Eggplant Parmesan (Freezer Cooking)
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Fry in oil until golden brown, flipping them to cook each side, of course. The oil will get all yucky and bubbly after a few batches, so you might need to add/change oil partway through cooking.
Place the cooked slices on a paper towel covered plate to absorb the grease.
When they cool off, you can lay the fried eggplant slices flat in a freezer bag and save them for later. When I cook them, I place the frozen eggplant in a baking dish that has a little tomato sauce spread on the bottom and spread a little more on top of the eggplant. I bake it at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until it is thoroughly cooked and soft (if you don't cook it long enough it will be bitter). I sprinkle mozzarella on top for about the last 10 minutes and serve it with spaghetti.
Here is how I prepared it fresh, though! I took a tomato from our garden and put thick slices on top of the eggplant, topped with a little oregano (I just used sauce on half of them for those of us who are a little bit picky).
I baked it for a half hour and then added mozzarella.
Here was the final result...
Doesn't it look pretty?
I know a lot of people that say they have never eaten eggplant- to be honest I was intimidated by it at first, too. If you are brave enough to give this a try, let me know how it turns out!
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. For the icing, combine milk and margarine and microwave until the margarine is melted. Add powdered sugar until a thick glaze is formed (a little thinner than pancake batter) and pour over warm rolls. If you want to reheat them later, just pop them in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds! Mmmmm...
I used baby carrots because they were buy one get one free and what I had on hand. Although more of a pain to chop, they will be eaten more easily by the kids than big slices of carrot.
When I boil a large ham, there is usually an excess of meat, so I cut it up and freeze it in smaller quantities to use in recipes later. This is a great idea if you can get a big ham on sale around holidays, like Easter. If you don’t have the freezer space for a big ham- cook it right away and make a big pot of ham pot pie or ham and green beans (typical PA Dutch foods), freezing the rest of them ham for later. You can get several meals out of it this way.
Potatoes are a big food staple in this house. We grow a lot but we need a better way to store them…
Remember to soak your beans the night before! Dry beans are really cheap and they take up less space in your cupboard than canned ones.
Instead of canned chicken broth, boil some chicken and save the broth. The chicken was used in zucchini casserole, but other than casseroles, I sometimes use the meat in chicken wraps for lunches, too. I boil the broth down to condense it sometimes, then freeze it in old margarine or sour cream containers. Another great way to take advantage of a good sale on chicken, or better yet, get your meat directly through the farmer- you will cut out the middle man and save! If you want it to be lower in fat, you can let it cool and then skim the fat off of the top.
It was pretty good. Next time, however, I might try to use ham soup base instead of chicken broth. I am used to my regular ham bean soup with that good, smoky flavor. Bacon would really make this, too. :)
