But after posting a video yesterday about freezer burritos that had very simple and clear instructions for the microwave: 2 minutes on 50% power, and 2 minutes on high power, I got comments like, “My microwave doesn’t have different power settings.”

So I looked into it, and I’m 99% sure that your microwave has power settings; you might just not know where to look or how to use them.

Many microwaves now have preset functions, but if you learn what the basic power settings are best suited for, you can use your microwave to its full potential, even without special programs.

Lower power settings do not change the intensity of the heat. Instead, they turn the microwave’s energy source on and off in cycles. The “off” time lets heat move naturally into the center of thick foods. This prevents the outside from overcooking while the inside stays cold.

Total power depends on your microwave's wattage. I think 1000 watts is a good target. Some microwaves will show the percentages as power levels, so level 10 = 100%, level 5 = 50%, etc.

• 100% (High): This is the default power setting. If the instructions just say microwave for 2 minutes, it probably means on high. Use it for boiling water, cooking fresh vegetables, and making quick meals.

• 70%–80% (Medium-High): Great for reheating leftovers from the fridge because it helps the food warm through more efficiently. Especially things like rice and pasta.

• 50% (Medium): This is the setting I hadn’t been using much, but I tried it in the frozen burrito video, and it worked really well. A faster alternative to the standard 30% defrost setting.

• 30% (Medium-Low / Defrost): I often use this for defrosting cubes before finishing on high power or in the oven. Also good for thawing frozen meats, fish, and poultry gently without partially cooking the edges.

• 10%–20% (Low): Use to soften butter or ice cream; also great for thawing 2 tbsp portions of sauces like guacamole.

This is the microwave we have and have used for 6 years now. It has held up great. Many people just have the microwave over the stove that their house came with. But I encourage you to find the manual online and play around with some of these levels. It might just make your experience reheating food much better.

I love zucchini! Sauteed, caramelized, it’s one of my favorite summer veggies. But if you’re growing it, you know how quickly it can get out of hand; before you know it, you’re giving it away to friends and neighbors. So I was on the hunt for some recipes that would use up zucchini that WEREN’T zucchini bread or muffins.

I saw the viral video for Salsa Falsa from Jonathan Zaragoza last year and had been saving it for this exact moment when I was overwhelmed with zucchini in summer. The recipe on his website has very detailed instructions (I’ve linked it above), but I wanted to test how it freezes and how I can thaw it to use later.

The recipe makes exactly 3 cups of salsa, but you could easily double it to use up more veggies. I just made the 3 cups, and it fits perfectly in the 1/2 cup trays! I took out a half cup, popped it into a mason jar, and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. This way, I had a small jar of salsa that I could use throughout the week and take out some fresh whenever I was ready for more.

Both of these recipes use the blender, and I was very grateful to finally have a Vitamix again. Years ago, I was a raw vegan for a while, and I bought a 5200 Vitamix mostly to make smoothies with. This was when I was still living in NYC with my parents, and this blender got A LOT of use. When I was going to move to Grand Rapids, my mom asked if she could keep it and told me she would buy me a new one once I finally got settled into a place of my own. She, of course, does not remember this conversation at all, and that blender is still going strong in her house over 15 years later. But after years of just using my trusty immersion blender, I finally decided it was time to purchase a Vitamix again. I bought the same one, their classic model 5200, and it’s just as wonderful as I remember.

When I first saw the Salsa Falsa recipe online, it gave me the idea that a sauce could be made creamy with zucchini, and my brain immediately went to Alfredo sauce. My best friend is dairy-free, and she's been trying to find a creamy pasta sauce with that same texture and flavor.

I found this recipe online from Kelly Jensen for a vegan, creamy zucchini alfredo sauce. The recipe was fairly simple, and it uses 2 whole pounds of zucchini! Everything roasts together on a sheet pan, then gets blended with dairy-free milk and nutritional yeast.

In her original recipe, she puts the whole batch of sauce over 1 lb of pasta, but I wanted to test it for the freezer. I froze it in 1-cup portions in Souper Cubes and had about a cup left over. So before I froze it, I cooked up some pasta to taste-test it fresh and invited my best friend over to try it as well. We both really liked it, but wanted the sauce to have a bit more flavor. So I’ve made a few modifications to the original recipe below. We also agreed this would be great with other things added to the pasta (breaded chicken or broccoli). It’s a great base for a meal.

When I was ready to try it again, I toasted some panko breadcrumbs in olive oil (or butter) until browned and crispy to add texture to the dish. Then, to reheat the sauce from frozen, I put a single 1-cup cube into my favorite small saucepan (this is currently on sale for under $30), added a splash of water, covered it, and put it over medium heat on the stovetop. While this was going, I boiled my fettuccine pasta. After about 5 minutes, I uncovered it, gave it a stir (it was mostly defrosted), and let it simmer uncovered to concentrate the flavor and texture a bit more. I didn’t want the sauce to be watery since I wanted to add a splash of pasta water later to bring everything together.

I hope you give these recipes a try, or that they spark some ideas of other things you can freeze!

At the beginning of this year, I bought reusable silicone Stasher bags and Oxo reusable silicone bags in every size. I tested each one in the freezer, cleaned them, and reused them. 8 months later, I have a favorite. But it hasn’t overtaken the other ways I store cubes in the freezer just yet; I’ll explain why.

My two main issues with reusable silicone bags for the freezer are #1 they can be hard to clean, and #2 they are thick, which makes it harder to get air out and takes up more space in the freezer. The Oxo bags performed better in those two areas. They are thinner, which made them both easier to wash and easier to push air out of. Two sizes stood out to me: the gallon bag and the sandwich bag.

The gallon bag fit 8 cups of frozen cubes easily! I found myself reaching for this one again and again. When I make a big batch of chili or chicken stock, I love that I can put 8 cups into this one bag, and I’m not worried about long-term freezer burn because those are things we will eat through within 1-2 months.

The sandwich bag will fit most of the things that I use quart-size freezer bags for. This is great, especially for meal components where I’m going in and out of the bag frequently.

After buying the gallon bag individually and the sandwich bags in a set with the other sizes, I’m going to buy more of the gallon ones because they fit my needs best for larger batches.

Next up, vacuum seal bags.

Ultimately, vacuum sealing is the best defense against freezer burn. I’ve been using my Anova vacuum sealer for 5 years now, and it’s still running great! Before Souper Cubes launched their own bags, I was using compostable vacuum seal bags, and the main issue with those is that the seal would occasionally fail, or there was a microscopic hole in the bag causing air to get in over time. It never felt like it was foolproof. They also weren’t the perfect size. WeVac bags come close, but the quart size bags I still felt like I was cutting off part of the top that was extra. But they are good to have on hand.

