September Exchange

It has been a month of changes and transitions for our group. We are saying farewell to two members as their schedules change.

With wonky schedules I find that the meals made up into essentially "single serving" pouches are convenient. Anything stuffed in flat-bread, a tortilla, or dumplings where you can easily heat a small portion and leave the rest is wonderful. "Meatballs" and cookies are good for this as well. I especially like to keep on hand flexible portion freezer items that do not require thawing. If I have surprise visitors for lunch then I can quickly turn out however much we need. (Veggie burgers and vegan ravioli are great examples of item that don't need to thaw before cooking.)

This month we exchanged:
Masaman Thai Curry Stew
Meltaway Cabbage
Roasted Fresh Tomato Soup
From Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker Bourbon Baked Beans and a Carrot and Parsnip Bisque

August Exchange

From this months exchange.

Even if our group were to lose interest in exchanging and I couldn't find another set of people to trade with I would still freeze quite a bit. Veggie burgers are a great example. If your family does veggie burgers often, and I don't know a vegan family that doesn't, then perhaps making a large batch once a month a freezing portions would serve you well. Breakfast burritos also are great to make monthly. 

Even if you don't want to end up with six gallons of chili, making a double batch and waiting a week to thaw a eat the other half may serve you well. Freezing like this is all about reducing overall cooking and prep time. You can scale up or down according to your needs, freezer space, and interest.

This month we exchanged:

Spanish Lentils

Vegan Taco File Packet

Split Pea Soup

Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Vegan Spinach Ricotta Filling 

Zucchini Carrot Muffins 

Veggie Burgers

Chest Freezer Organization

This afternoon's addition to our freezer:
Oh She Glows Veggie Burger

I have long resisted getting a chest freezer. I enjoy cooking freezer size batches (in case you couldn't guess). But I did not want to use the energy/money/space of a whole chest freezer. For a number of reasons I caved this month.

This may be strange but I really like packing. The couple days before a vacation where I get to plan and pack are actually something I look forward to. So in a weird way getting to organize a chest freezer, essentially "pack" a freezer, is oddly enjoyable. I found this and this source helpful and came up with this system:

You will need:

White Board and Pen
Reusable Grocery Bags of Different Colors

Example format from last month:

"July 2012: Red Bag
III Stuffed Shells in Al Bread Tins
II Gallon bags Butternut Squash Ravioli
IIII Quart Blueberries
I Gallon bag of bags of Breastmilk
II 2 cup Kale portions
III Quarts Chana Masala"

Why hash marks? Why not numbers?
Because if I take a quart of blueberries out all I need to do is erase a mark.

Red Lentil Thai Chili Frozen Flat

Why sort items by date?
To assure that nothing gets too old. I know some people prefer sorting by object type but the contents of my freezer are a bit too random.

Why bags? And why specifically different colors?
Bags have handles. Bags are cheap. Bags stretch. The colors are an easy visual cue as to which month or category you are looking for.


Why packaging size?
So I know what to look for.

A note on freezing flat:
Whenever possible try to freeze flat on a cookie sheet before transferring to a grocery bag for storage. In the case of a freezer group this is an important courtesy. You will always be able to see the writing on a flat bag and is often easier to find room for a flat bag.

July Vegan Freezer Exchange and the Beauty of Specialty Grocers

Grand Rapids has been breaking one heat record after another this month. But I will be heating up my kitchen a lot less because I have a stash of freezer meals.  The exchange has been a great gift in this heat. 

This month we exchanged:

Beans and Quinoa with Chipotle Raspberry Sauce

Bombay Potatoes Meet Chickpea Tomato Curry

Potstickers

Spicy Thai Tempeh

Wendy brought these.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Concerning Potstickers: 

Many premade potsticker wrappers you find in grocery stores contain egg. So check the ingredients label before you buy. Quite often a Asian grocery will stock vegan ones.  They are wonderful for making pierogi as well. I recommend freezing a single layer flat on a cookie sheet so they do not stick together. Later you can transfer them to bags or containers to save space.

If you have never been to a specialty grocer I would recommend checking one out in your area. You will probably be amazed by the prices and quality of ingredients. I have also found them to be a great source of help and information. Recently, I had bought a new Indian cookbook online and picked out three recipes I wanted to try. I brought it into a local Indian grocer and they walked me through the store getting everything I needed and advising me on what to keep in mind while cooking. They are also extremely good for bulk items. Not only does it lower the cost to buy in bulk but you will be reducing your post consumer waste compared to smaller packages.

June Exchange and Summer Guidelines

Four of the families in our group do not have air conditioning and so avoid using the oven in summer months. Since freezer meal heating tends to make heavy use of the oven this can be an issue. We added the restriction of no oven heating for summer months.

Like becoming vegan sometimes adding a restriction can seem daunting at first. One wonders what in the world  to make. But then with a little intention, thought and planning what seemed limiting loosens up a bit you begin to find an abundance of what you can make and enjoy rather then focusing on what is ruled out.

We have been doing dishes that are lightly pan fried-such as the burgers below. A bit more tricky are dishes that are microwave appropriate-any sort of burrito works well for this. Even better are dishes that require no heating-like desserts, muffins or cold dishes. We have also seen more dishes served on rice or pasta.


This month we exchanged:

Kale Pesto and Minestrone Soup (I used the spice mix for this recipe found about midway on the page.
Red Beans and Rice using tofurky
Carefree Curry Burgers and Freezer Slaw
Rajma
Kasha (an old family recipe from Wendy)

Spicy Kale Pesto - 6 Family Size Portions

I hit the jackpot in terms of in-laws. My mother in law and sister in law keep a veggie garden that I occasionally weed for 30 minutes and get massive amounts of veggies. Recently, I came home with a stuffed grocery bag of kale and turnip greens. I found a recipe for Garlic Scape and Kale Pesto and adjusted it to be vegan and make 6 full servings.

1 grocery bag of greens (from least spicy to more use spinach, kale, turnip, mustard greens).
2 bunches of garlic scapes (more of less depending on how strong you like the garlic flavor)
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1/4 t pepper
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup toasted walnuts
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil

In a food processor I ground a little bit at a time using olive oil as needed to keep it moving. Transfer properly mashed sections into a bowl to mix together.

Portion for freezing. In this case each person got around 3/4 cup.

I thought it tasted great on pasta. Because it is an atypical pesto with a little bit of bite it should be awesome for pizza.

I'm going to include minestrone soup with the pesto. Have you ever tried soaking beans overnight and ended up demolishing half of them because they expand into a tight, frustrating bean brick? Try soaking in a sturdy ziplock bag. You'll never have that problem again. :)

May Exchange

Exercising reasonable food safety practices while cooking for oneself is obviously important. I believe that cooking for others merits extra care.  For me this meant sitting this month out. My sweet little baby had a nasty upper respiratory virus which the hubs and I picked up as well. During the time period I was planning on cooking and hosting the exchange we were too sick and I did not want to exchange this virus! Sadly, I missed some great food. But I'm quite happy to have the recipes and try them now that we are all feeling better. The rest of the group exchanged:

Dilly Stew With Rosemary Dumplings , Jerk Sloppy Joes With Coconut Creamed Spinach, Spicy Cabbage Masala, Vegan Taco Foil Packet