Meals to Make and Freeze

[enduringplum]

Freezer Meals and Freezing Directions
chili skillet - freeze in bags of two to three portions
vegetarian lasagna - prepare as usual, but do not bake; instead freeze in the pan
sweet potato stew - freeze as chili skillet
meat sauce with cheese - freeze several bowls' worth
"neat" balls - freeze with wax paper between layers
red beans with sausage - freeze as chili skillet; brown rice can be boiled as needed in less than thirty minutes
chicken soup with adzuki beans - freeze as chili skillet
black-eyed pea and sweet potato soup - freeze as chili skillet
winter lamb stew - freeze as chili skillet

Non-Frozen Prepared Foods
tuna salad
pumpkin pancake batter
sweet potato pancake batter
slow-baked sweet potatoes
dry bean soup mix

Staples
whole wheat bread
wheat crackers
whole wheat pasta
egg noodles
oatmeal
raisins
dried Turkish apricots
dried dates
celery
apples
bananas
fresh ground peanut butter
cheddar cheese
eggs/boiled eggs
plain, low fat yogurt
unsweetened soy milk
Neufchatel cheese
canned black-eyed peas
canned green peas
canned black beans
canned tuna in water or oil
sardines in water or oil

Frozen Staples
onion-poppyseed bagels
bagged edamame (in the shell)
bagged sweet corn
bagged mixed vegetables
bagged strawberries
bagged blueberries

I think about food almost constantly on any normal day, but I think my list-making is developing in to some form of "nesting."

I've done a good job of lowering our food bill by making cheaper meals and making them in bigger batches, but the cost of fruit is still way too high. I've never had any success growing strawberries (they have either rotted due to too much moisture, been devoured by "potato" bugs, or I have let them dry out too much between waterings), but growing blueberries sounds a lot easier and we get so much sun in our front yard that I think I'll order two or three blueberry bushes when I get home, then have Carl stick them in the ground by our front window and the office windows; I know I need at least two for cross-pollination, but they don't need to be of the same variety, so I think I'll get all different types, which should create some fun (or possibly terrible, but that's part of the fun) hybrids over time.

I want to plant some citrus trees, too, but Carl's right when he says we'll never get to harvest them ourselves if we don't fence in the entire front yard, so we'll probably do just that. I know I want at least a Meyer lemon tree, a tangerine tree, and a grapefruit tree; I prefer tangerines to oranges because they're easier to peel. I'm considering trying to grow a fig tree from cuttings of my mother's big fig tree, which was grown from cuttings of one of her grandmother's fig trees, but the only place to plant it would be on the side of the house, right on the street. That probably won't be a problem, because when they eventually do produce figs, this variety makes more than any one family can possibly eat; in fact when I get home, I'll probably have plenty of figs to harvest and freeze from my mom's tree, because it's just about the right moment of summer!

I have the perfect spot in our backyard to plant banana trees: right between the small drive way and the pool patio. They would be completely surrounded by cement on all sides, so they won't be able to spread all over our yard, turning it in to a jungle. I won't plant any shell ginger or bamboo in the ground, however, no matter how thick the concrete may be, because I've seen how both those plants grow in our subtropical climate and there's just no stopping them: my mom's shell ginger was never even planted, she just leaned it up against a patio railing and it took root right on top of the cement, never to be moved again; now it's taller than a one story house and at least eight feet wide and five feet deep, despite freezes, hurricanes, and our best attempts at murdering it.

I'll never grow apples, the climate just isn't right for them, but I know I can get easy citrus, figs, and bananas. I'd like to grow pecans, too, but I don't have nearly enough space for two full grown pecan trees on our little lot. I bet I could also grow a mango tree somewhere around our pool, so I'll have to start trying to sprout mango seeds whenever I buy an especially tasty fruit.

I've gotten several of Bedstemor's elder tree (hyldeblomst in Danish) recipes since I've been here and I'll be excited to try them out when I get home. There should still be plenty of blossoms on the trees all over our neighborhood when I get back, so I can make the elder flower tea right away. I also got a couple recipes for the berries, although Bedstemor has never tried those herself: one is for an elder berry drink of some sort and the other is an apple and elder berry marmalade; the apples are no doubt included because elder berries are so awful-tasting on their own (yes, I was one of those children who would just eat berries off of any old bush).

Comments

[six-bells-chime.livejournal.com]

One of the best things about Norway is the allemannsrettet, the right to gather whatever you want from forests, even privately owned ones. Lignonberries, blueberries, raspberries, and even blackberries grow in abundance here. Higher up one can pick cloudberries, which are like yellow raspberries. Vidar's mother gathers buckets and buckets of lignonberries each year, and makes jam from them all. Once we get moved we'll even be able to gather some chanterelle mushrooms; Vidar knows a spot in our friend's woods that has two varieties.

Another tree you might consider for your yard is chickasaw plum. They have lovely flowers in the spring then produce abundant little red flavor-packed plums. I used to pick them when I lived in Nacogdoches, TX. You should have luck with blueberries, too; they also grew in Nacogdoches. Remember that they like very acid soils, so pack plenty of pine needles around the base of each plant.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's wonderful! I've been blueberry picking in a small forest on Bornholm (everything's small on that island; you can bicycle around it in four days) and it was exhausting, but great fun, and we had purple fingertips for a couple days afterward.

I've never tried growing plums before, but I love them, so I'll definitely have to look in to it. And if I grow plums, I suppose I could make my own prunes.

[six-bells-chime.livejournal.com]

Chickasaw plums can form thickets, but I think one or two small trees can be controlled. Those thrive in the southern climate, and have such lovely little red fruits.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___prettything/]

My boyfriend's friend has a pecan tree in his backyard and they are the best tasting pecans I've ever had.
You'll have to give me your recipe for the vegetarian lasagna. I always crave it but I can't find a good one I like.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

I got the recipe from Vegweb.com, but I can't remember which one of their veggie lasaganas it is; a couple of the ones I tried were really gross before I tried this one, which I love. It's a time-consuming recipe, so I usually make several to freeze rather than make it fresh every time. When I get home I'll post a copy of the recipe to my LJ.

[1tsp-grace.livejournal.com]

I am so jealous of all of your planting dreams! I was hoping for a container garden of veggies, but it turns out we don't get enough sun. I'll have to live vicariously. . . .

[triple-phoenix.livejournal.com]

Ooh, if you pick a day to go fig-gathering, let me know! I'd like to try growing a fig tree in the backyard, and besides... figs are delicious!

Also, I think the banana trees would look wonderful between the pool and the driveway. I like the way they look anyway, but they'd be just right shading a pool! There's a banana tree in the yard next door to us and it's been full of baby bananas for the past two weeks or so, although I think our last big thunderstorm blew them all down.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's too bad; they usually only get one bunch of bananas each season, then you have to knock down the tree so a new one will grow and yield fruit.

I don't know if you'll be in that apartment long enough to grow figs, because it takes the tree several years to get established and then to produce fruit. So, your mom may be there long enough, but hopefully you'll be living in a dorm at UNO or something by then!