But the Souper Cubes bags are honestly amazing. They are a thicker material for sure (so much so that I can never use the tear tab with my hands; I always need scissors).

I love where the label is on the top; it makes me feel like I’m building a file cabinet of frozen cubes. I store a lot of them on the door of our standalone freezer, and I don’t worry at all about frost since they are all vacuum sealed.

And lastly, I still use the Kirkland freezer bags from Costco. Mainly the quart size bags for storing 1/2 cup meal components. They take up less space than the silicone bags, and I only own a few. Not enough for my full freezer stash. But if something is going into a freezer zipper bag, I try to eat through it within 3-4 months. And that’s usually not a problem for me. I keep these in our small top freezer so that I see them more often and am reminded to eat them.

I’d love to hear what’s been working for you when storing things in your freezer, cubed or not.

A good portion of this is my staple Asian pantry items, and today for the first installment of this series, I’m talking specifically about the Chinese cooking staples that I keep on hand.

I grew up in NYC, which has a very particular style of Chinese takeout, and when I moved to Michigan, it was one of the things I missed most. Over the years, I’ve found some takeout places we like, but it’s still not the same.

So when I wanted to try making more Chinese takeout dishes at home, I needed to build out my pantry of staple sauces and ingredients for that cuisine. This is the part that can feel expensive up front, and often you don’t know what to buy. So I wanted to make a simple cheat sheet that I would have wanted when going to the Asian market, navigating the grocery aisle, or shopping online.

Earlier, I shared a post with a few Chinese takeout favorites that I’ve been freezing lately. And I realized that there may be some ingredients you might not already have on hand. I was going to add this into that post, but decided instead to make this a series where I talk about my pantry staples and how I go about building out a pantry for a new cuisine.

• Soy Sauce - You will see recipes that call for regular soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is mostly for color; regular soy sauce is for flavor. For Chinese dishes, I have both from the Pearl River Bridge brand.

• Hoisin Sauce - Sometimes called Chinese BBQ sauce, this sauce is sweet and tangy. It is mainly used as a dipping sauce but is also used in marinades like Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork). While you can make this at home, the best brand I’ve found is Koon Chun, and it gets bonus points for coming in a jar that is easy to spoon thick sauce out of rather than a bottle.

• Oyster Sauce - So many of the classic takeout recipes call for oyster sauce, so it’s a must-have in the pantry. I use Lee Kum Kee (either the panda brand shown above, or I recently switched to the original premium oyster sauce from the same brand, which is much better).

• Black Vinegar - this is used in dipping sauces and some stir-frys, but my favorite thing to use it for is to dress a simple side salad of smashed cucumbers. I’ve tried a few brands, and this is the one I like best.

• Sesame Oil - Specifically roasted sesame oil; I like the one from Kadoya. I’ve repurchased it many times. You can find it in most supermarkets, and it’s easy to find by the shape of the bottle.

• Shaoxing wine - This was the thing my pantry was missing for a long time. Deglazing with a splash of Shaoxing wine really adds that classic takeout flavor. I tried to find a link for the specific one I use, but this is as close as I could find. You can see the bottle on the right in the picture above, that’s what I get from my local asian market, it’s a square glass bottle with red and gold on the label.

• Chicken Bouillon and Mushroom Bouillon - Sometimes you will see this in recipes as chicken powder. Getting the Lee Kum Kee powdered versions of both of these changed the flavor of my cooking.

• MSG - This one has been debated for a while, but I think most chefs agree that the fearmongering around MSG is deeply rooted in xenophobia, and there is nothing harmful about monosodium glutamate. It naturally occurs in many of our favorite ingredients like Parmesan cheese, ripe tomatoes, and mushrooms. If you want to learn more about MSG and the science behind it, check out KnowMSG.com. MSG is sold under the brand name Ac’cent® in the United States, as well as AJI-NO-MOTO®, and can be purchased in the spice aisle of most major supermarkets, Asian grocery stores, and online.

• White Pepper - While occasionally used in some classic French cooking (mostly for aesthetic reasons), it’s not common in the American household spice cabinet. But it’s much more common in Chinese cooking than black pepper. I keep both ground and whole peppercorns on hand, but just ground is fine for 99% of recipes.

Some other ingredients you will need for many takeout-style dishes but might already have in your pantry include cornstarch and baking powder.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, there are still many areas of Chinese cooking I have yet to explore (most notably many Sichuan dishes with the mala flavor profile); this is a good start if you’re just starting to build out this corner of your pantry.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want this newsletter to be, and I often overcomplicate things, which leads to ADHD paralysis, and then nothing gets done.

So I hope you’ll forgive me for just popping back in after months of silence. It wasn’t intentional. And I think this style of casual update on what I’ve been cooking and enjoying is appreciated, but I guess you’ll let me know.

Yesterday, I shared a video showing a few Chinese takeout favorites that I batch-cooked and froze some of. My best friend’s husband has been going through chemo, so I’ve been cooking quite a bit for them as well as for Doug and me. So some of this just went straight to them, some was for our dinner, and then some went into the freezer. But of course, after sharing the video, I was asked for the recipes, so I said I’d share them here.

If you read through these recipes and notice some ingredients you don’t have or aren’t familiar with, I also just shared a post about what Chinese pantry ingredients I keep on hand.

I cooked all of these recipes in a wok, but if you don’t have one, you can use a 12” skillet. This is the wok I currently have, but I do want to upgrade to this higher quality one since the one I have is on the cheap side, and it feels like it.

These aren’t all my original recipes, but I have tested them for the freezer and found they all work well. When it comes to freezing veggie sides, I like cabbage and carrots if they're lightly cooked; this way they still have crunch when reheating, even after freezing!

The first veggie side I wanted to make is stir-fried baby bok choy.

The baby bok choy fits so well inside the 1/2 cup Souper Cubes trays, and even after freezing and reheating, the bulb still has some crunch.

For this next recipe, I used two different recipes I found online to figure it out. The first was from The Delicious Life, and the second was from CJ Eats. They were both very simple, but one uses Chicken Powder and the other calls for Mushroom Boullion. I went with Mushroom Boullion to keep it vegetarian, but if you don’t have it, you can substitute it with Chicken Boullion Powder.

The recipe also calls for Taiwanese cabbage, which is a flat-headed cabbage that is sweeter, but if you cannot find that, just use green cabbage.

Next up, I wanted to make vegetable lo mein, but I could only find chow mein noodles. So vegetable chow mein it is. If you’re looking for fresh noodles, I highly recommend the brand Twin Marquis. Sometimes I can only find them frozen, but just thaw them in your fridge and use them within a few days.

