Freezer Cook Day PREP: The Menu for May

This month I am going to do mostly freezer meals for the entire month, we'll see how my cooking goes for that!!! YIKES, I'm a little scared, and I am actually planning to take two days to get most of this done. I am also only doing meals for 5 days a week and using 2 free for left overs and going out. Here are the meals I am planning to make:

Week 1 (cooking week, so it's some left overs from this week and easy meals):
Roast Beef Sandwiches, Zucchini Fritters, Polenta Pizza Bake, Beef Enchiladas, Spaghetti

Week 2 (from the freezer):
Almond crusted Tilapia, Mexican Lasagna, Chicken tenders, Stroganoff, Stuffed Potatoes

Week 3:
Pepsi Chicken, Stuffed Peppers, Stromboli, Ratatouille, Chicken Quesadillas

Week 4:
Chicken pot pies, Chinese style BBQ Pork, Pizza Bagels, Tex Mex Corn Chowder, BBQ (Memorial Day Week-end)

So that's the plan. Each week brings the unexpected so some of these may go by the wayside and into June. For example, the Mexican Lasagna will be put into 2 smaller pans, so I know I will for sure have that in June as well. The Quesadillas are such that you can pull one out at a time so those will be good for lunches as well. Most of these are new recipes I found online searching for ideas on what freezes well, so we'll see how it goes and if they are any good!! Stay tuned as I will post the grocery list if you want to participate in freezer day with me!! SO FUN!!

Baked Chicken

One of the easiest dinners I make is baked chicken. I just buy the bags of frozen breasts and pull out the number I need, top with whatever I am in the mood for and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Depending on the topping I use, I make extra and use left overs in salads.

Possible toppings that I use regularly are:


BBQ sauce
Any Italian variety of salad dressings
Terriyaki sauce
and today I used a new one, Ken's Light Raspberry Pomegranate YUM!!

On the Menu 4/27-5/2

It's a bit of a hectic week this week and seriously if you can believe it we are still finishing up a few little things from the freezer I forgot we had. I am planning on the 4th as my next freezer cook day. I will post my plan as soon a I get around to making it!! (For sure by Sunday because I have to shop on Monday). For now here is a bit of a boring menu, the only new thing is the beef enchiladas of which it will my first time making. Hope it gives someone at least on good idea for dinner this week.

DINNERS:
Monday: Baked chicken
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Pork salad (freezer)
Thursday: OUT TO DINNER, DATE NIGHT!!
Friday: Beef Enchiladas (freezer, left over roast)
Saturday: Breakfast
Sunday: Left-overs

LUNCHES:
Tuesday: Zucchini Quesadilla
Wednesday: Steamed artichoke and salad
Thurday: Veggie Soup
Friday: Pork salad
Saturday: Chicken Salad
Sunday: Sandwiches

Veggie Soup

So you know I am doing weight watchers and the other day I had eaten all my points, but I still was hungry when dinner rolled around. I either had to go without dinner or think of something with low points. This dish was my solution. It is a whopping 1/2 point for a cup of this!!!

Like I said in my last post, I love soups because generally they are pretty forgiving in terms of measuring and you can be pretty creative. I had a lot of produce I needed to use up and I just kind of threw a bunch of whatever I had in. Here is what I did:

Ingredients

chopped carrots

chopped celery

chopped onion

chopped broccoli

chopped zucchini

chopped green pepper

1 large canning jar diced tomatoes (at least 2 cans if you don't have the jar)

1 can kidney beans

1 Tbs. pesto sauce(I would add more next time)

parsley

oregano

basil

1 34 oz. box chicken stock

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

Add onions, celery and oil to stock pot. Saute until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and cook until veggies are tender.

*you could add little pasta noodles too to make a more minestrone type but that does add some points.

Split Pea Soup

Soups are so easy especially the kind you can put in the crock pot!! I follow a general guide for this soup but I don't really measure and it seems to work out. I like to serve this with corn bread.

Ingredients:

Carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

Celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

Onion, chopped (1/2 medium onion, or 1/4 cup dried onion)

1 package dried split peas

1 34 oz. container chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

You can also put a ham hock in this but I find that to be totally gross. I have put in cooked bacon before and cooked it and have done crumbled bacon on top as well.

