Prepare to be Stocked!

This weekend I will be hosting a Freezer Stock-up Party!

Two of my good girl friends will be coming over and we will be doing all of the prep work to make some yummy freezer meals. I decided that we would make some items from two of the cookbooks that I am currently drooling over...

Sheet Pan Suppers

Make it Ahead By: Ina Garten

A few weeks ago I put together a google document with some options and asked the girls to pick there favorite 4... I combined their lists and came up with the game plan to make 6 different dishes. Some will be large enough to either have as one big meal or two smaller ones so I figured that we would all walk away with having 6-12 dishes for our freezer.

I'm looking forward to making...

1. Herb Pork Tenderloins Wrapped in Prosciutto (Make it Ahead)
2. Pastitsio... a Greek lasagna (Make it Ahead)
3. Leek & Artichoke Bread pudding (Make it Ahead)
4. Chicken w/ Warm Apple-Cabbage Slaw (Sheet Pan Suppers)
5. Ham & Leek Empanadas (Make it Ahead)
6. Honey-orange Shrimp w/ Baby Bok Choy (Sheet Pan Suppers)

This should be an adventure and I cannot wait to share some pictures and stories next week!

Mini Cheese Bites

About a year ago a dear friend, Stephanie, introduced me to these “Cheese Dreams” and I have been making them regularly ever since! 

They are a staple at my house and I am regularly asked for the recipe. After making them once they are sure to also become a favorite of your friends and family too.

• 2 Cups Finely Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Cup Butter, Softened
• 2 T Heavy Cream
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 t Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ t Table Salt
• ½ t Dry Mustard
• Hot sauce to taste
• 1 Package White Sandwich Bread (I use sunbeam bread)

Beat cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Beat in cream, egg, Worcestershire Sauce, salt, Dry Mustard, and hot Sauce.

Cut crusts from bread slices; cut each bread slice into 4 squares.

Spread the cheese mixture on a bread square (about 1t); top with another square. spread cheese mixture over the top and sides of the sandwich. Repeat with remaining bread squares.

At this point I like to freeze the mini cheese bites on a  baking sheet and once fully frozen I transfer them to a plastic freezer safe container and they are good in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

When friends pop by I toss them in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

If you want to cook them right away… preheat oven to 375 and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

"squirreling" Part three

So last night when I was making a casserole for dinner I managed to make 7 more meals while the casserole was in the oven... Here are the details!

Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole:

First up is a recipe that I found which makes a 3 qt. casserole and since I have no need to feed 8-10 people at one time I split the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef (I purchased I family size 93% lean... It ended up being almost 3 lbs but hey a little more beef is not a bad thing)
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (original recipe calls for cream of mushroom but we do not eat that in our household) 
• 1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
• 1 package frozen French-fried crinkle-cut potatoes

First, brown the beef in two batches and drain liquid

Mix with the condensed soups

Since I was spiting the recipe I decided that we would eat one of the casseroles tonight (because I didn't know how I would feel after seeing the doctor today and we would freeze the other half for another night.

For the dinner right away I placed half of the mixture into a small casserole dish.

And added half of the crinkle fries to the top and placed in the fridge.

For the half going into the freezer... I placed half of the burger mixture into a freezer bag which was placed in a Gallon freezer bag along with the remaining fries.

On the outside I wrote the cooking instructions: Pre-heat oven to 350. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

When I'm ready to eat I will take out of the freezer the night before to let everything defrost and assemble the casserole. 

Sausage and zucchini Casserole:

Next up was the casserole that we were eating the evening that I made all of these meals.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds bulk pork sausage (I used Bob Evens Natural ground pork sausage) 
• 4 medium zucchini
• 2 Cans condensed cream of chicken soup 
• 1 8-oz carton sour cream
• 4 cups stuffing mix
• 1/3 c. melted butter

First, brown the sausage and drain

Cut zucchini into 1/4 inch pieces and place in the same skillet that you browned the pork in. Cook for 5 minutes.

Mix pork with the cream of chicken and sour cream

Add zucchini

Place 2 cups of the stuffing mix into bowl and add the melted butter. Mix together

If you are eating right away... place 1/2 of the bread crumbs (that you mixed with butter) in the bottom of a small casserole and add 1/2 of the zucchini mixture on top.