This recipe is adapted from Cassie Young’s Chicken Lo Mein recipe.

Lastly, the protein I made for this prep is a chicken and onion stir-fry. This was my first time making this recipe, but I misread one of the ingredients and added too much dark soy sauce, so your final dish should NOT be this dark in color. However, it was still delicious, so I’m including it here. I found this recipe on Tiktok and it’s by the creator Victor Wokmanyama. I also scaled this recipe up for meal prep, so pay attention to the serving sizes if you want to make a large amount.

I hope you try out some of these recipes, and let me know what you’d like to see more of over here on Substack!

I had heard of butternut squash mac and cheese before, but honestly, I’d never tried it until one day they were sampling the frozen version at Trader Joe’s. It tasted like Thanksgiving to me, and I looked at the box and the ingredients, thinking, “I can make this.”

I was going to go with butternut squash (not being too familiar with squash in general), but then Row 7 sent me their variety called Koginut squash. I roasted it alongside three other squash varieties and determined it was what I wanted to use in this recipe.

The Koginut is a cross between kabocha and butternut squash varieties. It combines the high dry matter of the kabocha with the concentrated sweetness of the butternut, resulting in a dense, rich, and velvety texture that makes it the perfect puree for this recipe. I just roasted the squash with a bit of olive oil and salt, then scooped the flesh into a food processor to blend until smooth.

However, if you can only find butternut squash, it can be used as a substitute in this recipe. You could even use canned pumpkin (which is almost always Dickinson pumpkin, which looks very similar to the Koginut).

Roasted Squash Mac & Cheese

yields 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 lb mezzi rigatoni pasta

• 3 tbsp butter

• 3 tbsp flour

• 2 cups whole milk

• 2 tsp chopped fresh sage

• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

• 1 tsp Trader Joe’s everything but the leftovers seasoning (sub poulty seasoning)

• 1 1/2 cups of roasted squash puree (or one 15 oz can of pumpkin)

• 7 oz grueye chedder blend cheese (shreed by hand) - you can use just chedder if you prefer, but if you can find a blend or do half and half yourself, it’s lovely.

• 7 oz gouda cheese (shred by hand)

• 1/4 tsp Whole nutmeg grated

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Put a pot of water on to boil the pasta. Once the water is boiling, heavily salt the water and add the pasta.

2. In a saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter until just frothy, then whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour to make a roux. Then add in the herbs and dried seasoning to the roux.

3. Once that is combind and all the raw flour taste has cooked out (1-2 minutes), slowly add the milk, whisking constantly until it is mixed smoothly with the roux.

4. Allow the sauce to thicken up, this could take 5-10 minutes. You’re looking for the sauce to start to boil around the edges of the pan, and for the sauce to have a consistency that will coat the back of a spoon.

5. Once the sauce has thickened, add in the squash puree and whisk to combind. Turn the heat down to low.

6. Next slowly add in the shreeded cheese. Whisking as you add each handful, until it’s all melted into the sauce (optionally you can hold some of the back and save it to top the mac and cheese at the end).

7. Taste the sauce and adjust for seasoning. You can grate in some fresh nutmeg and season to taste with salt and pepper.

8. Once your pasta is cooked al dente (I undercook it by about a minute especially if I’m going to freeze it) you can add it into the cheese sauce, slowly folding it together until it’s all mixed in.

9. You can serve immediatly or freeze in Souper Cubes trays.

But when I was developing my adaptation of Lasagna Soup into a freezer soup starter cube recipe, I was reminded of this recipe, and I thought I’d give it a try. If you'd like to learn more about the idea behind soup starter cubes or find the lasagna soup recipe, you can check out those posts here:

What I love most about soup starter cubes is that I can take the time to chop all the veggies, brown all the meat, and build the base flavor of the soup, but then enjoy it multiple times, often weeks apart, and have a fresh pot of soup each time. What I didn’t know yet about this particular recipe is how versatile this base would be.

Sausage and Kale Soup Starter Base

This will make 8 cups of condensed soup base, or four 2-cup soup starter cubes

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 1/2 pounds mild or spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 3 medium celery ribs with leaves, finely chopped

• 1 large carrot, finely chopped

• 1 medium fennel bulb, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1/4 cup tomato paste

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 4 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock or store-bought low-sodium broth

• 2 cups lacinato or curly kale or other hardy greens, such as collards or Swiss chard, chopped.

Start by chopping all your vegetables. I used my food processor to make this process a bit easier, as I wanted everything except the kale to melt into the soup base. You can leave the veggies larger if you prefer. For the kale, remove the ribs and chop into 1-2 inch pieces.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until the fat has rendered and has some crispy edges. Then remove the sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, and crushed red pepper flakes (if using) to cook in the rendered fat and soften. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan while the veggies are cooking.

Next, add the tomato paste to the pot, stirring until it coats the vegetables and the color of the tomato paste deepens. Then add in the flour and stir for an additional 1-2 mintues. Then add in the broth and stir to scrape up anything that has stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Next add in the kale or other hardy greens to wilt, and return the cooked sausage to the pot. Once the kale is wilted, turn off the heat and allow it to cool before transferring the soup base to a freezer-safe container.

I froze this in two 2-cup Souper Cubes molds.

When you are ready to finish the soup, you have some flexibility. For each 2 cups of soup starter base, add 2 cups of broth.

The original recipe calls for adding tortellini, heavy cream, grated parmesan, and pesto.

Once the frozen cube was broken up and the soup was boiling, I added my tortellini directly to the pot and allowed the pasta to cook. Then I added 1/4 cup of heavy cream and ladled the soup into two bowls. Each bowl was topped with a teaspoon of basil pesto. (I forgot the parm this time)

Yesterday I went to make the soup again, but this time I wanted to add potatoes instead of tortellini. I chopped up two Yukon Gold potatoes and added those right to the pot with 2 cups of bone broth.

The potatoes cooked as the soup heated up. This took about 30 minutes on the stovetop, but would have been faster had I diced the potatoes a bit smaller.

Once the potatoes were cooked, I added the 1/4 cup heavy cream, grated Parmesan, and cracked black pepper. Both variations are delicious, and I’m sure you could adapt this recipe to use gnocchi or other starches.

My sister was the one who originally made me aware of the recipe; she had been using this recipe from the Dashleys’ kitchen. I found this other recipe and started working on a mashup of the two to put my own spin on it.

There is a page in my freezer meal guide where I talk about how to turn any recipe into a freezer meal.