Directions:

Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or more. You may have to add some water if you cook it longer than the 6 hours.

EASY!!!

You can serve with sour cream and crumbled bacon or just plain.

1 cup = 3 points (bacon and sour cream add points)

Only Cadey will eat this but everyone eats the cornbread. My philosophy lately is I can't please all 6 of us, so I make what I think sounds good and I know Dennis and Cadey will like whatever and the other 3 are hit and miss so they will just have to deal. I just don't know what else to do?? I think it is a common problem, right?

Watching my weight

So, if you can believe it even training for a marathon and running one, I gained weight over the last few months!!! So I decided I better watch what I am eating a little bit more closely and I signed up for online weight watchers again. Thus, my eating has been a little different and thus my posts this week have been lacking. I will be posting a recipe for split pea soup from this week and today I thought I would share some of the lunches I have been eating that have been really good.

My step mom gave me a book called the Flexitarian Diet. This type of eating is for people that prefer a vegetarian style with a little meat here and there. In other words it is "flexible" eating.

This week I had a bean burrito from this book for lunch.
I used a flour tortilla (it calls for wheat, but I have flour so. . .), I cooked up and mashed some black beans and spread about 1/2 cup on the tortilla, topped that with lettuce, tomato, 1/4 cup cut up avocado and 1 Tbs. ranch dressing. It was very yummy and very filling.
This was a 6 point meal on weight watchers.

Another lunch I had was a black bean and zucchini quesadilla
ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup black beans
some green onion chopped ( I used onion flakes)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
lime juice
2 whole wheat tortillas (I used one flour)
1 oz. cheese

Mix beans, zucchini, onion, spices and juice in a bowl. Top mixture on tortilla, sprinkle with cheese (top with 2nd tortilla if using two) and microwave for 60 seconds.
I did mine open face and added lettuce tomato and 1/4 cup diced avocado.
The way I made this was also 6 point weight watcher meal.

I will post some pictures when I make these again.

Biscuits and Gravy

I had left over biscuits from dinner the other night and thought "What should I do with all these left over biscuits???" So I ended up with Biscuits and Gravy!!
Again, a recipe I have never made and thought would be hard for some reason!! I think if I've never done it, I think it will be hard! It always is easier than I expect.

I just used Pillsbury biscuits for my biscuits, but jiffy has a good biscuit and from scratch aren't too hard either, but if your in a time constraint or just lazy like I was for this, the Pillsbury works great!

The gravy recipe was on line and also had a biscuit recipe with it and there were several listed on cooks.com. Simply cook up some sausage and then set aside. Using the grease and some butter make a roux with flour. Add milk, salt, pepper, stir and let thicken. Add in set the cooked sausage and you're done!! SO EASY!!!

I served with eggs and fruit.

JAM I AM!!

A little while ago, my sister Cali asked if I would post my jam recipe, so here it is!!! OK, so about a year ago my friend told me she was making freezer jam. I thought self, you need to know how to make jam. I had always thought it would be hard for some reason but my friend assured me how easy it was. So I thought why not? Well, now I am hooked. I don't like the freezer jam as well because I don't have a lot of freezer space!! So, I decided to make the regular old jam and I LOVE it. I have made it for gifts for visiting teaching, to give a little something for the missionaries when they eat over and just to give out to show off!! I have a recipe in my my Better Homes and Gardens cook book, but my favorite one is the one in the SURE JELL box. Make sure to get the pink one because it is more forgiving if you don't get the exact amount of sugar in. I will go through the process, but just use the recipe for exact measurements, as I used my boxes and threw away everything without thinking about posting!!! OOPS!

1) Get your favorite fruit, i.e. strawberries (as seen in this post), raspberries, peaches, whatever flips you. Strawberries go on sale here and there for super cheap (about $1 per pound) and that's when I make my jam. I also do this in the fall during harvest when you can get a huge box of peaches for super cheap.
2) Buy the pink Sure Jell pectin./about 3 1lb. containers of strawberries per box of pectin.




