Oh Happy Day—This Worked!

Remember when I made "TV dinners" a couple of weeks ago? I promised to let you know how well they thawed out. Yesterday I pulled two of the Salisbury steak dinners out of the freezer right after I got up in the morning. Then I didn't think about making dinner for the rest of the day.

It was one of those "clean up/put things away" days. All the knitting needles left out after projects were finished are now back where they belong. The birthday presents for this weekend are sitting out with the gift wrap, ready for me to wrap today. The mermaid's flower headband is sewn back on. (That was a Mimi job request from Baby Girl.)  There is no dust under the furniture. The laundry is all done...even folded and put away.

Then 12 hours after I moved the frozen dinners from the freezer to the refrigerator, it was time to see if they passed the test. Would they be as good as I hoped? (I had tasted the frozen dinners from Meals On Wheels years ago when they were delivered to my mother-in-law. I wanted mine to be better than those.) They were so close to being thawed, but there were still ice crystals in the food.   I heated them, one at a time. About 3 minutes on DEFROST to finish the thawing process. Then I heated mine for 1 minute at the regular setting.

 Oh happy day! This was as good as the first time. The rice was perfect. (I always sprinkle a few drops of water over rice before I reheat it.) The vegetables were fine. The meat had a cool spot right in the center, so I broke the patty up and put some of the hot rice on top of it. That's all it needed. Another time I would add a few seconds to the heating.

But this really worked. I freeze foods all the time, but not combinations of food in such small portions. That's the part I wasn't sure about. I think it would be better if I had taken the dinners out of the freezer the night before. Safety reminder:  Always thaw in the refrigerator—not on the countertop. But that last bit of thawing in the microwave worked. Good to know.

For our household of two, making these dinners is a way to deal with leftovers. Now the challenge is to use these dinners up and not let them sit forgotten in the freezer for months. These bright blue containers are so eye-catching that I hope none get pushed to the back. And I really hope that the other food combinations thaw out as well as this one did.

Since I knew I'd have no supper clean up, I baked a treat for us in the afternoon. This was also part of my cleaning out...using up pantry items with an expiration date that was getting close. This recipe was the very first one I posted on this blog way back in 2011. We still enjoy making them.

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS

1 box spice cake mix
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup water

    TOPPING:
    1/2 all-purpose flour
    1/2 brown sugar, packed (I used dark brown sugar) 
    1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake papers in a 12-cup muffin tin. Mix cake mix, pumpkin and water until well blended. Using an electric hand mixer is the easiest way to do it. Spoon batter into muffin tins. 

Mix flour and sugar. Cut butter in until crumbly. Sprinkle topping generously over muffin batter, pressing in lightly.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until done. (My oven took 30 minutes.) Test with a toothpick. It should come out clean when done.

We have made these muffins with yellow cake mix and chocolate cake mix, too. They are all good. But we all like the spice cake mix best. Try them all and decide which is your favorite.


If you live where it's easy to go out for dinner, or where there are plenty of options to pick up to-do meals, or have delivery options, this may not be a big deal for you. But for us, living on a farm in a rural area, these easy dinners are so helpful. I  will keep trying different combinations for individual dinners.