Eating from the freezer

Green & red peppers saute as stovetop chicken looks on

Friday afternoon I reorganized one of our chest freezers. A while back we switched our upright freezer over to a farm business freezer, so all of our personal items from that got thrown in this chest freezer. And then when we got new flooring in the kitchen a few weeks ago, all of the items in the refrigerator freezer got thrown in as well.

People, I need corn recipes.

We have 45 quart bags of corn from 2005! And 35 from 2006.

So here’s the first corn recipe. 1 down, 79 to go.

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Fresh Corn Saute from “Simply in Season”

3 T. butter
1 c. green peppers (chopped)
1/2 cup onion (chopped)

Note: I didn’t have any onion, so I just used 1-1/2 c. peppers. The peppers were some from the garden that I chopped and froze last summer – great thing to have in the freezer, quick and easy to use!

Melt butter in frypan. Saute green pepper and onion 2 minutes.

4 c. corn
1/4 c. water
1 T. honey
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
2 T. red sweet pepper (diced; optional)

Add and stir well. Cover and cook over medium heat 10-12 minutes.

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sprinkle over corn and serve.

Note: Here’s another shortcut – whenever I have a recipe that calls for a few slices of bacon I cook a whole package, then crumble and freeze the leftovers.

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We also had grilled round steaks (our own beef from the freezer, of course). Another simple, easy recipe. Pour a can of beer over a 1 to 2 pound tenderized round steak. Marinate for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Drain off the beer. Mix together 4 t. brown sugar, 1 t. msg-free seasoned salt, and some pepper. Rub onto the steak and marinate at least another half hour in the refrigerator. Then grill or broil.

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Even dessert came from the freezer. Last summer when eggs were plentiful I’d baked and frozen angel food cakes. One of those, along with a quart of frozen strawberries from our garden, went into this recipe:

No-Bake Strawberry Dessert
from the “Therese Halbach Education Memorial” cookbook

(1) 10.5 oz angel food cake, torn into 1″ pieces
(1) 2.3 oz pkg strawberry gelatin
2 c. boiling water
(1) 20 oz pkg. frozen unsweetened whole strawberries, thawed
2 c. cold milk
(1) pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
(1) 8 oz carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Arrange cake pieces in a single layer in a 9x13x2-inch cakepan. In a bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water; stir in strawberries. Pour over cake and gently press cake down. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Spoon over gelatin layer. Spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate before serving.

See It’s All About THEM for more information on the good things that are done with proceeds from the sale of this wonderful cookbook.

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Meals like this are what make all that work last summer worth it!