Dry Black Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is another super useful (and easy!) method that I learned from Budget Bytes. 

There is something super satisfying about buying a bag of plain old dry beans, and turning them into a useful ingredient to keep stocked in your freezer or fridge. You can save a lot of money (she calculated that cooked beans from dry are about half the cost of canned), but I think the real savings comes in the fact that you can freeze in containers for whatever size you will need for a future meal. So, if you have a small family that won't use an entire can, you won't find yourself wasting (or overeating to finish it up) just because the cans are always one standard size.

Baked Beans in a Slow Cooker

This is a recipe that I just made on a whim one day after seeing it on Budget Bytes, because it seemed easy and cheap. To my surprise, it became one of our favorites, with John requesting that I always keep our freezer stocked with these beans! He loves them so much that he sometimes just eats them as a snack. And happily enough, they are plenty easy to make in big batches.

Frozen Yogurt Cubes for Smoothies

After noticing that some yogurt in my fridge was nearing its expiration date, I had the bright idea to try to freeze it. It turned out to be a perfect way to spare it from the trash, as well as provide an easy addition to morning smoothies.

Freezing Omelette Ingredients

I feel like omelettes are one of the healthiest "big breakfast" items to make. (As long as you don't go too heavy on the cheese. We also use just egg whites, to cut down on the cholesterol.) 

The problem is that dicing all those veggies can kind of be a pain. This morning, as I was making omelettes, I decided to chop some extras and freeze them for later. 

Shredded Mexican Beef

When I was grocery shopping this weekend, I had a craving for some red meat. I remembered recently coming across a recipe for shredded taco beef on my favorite food blog (Budget Bytes), so I went ahead and picked up a roast so I could try it out. 

Freezing Cilantro

One thing that I'm working on for 2012 is to eliminate food waste. With only two of us in the house, it is not uncommon for us to not be able to finish something before it spoils. (Despite the fact that I work from home and cook and eat almost every single meal right in this house!)

Homemade Chicken Stock

Yesterday, I made a whole chicken in a crockpot. Today, the remnants were turned into a super flavorful chicken stock!