Add the rest of the butter breadcrumbs to the dish

For the other half of the mixture I packed everything up for the freezer...

The zucchini/pork mixture went into one freezer bag and the other half of the breadcrumbs went into another... Both bags got placed into one gallon size bag and the cooking instructions were placed on the outside.

Cooking instructions: Pre-heat oven to 350. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

While this casserole was cooking I made all of the below!!!!

Italian Sausage and pepper in a Crock-pot:


Ingredients:

• 2 packages of Italian Sausage
• 2 red peppers
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 red onion, sliced 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes 
• 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning 

Cut peppers into strips 

In 2 gallon freezer bags add half of peppers and onions to each.

to each bag add... 1/2 garlic, 1 can tomatoes( (undrained), and 1 Tbs Italian seasoning

Seal bags and mix all together to incorporate flavors.

Place each of the sausage packages into freezer bags

Into a large gallon freezer bag place one container of sausages and one bag of peppers

Add cooking directions to the outside of the bag- Cook on low in the crock-pot for 6 hours.


Teriaki Chicken for the crock pot 

Ingredients:

• Bag of mini carrots 
• 1 red onion, cut into chunks 
• 2 large cans of sliced pineapple, undrained
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 6 Chicken breasts 
• bottle teriyaki marinade 

Didn't take a lot of photos with this one... Same assembely concept as the last recipe...

Get out 6 freezer bags

in two, split the carrots, red onion, each gets 1 large can of pineapple, and half the garlic... seal and mix to incorporate.

In two other freezer bags split the chicken breasts (i cut each breast in half because they were very large) and half of the marinade.

In a gallon freezer bag I placed one chicken bag and one veggie/fruit bag... with directions on the outside...

Cooking directions: Cook on low in a crock-pot for 6 hours...

two more meals done

AND.... 

at that time our dinner (zucchini-sausage casserole) for last night was done...

and we have this to go into the freezer...

along with the dinner that we are eating tonight... here it is all finished. I added some cheese to the top as well as some diced tomatoes and pickles.

So within one hour I made 8 meals! 6 to go into the freezer and two to eat right away. 

Here is the full list of what we currently have in the freezer:

1. Sausage & Peppers in Crock-Pot
2. Sausage & Peppers in Crock-Pot
3. Teriyaki Chicken in Crock-Pot
4. Teriyaki Chicken in Crock-Pot
5. Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole
6. Sausage & Zucchini Casserole
7. Java Pork Tenderloin
8. Pumpkin Ravioli
9. Pumpkin Ravioli
10. Shrimp Scampi w/ Linguini
11. Thai-Style Pork Wraps in Crock-Pot
12. Western Frittata
13. Western Frittata
14. Whiskey Beef over noodles in Crock-Pot
15. Bacon Cheddar Sliders
16. Chicken Breast w/ Balsamic
17. Chicken Breast w/ Balsamic
18. Lemon Chicken w/ Asparagus
19. Lemon Chicken w/ Asparagus
20. Mediterranean Tilapia & Veggies
21. Mediterranean Tilapia & Veggies
22. Cheddar Broccoli & Chicken Casserole
23. Cheddar Broccoli & Chicken Casserole
24. Cheddar Broccoli & Chicken Casserole
25. Veggie Soup (My mom made)
26. Veggie Soup (My mom made)
27. Veggie Soup (My mom made)

"squirreling" Part Two

As I mentioned in my post Monday I'm currently experiencing "squirreling" and making freezer meals in anticipation of Gibson's arrival.

While doing my menu planning over the last few weeks I've been sure to incorporate a few freezer meals where I created a LARGE quantity of food so that there was one dish for that night and additional meals (made at the same time) that I could put into the freezer for later.

One of the meals that I did was Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole. This recipe made 4 meals... so one for right away and 3 that I have squirreled away in the freezer for future nights.

Here are the details...