I decided to use the freeze halfway through, which involves cooking the soup halfway and portioning it into freezer containers. This way, I can add broth to the frozen soup starter when it's time to make a meal.

Lasagna Soup Starter

Makes 8 cups of Soup Starter base, which will make 8-12 servings of soup.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 lb Italian sausage (casings removed)

• 1 large onion, diced

• 6 cloves minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 cups marinara sauce

• 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand (I prefer the texture of this)

Making the soup starters

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot or sauté pan, over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil along with the ground beef and ground sausage. Allow the meat to brown and develop some color on the bottom of the pan. Stir and break up the meat as it cooks until it is fully cooked.

2. Add the diced onion and sauté for a few minutes to soften before adding the garlic. Season with salt.

   

3. Add the tomato paste and stir, allowing it to carmelize and deepen in color. Then add in your marinara sauce and crushed tomatoes. (I prefer hand crushing the whole tomatoes rather than diced or crushed canned tomatoes because you get bigger pieces and a better texture, in my opinion)

4. Let this come up to a simmer and reduce for 5-10 minutes. This will not feel very soup-like; the consistency is more like a meat sauce at this point. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool before transferring it to freezer containers.

   

   This recipe makes 8 cups of soup starter to freeze. This should fit into two freezer trays, either the 2-cup size or the 1-cup size.

   

For finishing:

These ingredients are per 2 cups of frozen starter base. Scale up or down according to the number of people you’re serving. I freeze my soup starters in 2-cup portions, which will make 2-3 servings.

• 2 cups frozen lasagna soup starter base (as prepared above)

• 2 cups beef stock (I like using Better Than Bouillon so that I can make up the exact amount of stock needed at any given time)

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 6 lasagna noodles broken into pieces (or whatever flat noodle you like), approx 6 oz of dried pasta

• 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese blended)

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 2-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

• shredded parm and/or mozzarella for serving (optional)

Finishing the soup

1. To finish the soup, take out the frozen soup base and add it to a saucepan along with the beef stock. Cover and bring that to a boil over medium heat. (You might need to break the cube up with a spoon.) Once the frozen soup starter is thawed and everything is boiling, add in your broken noodles and stir, allowing the noodles to cook for 8-9 minutes (or according to package instructions).

2. While the noodles are cooking, make the ricotta topping. Mix the olive oil, black pepper, and chopped fresh basil into the ricotta cheese.

3. Once the noodles are cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream.

4. Now you’re ready to serve! Portion the soup into bowls and give each bowl a large spoonful of the ricotta topping. (You can also add some shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese if desired, but I found it didn’t need it.)

If you’d prefer to make the full soup, here are the full ingredient quantities:

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 lb italian sausage

• 1 large onion diced

• 6 cloves minced garlic

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 cups marinara sauce

• 28 oz whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand

• 8 cups beef stock

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 24 lasagna noodles

• 2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese for serving

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

• shredded parm and mozzarella for serving

Since it was time to restock the mac & cheese for the freezer, I decided I would share the recipe. This is a modified version of Tini’s mac & cheese, so check her recipe out if you want the original.

I’ve found that most casserole recipes freeze perfectly into about 8 cups, so if you’re using Souper Cubes trays, you’ll need two trays of either the 1-cup size or the 2-cup size.

If you want to see a longer version of me making this recipe, I cooked it live on YouTube a while back, but more recently made a short-form video as well.

Freezer Friendly Mac & Cheese

• 1 lb cavatappi pasta

• 3 tbsp butter

• 3 tbsp flour

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp mustard powder

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 12 oz evaporated milk

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 8 oz Colby Jack cheese

• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

• 8 oz smoked Gruyère cheese

• 8 oz Cooper sharp American cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil and undercook your pasta by 2 minutes (I did 7 minutes total). This will help your pasta not to get mushy in the freezer.

Next, shred all your cheese. Don’t use pre-shredded cheese for this recipe.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add half of the seasonings to bloom them in the fat. Then add the flour and whisk together to make a roux. Slowly whisk in the evaporated milk until it is all added and begins to thicken. Then add the heavy cream and whisk to incorporate. Add the rest of the seasonings, then turn the heat to low and slowly add half of your shredded cheese. Let each handful of cheese fully melt into the sauce before adding more.

Once half of the cheese is melted into the sauce, add the cooked and drained noodles to the pot and stir together.

Next, layer your freezer containers with noodles and sauce, followed by a layer of shredded cheese. Then, add more noodles and sauce on top, and finally, top with the cheese.

This recipe makes 8 cups of mac & cheese and freezes into two Souper Cubes trays (either the 1-cup trays or the 2-cup trays).

Freeze solid and you can bake from frozen, 375°f for 45 minutes or until the center reaches 165°f.

Recently, a question was posted in the subscriber chat about how people store their Souper Cubes once they are frozen. Many of us are trying to reduce our single-use plastic waste, but also trying to maximize the space in our freezers.

Some people might be asking,

If you have enough Souper Cubes trays and you have enough space in your freezer, it’s perfectly fine to keep the food stored in the trays.

I have a small top freezer, and while I could remove everything from it and have stacks of Souper Cubes trays, that isn’t practical for me.

Most of the time, I’m storing my frozen cubes in zip-top freezer bags. I do reuse the bags, but eventually, you will need to throw them away. You can also use silicone zip-top bags like these from Oxo or these bags from Stasher.

Another way I like to store the cubes is by vacuum sealing them. This will take up the least amount of space in the freezer and last the longest that way.

I’ve had this Anova Vacuum Sealer for three years now, and it’s holding up great. (Anova also makes this more compact version if you don’t need to store a roll inside the machine)

Yes, vacuum seal bags are made of plastic; however, they are specifically designed for sous vide cooking and can withstand extreme temperatures. I’ve been using these bags from WeVac, the quart size works well for 6 1/2 cup portions, a single 2 cup portion, or 2-3 1 cup portions. The pint size works well for single 1-cup portions.

I’ve also been testing these commercially compostable vacuum seal bags from Vesta. They come in a roll, as well as pint and quart sizes. So far, they work exactly like the plastic vacuum seal bags. I’m just testing how they hold up over time in the freezer.

I recently saw this video on tiktok where someone used a large container to store portions of frozen rice after they were removed from the Souper Cubes trays! The container they were using was plastic (I’m not sure if this is the same one but it looks similar) but it got me thinking about large airtight glass containers you might be able to use.

These containers are made of glass with a plastic lid, but their dimensions suggest they could hold a few cubes, especially when stacked vertically.

I’d love to hear how you have been storing your frozen Souper Cubes! Maybe we can all get some new ideas from the comments.

