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.

Freezer Meals Part 2

I eat a lot of chicken so I knew I needed to have a few meals in the freezer for dinner while on maternity leave. I bought 2 small whole chickens in which I boiled and cooked myself to make my own chicken both. I froze any the left over chicken broth I did use for my freezer meals to later use. I then made all my chicken meals in one evening, one at a time as a little assembly line to make things easier on me. 

 

White Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

• 10 soft taco shell
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

 2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream. 

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Chicken Pot Pie
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and cubed (or 1 lb cut up chicken pieces)

2 cups mixed frozen vegetables

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 tsp rosemary, oregano, or thyme (I like to mix up which spice I use each time)

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1 egg

1 Tbsp water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.) Unroll and place one pie crust in a pie pan, leaving the edges to crimp later.
2.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken and frozen vegetables, set aside.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken and frozen vegetables, set aside.

3.  In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent, . Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and herb of choice. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.  

4.  Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, and seal edges. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.  Mix egg and water and brush over the top of the pie crust.  Sprinkle with extra herb you used in the filling. 

5.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cover edges of pie if start to get too brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Freezer Directions: Brush on egg wash and cover first with plastic wrap very tight, making sure to press down in all the creases, almost making a second skin.  Pop in the freezer until completely frozen, then cover very tightly with aluminum foil.  Write baking directions on top of foil.  If baked frozen add at least 15-20 minutes on cooking time.  If defrosted about 10 more minutes.  Watch for burning crusts!

Chicken Spaghetti
Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken
3 cups broken spaghetti
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 jar (4 oz) pimentos, drained
2 cups chicken broth (I use the broth from my chicken)
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make three cups. If you don't have a cut up fryer chicken, you can substitute any chicken pieces (sometimes I just use breast meat).  Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth (or in boiling water) until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except 1 cup sharp cheddar.  Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake for another 15 minutes.  Another option is to go ahead and sprinkle with cheese just be careful the cheese doesn't burn, if it starts to turn, just cover with foil.

Freezing Instructions:
Prepare casserole, add cheese to top of casserole but do not bake.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and freeze up to three months.  Allow casserole to defrost and bake as directed.

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.

What's your favorite Comfort Food?

I have many, but mac & cheese is definitely one of them and NOT from the box!! So I am on the hunt for some good homemade macaroni and cheese recipes. My first recipe to try comes from The Pioneer Women , which I found on another blog ( just can't remember which one) that had some rave reviews. I've seen recipes from The Pioneer Women all over the Internet so I thought this would be a good place to start.

Doesn't this look delicious? It was a pretty quick and easy recipe to follow and lucky enough for me, I already had all the ingredients so no extra trip to the store which is even better! You can choose to bake your mac & cheese or not, either way it's still good! I decided to throw mine in the oven afterwards because 1. it gives me an excuse to add extra cheese on top and all for more cheese, and 2. I like getting that crisp golden top layer I think it just adds more to the texture when you first bite in! Yum!

Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients

• 4 cups dried macaroni
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 tsp dry mustard, more if desired
• 1 egg
• 1 lb cheese, grated
• 1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt, more to taste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• Optional Spices: cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme

Directions:
Cook macaroni as directed on package. In a small bowl, beat egg, set aside. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes until very thick, reduce heat to low. Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the egg. Whisk together till smooth. Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly, stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt. Add salts and pepper. Taste sauce ans add more salt and seasoned salt as needed. Do Not Undersalt. Pour in drained, cook macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve immediately OR pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

And it's Time to Eat!