Tips for OAMC - Poultry

For tender chicken, soak in brine (salt/water mixture - can add alcohol as well) for at least 4 hours. Drain, and then you can either cook chicken immediately or then freeze in meal-sized portions.
Get a turkey (or roasting chicken) at post-holiday sale prices, roast it like you would your holiday turkey and you can get about 1 meal (for 2 people) per pound. I use this for the following recipes:
 - turkey enchiladas/tortilla rolls/quesidillas
 - curried turkey (red or green curry)
 - turkey pasta salad (lemon basil/catalina dill)
 - sweet chili turkey or greek chili
 - turkey casserole (with pasta/rice/potatoes)
 - turkey pot/shepherd's pie
 - turkey stuffed manicotti
 - turkey tacos or taco salad
 - shredded BBQ turkey sandwiches
 - turkey noodle soup
 - turkey stew
 - hot turkey sandwiches
 - turkey salad sandwiches
 - sliced turkey melts

For chicken breasts, add any marinade to the ziplock bag, squeeze out air and close.  Lay flat in freezer just until frozen through, then store as you like in freezer (will take up less space frozen flat). Chicken will then soak in marinade when it is being thawed for your meal.

Bulk Produce

Some recipe links for baking when I've bought produce in bulk:

Bananas:
http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-banana-bread-or-muffins-39363
http://www.food.com/recipe/banana-buttermilk-pancakes-70632
http://www.food.com/recipe/decorated-bananas-39342
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/two-ingredient-banana-peanut-butter-ice-cream/
Smoothies
Nutella/Peanut butter sandwiches


*Don't forget, for freezing baked goods, wrap cooled in plastic wrap, then wrap again with foil. Freeze up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.*

Tips for OAMC - Ground Beef

For Ground Meat Recipes:
In crockpot, cook equal parts ground beef with ground turkey (+ spices), as well as shredded carrots, chopped onions and peppers, for the following recipes:
 - Spanish rice
 - Lasagne
 - Hamburger soup
 - Italian job
 - Sausage salsa potato bake
 - Turkey tacos
 - Taco salad
 - Helper Mac & Cheesy Burger Bake
 - Spagetti Bolognese
 - Leader's pie
 - Chili turkey (chili base)
 - Meat Lovers Pizza/Pizza Salad

For Meatloaf and Meatballs:
Mix 3/4 ground beef to 1/4 ground turkey (+ spices), and to keep moist, mix in bread crumbs instead of crackers, fresh chopped onion in stead of onion flakes, and shredded carrots for more moisture + healthier way to stretch meat. Add an egg for every 1/2 lb of meat and add ketchup or bbq sauce for a little additional flavor. 
Form meatloaves (I find mini-meatloaves best for reheating purposes, just slightly bigger than the size of my fist) and meatballs, bake, then flash freeze (this helps them stay frozen individually and not stick to each other, so not everything has to be thawed together). I wrap the meatloaves in tin foil and seal in a ziplock bag, meatballs I just freeze in ziplock.

Meat for My Meal Plan

This is the meat I bought and how many meals (meals being for the two of us) came of it:
Whole Turkey (roasted myself) - about 1 meal per pound, so (8-9 lbs) 10 meals @ $2 per meal (compare pre-sliced turkey @ 4 meals for $24)

 

Ground Turkey (8lbs)+ Ground Beef (10lbs) - 24 meals @ $4 per meal
Chicken (18lbs) - 17 meals @ $2.5 per meal
Chicken/Turkey Sausage - 6 meals @ $2.5 per meal
Farmer Sausage - 3 meals @ $3 per meal
Beef (steaks/roasts) - 6 meals @ $8.5 per meal (grass fed, high quality cuts)
Shrimp - 7 meals @ $4 per meal
Tilapia/Basa Fillets - 5 meals @ $3 per meal
Tuna (cans) - 8 meals @ $1.50 per meal

This isn't even my whole meal plan, I have 22 weeks worth planned out but I have yet to buy the lamb (4 meals), plus a small amount of pork tenderloin (1 meal), and I also didn't buy the second half of the plan worth of chicken (12 meals) and fish (7 meals).

