What's for Dinner??

This week I have planned 2 freezer meals and 3 fast and easy meals. I had also planned a freezer meal of Chicken Enchiladas but right now I have a ton of left overs as it is and I know I will have more since my kids really seriously don't eat!! So I think I will do Sat. and Sunday both this week as left overs and if we run out, then my Chicken Enchilada's are ready and waiting in my trusty freezer!! Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday: Taco Salad (easy meal)

Tuesday: Breakfast Casserole (easy meal)

Wednesday: Calzones (freezer meal)

Thursday: Chicken and Veggie Soup (easy meal)

Friday: Lasagna (freezer meal)

Desserts: Coconut cake (easy), Chocolate chip cookies (freezer)

I will upload pictures as we prepare and eat but if any of you want a recipe for this week you will have it!)


Taco Salad
I got this recipe from my Aunt. I spent several summers with her growing up and always enjoyed her great dishes. Even though as she put it they were "nothing flashy!"


Ingredients:
1 package veggie meat crumbles (I don't like red meat so this is what I use for Mexican dishes, but you could use ground beef, about 1-2 lbs is equivalent)
1 taco seasoning packet
tomatoes diced
olives
lettuce
cheddar cheese grated
cucumber
any other taco style toppings you like
french salad dressing
Doritos chips (I try to use the baked kind, you know to try and be healthy)
Black beans


Directions:
Cook up your meat with the taco seasoning and then let cool a bit (or your lettuce will wilt).
Then toss everything together in a salad and top with the French dressing.

Farmer's Casserole
Taken from the 12th edition Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook with my own little changes because the first time I made it, I didn't have all the ingredients so I improvised. It was so good we just keep making it my way.

Ingredients:
3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Thinly sliced turkey lunch meat (our fave for this dish is the pepper corn style, cookbook calls for Canadian bacon)
palmful of dried onion (cookbook calls for 1/4 cup sliced green onions)
4 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste, I also add a little garlic powder because I like it.

Directions:
Grease a square baking dish (I use cooking spray). Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish. Top with cheese, turkey and onions.
In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour eggs over potato mixture.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 -45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from center.

*This recipe can be made up to 24 hours ahead (just don't cook it until ready to eat) and would make a great brunch or potluck style dish.

**The great thing is you can make ahead the night before when kids are sleeping or during nap time, then you don't have kids underfoot while you are trying to pull something together!! Nifty huh?

I am going to serve with fruit smoothies and toast. YUM!

Calzones
I got this recipe from my good friend Amity. She is like me in that fast, easy and as nutritious as possible is the best kind of recipe. The only difference is that her kids actually eat! Lucky girl!!

Ingredients:

Dough:
(basic french bread)
1 Tbs. yeast (1 packet)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 cup warm water
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 cups flour

Filling:
Pizza sauce (I just used spaghetti sauce with tomato paste mixed in)
mozzarella cheese
any pizza toppings you like (we did basic peperoni and olives)

Directions:
Make bread. I borrowed Am's bread machine and now I sooo want one!!! Simply put yeast, sugar and water in bread machine bowl and allow it to get foamy (about 5 minutes). Add all ingredients minus one cup flour and let machine mix until elasticky. If dough is sticky add from left over one cup as needed.
Remove from bread machine coat with olive oil and let rise for 1 hour.

When dough is ready divide in half. Roll out to circle and add filling to center. Fold top and bottom up and sides over. Place on pan (or freezer dish as I did) fold side down. Let rise again for about 30 minutes. Coat with egg white and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

*This was my first freezer meal and it worked great. I was worried about how it would cook completely frozen so I did take it out about 2 hours before cooking to let it thaw and such. Right before cooking I coated it with the egg white and it turned out very yummy!! I also ended up cooking it about 40 minutes and I adjusted that on the recipe. If it were fresh it would probably have only taken the 30 minutes, but I wanted to ensure it wasn't cold in the middle.

I served it with salad and grapes. Super tastey!!


Chicken Vegetable Soup
This is a new recipe that I have not tried yet, so we will see how it is. I took it from Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast. The title alone of this Cook book is what attracted me.

Ingredients:
32 oz. of chicken broth
2 1/2 cups cooked, diced chicken breast (I will most likely use canned chicken because it is faster!)
Chopped celery
Chopped onion
Chopped bell pepper
Sliced carrots
1 14 oz. package frozen baby potato and vegetable blend (such as Bird's Eye)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
1 12oz can of evaporated milk

Directions:
Bring broth, chicken, celery, onion, bell pepper and carrot to a boil. While this comes to a boil micro-cook the potato blend (I will be using my Pampered Chef steamer). Add garlic and seasonings to broth mixture. Use kitchen shears to cut cooked potato blend veggies into bite size pieces. Stir potato blend, spinach and milk into broth mixture. Cover and cook until carrot is tender.

