The Ice Cube Method: Not just for baby food!

Remember the ice cube method for freezing homemade baby food? I've been doing a good bit of ice cube freezing since I started making baby food. I already try to portion and freeze a number of different foods (like spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese, or freezer meals like shepherd's pie or lasagna), but I've found that liquids work really well frozen in ice cube trays.

Some of my recent favorite freezes are juices (like the leftover pineapple juice from canned pineapple), and homemade stock. I've also used muffin tins to freeze stock. They are slightly more practical for me because I usually need at least a cup of stock at a time.

Sometimes the cubes need a little coaxing to pop out of the trays. I just use a paring knife and they come right out.

Recently, I decided to freeze some root beer that had gone flat. Incidentally, have you ever noticed that root beer is one of the best off brand sodas?

I'll use the root beer cubes the next time I make pulled pork. It won't matter that the soda is flat and we love the way pork tastes when it is cooked in root beer!

Do you have any creative ways to freeze food? Even though I'm not posting about food waste anymore I still believe that using up ALL the food you buy is one of the best (and simplest) ways to save money!

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

It has been super cold in Delaware lately, so one icy day last week I made this for dinner. It was the perfect cozy meal! I found this recipe on my Cook's Illustrated app on the iPod. I had been wanted to make tomato soup for a while. I made it the first year we were married but it had chunks of tomato and we don't do tomato chunks in something like this, so I think the leftovers got tossed. We won't be tossing these leftovers, I am pleased to report!

We had grilled cheese sandwiches with this soup and it was tasty! I think a salad would have gone nicely too, but I didn't think of it until I was cleaning up dinner. My 2 year old LOVED it. It came out thick and creamy, and had a nice kick to it. I think the only changes I would make next time is to maybe only use 2 cloves of garlic (it was a little garlicky) and add a tiny bit more sugar (it was still a little tart). Overall it had a very complex flavor, totally unlike the canned variety.

I wanted a creamy tomato recipe, and I thought it was interesting that this one accomplished the thick and creamy texture without using any heavy cream or even milk.

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• pinch hot red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 3 large slices good-quality sandwich bread, crusts removed and torn into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 T. brandy (optional)

Heat 2 Tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. I was out of onion so I just used onion juice.

Stir in tomatoes (I used crushed tomatoes instead of whole). Using a potato masher, mash until no pieces bigger than 2 inches remain (or used crushed tomatoes!). Stir in sugar and bread; bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down. Remove and discard bay leaf.

Then I pulled out my new immersion blender! Or you could use a regular blender (which is used in the actual recipe).

You can see how the soup is changing color as it is blended together...awesome!

After soup is blended, stir in chicken broth and brandy (I didn't use brandy). Return soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

I totally recommend pairing with grilled cheese, but crusty bread for dipping would be great too!