Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer Meal)

The flavor of this chicken was DELICIOUS! And who doesn't love marinaded chicken thrown on the grill?! Amy made this chicken for our freezer group and used her own recipe (which she was kind enough to share).

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
4 chicken breasts

Directions:
Mix marinade ingredients together and throw in a freezer bag with the chicken breasts. If you use it as a freezer meal, just defrost and cook as you please when ready to eat!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Last week I got the cookbook 2009 Taste of Home Annual Recipes in the mail and this was calling my name. I was excited to see the chicken coated in cornflakes as opposed to breadcrumbs...making it gluten-free! I will admit I need some practice rolling my chicken so it looks pretty, but it did taste good :-)!
(I just used 3 chicken breasts and used the corresponding amount of ham and cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 c. milk, but the whole 2 c. cereal and all the spices)

Ingredients:
-8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
-8 thin slices deli ham
-3 slices Swiss cheese (I used 2% milk slices)
-2 eggs
-1 c. milk
-2 c. crushed cornflakes
-1/2 t. garlic powder
-1/2 t. salt
-1/2 t. pepper

Directions:
-Flatten chicken to 1/4 in. thickness. Top each with a slice of ham and cheese. Roll up and tuck in ends; secure with toothpicks.
-In a small bowl, whisk eggs and milk. In another bowl, comgine cornflakes and seasonings. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then roll in crumbs.
-Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 min. or until the chicken juices run clear. Discard toothpicks beofre serving.

Baked Chicken Nuggets (Freezer Meal)

These have been a big hit around here. The girls obviously love them and I have been slicing them and adding them to all kinds of things...salad, pasta, quesadillas, etc. My friend who made these for all 8 people in our freezer group did say they took her awhile, but we appreciate it :-)! (this recipe also comes from 30 Day Gourmet)

(1 recipe = 6 servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken
- 1 box stuffing
- 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs

Assembly Directions:
-Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
-Blend stuffing mix (include spice packet if one is included) and Parmesan cheese in blender until fine.
-Beat eggs in shallow bowl.
-Dip chicken into egg and then into dry mix.
-Bake at 425 degrees on greased cookie sheet for approx. 15 min. Turn nuggets and cook an additional 5 min.

Freezing and Cooking Directions:-Label bags. Cool chicken and freeze in bags.
To serve: Thaw and heat in microwave or oven.

Southwest Turkey Burgers (Freezer Meal)

These were really good. I think I would like them even better going a little lighter on the spices. The girls (and Mike) just thought it was great we were having burgers for dinner :-). We still have more patties left in our freezer too, which was an added bonus. I made Veggie Packets to eat with them (which I loved)!

(1 recipe, makes 6 patties)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1/4 c. salsa
- 1 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. salt
- 1 t. paprika
- 1/2 t. cumin
- 1/2 t. chili powder
- 1/2 t. black pepper
- 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 c. bread crumbs

On Hand:
-6 Hamburger Buns

Assembly Directions:
-Combine all ingredients. Shape into appropriate number of patties for the number of recipes you are making.

Freezing Directions:
-Press patties flat. Stack between sheets of freezer paper. Four stacks of five patties will generally fit into a 1-gallon freezer bag. Place patty stacks in freezer bags. Seal, label and freeze.

Serving Directions:
-Thaw in refrigerator or microwave. Patties can be cooked in a non-stick frying pan or on the grill. Cook until no longer pink in the center.

Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Icing

We never got around to making our sugar cookies at Christmas time so we made them for Valentine's Day instead. As much as I despise the mess and amount of work involved, Ella thinks it is THE best thing ever...so I'm sure we'll do it again :-). They are delicious though!

Cookies
Ingredients:
-1 c. shortening
-2 c. sugar
-4 eggs, beaten
-1 t. vanilla
-4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (I add quite a bit when rolling the dough out)
-1/2 t. salt
-4 t. baking powder
-2 T. milk

Directions:
-Cream shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Combine in a separate bowl flour, salt, and baking powder.
-Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. May need to add 2 T. milk to bled dough together.
-Put additional flour on counter before rolling dough. Lightly wet the roller and sprinkle flour on roller to avoid dough sticking to it. (in my experience the dough is quite sticky, so like I mentioned I do end up adding handfuls of flour here and there to work with it)
-Roll dough about 1/4 inch thick on counter. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place the cut shapes carefully with spatula onto cookie sheet.
-Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees 10 minutes. (makes about 6 dozen)
Icing
Ingredients:
-1/2 c. shortening
-1/2 c. butter
-1 1/2 t. vanilla
-5 c. powdered sugar
-3 T. milk

Directions:
-Cream shortening and butter with mixer. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time to mixture.
-Icing will be dry, may need to add up to 3 T. milk (1 T. at a time) beating at med speed. Cover icing until ready to decorate.

