How to Save Money and Food: Frozen Cream Cheese Update

Since my post about Freezing Cream Cheese and Butter seemed to be pretty popular, and several people told me that they are now freezing cream cheese because of that post, I thought that I would update you on what else I have learned about freezing cream cheese. I have been using a lot of my frozen cream cheese lately (mostly in cream cheese frosting, some dip, a couple cheesecakes, some biscuits, but a lot of frosting (for Nutella Brownies, recipe to come)) so I have learned a little bit more about frozen cream cheese that I thought I would share with you.

One thing that I learned is that frozen cream cheese works fine for dips and frostings. It is just as creamy as unfrozen cream cheese (or maybe almost as creamy, I actually haven't used much unfrozen cream cheese lately, I don't know, either way it works just fine). All you have to do is microwave it on defrost for a little bit and then stir together the solid cheese and the watery stuff that comes off it and keep stirring until it is creamy. I used a fork each time and it worked just fine.

Another thing that I learned is that Real Cream Cheese definitely comes out better after being frozen than the lower fat variety. Well actually the main difference is the creaminess. The taste of both comes out about the same as before. But real cream cheese comes out very creamy after being frozen (if you use the method described above) but the lower fat cream cheese comes out kinda lumpyish. Basically it has very small lumps in it that won't go away no matter how much you stir it.

These are cream cheeses that were frozen. The top two blocks are real cream cheese and the bottom one is low fat cream cheese. I don't know if you can see it but the real cream cheese is definitely creamier. So if you are making frosting or dip the real cream cheese is better for that. Or if you are making a lot of it you can mix the two together and no one will know the difference. For baking I suggest using half real and half fake (because it makes it slightly lower fat but keeps the great taste and texture), but really any combo works.

Another thing that I learned which is unrelated to freezing (I think) is that you should always cream your cream cheese before adding other ingredients to it. My sister and I made some cheese cake bites for the shower and we forgot to cream the cream cheese first (we actually used unfrozen cream cheese so I didn't know if it would be necessary) and it came out lumpy. No matter how much we mixed it, it wouldn't stop being lumpy. So just to be safe whether you are using frozen cream cheese or unfrozen always cream it before adding anything else (creaming with a fork works fine, or a mixer works too).



What about you? Do you have any tips for working with Cream Cheese?



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How to save time (and money, sorta): By Prebrowning Meat

I have the most wonderful Husband in the world! (There are many reasons that I believe that, but today I will share just one :) He browns meat for me. I (for some strange reason completely unknown to me) hate browning meat. Hate it. Maybe it is because you spend a decent amount of time standing there cooking something that is not even remotely impressive, and it is not even a meal of it's own. Maybe it is because I have so many other things to do that I hate to spend so much time on this small fraction of the meal I am making. Maybe it is because generally the rest of the ingredients take far less prep, so if I didn't have to brown the meat I could throw the meal together in less than 10 minutes and then do something else while it cooks, but no, I have to stand here browning meat. I don't know, whatever the reason, I hate browning meat. Fortunately I have the most wonderful husband in the world (as previously stated) and he will actually spend several hours once every couple of months (or whenever we run out of browned meat) browning up large batches of meat for me. He started doing this when I was pregnant and on couch rest (I could throw a couple ingredients together but I wasn't supposed to stand there cooking) and the smell of cooking (and raw) meat was bothering me. He has since continued this because he is as previously mentioned the most wonderful husband in the world (and possibly also because it means I cook some of his favorite dishes more often, but mostly I think it is because he doesn't mind it, I hate it, and it makes my job of cooking sooo much easier, like I said, awesome husband award happening here!)

Anyways on to the main point of this post. How to Save time (lots of time) (and sanity) (and money) by prebrowning meat.