3) FOR STRAWBERRIES:
Wash the berries and cut off stems.

4) Dennis hates chunks in his jam so I don't just mash, I blend my berries.

5) Measure out sugar and follow directions in Sure Jell box. You have to mix a small amount of the sugar with the pectin and cook with fruit. Stir constantly!!! When you hit a rolling boil, you add the rest of the sugar.

6)The recipe will tell you to add butter to prevent foam. I DON'T DO THIS!! I don't mind the foam and just skim it off if it is a lot, a little gets in the jars, but it doesn't affect the jam so I am not crazy about this.
(the foam is the lighter part in picture)

7) Remove from heat and stir for a minute. Ladle into jars leaving a slight head space.

8) Put on lids and then seal with canning steamer/sealer (I think it's just called a canner?). I steam for 20 minutes and then let my jars sit. They pop when they seal. You can also tell by pressing the top of the lid, if it is sealed it will do nothing if not sealed will make a little pop noise and you will be able to push on it. If not sealed after an hour our so, you may need to re-steam them.
9)Voila, you just made jam as good as grandma or Betty!!! Super easy!! I bought 6 lbs of strawberries and made 13 jars (some were a little bigger size) of yummy jam!!!!

NO MENU

This week is crazy so who knows what I am going to do for dinners, mostly fast throw together things. I made the roast yesterday and have left over biscuits so I am going to make biscuits and gravy for dinner tonight. SOOOO not healthy but hopefully good. I have never made this before so I will post what I do if it turns out good. Other than that, it is left overs and cereal most likely for dinners this week. Next week I am hoping to post my next month's worth of freezer meals and my freezer day. Until then I will just be posting what random things come up! Until then, happy cooking!!

The Easiest Formal Meal EVER!!!

In my mind a Pot roast is the epitome of family sit down Sunday dinner main course. However, I don't really like meat all that much and so I had never made one until this last year. Roasts were on sale and I figured I had better learn how to make one, you know in case of some food emergency or something!! Anyway, I called my good friend Karen and she gave me the sure fire way to make any roast (even a chuck roast) tender and tasty!

EASY POT ROAST:

Ingredients:
1 can diet soda (I used diet pepsi, but have also used diet dr. pepper)
4 Tbsp. Apricot jam
1 packet onion soup mix
1 pot roast (approx. 2.75 lbs.)

Directions:
Put roast in crock pot.
Pour diet soda over roast.
Empty packet of soup mix into pot.
Add Jam.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.


I don't even like meat especially red meat, especially roast, but I do like this!! I serve with baked potatoes, steamed carrots, salad and biscuits. You can also make a gravy with your left over juices. I will post that recipe later.

Freezer Stuffed Potatoes

I already posted this recipe but with no photo. Here is the picture and the recipe one more time so you don't have to search for it if you don't want to. So yummy. We had salad and potatoes, light easy and tasty!



Stuffed Potatoes:

Ingredients:
6 medium sized baking potatoes
Oil
kosher salt
1/2 cup softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 cooked bacon slices cooled and crumbled
2 green onions chopped
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Poke potatoes for baking. Coat potatoes with oil. (I just use my hands and rub it all over). In a large zip lock bag add salt and one potato at a time and get a good flavoring of salt on the potatoes. (This makes the skin taste super good and is something I do now with regular baked potatoes).
Bake un-covered for 1 hour or until tender. Let cool.

Cut a wide strip of skin off top of potatoes and throw away the skin. Scoop out inside into a large bowl leaving shells in tact. Mash pulp, cream cheese, butter and milk with a masher, stir in cheese and other ingredients. Spoon mixture into shells.

Wrap with foil; freeze in large zip lock bag up to 1 month.

To cook from frozen:
preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove desired amount of potatoes from bag bake for about 1 hour.

To cook from fresh:
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Freezer Sandwiches

I got this recipe from the same book with the freezer potatoes. These are really yummy and can be varied with types of meat, cheese and spices. I go to costco and get the big thing of rolls and make a big batch that usually lasts me a month or so for lunches and dinners.