*I added zucchini and topped with a little bit of parmesean cheese. So good.




Lasagna
I don't follow a recipe. I know the basic function and parts and I just throw in what I have on hand.

Ingredients:
Large size tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce/canned diced tomotoes (whichever you have)
Italian seasonings such as basil, oregano, garlic powder, pesto, parsley, salt, pepper
ground beef or turkey (optional)
Small curd cottage cheese OR Ricotta cheese (about a cup)
1-2 eggs
a block of mozarella
lasagna noodles

Directions:
Cook lasagna noodles as directed. Make sauce using tomato base, meat and seasonings as you like. Mix cottage or ricotta cheese with egg and garlic powder and some parsley, salt and peper.
Make an assembly line. Layer noodles, sauce, cottage/ricotta cheese mixture, mozarella until the pan is filled. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until bubbly. You might want to cover with foil the 10 or so minutes if you don't like a crispy top.

Freezer Directions:
Make as above except don't cook. To cook after freezing you can put straight in the oven as directed above.

*When we cooked this straight from the freezer it took more like an hour and a half. Oops, I guess it's just a learning process!!



Coconut Cake
I got this recipe from the "Real Guamanian Recipes" cookbook I bought in the Shopette when we lived on Guam. The first time I made it I had never used coconut milk in anything. So, I opened the can and scooped out the tablespoons of milk I needed and continued to mix my cake. I had left over and put into my Tupperware and realized that coconut milk in the can has a really super thick layer of creamy something on top and under is a more clear liquid. I probably should have mixed it up before putting it into my cake. Still the cake turned out so yummy I always do the same thing!! This is a favorite of our friend Jason. Every time we had the Morrows over I tried to make it because he always swooned over it!! At Dennis' work there are two ladies that don't even like coconut, but they love this cake! GOOD STUFF!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
8 Tbs. coconut milk (the recipe calls for 6 but I like 8)
1 cup grated coconut

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, flour and baking powder. Mix, add remaining ingredients (batter will be thick and like a super sticky dough)and pour into greased (and floured is best) cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes (will be golden brown). I always frost with cream cheese frosting and top with toasted coconut.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Taken from the 12th edition Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I am known for this frosting. Will tells me I am the best frosting maker alive and I sort of believe him!! It is the frosting I generally always use.

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, softened
1 package of cream cheese, softened
vanilla (I just dump as much as I want in)
4 cups powdered sugar (you can put in as much as you want really, but 4 is our magic number).

Directions:
Cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add sugar one cup at a time and blend until smooth.

My taste testers. I always have my family check to see if the frosting is just right before I frost!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
I just used the recipe on the package of chocolate chips. I don't have a favorite brand, I just get what is on sale.

Freezer directions:
Make cookies as described on package. Scoop out tablespoon sized scoops (I used my pampered chef scooper) into freezer container and cook as directed.

*After being in the freezer, we had to cook longer than the regular directions. We cooked these large scoops for about 18 minutes. Again, it's all a learning process.

From this:

to this:

Cook Book Recomendation

One of my longtime best friends Katherine works for Make a Wish Foundation and suggested a great cook book called Favorites. She says it's great and what she cooks from a lot. She mentioned they are simple recipes, that have "been handed down for generations." Sounds good to me. I for one am going to pick one up!

Freezer Questions Answered:

What do you put your freezer meals in?

I just used the foil pans with lids that are in the baking section of the grocery store. I have not done freezer meals like this before, so I am hoping that these containers will work. I also hope that they will last through at least a few uses of freezing meals (I don't want to have that added expense every month). I didn't know what else to use because I wanted them to go from freezer to oven so they couldn't be Tupperware. As I start going through the meals I will report how they work out. For now though, that is what I have used.

Chicken Mango Salad

I first found this recipe when my husband and I were stationed on Guam. I was helping out in the relief society with a luncheon and my friend Marisa suggested this salad that has been a favorite ever since. I made this the other day for a lunch play date. I made it again this week because it is just that good!

Chicken Mango Salad

Ingredients:

3 breasts of chicken baked and cubed

Any Italian style marinade (I usually use Italian dressing, this time I used a Ken's brand marinade)

1/2 green pepper diced

1/2 red pepper diced

1-2 mangoes diced

2 tomatoes diced

1/2 cucumber diced

1 avocado diced

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1 can white corn drained

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. rice vinegar

Ranch dressing

Frito chips

Directions:

Bake chicken with marinade. I simply pull out my frozen chicken cover with the marinade and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. I usually do this the night before.