Supplies:
Meat (I use hamburger, chicken, and sausage regularly)
Skillet (I (i.e. my husband) use an electric skillet because we think it is easiest, use what is best for you)
Several Spoons
Plates/Bowls for Browned Meat (lined with paper towels to catch the grease and drippings)
Ziplock freezer bags (I use quart size, for 1 lb increments)


Directions:
If the meat needs to be cut up do this first (or do it while you are browning the other meat if possible). My husband is as aforementioned awesome, so he cuts up the chicken into bite sized pieces before he browns it.
Brown your meat. You can either do 1 lb at a time, or brown several lbs at once and then split it into 1 lb increments (if you brown 4 lbs at once split the meat in 1/4ths) I always package it in 1 lb increments because almost all of my recipes call for 1lb of meat. If you need larger or smaller quantities package accordingly. We (he) use several spoons because we have one spoon for the cooked ground beef and a couple for the uncooked/cooking ground beef to avoid cross contamination.
If you are doing more than 1 type of meat in the same day wash the skillet out between the different types of meat.
We place the meat on a plate or in a bowl to let it cool down a little bit before putting in in the ziplock, this also helps by draining the grease on paper towels.
Package the meat up and put in the freezer. Make sure you mark the packages well. Trust me, it is very difficult to tell ground beef from sausage in a frozen state.
When you are making a meal that calls for that particular meat browned, pull a package out of the freezer and dump it in.
Easy as Pie! (I never understood that phrase, pie is definitely not easy to make, it is easy to eat though, maybe that it the idea?)

Oh and the way this save you money is that you can buy the big packages of meat at the grocery store since you will be browning them all at once. The big packages of meat generally cost less than the individual size packages. You can also stock up when meat is on sale and use this method to store it in easy to use packages.

I always save a couple of packages of raw meat (frozen in individual packages) for the ocasional recipe that doesn't ask for browned meat (hamburgers, a recipe that uses whole chicken pieces, etc) I usually need more raw chicken than other meat.

Conclusion:
Pure awesomeness! (Both my husband and the idea of having prebrowned meat in the freezer that I can just dump into a soup, or casserole, or whatever) This suggestion saves me so much time when cooking meals. I really really appreciate having the prebrowned meat available (In case you can't tell :)

 
Sorry I don't have pictures of the process. Here is a picture of the 3 type of meat after they are frozen in individual bags.

What type of meat would you love to have prebrowned in your freezer?




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Cream Cheese Frosting

I have made a lot of cream cheese frosting lately. And by a lot I mean A LOT. Why? you ask. Because I have been making a lot of Nutella Brownies, and Nutella brownies demand cream cheese frosting. Why have I been making so many Nutella brownies? Because I am crazy. And because when you find a new favorite recipe and then share the yummy deliciousness with others they start demanding (or nicely requesting) them at functions. And when you are adapting a recipe and you make it once and it turns out great then you want to recreate it and if you can't remember the exact measurements you will make many many batches until you finally find the right combination. Especially if you want to post the recipe on your blog and you want it to be perfect for your wonderful readers. So anyways I have made a lot of cream cheese frosting lately so i thought I'd share the recipe. This frosting was made with my frozen cream cheese and butter. And also demonstrates how frozen cream cheese can be used in dips and frostings and can be just as creamy as unfrozen cream cheese. See my frozen cream cheese update for tips on using frozen cream cheese.

Cream Cheese Frosting
I got the recipe here and adapted it slightly.


Ingredients:

• 1 8oz block of cream cheese (I used frozen of course :)
• 4T butter (melted, I also used frozen for this)
• 1T vanilla
• 2-6c powdered sugar (use as much or as little as you need, based on how stiff/thick you want it to be and how sweet you want it, less powdered sugar will mean more cream cheese flavor but it will be less thick, and do remember that it will set up some in the fridge, but not completely)

Directions:

Thaw the frozen cream cheese on defrost in the microwave. Stir with a fork until fairly creamy. Melt butter.

Add butter and vanilla and mix. Slowly add Powdered sugar and mix until it is the desired thickness and sweetness.

This is what it looks like when done. Can you tell the cream cheese was frozen?












What is your favorite thing to put cream cheese frosting on?




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Free and Cheap Advertising Opportunity

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Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Mr. Random! I love you and Little Man loves you! You are the most wonderful husband and father! I love you so much!

We had a nice day today with spending time with family. We had church and then lunch and games with the Mr. Random's family. Then we popped over to see my father, play a few games and eat some ice cream. Now we are relaxing at home.

Little Man wore this shirt today. I thought it was very appropriate :)

Mr. Random's Father's Day Present was 2 glass storage containers (they will be great for him to take food to work and microwave it) and a nice 8x10 picture of him and Little Man together for him to take to work.

Happy Father's Day Mr Random! We love you!!!!

How was your Father's Day? What did you do for your husband or father?