So, currently, the meat works out to about $3.50 per meal, $1.75 per person!  Not to mention, I was also able to get 6 cups of broth from from my turkey drippings and leftover veggies bits.  I also pre-packaged some of the freezable side-dishes (potatoes/sweet potatoes, asparagus, carrots, yam fries, frozen veggie mix, etc. - Foods That Freeze Well) that would accompany the meats.

This is what my freezer looks like now :)

Homemade Evaporated & Condensed Milk

Homemade Condensed Milk
1 cup Hot water
4 cup Powdered milk
1 1/2 cups Honey
1/4 cup Butter, melted and at room temp.
Blend in blender until very well mixed.
Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Homemade Evaporated Milk
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup milk
OR
2/3 cup powdered milk
1 cup HOT water
Mix well. Refrigerate.

Roasted Red Peppers

Bake the peppers until black, peel skin off, deseed, and pack in garlic oil. Lasts a maximum of 2 wks unless frozen instead of packed in oil.

Foods that Freeze Well

Meats - best to be frozen in sauce (raw or cooked)
Bacon - raw or cooked, if raw keep 1-2 months tops

Grains
Bread/biscuit - raw dough or baked, if baked, wrap in tinfoil first
Pastas - cooked, best if frozen in sauce
Pancakes or Waffles - cooked
Rice - slightly undercooked

Dairy
Cheese - grated, will be crumbly, best if to be used in cooking
Eggs - raw eggs, with pinch of salt, blended, in air tight container with head room for a year.
Powdered milk - air tight, up to 3 years.
Milk - in air tight container with head room for 3 months.

Veggies - cooked or raw, if raw - best if to be used in cooking
Mushrooms - fry up a large portion of mushrooms - can freeze up to a year.
Carrots - chop or shred, blanch, dry, seal air tight, can freeze up to a year.
Asparagus - (peel scale ends), blanch, dry, seal air tight, can freeze up to a year.
Roast red peppers - seal air tight , can freeze up to a year.
All peppers - chopped, seal air tight , can freeze up to a year.
Navy beans - cooked, seal air tight , can freeze up to 6 months.
Onions - chopped, seal air tight , can freeze up to a year.
Potatoes:
Baked whole potatoes - wrap in tinfoil then plastic, 2 months max, gets watery
   - bake apotatoes first, freeze, then 'twice bake' them from frozen
Mashed potatoes - seal air tight , can freeze up to a year.
Quartered potatoes - bake, seal air tight, can freeze up to a year.

Ice cube tray freezing (after frozen, remove and place in ziploc)
 - pineapple juice - up to a year.
 - apricots pureed - mix in small amount of honey - up to a year.
 - spices - oregano, basil, green onions, garlic minced, ginger, etc. - 6 months

Cooked casseroles
Line the pan with tinfoil and then fill the pan.  Whether you choose to cook ahead or put in raw, after it's prepared place the whole thing in the freezer and once it's frozen solid, pop the plastic wrapped food out of the pan, put it in a freezer bag and now you still have your pan to use in the meantime.  Write the baking instructions on the freezer bag.

Cooking Tender Chicken

1.Mix in a large container (large enough for about 5 lbs to submerge in):
1-2 gallons ice water
1 cup vodka
1 pound of coarse salt (table salt can be used but it has other additives not conducive to brining)
1 cup granualted sugar
2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
whatever other seasonings you will be adding to your chicken recipe upon cooking the chicken, i.e. thyme, oregano, basil, etc.

2. Continue mixing until all ingredients are dissolved, then place in refridgerator surrounded by ice packs.

3. Immerse the chicken in the brine and soak for 6-8 hours, weighing it down with a heavy object to keep it immersed the whole time. Replace ice packs if necessary to maintain about a 40 degree temp.

4. Remove the chicken from brine and rinse under cold running water. Pat dry.

5. If soaking with skin on, allow it to sit and refrigerate for another 3 hours, this will dry out skin so that it becomes crisper during roasting.

Bacon Grease

Save leftover bacon grease in a container in the fridge and then use a smidge in your dishes for some extra flavor.

Cream Substitute

To still acheive the taste and texture of cream but without all the calories, take non-fat or low fat cottage cheese, puree it in a blender with 1/2 part skim milk (1 cup cheese, 1/2 cup milk) and you will have a cream substitute.