The team at Souper Cubes requested another video similar to the burrito bowls for a sponsored video, but with a different cuisine, and ideally, no rice. Someone suggested chicken shawarma, and I remembered that I enjoy the marinated shawarma chicken thighs that Trader Joe's sells. Since the video went live, I’ve been educated in the comments that Shawarma is specifically the wrap/sandwich, and not the name of the seasoning. Nothing about these bowls is authentic, so I’ve changed the name of this recipe, as it's a loose interpretation of various flavors.

For this bowl, I would make: Chicken Thighs, Quinoa, and Roasted Chickpeas with Cauliflower. Those components would be batch-cooked and then frozen for later use. I would also prepare a fresh cucumber salad and a yogurt pickle sauce to top the bowl.

I did use the Trader Joe’s Chicken Shawarma; there isn’t much in that pack, so if you would like to make your own, here’s a recipe from The Golden Balance that looks amazing, and the next time I’m craving shawarma, I will be making this marinade.

Quinoa

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (this is mostly for color, I used saffron but only because someone gave it to me as a gift)

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 1/2 cups white quinoa

• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock

• kosher salt to taste

To cook on the stovetop:

Combine the quinoa, spices, and chicken stock in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes more.

Then, remove the lid and fluff with a fork!

To cook in a rice cooker:

Combine the quinoa, spices, and chicken stock in the rice cooker. Cook on the white rice setting.

This recipe should yield 3 cups of cooked quinoa, which will fill a 1/2 cup Souper Cubes tray.

Roasted Chickpeas and Cauliflower

This component came from wanting more fiber in this bowl, but still be something I could batch cook and freeze. I got the recipe from Feel Good Foodie and added Cauliflower for more veggies.

• 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

• 1 head cauliflower (cut into bit size pieces)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• ½ teaspoon cumin

• ½ teaspoon paprika

• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425ºF (or if using an airfryer 400ºF)

Combine the chickpeas, cauliflower florets, olive oil, and seasonings in a bowl. Mix well to coat the chickpeas and cauliflower with the seasonings.

If cooking in an oven, you’ll want to spread everything out in a single layer on a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. If it looks too crowded for one pan then use two (or cook in two batches). Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through.

When cooking in an air fryer, you will likely need to cook in batches. You don’t want to pile everything on top of each other, or it will steam and not get crispy. Air fry for 12-15 minutes, tossing halfway through.

Let cool completely before putting into Souper Cubes trays to freeze.

I was surprised to find that even after freezing and reheating, the chickpeas were still crispy.

Cucumber Salad

• 2 Persian cucumbers, diced (small to medium pieces)

• 1/2 cup of micro-grape tomatoes (the smaller you can find, the sweeter they are; this is specifically helpful when tomatoes are not in season)

• 1 small shallot, finely diced (substitute: ¼ small red onion for a sharper flavor)

• A few stems of Italian parsley

• A few mint leaves

• A few sprigs of fresh dill

• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt, to taste (start with 1–2 pinches)

• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Start by chopping up two Persian cucumbers into a small to medium dice. You want the pieces bite-sized, but not too tiny. I usually quarter the cucumbers length-wise and then dice.

For the cherry or grape tomatoes, we’re just trying to get them to be similar-sized pieces to the cucumber. You may need to halve or quarter them. Then add them to a mixing bowl with the cucumbers.

Next, finely dice a small shallot and add it to the bowl. If you don’t have a shallot on hand, a bit of red onion works just as well—it’ll just bring a sharper bite compared to the milder flavor of shallots.

Now it’s time to bring in some fresh herbs to brighten things up. Take a small handful of Italian parsley, a couple of mint leaves, and a few sprigs of dill. Chop everything finely and stir it into the mix of veggies. You can use whatever fresh herbs you have or whatever you like.

With the salad base ready, it’s time to make the dressing. Zest and juice one lemon directly over the bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, a couple of pinches of salt, and a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything until the dressing is well combined and coats all the vegetables and herbs evenly.

Once everything is tossed together, transfer the salad to a container with a lid. Pop it in the fridge and let it marinate. It’s ready to enjoy after 30 minutes, but it gets even better as it sits, making it the perfect prep-ahead addition to meals throughout the week.

Garlic Pickle Yogurt Sauce

This sauce was honestly just what I whipped up with what I had on hand. It’s kind of like a Tzatziki sauce but inspired by the pickles and garlic spread you usually get on a shawarma wrap.

• 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt

• 1/4 cup toum garlic spread

• 1/4 cup diced pickles

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

There will be salt in the toum and the pickles, so add salt to taste after mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. I used Grillo’s pickle chips, but if you have access to Middle Eastern-style pickles, those would be great too.

I didn’t grow up eating potato salad or macaroni salad; the idea of mayo-based salads was not at all of interest to me. But then, when I was in college, I had Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned potato salad when I was visiting California. (Apparently, it was regional at the time, and we didn’t have that many TJ’s back where I lived in New York.) But I always remembered the flavor and, over the years, have tried to recreate it. This is what I get asked to bring to every BBQ or potluck all summer long.

Sarah Hart’s Potato Salad

• 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 cup mayonnaise (I used a mix of Hellmann’s and Kewpie)

• 1⁄4 cup sour cream

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or half and half Dijon and yellow mustard)

• 4 large boiled eggs (I cook mine for 8 minutes)

• 1⁄2 cup diced celery

• 1⁄4 cup finely diced sweet onion

• 1⁄4 cup chopped scallions (the green parts)

• 3 cloves of finely diced garlic

• 1⁄4 cup diced dill pickles

• 1⁄4 cup pickle relish

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives (optional)

This potato salad takes at least two days to prepare. First, boil the Yukon Gold potatoes whole with the skin on in heavily salted water. When they are fork tender, drain them and set them aside to cool slightly, just enough to be able to handle them.

Peel the cooked potatoes while they are still warm. Cut them into bite-sized pieces and add them to a ziplock bag or container with three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Let the potatoes cool overnight in the fridge, marinating with the vinegar. This gives the potatoes flavor all the way through.

The next day it’s time to assemble the potato salad. Prepare all the mix-in ingredients. For the boiled eggs, I like to cook them for 8 minutes so the egg yolks are still jammy.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Chop the egg whites and set them aside. Put the egg yolks in a bowl; we’re going to use them in the dressing.

Using a fork, mash the egg yolks, then add the mayonnaise, mustard, and sour cream. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. (Remember, the potatoes already have vinegar, so we don’t need to add it to the dressing.)