Coffee Themed Present on a budget

This present actually fell together completely separately from the shower theme, it just so happened that they fit together very well! Since I have so many things to pay for around the wedding (shower, dress, beauty treatments, multiple presents, bachelorette party, etc.) I have been watching store sales, garage sales, and good will for things that my sister would like that would go well in presents for her. She loves coffee so when I found these items at various sales I snatched them up!

Items to include

I included:
A set of espresso cups and saucers    (garage sale)
2 bags of starbucks coffee    (cvs sale w/ coupon)
Small book about coffee    (good will)
Rolled wafers    (dollar tree)

You can include coffee mugs, biscotti, chocolates, or anything else that you find that would go well in a coffee themed present.


Wrapping
I arranged all the items in a basket (also bought at good will) and wrapped 2 pieces of tissue paper (dollar tree) around them. I got tissue paper that matched the shower color theme so my present matched the decorations :). I also found this really cool shrink wrap bags at dollar tree and placed the present in that. The bag shrinks down when you blow hot air on it with a blow dryer (it is really cool to watch!).

It takes a little while and you have to go over each area several times. I put the card inside the bag before I shrunk it. I put a bow on the outside of the bag.

I think it turned out pretty cool! What do you think? What would you put in a coffee themed present?




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Coffee Punch

Ok, first of all I have to say, I am not a coffee drinker. I actually cannot stand the taste of coffee. So normally I do not look up recipes for coffee and I don't know what to look for in coffee or what all needs to go with it. But I was hosting a bridal shower for my sister and after tossing around several ideas we landed on a coffeeshop theme. So once I had that theme I ran with it. I researched every combination of coffee shop and bridal shower that you could think of and found lots of great ideas. One of my favorite finds was the recipe for Coffee Punch. We were serving coffee but since it is June and really hot out I thought it might be nice to have a cold coffee drink (we also had several other cold drink options, but it in nice to have a cold and hot coffee option). Also I had never heard of this idea before and had never seen it at any shower or party I had been to, so I knew it was something that the guests would not have had all the time (It's always fun to have something new :) When I first told my mom about this idea she said I shouldn't serve it at the party without trying it first so I was going to make a sample for her to try (since I would not be a good guinea pig for a coffee recipe) but when I described the ingredients to her we decided that there was pretty much no way that we could go wrong with this. And we were right, it was a huge hit! Anyways, here is the recipe.

Coffee Punch
I found the recipe here. I only adapted it slightly.
This recipe is doubled because we were expecting 30 people. If you are having a smaller party you can cut it down . The original recipe has a convenient calculator that you put in the # of people you are making for and it calculates how much of each ingredient you need.

Ingredients:
2 quart cold coffee (should be stronger rather than weaker)
1/2 gallon Vitamin D milk
1 quart half and half
1 24 ounce container of chocolate syrup
1 1/2 quart heavy whipping cream (whip, but does not have to be completely solid)
Optional: Kahlua, Vanilla Ice Cream, Ice

Directions:
In a large punch bowl mix together the ice cream, coffee, milk, half and half, and chocolate syrup (save a little bit of chocolate syrup to decorate the top). Pour the whipped cream on top. Decorate the top with the last of the chocolate syrup. The original recipe says you can also add Kahlua but we are not alcohol drinkers in general so we did not do that. The original recipe also calls for 1 gallon of vanilla ice cream, which I actually bought, but I totally forgot to take it to the shower so it didn't get put in the punch. It is still sitting in my freezer (I didn't even notice I forgot it until I saw it in my freezer). The punch is great without it, but if you can remember to take it, it would probably be a good addition. I think my aunts were serving this over ice (they were helping me serve), probably because I forgot the ice cream, and it looked like a good idea.

The cream can be whipped ahead of time (I whipped it the day before and it was perfectly fine) which means that all you have to do the day of is mix the ingredients together. I whipped the cream in a stand mixer (unfortunately not kitchenaid, just an off brand type that the bowl moves, but it works :) and just let it whip while I was working on other stuff for the shower.

Verdict:
Sorry I don't have more pictures, I was slightly busy hosting the shower :) One of my sister's friends was photographing the shower so if there are any other good photos I will put them on here. This turned out amazing! I got so many complements on it! We made a huge bowl of it and it was almost completely gone by the end of the shower (I'm a little surprised that people weren't more hyper (Oh shoot, I just realized I forgot to offer a decaf option for coffee)) Anyways this was a well loved item. One of my cousins asked for the recipe for her graduation party, so I think this recipe may become a staple at future family events. Here you go Random Cousin!