Tuna Macaroni

Ok, so I know some of you are cringing now (Mike included), but I actually like a tuna casserole every once in awhile...well, once a year, and this is the recipe I use. I must admit though, I made a batch of My Tortilla Soup to take to a friend yesterday as well and it was looking much better than this...it will probably be on our menu for next week :-)!

Ingredients:
-1 can chunk light tuna (I only buy albacore)
-2 c. macaroni, uncooked (I used 1 8 oz box of gluten free penne)
-1 can cream of celery soup (I used 98% FF)
-1 T. instant minced onion
-1 c. mixed veggies, cooked and drained
-1 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I used 2%)
-1 c. sour cream (I used FF)
-1/2 t. salt
-paprika

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Drain tuna. Cook and drain macaroni.
-In a bowl mix noodles, tuna, soup, onion, veggies, sour cream, salt and 3/4 c. cheese.
-Pour into a greased 2 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and then paprika.
-Bake uncovered, 30 minutes or until heated through.

Beef with Broccoli and Onions (Freezer Meal)

This freezer meal was really good...I liked the flavor and I always love broccoli. It has a lot more meat in it than I usually cook with, but Mike wasn't complaining about that :-). The recipe comes from 30 Day Gourmet and 1 recipe, which I have put below, makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. round or sirloin steak, trimmed
- 1 1/4 c. water
- 2 T. dried onion flakes
- 1 1/2 t. onion powder
- 1 T. beef bouillon granules
- 1 1/2 t. dried parsley
- 1 T. packed brown sugar
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 16 oz. frozen broccoli

On Hand:
- 1/4 c. water
- 2 T. cornstarch
- 12 oz. linguine (we had ours over brown rice)

Assembly Directions:
-Slice beef into thin strips. Spray pan with cooking spray. Brown the steak in batches until all steak has been cooked. Remove from pan and cool. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Freezing Directions:
-Place steak in a freezer bag or rigid freezer container. Pour sauce over steak. Seal, label and freeze. (we put the broccoli in the bag too...it was originally an on hand item)

Serving Directions: (write on bag)
-Thaw in refrigerator. Make pasta (or rice) according to package directions. Drain sauce off steak into a frying pan. Heat on med-high until boiling. Mix water and cornstarch in a separate bowl or cup. Pour mixture into sauce. Return to boiling and reduce heat. Mixture will thicken. Add the meat and broccoli to the sauce and mix to coat. Heat until warm. Serve over pasta (or rice).

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This is another great recipe from My Kitchen Cafe! I am in LOVE with this soup :-)! I am hopeful that the stick of butter in it is balanced out somehow by the fat-free half and half...it was delicious and creamy!

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
½ - 1 cup frozen corn, or ½ cup chopped celery (I went with celery)
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ cup carrots, sliced
¾ cup all-purpose flour
6 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked wild rice (I just used 1 box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice and cooked it without the seasoning packet)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (I used 1 can chicken)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds (I thought I had some and didn't...it was delish without them)
2 cups nonfat half-and-half

Directions:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, corn, chicken and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté 3-4 more minutes. Then add flour and stir well. Transfer mixture to large pot. Over medium heat, gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly until all has been added. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer.

Next, add the rice, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper and almonds. Allow to heat through and then pour in the half-and-half. Let simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours. Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil or it won't thicken properly - let it simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Lemon Herbed Fish Fillets (Freezer Meal)

Sorry for the bad picture, I nearly forgot to take one before we started eating. This was the first freezer meal we tried that someone else prepared and we all really liked this one. It was a nice change of pace to have the fish and it was healthy too (not to mention easy to prepare and easy to serve). I served it with a mushroom rice mix and moms green beans. Even the girls ate theirs up! The recipe I'm posting says it is to make 4 servings, but it was barely enough for our family (and is another from the 30 Day Gourmet).

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. fish fillets (these were tilapia)
- 1 t. lemon pepper
- 1/2 t. garlic powder

Freezing Directions:
-Place fish in quart sized freezer bag. Sprinkle seasoning in bag. Make sure it is well distributed and not in clumps. Seal, label and freeze.

Serving Directions: (write this on bag)
- Allow fish to thaw completely in refrigerator or thaw in microwave. Place fish in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lined with foil. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until fish flakes easily.