I then clean off all gross parts and dice.

Combine chicken, peppers, tomato, cucumber, mango, beans, corn, and avocado in bowl. Stir in vinegar and oil.

Serve on top of Fritos and top with ranch.

I always serve this with good french bread!

*Mango info.:

If you haven't used mangoes before they are super delicious!! Ian and Cadey both actually sit like little birds as I chop and I drop into their open beaks! So awesome they want to eat something healthy!! YAY!

Anyway, you peel the skin and cut away pieces. The center is that husky hard core like a pinapple. You want to choose soft but not squishy when choosing which ones to take home from the store.

Such a great spring/summer dish!! SO SUPER TASTY!

Chinese Chicken

We made this the other night, it was a good find and super easy!! My favorite kind of meal tasty and no fuss!

On the Menu:

Chinese chicken over rice

Garlic green beans w/ slivered almonds

Fruity Jello ala whip cream

Chinese Chicken

The other day I was chatting with my BFF about an easy meal for a large group. She mentioned some Asian crock pot chicken dish and I figured I would get the recipe later as my event got closer. However, I found a recipe in cook book I had bought from a church friend and who's recipe this happens to be (thanks Danna) who's work had put together a cook book. I thought the recipe sounded similar to my friends but they baked their chicken instead of using the crock pot. I took the two ideas and combined it. Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (frozen or fresh, I like frozen because raw chicken grosses me out)

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. ketchup

1/4 cup apple juice

1 Tbsp. fresh garlic (I used the jarred kind)

2 Tbsp. cornstarch to use as thickener

Directions:

I just threw all of the ingredients in the crock pot minus the corn starch on low for about 6 hours. I then pulled the chicken out and got all the yuckies off and then strained the sauce into a sauce pan. I added the cornstarch and stirred regularly on med/low heat until it became syrupy.

I made rice and served chicken on top garnished with my sauce. YUM!

Garlic Beans w/ Slivered Almonds:

I didn't want to serve plain old green beans so I spiced them up a bit.

Ingredients:

I package frozen green beans

minced garlic to your taste

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Directions:

I tossed all in my handy Pampered Chef steamer and microwaved for 3-5 minutes.

Easy Peasy or should I say Easy Beany??

Fruit Cocktail Jell-O

The old standby for most Utahans. Make a batch of jell-o, toss in a can of strained fruit cocktail and let set. Serve with whipped topping.

Can you believe my kids don't even eat the jell-O?? What is wrong with them?? OK, Will and Ian ate the whipped topping! Seriously my kids are food freaks!!

Freezer Day

The first thing I did was to go through several of my cook books and pick meals that seemed good and either easy or easy to freeze. I then made a calendar that had all my planned activities that may alter or impact our dinner plans. I then used my compiled list and filled in the days. Because my kids don't eat a lot I kept Sunday for left overs so that I wouldn't have to cook at all on Sundays and I could clear out the fridge a little. Next, I went through the next 3 weeks and picked all the meals I felt could be frozen. I went to the grocery store and got all my ingredients. And the day began. It so happened that Dennis was home and likes to cook as well so together we made the following meals for the freezer:

Pizza Calzones
Chicken Cordon Blue
Manicotti
Lasagna
Chicken Enchiladas
Stuffed Potatoes
P90x Pork Chops
Chocolate chip cookie dough (not just for ease, but to help exercise portion control as well)
Granola (not a freezer meal, but snack, or cereal for the next few weeks)

Dennis hard at work!!

What I learned was this:
1)
Next time I won't do Chicken Cordon Blue for the freezer. I hadn't looked closely at the recipe and when I went to put it all together I realized it had sour cream and milk as main ingredients and I didn't feel they would freeze well. So, I just prepared the chicken, cheese and ham portion and will do the milk/sour cream mixture and bread crumbs before I put it in the oven. The recipe is so easy, next time I will just keep it as an "easy" meal rather than a freezer one.
2)
Never will I do a freezer cook day without Dennis' help or I will have to plan the whole day and find a sitter for the kids. It worked today because we were a team and could take turns dealing with the kids. We split up the recipes and it worked out. I can't tell you how grateful I am for a husband who will do things like this with me!!

3)

I also need to consider freezer space!!! I planned all these meals and then had some serious work to do to get them all to fit in my freezer!! Luckily I do have two fridges. I think we need to invest in a deep freeze if I keep this up!

Freezer = FULL!