In a large bowl, add the marinated potatoes and any liquid from the container. Add all your mix-ins and mix together well. Then add the dressing and mix again. Let the potato salad sit in the fridge for a few more hours, up to overnight. Taste again before serving to see if it needs more salt or if you need to adjust any of the other seasonings.

Think about what you would order when you go to a place like Chipotle. Do you like white rice or brown rice? Do you want black beans or pinto beans? What protein do you want? I find grains, legumes, and proteins the three categories easiest to freeze.

Since so many of you have asked, here are a few recipes for the components that are in my freezer now that I’ve been using in these bowls.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice (I use Jasmine)

• 1 1/4 cup water

• 1 lime

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)

• 1/2 tablespoon of salted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)

First, cook your rice how you prefer. I use a rice cooker to steam the jasmine rice, but you can also cook it on the stovetop.

I get a lot of questions about freezing rice and whether freezing will make it mushy. I have never had my rice get mushy after freezing, so I can only assume it was overcooked or you used too much water when making your rice.

When the rice is cooked, add in the juice of one lime, the chopped cilantro, and the butter while the rice is still warm. Mix everything well to incorporate. Taste the rice and add any additional salt to your taste. Depending on the juiciness of your lime, you might prefer more lime juice as well.

Then spoon the rice into Souper Cubes in your preferred portion size. I froze it in 1-cup cubes here, and this recipe should fill the 1-cup tray.

Black Beans

This recipe uses dried black beans; you can use canned, but your cooking times will be a lot shorter. The beans are already cooked with canned beans, so you’re just adding flavor to the sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried black beans

• 1 yellow onion

• 3-4 cloves garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon lime juice (or red wine vinegar)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

I’ve heard debates over whether or not soaking is necessary for a smaller bean like black beans. I’ve done it both ways, but for this recipe, I will say, soak the beans overnight. Before soaking, rinse the beans and look through them for any small rocks or things that aren’t beans.

Cover the beans with about double the amount of water in a large bowl or measuring cup. Let the beans soak overnight. When I posted a video of this recipe online, I got many comments on this next part. I don’t drain the bean soaking liquid. If this doesn’t sit right with you, you’re better off not soaking the beans at all. You can read about the different black bean experiments that Kenji Lopez-Alt did at Serious Eats a few years ago, where he concluded that soaking black beans wasn’t necessary, but if you were going to soak, throwing out the soaking liquid resulted in a much less dark and less flavorful black bean.

Transfer the beans and their soaking liquid to a large pot. Add 4-5 cups of water, enough to cover the beans by about 1 inch. Cut your onion in half, remove the skins, and add it to the pot along with the garlic cloves (give these a quick smash with your knife), bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper.

Bring the pot of water to a boil and then turn the heat down so the pot is at a low simmer. Keep an eye on the beans and add more water if they look dry. How long they take to get tender will vary, but start checking them after an hour. To test for doneness, take out a bean and try smashing it with a fork. If it smashes easily, then they are done. If not, continue cooking and check every 15-20 minutes. Once they are tender, if there is a lot of liquid left, you can turn up the heat to allow the liquid to reduce to a thicker consistency.

Once the beans are done, turn the heat off and add the lime juice or vinegar. This just adds some brightness to the beans. Taste for salt and add any needed.

I like to freeze beans in the 1/2 cup Souper Cubes tray, and this recipe should make 5-6 cups of cooked beans.

Birria Beef (or pork)

This last one is hardly a recipe since I’ve been using these seasoning bombs to meal-prep it. In my most recent viral videos, it’s pork, but I recently made beef, which will show up in videos soon. If you have a favorite recipe for birria or a more authentic recipe, feel free to use that. It will still freeze beautifully.

Ingredients

• 2-4 lbs beef chuck roast or pork butt

• 1 birria seasoning bomb

• 4 cups water

You can cook this in an Instant Pot, a slow cooker, or a Dutch oven. I usually go for the Dutch oven or slow cooker method. Cut your chuck roast or pork butt into large pieces or thick 2 inch thick strips. You want to cut it so that the seasoning can better penetrate the meat, but you don’t want the pieces to be so small that it’s hard to take them out to shred later.

Add the meat, seasoning bomb, and water to your cooking vessel. If you’re using an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot, cook on high for 1 hour and 45 minutes. If you’re using a slow cooker, cook it on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. If you’re using a dutch oven, bring the water up to a boil, then cover and place in a 325ºF oven for 3-4 hours. Cook until the meat is easily shredded with a fork.

Take out the meat and shred it. For freezing, I like to portion out the meat into 1/2 cup trays (I’ve also done 1-cup), and then once the meat is evenly portioned, I spoon the birria consommé (the cooking liquid) over the meat. You can also freeze any extra consommé on its own, which is great for making birria tacos, birria ramen, etc.

Guacamole

I also recently froze guacamole, and it was successful. But I don’t think I have done it enough frequently to have a recipe to share. But I will work on it and get you one soon. I froze the guac in the 2-tablespoon tray, and it thawed quickly between leaving for the office and lunchtime. I didn’t heat it; I just mixed it with a fork before serving.

To serve

You can reheat these items in a few different ways. I like taking everything for lunch and just microwaving it together. You can use the defrost button on the microwave first before microwaving in 1-minute increments until everything is as hot as you’d like. Otherwise, you can microwave without defrosting. Our microwave at work is pretty weak, so it does take about 5 minutes to warm up even on high. I usually check and stir in 2-minute increments.

If you wanted to heat these elements individually or if you wanted to heat them as sides for a build-your-own burrito bowl party, you can heat the beans and meat in a low oven, 325-350ºF covered until the internal temp reaches 165ºF. For the rice, if not microwaving, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm it up in a pot or pan with a splash of water to help it reheat.

A few weeks back, Aldi had chicken drumsticks on sale. I used those drumsticks to make a soy sauce braised chicken recipe. I deboned the chicken legs and saved the meat and sauce. Then, I turned them into freezer meals, layering the chicken over white rice and topping each meal with frozen broccoli (still frozen). These were great, easy meals that I quickly ate over the past few weeks. I intended to make them again when Aldi ran the same sale this week.

However, our plans changed, and we were having two friends over for lunch on Sunday, so I decided to make this stewed chicken instead. I made the stew with potatoes and carrots and served it over white rice. The stewed potatoes and carrots are my favorite part of this dish when served fresh, but they do get VERY soft, and I don’t think they would hold up well in the freezer. I deboned the rest of the chicken and mixed it with any remaining sauce and mashed any leftover veggies in with the chicken. You could leave out the veggies if you just meal-prepped the chicken.

You will need sofrito for this recipe, but if you’ve made some of my other Puerto Rican recipes, then you might already have this in your freezer!

