Freezer Meals Part 3

Easy Beef Enchiladas
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1 pkg 6 inch flour tortillas (8)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilies
2 cans enchilada sauce (heat level to your preference, I use 1 medium, 1 hot)
2 cups cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
cayenne pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.  Cook onions and ground beef until hamburger is brown and onions are soft.  Add garlic and cook for a few more minutes.  Turn off the heat and drain off the fat (I usually save a little for flavor).  Add in 1/2-3/4 of one can of enchilada sauce, green chilies, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Stir in the cheese and cilantro to taste.  Your filling should have a thick but smooth consistency.  If necessary, add more sauce.  Draw a line through your filling to cut it in half.  This will make it easier to judge how much to put in each tortilla.  Spoon filling into a tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly and the sauce has a chance to thicken.  Garnish with cilantro before serving.

Classic-Meatloaf 
Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce or ketchup (Hunts makes a really great meatloaf "ready" tomato sauce)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

"Glaze"

1 cup ketchup

4 T brown sugar

4 T vinegar

2 T Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly.
2.  Bake 40 minutes, remove meatloaf from oven and spread glaze over the top.  Return to oven and cook 10-15 more minutes or until meatloaf is cooked to medium (160°F for beef, 170°F for turkey), or until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Freezing Instructions:

There are a few options for freezing:

1.  Freeze raw.  Wrap air tight then freeze in reusable or disposable loaf pans.  Thaw and bake as directed or put meatloaf in oven before preheating and cook 10-15 minutes longer than directed.

2.  Bake then freeze whole.  Allow to thaw and reheat in the oven or microwave.

3.  Bake, slice, then freeze individual servings.

Cordon Bleu

I found a lightened up verse of Chicken Cordon Blue that is still full of flavor, moist and delicious! This was actually a very easy dish to make. I would recommend setting up an assembly line to make it an easy and smooth process.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Makes: 12 pieces

Calories: 222.7  Fat: 9.3 g  Protein: 28.4 g  Carb: 5.2 g   

• 4 chicken breast halves


• 2 large eggs


• 1 tbsp water


• 3/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs


• 12 slices thin lean deli ham


• 12 slices reduced fat Swiss cheese


• salt


• spray oil


• toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350°.  Slice chicken breast halves into thin cutlets. I usually get 3 thin cutlets out of one breast half. Pound them to make them thinner if you wish. This helps when you wrap the cutlets.

Cut each slice of cheese into squares and stack on top of each other. Place a slice of ham on top of the chicken, top with cheese and wrap chicken around to completely cover cheese, using toothpicks to secure. (Make sure no holes so cheese doesn't leak out) Season with a little salt.

Whisk egg and water to make an egg wash. Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs.  Spray cookie sheet with oil and place chicken on cookie sheet. Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked.

Meatballs 'n Homemade Marinara

Another make ahead meal I have waiting for me in the freezer. I just love the thought of having a bunch of pre-made dinners all ready to go and waiting to give me a night off in the kitchen but yet still being able to eat at home!  This was the first time I've made my own meatballs, I thought it would much more difficult then it was. Just remember to combine all the ingredients until just combined, don't over work the meat.

Italian Spinach Meatballs

Servings: 6  Serving Size: 5 meatballs w 4.5 oz sauce Calories: 211.2  Fat: 9.8 g  Protein: 17.4 g  Carbs: 14.3 g  Fiber: 4.2 g 

• 1 lb lean ground beef


• 1 tbsp olive oil


• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of all liquid


• 2 slices whole wheat bread 


• 1 large egg


• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 2 tbsp fresh parsley


• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese


• salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce:

• 1 tsp olive oil


• 3 cloves smashed garlic


• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes


• 1/2 onion (don't chop)


• salt and pepper

Wet bread with water then mash up with your hands. Add to large bowl and combine with chopped beef, chopped spinach, egg, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well until thoroughly combined.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, measure meat, then divide in two so that each meatball is 1/8th of a cup. Roll into little meatballs.

In a large pot, add olive oil and heat on medium. When hot add smashed garlic. When garlic is golden brown, add tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper and cover, reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil on low heat. When oil is hot add as many meatballs that will fit, cook on low, turning often so that all side get browned. Cook until the centers are cooked through.

When finished, place on a dish lined with paper towels to blot any excess oil. Drop meatballs into sauce and continue cooking the remaining meatballs, repeating the process. When all meatballs are in the sauce, simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Discard onion and serve. Or place in a freezer safe container and freeze for a ready made meal for another night.

Lasagna Rolls

I'm always looking for some great make ahead meals to give myself a break in the kitchen. Here are some perfectly portioned individual lasagnas packed with 13 grams of protein per roll. These can easily be made in advance and placed in the freezer for another night like I did!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Servings: 9  Serving Size: 1 roll
Calories: 224.9  Fat: 5.1 g  Fiber: 3.4 g  Protein: 13.0 g Carbs: 31.5

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 32 oz tomato sauce
• 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle.

Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Fastest Dinner Ever!

I was getting ready for work the other morning thinking what the heck am I going to make for dinner tonight! I have no idea what's in the pantry, haven't been to the grocery store yet and all the meat we have is frozen! 

I admit, even though I love to cook and bake.....I am in NO WAY organized. I rarely am prepared ahead of time for dinners, I kind of just wing it! I buy a lot of the staples and then make short runs to the store on the way home, or just find something else to make :) I'm horrible.

That's when I thought about throwing something into the crock pot so it would be ready by time I got home. Chicken tacos! This literally took me all of 5 minutes to throw together beforehand and 2 minutes to shred the chicken once I walked in the door and then it was ready to serve! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1.5 lbs frozen chicken breasts

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 contained Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Santa Fe

1 pkg soft tortilla or hard shell tacos

Add ins - mushrooms, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Add frozen chicken (yes FROZEN) to bottom of crock pot. Mix together crushed tomatoes, black beans and cook cream, then pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Stir together to combine well and serve in soft or hard shell tacos and top with your favorites.

Now that's what I call a no fuss meal!

Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza

This has been a long time coming....

I've been thinking about this pizza for months and finally got the opportunity to have made it! About a year and a half or so ago I ordered this pizza at a restaurant in North Liberty, it was so good....even the leftovers were phenomenal. I've thought about it ever since......::sigh::  Why it took me so long to make it I don't know BUT I finally did it and it was just as good as I remember (okay not as good as from the restaurant but still pretty damn good!). I've never made anything Thai prior, it was the first time I've ever used the peanut sauce, which can be found in the Asian isle. This was the first time I used the Pillsbury Pizza Crust as well, it was pretty good for a store bought dough. However I like making my own, it's more fun but I was short on time and did not prepare myself ahead of time to make this meal so we'll call it semi-homemade ;)

Thai Chicken Pizza
1 pre-made pizza crust or homemade dough
1 - 7 ounce jar peanut sauce
1/8 cup peanut butter
8 ounces cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into stripes
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
cilantro
1/2 lime
red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I used Pillsbury thin crust Pizza Crust. Roll out dough and prebake as directed, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the peanut sauce and peanut butter.

Spread peanut mixture over pizza crust (I reserved about 1/4 of the sauce to toss the chicken with)

Arrange chicken, red and green peppers, carrots, green onions, and red pepper flakes over pizza. Sprinkle with cheese evenly over top.

Bake 8-12 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with cilantro and squeeze lime juice over pizza slices then serve!

Woola...Easy and delicious! Plus you can experience with whatever toppings you want.

Dinner Tonight

It's dinnertime and tonight I made cheeseburgers, fresh corn on the cob and just picked asparagus right from the garden.