Easiest way to shuck corn

If you never want to deal with the silk from cork husks again, watch Ken.  He's awesome.  In fact, he went viral on youtube with over 7 million views.  Bonus:  His tip actually works.  

Kitchen tip: Cooking Bulk Ground Beef

I bought 10 lbs of ground beef at Aldi last week and I was really looking up against browning it all.  So I googled "browning ground beef crockpot" and found a really easy way to do it.

I was able to put 5 lbs at a time in my crockpot.  I crumbled it up, added about a cup of water and turned it on high.  I tried to mix it up with my Pampered Chef Mix n Chop every 45 min to an hour because it would start to really brown around the edges.

About 3 hours later, I had 5 lbs of browned beef with no splatters on my stove!  I stuck the beef in a colander to drain and then added my other 5 lbs to the crockpot.  It takes longer than browning it on the stove, but I think there is less mess and I don't have to stand and watch it, just stir it occasionally.  Today I've made 6 lbs into taco meat and sloppy joes (all in the crockpot!) and am going to make chili and shepherd's pie with the rest. 

What's Cookin'

So this weeks menu plan went down in flames.  I think maybe I made one meal out of it.  We were all sick and no one really felt like eating until yesterday (Chris made some pretty fabulous spaghetti.).  But I am thankful that now all of us have had it and hopefully it's done, and I'm very thankful that Chris has a job that if necessary, he can do from home while watching 4 boys so his wife can rest.  :-)  Because that's what I did most of the day Thursday and watched a lot of cooking shows (And now I think I can be an Iron Chef but that's a tale for another day.).

Here's next weeks menu:
Mon~Spaghetti x 2, cauliflower, artisan bread (I even have the Italian sausage cooked already.  I feel so on top of it!)  :-)
Tues~Tacos x 3, chips and salsa, raw veg
Wed~Freezer meal
Thurs~Pizza, raw veg
Fri~Some kind of beef (maybe steak), mashed potatoes (freezer), roasted winter veg, salted caramel cheesecake
Sat~Chili, brown rice, cornbread
Sun~Meatball soup, rolls


FYI-Kitchen tip
I went grocery shopping Tuesday night and forgot the potatoes in the car trunk.  By the time I rescued them today, they were froze solid.  I was thinking I would have to throw them away, but after they thawed a bit, I peeled them and cut some mushy spots off and then made freezer mashed potatoes using PW's recipe here.  Phew!

Cooking tip

Here's a tip I found on Pinterest:

Save your cereal bags and use them when you need crumbs (graham crackers, oreos, pretzels) for crusts.  Save on ziploc bags!