I used one family pack of chicken drumsticks for this recipe, but unfortunately, I don’t remember how big it was. It was 11 drumsticks, but they were rather large. My guess is it was around 3-4 lbs.

Pollo Guisado

• 3-4 lbs bone-in chicken

• 2 packets of Sazon

• 2 tsp Adobo seasoning

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 cup sofrito (8 tbsp)

• 1 yellow onion chopped

• 6 cloves garlic chopped

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 3 cups chicken stock

• 1 bay leaf

• 3-4 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1/4 cup manzanilla olives (optional)

In a large bowl place the drumsticks and season with 1 packet of sazon, 1 tsp of adobo, 2 tbsp of olive oil. Mix well and leave the chicken to marinate for 30 minutes up to overnight in the fridge.

Sear the chicken on each side for a few minutes in a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot (I used my electric dutch oven for this). The sazon is a red color so it may be hard to judge browning; just be careful not to burn the chicken. I also had to do this in two batches. Remove the chicken to a plate or bowl.

Add the chopped onion to the pot with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil. Stir to get up any fond that has developed on the bottom of the pan. Then add in your sofrito and saute until softened (if it’s frozen just put the lid on the pot for a few minutes). Add your chopped garlic and stir for 1 minute just until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tomato paste. Cook that, stirring with the rest of the aromatics until the color of the tomato paste deepens. Then add the remaining packet of sazon and the remaining Adobo seasoning.

Return the chicken to the pot along with any juices that collected while it was resting. Then add the three cups of chicken stock, the potatoes, carrots, and olives. And toss in the bay leaf.

Cover and cook on a simmer for 2 hours. In my electric dutch oven I did the first part of this recipe on the sear function and then I switched to the braise function.

Serve over white rice. To freeze it, I deboned all the chicken and mixed the meat in with the sauce. I froze that in the 1-cup souper cubes trays.

The videos always received many comments and suggestions, and I think this is one of those things that will continue to evolve over time. However, for this recipe, I think it’s time to share my findings.

Enchiladas are one of those recipes with hundreds of variations. Still, my goal in recipe development was to make something delicious with a small amount of effort and to make a meal that could be assembled entirely, frozen, and then cooked from frozen.

I do not doubt that if I made the salsa verde from scratch, it would be more delicious or that the tortillas would hold together better if I froze them without the sauce (but that defeats the purpose of the convenience I was trying to achieve of having a complete freezer meal).

While you can make this with flour tortillas, I prefer the flavor of corn tortillas. El Milagro tortillas were my favorite. Trader Joe’s salsa verde is what I use in this recipe. It has a good amount of sodium, so I don’t add much extra seasoning. If you use another brand of salsa, just make sure to taste the sauce and add salt if needed.

This recipe is easy and fast to assemble. Freezing is not required, and this would be an easy dinner any night of the week.

Easy Enchiladas Suizas

3-4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken breast (this recipe is based on the white meat off one costco rotisserie chicken)

24 oz of salsa verde (two jars of Trader Joe’s salsa verde)

2-3 cloves of garlic

handful of cilantro

the juice of 1 lime

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp Adobo seasoning

Corn tortillas (I usually end up needing 18-20)

8 oz shredded monterey jack cheese

Shred the rotisserie chicken breast meat and season it with the adobo seasoning, set aside.

Take one jar of the salsa verde and blend it with the garlic, cilantro, and sour cream. Then add the second jar of salsa and the lime juice. (I don’t just blend both because I like the sauce to have some texture, but if you don’t, then you can just put it all together in the blender).

This is the sauce, so taste it and make sure you’re happy with the salt and acid levels. If you want more acidity, add more lime juice. Adjust the salt to taste.

Now we’re on to assembly. You can assemble these either rolled like traditional enchiladas, or you can assemble it more like pastel azteca (which is kind of like Mexican lasagna). I find the lasagna style works better in the 2-cup Souper Cubes trays and I like the rolled style in aluminum trays or a regular baking dish. (I use these aluminum trays from the dollar tree when making this meal to give to friends).

With either style, I find it beneficial to fry the tortillas lightly. You’re not trying to make them crispy; you're just warming them up and making them pliable.

For the rolled style, start with putting a little sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish, freezer tray, or aluminum tray. To roll them, just take a tortilla and place a small amount (approx 2 tbsp) of the chicken filling in a line in the center. You can add a little cheese inside or leave it out. Once rolled, place it seam-side down in the tray on top of the sauce. After filling the tray or baking dish, you can top the enchiladas with more sauce and add the shredded cheese. Cover and freeze. (or bake at 350ºF until golden and bubbly)

For the lasagna style, if you’re doing it in 2-cup Souper Cubes trays, I like to build it upside down. On the bottom, I start with some shredded cheese, then sauce, a tortilla, chicken, cheese, and a little sauce. Repeat these layers until the cubes are full (I usually can get two layers), ending with a tortilla on top. Cover and freeze.

For either of these, if you’re wanting to bake from frozen, bake covered for 30 minutes or until the internal temp is 150-160ºF and then uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.

It has A LOT of ingredients (some of which I decided to substitute, but more on that later) but what I found the most strange were the recipe instructions.

• Step 1: Gather ingredients

• Step 2: Brown the meat

• Step 3: Dump everything else in the pot, and simmer for 2+ hours

• Step 4: Season to taste and serve

I was shocked. It went against every instinct I had as a cook. Thankfully, I filmed this for a video, so I have the footage to figure out what I did. I browned the meat first, then added the veggies and tried to saute those a bit before adding in the liquid ingredients. But it still felt wrong somehow.

And then there was my other mistake: instead of using 1/4 cup of chili powder that the recipe called for, I substituted that for Chipotle Chili powder. Now I was today years old when I learned that chili powder is actually a spice blend. (at least what is sold as chili powder largely in the US). So, depending on what you buy, it could really change the way the end result tastes.

Chipotle Chili powder, on the other hand, is just dried and ground chipotle peppers. Much spicier than most chili powder blends. So, putting a 1/4 cup of it in the bit pot of chili was a big change to the flavor profile. I gave some away to our friends and put about 4 cups in the freezer, which took us a whole year to eat through. It was so spicy and not our favorite, so we didn’t reach for it automatically.

But now that I have used the last of it, I was determined to work through this recipe and adapt it to work better for the mild tastes of our household. This recipe yields about 16 cups of chili, so it’s great for a batch cook but it’s A LOT if you have a tiny freezer. Don’t be afraid to cut this in half if needed. Or make it for a party and then freeze the rest.

