Pork fat can be frozen and refrozen. I use pork fat when making sausages, only because most pork cuts are quite lean to begin with. You can grind up the meat or leave it whole in large chunks and freeze it. I do that for small pork roasts or ground to be mixed with ground beef for things like meatballs and meatloaf. Yesterday, coincidentally I bought a whole boneless pork loin for just $1.77 a pound. It was about 10 pounds. I made up a big batch of Canadian bacon brine, and inject the brine into the pork in several places. The intent is to increase its total weight by 20%. Once injected, I have to cut the whole loin down to fit some tall Food Saver canisters. The cut lenghts get placed in these tall round canisters and they get filled with the same brine (salt, water, maple syrup, sugar, liquid smoke and a little nitrates). The containers have vacuum fittings on top (these are Food Saver canisters), and the containers get pumped down under vacuum for about 20-30 minutes, then placed in teh fridge over night. I use a special vacuum pump, NOT the Food Saver one! Today, I pumped down on them again and then removed the loins and drained them. They get baked very slowly a about 180 degrees for 2 hours, then 200 for 2 hours, then 230 for 2-3 hours. The temp is raised slowly every hour after that, until the meats internal temp reaches 160 degrees, and no higher. They get cooled, refrigerated and then sliced. Store bought Canadian bacon in stores usually runs about $3 or more for pound, as I have seen it at $8 per pound. For my cost thats a lot cheaper! The sliced bacon is frozen in FS bags, and lasts me a year or more. You basically can freeze pork and then thaw, grind and make into fresh sauages, but it should not be refozen again. I have done that here, but add a bit more spices to counteract the second freezing. Also, when they are made, I use less salt added, so it will refreeze firmer.

I recently posted my dressing here on another thread. I normally stuff it into the neck and lower cavities of a whole turkey but I've also done it separately in a covered pan in the oven when cooking just a whole breast. My family loves this dressing which I've been making this way for many years: 1 small loaf stale firm bakery bread (white or brown) 3 - 4 stalks celery- including some green fronds - finely chopped 1 medium onion - finely chopped 2 - 3 lg cloves garlic - minced 3/4 medium-sized leek, white and some green tops - finely chopped handful - chopped 2 cups fresh mushrooms, cleaned & sliced 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 C water & 2 chicken stock cubes) 1 TBS dry rubbed sage 1 TBS dry thyme 1 teasp salt 1/4 teasp fresh ground black pepper 1 teasp poultry seasoning eg McCormick's (optional) butter & oil optional - 2 small fine-textured English breakfast sausages, meat squeezed out of casing Utensils needed: large mixing bowl, frying pan, mortar & pestle (optional) 1. Tear the loaf of bread into small pieces (around 1/2 inch) into the mixing bowl. I usually include the crust, unless the full loaf is more bread than I need. 2. Put equal parts oil and butter in the frying pan and gently saute the chopped vegetables to soften a little - about 5 minutes: - celery, onion, leek, garlic, parsley. Note: if using optional sausage mixture, add it here as well. 3. Add these to the bread crumbs in the mixing bowl. Add a little more butter to the pan and put in the sliced mushrooms. Cook gently for a couple of minutes to soften then add them to the mixing bowl. 4. Put the dried sage & thyme in the mortar with the salt & pepper and optional poultry dressing spice. Grind all together to release the aromas of the mixture, then add it to the mixing bowl, stirring it in. 5. Prepare chicken broth - either fresh or using hot water & stock cubes or powder. 6. Add the stock to the mixing bowl a little at a time, mixing well with fork, stopping when half the liquid has been added. Check that the mixture is not becoming too wet. Add the rest of the liquid in very small amounts and keep stirring and checking that it is moist but not wet. A wet dressing becomes even wetter when it's stuffed inside the turkey so don't overdo the liquid. You may not need it all. 7. Let dressing rest and cool a few minutes then either stuff the turkey, neck and bottom cavities or cook the dressing separately on a foil covered baking pan in the oven, opening the foil a little to allow the top to crispen if desired. For the above photo I cooked my dressing in the oven at the same time as I did the turkey breast, about 1 hour at 325F. You may need a shorter time - just check it after 40 minutes. Note: The time I made this and took the above photo I had been in bed with the flu and cooked just a breast rather than a whole turkey. I didn't get out to buy fresh mushrooms so used a tin of very small whole baby mushrooms. I always prefer to use fresh. SharonCb

Pattisue, did you read the .. study(?) that compared canned veggies with frozen and fresh? The canned came out no worse than frozen. Now, I can't remember if they were looking at no sodium ones, but I remember being pleased as I ate a can of corn with a spoon from the can. BFelton, shame on 'ya. Everyone has to have a guilty pleasure and some of ours is Velveeta. At least no one is eating space food sticks now. Rest assured, had someone hoarded them they'd still be fine. Total chemicals. No wonder American bodies didn't decompose in the Vietnamese heat like locals did. (Now that's a picture for the morning.) I wanted you all to know I'm on my 4th meal (breakfast, dinner, repeat) without any Reese's cups. That's 1600 delicious, empty calories of waist fat. No sugar withdrawal, which is surprising. And I'm noticing already the HABIT it is to grab one of these packs of heaven-in-orange-plastic. "Awareness is everything," said every yoga teacher I've ever had in 35 years. I also went to the grocery store after work. 10:30 at night. I bought stuff to make some freezable dishes. Soup, grain dishes, maybe some spaghetti. $149 later I had: Kamut, barley, amaranth, quinoa, cous cous (N. African kind, not Israeli), brown rice, millet, and a couple other kinds. Whole wheat pasta (not sure about this). Soy milk (can you cook with this like regular milk? Will it freeze?) Raisins, apples, pineapple, Savoy, Chinese, green cabbage and bok choi. Onions, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and lots of colored bell peppers. The latter I can cut up and freeze, too. Some 93% fat free ground chuck for a monstrous vat of soup I plan. Some hot Italian sausage. and Lentils. I've never eaten a bean in my life I didn't spit across the room. But. (Big But) I tried the Carraba's spicy sausage and lentil soup by accident and absolutely loved it. I've looked up some copy cat recipes and think I'm going to try it. If it bombs, I'll pour it in the garden. So wish me luck in cooking, better choices, and that they "stick."

For those who think lamb smells/tastes too strong, it's the fat that has almost all of the smell/taste. Try the lamb tenderloin, you'll find it much milder. Wonderful sear-roasted or grilled with a pomegranate molasses glaze. Because my DH grew up in HK with a half-British stepfather, the ONLY lamb he likes is strongly-flavored, gamy lamb. We get a lot of lamb out in Northern CA that is so mild you really can't tell it from beef. Both of us prefer lamb with some "ooomph." But that's also because the beef out here is pretty "meh". We have great salads but lousy steakhouses, LOL. I do an intense curry paste - don't ask me for a recipe, since I make it differently every time, depending on what I have on hand - and rub it over rack of lamb or lamb chops. Yummy! We both hate mint sauce, although I once had a good savory one from a restaurant which was a nice surprise.