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Lap Chalkboard - DIY Chalkboard out of a Cookie Sheet

I participated in the Grow.Swap.Share Blog Swap last week and posted this fun craft on Create.Craft.Love. I thought I would share it with all of you, my wonderful readers this week. Enjoy!

First of all I want to to thank Jill for honoring me by allowing me to write a post for her wonderful blog Create.Craft.Love! I can see that she has many great ideas and I will definitely have to try some of her wonderful crafts!

I'm Randomly Fascinated from Domestic Randomness. I am a new mom to Little Man who is 6 months old. At Domestic Randomness you can find me sharing my thoughts on all sorts of domestic topics. I have recently been writing a series comparing major diaper brands. I also like to discuss Baby Topics, Recipes, Saving Money, Wedding Topics, Swagbucks, and other Random Thoughts. Please feel free to come visit me and let me know what you think of my random thoughts!

I have seen several projects floating around the web that use chalkboard paint and they have intrigued me. I have thought of several ideas including possibly making a small chalkboard on Little Man's wall (I love that idea, but it really doesn't match his decor) or making one out of a picture frame or mirror. So the idea of making something with chalkboard paint has been ruminating in the back of my mind for a while now. When I saw that my blog swap partner was Create.Craft.Love I knew it was time to whip up my first craft post. The idea of chalkboard paint came back to me again, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I wanted it to be something that my family would use, not just something that I made because I liked the idea. This idea came to me late one night as I was trying to fall asleep (Why do the best ideas always come to me then? Good thing I keep a pad of paper by my bed to write them down). I had also seen a cool idea for some fun picture magnets which I wanted to try so I decided to combine the two and make a small magnetic chalkboard. I had an old grungy gross cookie sheet that I thought would be perfect for this project. I was originally going to show you the fun picture magnets in this post too, but I discovered that that would be a massive post so I split it into two separate posts so keep an eye out on my blog for the Fun Photo Magnet Post!

Anyways here it is, how to make a Chalkboard Tray.

Materials

• Cookie Sheet (old and grungy works fine, new would work fine too, if you don't have one that you want to use, Dollar Tree has some for $1)

• Spray paint (any color, this is for the sides) I used rustoleum (mostly because it was free because my parents had it sitting around their garage, but also because I thought it would adhere well to my old grungy pan)

• Chalkboard paint (I used spray paint, they also have it in cans if you like to roll on paint) I had quite an adventure tying to find this paint. I had checked to see if they had it at Walmart around a month ago and they did, but I didn't buy it because I was trying to be good and not buy it when I didn't have a need for it right then. Well apparently sometime in the last month Walmart decided to stop carrying chalkboard paint. So I checked JoAnns, Hobby Lobby, Lowes and Michaels. I didn't see it at Hobby Lobby. I found it at the other 3 stores, but I wasn't willing to pay the $7.99 JoAnns was asking and Lowes only had it in cans and I didn't feel like dealing with a brush or roller. I ended up buying it at Michael's. They had it for $7.49 (I think) and I used a 40% off coupon from JoAnns (which I had forgotten about when I was at JoAnns or I would have used it there) which took $3 off so I got it for $4.49!

• Newspaper or tarp to put under the sheet while spray painting

Directions:

My old grungy pan

Prep your area, I suggest doing this outside because of fumes and mess

Spray on your base coat

The center does not need to be as well covered since we will be spraying the chalkboard paint there. Wait for a while for first coat to dry (at least 30-60 min)I did have some trouble with newspaper sticking to it, so if you are not time crunched I would wait a little longer, maybe do one side one day and the other side another day.

Flip over and spray the other side.
Wait while drying again.

I did 2 coats on the bottom and 3 coats on the top (it just looked like it needed it).




Let dry overnight.

Do the front side of the pan (the side that dips in) first!

Cover edges with painters tape. One thing I learned is that if you wrinkle the tape at all the paint will bleed down into it, so make sure you tear your strips small enough that you don't have to wrinkle them around the corners. Also make sure that you press down around the edges so they are tight against the pan, because again, the paint will bleed in any small crack.

Spray on chalkboard paint. Let dry for a while. Since this is just in the center, not around the edges, you only need to wait 30-60 min.

Spray again. I did 3 coats on each side (The Bottle said 2 was needed, but I did 3 just to be safe) Let it dry in between each coat.