Sarah Hart’s Mild Beef Chili

• 4-6 strips of bacon

• 2 cups diced onion

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1 cup diced bell peppers

• 6 cloves minced garlic

• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste

• 1 lb sweet italian sausage

• 2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)

• 3 tbsp chili powder

• 1 tbsp dried oregano

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 2 tsp salt (or more to taste)

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp better than bouillon beef base

• 56 oz crushed tomatoes and their juice (two 28 oz cans)

• 3 15 oz cans chili beans with mild sauce

• 2 4 oz cans diced green chilis

• 1 tsp fish sauce (can sub worcestershire sauce)

• 1 tsp hot sauce (or more to taste)

Chop the bacon into small pieces and saute until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy. Remove the bacon bits from the pot and set aside.

In the remaining bacon fat, saute the onion, celery, and bell peppers until they have softened. Add the minced garlic and saute for an additional minute.

Add the whole can of tomato paste and saute with the veggies for a few minutes until the color of the tomato paste darkens slightly.

Then add in all the meat and brown until mostly cooked through. You will need to stir and break up the meat as you go.

Once the meat is browned, add the dried spices, bouillon paste, and cooked bacon and stir to combine.

Next, add the crushed tomatoes, chili beans, and diced chilis.

Bring this up to a boil and season with fish sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

Allow to simmer for 2-3 hours before serving or freezing.

Here’s the recipe for the marinade:

Once you have this cooked and either in the fridge or the freezer, you can make one of my favorite tacos!

These tacos get topped with an asian style slaw to bring some freshness to the dish, and I love that all the ingredients for this slaw are in season in the depths of winter!

Asian Style Slaw

• 2 tbsp avocado oil

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tbsp honey

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 3 cloves grated garlic

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• 1/4 cup chopped scallions

• 1 bag of coleslaw mix (or shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots)

To make the dressing, mix together the avocado oil, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic in a bowl. This amount of dressing is for the full bag of coleslaw mix, so if you’re only making a few tacos, you can mix the dressing in a jar and keep any extra in the fridge.

To a large bowl, add the dressing, then the coleslaw mix, cilantro, and scallions on top. Mix from the bottom until all the veggies are coated in the dressing.

To make the tacos, warm some corn tortillas in a pan with a little oil until they are soft. Keep them warm in a clean tea towel while you prepare the rest of the taco ingredients.

If your beef is frozen, put it in the skillet on medium heat with a splash of water and cover it. This will trap the steam and help defrost the cube. Stir it with a wooden spoon, breaking it up as you go. Once it’s all broken apart, you can uncover the pan.

Add a little extra oil to the pan and crisp up the meat in the skillet. You just want to get some extra color on the meat and heat it all the way through.

Now, it’s time to assemble your tacos. I like a double corn tortilla for street-style tacos, but use whatever you like. Add your bulgogi ground beef, then top with the slaw. You can also add avocado, pickled red onions, spicy mayo, or whatever other taco toppings you like!

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Growing up in NYC with a best friend who was Puerto Rican, this dish was at EVERY gathering and celebration but I never learned how to make it. It wasn’t until I moved to Grand Rapids and couldn’t quickly get it anywhere that I decided it was time to learn to satisfy my homesick craving.

I have a few tips before we get into the recipe: Firstly, you’re going to need the right kind of pan for this. Traditionally, this would be made in a Caldero, a cast aluminum pot with a tight-fitting lid. It is very similar in shape to a shallow Dutch oven. I use a 4qt enameled cast iron braiser for this recipe. Mine is made by Cuisinart, but I got it 4-5 years ago, and I can’t find the exact same one online, but here are some similar options.

• Martha Stewart 3.5-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven Braiser

• Lodge 3.6 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Oval Casserole With Lid

The second thing is for the Sazon, I use Goya, but you want to make sure that you’re getting the kind with coriander and annatto. That is important to the flavor profile of the dish.

Lastly, you will need Sofrito for this recipe, which I make and keep in my freezer. Here’s the recipe if you need it.

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Arroz con Gandules

A classic Puerto Rican dish, arroz con gandules is packed with bold, savory flavors and perfect for any gathering. Here's how to make it step by step!

Ingredients

• 6 strips of bacon, diced

• 6 tablespoons sofrito

• 6 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce

• 3 teaspoons sazon seasoning

• 2 teaspoons adobo seasoning

• 1-2 cans gandules (pigeon peas), drained

• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon paste

• 20-30 pimento-stuffed olives

• 4 cups white rice

• 4 cups water

Instructions

1. Cook the Bacon
   Start by dicing the bacon into small pieces and browning them in a large pot or braiser (a 4-quart enameled braiser works perfectly). Cook until the bacon is crispy and the fat is rendered, creating a flavorful base.

2. Build the Flavor Base
   Add six tablespoons of sofrito and the chopped garlic to the pot. Sauté for about one minute, stirring frequently, until the mixture becomes fragrant.

3. Add Seasonings and Vegetables
   Stir in the sazon and adobo seasonings, followed by the tomato sauce, chicken bouillon paste, olives, and gandules. Mix everything to combine the flavors.

4. Add the Rice and Water
   Pour in the white rice and water. Stir thoroughly to ensure the rice is evenly coated and submerged in the liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.

5. Cook the Rice
   Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Let the rice cook undisturbed for 30 minutes.

6. Steam the Rice
   After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and stir the rice to redistribute the ingredients. Cover the pot again and let it steam for an additional 30 minutes with the heat off.

7. Serve and Enjoy
   Fluff the rice with a fork, and it’s ready to serve! The arroz con gandules should be tender, flavorful, and beautifully infused with all the seasonings.

Pro Tips

• Don’t skip the steaming step—it ensures the rice is perfectly cooked and infused with flavor.

• This dish pairs wonderfully with roasted meats or can stand on its own as a satisfying main.

I freeze this in the 1-cup Souper Cubes trays to enjoy later.

I’m hoping in the new year to make my substack more of a place of engagement with this community that we’ve been cultivating together. I still haven’t decided if I want to put this content behind a paywall, but I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’re an avid user of this platform.

I’m very curious about which platform you initially found my content.

If you’re active on TikTok, you've probably heard that the app could be banned in the US in a month. This is scary for many content creators who have grown a large audience there. Still, instead of worrying too much about it, I’m choosing to be optimistic about the opportunities that change will present.

I’ve long wanted to create more long-form content on YouTube, but I've been too afraid to try it out. I recently started posting my short-form videos over there, and I hope to begin making longer-form content in the new year.

So, I guess I just wanted to pop in with an update and say I’m still alive. I'm just packing and shipping the last of our holiday orders over at Simply Curated, and I should be back posting new recipes soon.