband for the next day!

This stuff was so good, it needed some protection from invaders!

Recipe link: http://recipes.homemadegourmet.com/recipe.asp?code=6818

One thing that I have found is a must have for crock pots are the liners. Talk about answered prayers!! These things are fantastic! You simply place the bag in the croc pot and fill it with whatever you are cooking. Cleaning is as simple as throwing the used bag in the trash and wipe your crock pot with a rag and done!! No scraping or anything!! I can only find them at Albertson's so far. If you find them at other places, please let me know! I used my last one!