Peel the tape off.

Flip over and do the other side.

 This is the front side done.

 This is the back side done

The bottle said to cover the whole chalkboard in chalk and then wipe it off to break it in.

The great thing about these chalkboards is that cleanup is easy, just rinse with water (no soap needed)!

 You can use it to write messages

It would be great for kids to play games in the car.

Or make a street for toy cars (look at my Fun Photo Magnets for some magnet car toys)



It would also be great for snacks and in the car because it has edges and super easy clean up. Very Versatile!

I plan to use it as a sign for my sister's coffee themed bridal shower

It could also be used to tell the family what is for dinner

Or as a try to distinguish what is in different dishes







What would you use it for?


Thank you again to Jill and to her wonderful readers! I am very grateful to you for allowing me to post my random thoughts on you blog! I can't wait to see what she has for us next!

I hope that you enjoyed my craft! I would love it if you would stop by and visit me at Domestic Randomness. If you want to stay a while you can subscribe by email, RSS feed, Google Friend Connect, pinterest, or facebook.


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The posts are coming, the posts are coming!

It has been a little while since I posted. There is a reason for this. My last two weeks have been a crazy busy mish-mash of doctor appointments, shower planning, great book reading, and family/friend events. I have so many great post ideas from all of this, I just need to find time to write up the posts. I am hoping to get most of them written/posted in the next several weeks.
Some great posts to keep your eyes out for:
How to Survive and MRI
What to expect at a sleep study
Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Coffee Punch
Coffeeshop themed bridal Shower
Coffee themed present
DIY Towel Cake
DIY Flavored Water
What to do with party leftovers
Awesome DVD organizer
Great Fairy Tale Retellings to Read
and much more!

Like I said, tons of ideas! Just have to find time to write!

Guest Post: Glass Etched Lemonade Pitcher

Hi Everyone! Just Wanted to let you know that I am participating in the Grow.Swap.Share Blog Swap today. You can find my post about a DIY Chalkboard Tray over on Jill's blog Create.Craft.Love. But for now check out this awesome Glass Etched Lemonade Pitcher that Jill has so graciously shared with us!



Hi everybody!  Big thanks to Randomly Fascinated for having me guest post today!  A little about me...

My name is Jill and I blog over at Create.Craft.Love.  I am a working mother and wife who finds comfort and solace in creating.  

I have a great summer tutorial for you today!  What do you make when life hands you lemons??

Some lemonade!  Or in this case, a lemonade pitcher!

I found this awesome glass pitcher at Hobby Lobby - ON CLEARANCE!  I've been wanting to glass etch a pitcher for cookouts and such but couldn't justify spending $25 - $30 on the pitcher.  {Especially since my Little Guy would probably break it anyway!}  So when I spotted this, I knew I could finally do it!

 Here's what you need:
Cameo
Vinyl stencil
Armour Glass Etch
Sponge brush
Glass pitcher

Glass etching is SUPER easy!  I used my Cameo to cut out a vinyl stencil for the pitcher.

My pitcher was 3.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall.  So I made sure to keep the font and picture within those limits.  I chose Bodoni MT for the font.  And the cheery, fresh lemon image is Dear Lizzy Lemons C00023_27175.

Once the vinyl was cut, I carefully removed all the letters and the inside of the lemon with my Silhouette hook.

Carefully, detach the vinyl from the backing and place on the pitcher.  (You can move the "middles" once you have the rest of it well-placed.)

Some of the middles have been replaced and some have not.

Make sure you get all the bubbles out of the vinyl so the Armour Etch doesn't bleed into areas other than that which you want to stencil.

Glop on the Armour Etch.  I usually let mine sit for about ten minutes after it has been applied.

After it has sat for ten minutes, rinse off the etching cream under warm water.  (It will look like it didn't work until you take off the stencil.)

Dry thoroughly so the etching shows up well and that's it!

I took some pictures with lemonade in the pitcher but you couldn't see the etching.  Looks refreshing though!

Before you even ask, I do not have a special lemonade recipe.  This is just Crystal Light!!  =)
Does anyone have a good homemade lemonade recipe?  I would love to hear it!

Thanks so much to Randomly Fascinated for letting me post today!  I have really enjoyed the Grow.Swap.Share. Blog Swap!  Hope you stop by Create.Craft.Love. for a visit!

Thanks Jill for such a great idea, I think I need to try out this glass etching stuff!