Ingredients: 

• 10 Cups Cooked Rice
• 4 Cups Cooked Chicken
• 4 Cups Chopped Broccoli
• 2 Cans Cream of Broccoli Soup
• 3 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
• 4 Cups Shredded Chicken (1 lb block shredded) 
• Salt and Pepper 

Directions:

First, I cooked up my chicken. I used Chicken Tenders(they were on sale) and seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked for 20 minutes at 350 in the oven...

While my chicken was cooking I chopped and steamed some fresh broccoli in the microwave. (you can also use frozen if that is easier).

Mixed my steamed broccoli with the cream of broccoli and chicken soups.

Shredded my cheese. Cheaper to buy a 1 lb block and shred it yourself.

Cooked Rice... 4 cups of uncooked rice ended up making 10 Cups of cooked rice.

Took the Chicken out of the oven and chopped

Mixed everything together... Started mixing in a large bowl but there was sooooo much food that I quickly had to transition to my largest pot!

Placed 1/4 into a 8x8 pan and the rest was divided into three 1-Gallon Freezer bags!

 On the outside I placed a sticker with the date, meal name, and cooking instructions.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes!

When ready to eat the meals that are frozen I will simply take out the night before and place in the fridge to thaw and I will place in a 8x8 baking dish when ready to eat!



We ate the casserole with a mixed green and beet salad. Yummy in my tummy!

And just so you know what this cost:

• Rice $2.49
• Cream of broccoli soup $1.98
• Cream of Chicken Soup $2.97
• Broccoli, fresh $5.67
• 4 lbs Chicken tenders (on sale) $11.00
• 1lb Sharp Cheddar block of Cheese $7.59
• TOTAL: $31.70 divided by 4 = 7.93 each meal

I'm "Squirreling"

Now nesting is a popular and well known term associated with the end of pregnancy but I'm going to talk about a lesser known term today... squirreling!

It is something that I'm currently going through. I've been busy making meals for post-baby and "squirreling" them away in my freezer!

I've been doing Let's Dish:

Per their website: "At Let’s Dish!, we’re revolutionizing the way busy families put dinner on the table. At our stores customers make delicious, freezer-ready meals in just two hours."

I love that I can go to the store and everything is already chopped up for me and that there is NO clean up. After a few hours with Emma I leave with meals that go right into my freezer with cooking directions right on the outside. 

The first time that I did Let's Dish was only last month when Emma got me 4-Full meals for Valentine's Day! We did the "dishing" together and both really enjoyed the experience. In fact we were actually able to make 6 meals on that first visit because two of the dishes were large enough to split into two smaller dishes as opposed to 1 large dish.. 

Because we enjoyed the time together and the ease of just pulling  meals out of the freezer to cook we went back again last Saturday and "dished" 8 Full Meals (a gift from my parents). We ended up with 4 Larger meals and 8 smaller meals. So 12 total! 

Currently in my freezer from my last dishing session:

• 1- Bacon Cheddar Sliders (even comes with the rolls) and makes 12 sliders
• 1- Shrimp Scampi with Linguini
• 2 - Chicken Breasts with Balsamic and Mixed Potatoes
• 2 - Lemon Chicken with Asparagus
• 2 - Mediterranean Tilapia and Veggies 
•  1- Thai style Pork Wraps (this is a croc pot meal and I'm sure that we will have leftovers for another meal that week)
• 2- Western Frittatas 
• 1- Whiskey Beef Over Noodles (this is a croc pot meal and I'm sure that we will have leftovers for another meal that week)

I also still have one meal left in the freezer from my February session. It's the Java Pork Tenderloin... and I have 2 packages of Pumpkin Ravioli that I purchased from their "ready-made" freezer section.

That means that from my Let's Dish experiences alone I have 15 meals in the freezer for after baby! 

It is something that I think that I will continue to do on a once-a-month basis with Emma. It will be a way to get away from the boys and just do something together and I plan to combine it with lunch out. Additionally, Emma really takes a lot of pride in the meals that we create there and she gets very excited when we eat one. In fact, we are NOT allowed to eat them on nights that she is at her dad's house because she does not want to miss a meal...

I've also been busy "squirreling" away on my own. Thanks to pinterest I've found a ton of easy freezer meals to put together on my own and I will be back, this week, with one of the meals that I've made.