Here is the basic recipe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened but not melted
1/4 mayonnaise
3 Tbs. mustard (your choice, I like Dijon the recipe calls for coarse-grain)
1 Tbs. grated onion (I used dried onion flakes)
2 tsp. poppy seeds (optional)
8 large croissants, split open
1 lb. deli ham (I use turkey)
8 1 oz. swiss cheese slices (I alternate between swiss and Havarti)

Directions:
stir together first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Spread evenly over inside of croissants. Add layer of meat and cheese.
Wrap individually in foil and place in large ziplock bag and place in freezer for up to one month.

To heat in oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook desired amount of sandwiches for 1 hour.

To heat in microwave: Remove foil and microwave individually at med. power for 2 minutes or until heated through.

To cook fresh: Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Easter Vanishing Rolls

We try to separate the Easter Bunny Easter from the Resurrection Easter at our house. On the Saturday before Easter Sunday the Easter Bunny delivers his baskets and we search for eggs. We tell the kids that it is a celebration of spring time arriving. Sunday is reserved for thinking about our Savior, his life, his sacrifice and his Resurrection. We start the morning by making these yummy vanishing rolls.

Our kids are still quite little, so we summarize most of the story of the end of Christ's life. The kids all get a marshmallow and we talk about how Christ was pure and clean from any sin like the marshmallow is clean and pure white. We talk about how people didn't believe he was the son of God and some hated him and wanted him dead, how he suffered for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane and how he hung on the cross and died.

We use our scriptures to tell the rest as we make our rolls:

John 19: 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

We roll the marshmallows in melted butter (like the aloe, and washing of his body)

Johns 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture and wrap in crescent roll dough (like the spices and linen Jesus was wrapped in)

John 19: 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ apreparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

The pan is the seplulchre and when we shut the oven we talk about moving the stone to close it.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for aprox. 11-15 minutes. We talk about how Jesus was laid in the tomb for 3 days and watch the Lamb of God while they cook.

John 20: 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.


I like this because the marshmallow is gone but the roll (or linen cloth) remains. We then talk about how we get to enjoy the sweet reward of the resurrection. Christ lives so that we can too.

On the Menu 4/5-4/11

The theme for this week is to clean up and clear out. I went through my cupboards and fridges and got rid of all expired items and anything that I figured we just were not going to use. I also made a bag for my local food bank of items that I wanted to clear out but that were still good. I know that most food banks suffer through the non holiday months and figure that I would try to donate every time I clean out my storage (about every 3 months).

Monday: Freezer Sandwiches and soup
Tuesday: Freezer Stuffed potatoes and salad
Wednesday: Freezer Manicotti
Thursday: Egg Salad sandwiches (easy, Easter leftovers!)
Friday: Cobb Salads (More uses for my hard boiled eggs)
Saturday: BBQ chicken (Fast and easy)

After this week, my freezers should be close to empty and I will be ready for another freezer day!! STAY TUNED! Also if anyone has good ideas for freezer meals please let me know, I would love any ideas!

Easter Eggs

Can you believe I still need the recipe to hard boil eggs??? That is how crazy I am. I don't know why I can not retain how to do this simple task!

It's egg coloring tonight! Wish us luck as it is no simple task with 4 children 3 of which will need major assistance!!!

Taco Soup

This is another recipe I aquired from my friend Krista. She constantly had our family over for dinner when we lived on Guam and this recipe has become a regular at our house. It is fast, it is easy and it is good!!!

Ingredients:

1 can kidney beans with juices

1 can black beans with juices

1 can sliced olives with juices

1 can corn with juices

1 can (I use a quart jar from my own canning) petite diced tomatoes

1 package morning star farms veggie meat (or 1 lb -2 lbs. ground meat-turkey of beef)

1 package taco seasonings

grated cheese

sour cream

corn chips

Directions:

In a large soup pot cook meat as needed with taco seasoning. Add all canned ingredients. Simmer until boiling.

Serve with sour cream and grated cheese.

Chips can be done several different ways as you like:

Krista's version is crunched up at bottom with soup on top.

My version is crunched on top.

My sister Megan likes to eat this like dip and scoops soup with chip spoons.