I had never heard of quinoa before Cathy made this recipe for our freezer swap. I'm sure some of you vegetarians use it frequently, but now I know it is a power grain - a complete protein. I saved this meal for my week alone with Preston because I figured I would appreciate it more than Mike and the girls :-), and I really love it. I'm going to have to learn more about quinoa and find some recipes of my own to try out!
Ingredients:
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.
4. Enjoy with brown rice and corn tortillas, top with cheese and avocado
Quinoa and Black Beans (Freezer Meal)
Chicken Taco Rice (Freezer Meal)
Melissa made this for our freezer swap (and posted a better picture of it here). It was really good and there was TONS - I'll be using it for my lunches for the next few days. Mike ate his more like a taco salad and I put mine in heated corn tortillas. I thought it had a good flavor though!
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
3 cups Chicken broth
8 oz. Tomato sauce
1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix
1-1/2 Brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup Red or Green Pepper
1 can of corn
On Hand:
Shredded cheddar cheese
Optional Ingredients:
Tortilla chips, flour tortillas, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, etc.
Assembly Directions:
Mix everything in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is done (about 40-50 minutes). Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Freezing Directions:
Allow rice mixture to cool. Place in appropriate sized containers. Seal, label and freeze.
Serving Directions:
Thaw in the refrigerator. Reheat in microwave until warm. You can also reheat it in a saucepan if you add a little bit of water before heating. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve with tortilla chips.
Creamy Minestrone Soup (Freezer Meal)
Man, have my freezer meals come in handy lately! Jana made this one for the last swap I participated in, using a recipe she found on All Recipes as a guide. It was SOOO good! Even Mike, who was not excited when he saw we were having soup for dinner, gave it his stamp of approval :-).
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef or Ground Sausage or both
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
4 (15 ounce) cans mixed vegetables, with liquid (Jana used fresh cut-up vegetables)
2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, with liquid
2 (14.5 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes,with liquid
1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
4 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained
4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Directions:
1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, stir and cook onions in butter until soft. Add ground beef/Sausage and cook until browned. Add broth, mixed vegetables, kidney beans, tomatoes, spinach, and tomato paste; simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
2. Using a slotted spoon, remove about half of the vegetables to a blender or food processor, reserving liquid in stock pot. Puree the vegetables until smooth and return them to stock pot. (Jana did not puree - she left the vegetables chunky and I agree - loved it with the chunky veggies)
3. Stir in garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, basil, macaroni, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, garbanzo beans, and heavy cream; cook for 1/2 hour, stirring frequently. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.
Parsley Parmesan Chicken (Freezer Meal)
This was another meal from my freezer swap and we really liked these! They had a great flavor and are very versatile. We were given 6 chicken breasts and only used 3 so I plan to serve the other 3 on Sunday and make spaghetti to go with them more like a traditional chicken parmesan meal (we had it with rice and green beans last night).
Ingredients:
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 6-8 chicken breasts)
1/3 bottle of Italian salad dressing
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 c dry bread crumbs (used Seasoned Italian bread crumbs)
1 1/2 T parsley flakes
1/2 T paprika
Salt & Pepper
Assembly Directions:
Marinate chicken in dressing overnight.
Mix the remaining ingredients and bread each breast with coating.
To Freeze:
Lay chicken breasts side by side on baking sheets and place in freezer for 1 to 2 hours to firm up. Place chicken in labeled gallon size Freezer Bag and freeze.
Cooking Directions:
Thaw & bake at 350 uncovered for 30 minutes or until done.
Chicken Curry in a Hurry (Freezer Meal)
This was DELICIOUS!!! Definitely my favorite of our freezer meals so far (and it isn't designed as a freezer meal, so just make it the same night you are going to eat it if desired). I don't think I toasted my coconut quite long enough, as I've never done it before, but it still tasted great! I would definitely make this again on my own! Thanks Cathy!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 T veg oil
1 med onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp curry powder
1 (12-14 oz can) coconut milk
1 c canned diced tomatoes (I always just use a whole can)
2 T Tomato paste (I often skip this if I don't have any)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes (or you can use a can of chicken)
3 packed cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 or 2 cans garbanzo beans
1/2 c. toasted coconut
Directions:
-Heat oil over med heat. Add onion and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook until soft, about 7 min. Add curry and stir one more minute
-Stir in cocnut milk, tomatoes and paste and cook another 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.
-Add chicken and cook 5-6 minutes until meat is cooked (sometimes I cook the meat beforehand- that's okay too). Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with rice.
To toast coconut, place on a cookie sheet in 300 oven and watch closely. Cook until golden, just a few minutes. This adds so much flavor to the dish and is my favorite part. Serve curry over rice- we love basmati!
Seven Flavor Hamburger (Freezer Meal)
This is another meal from my freezer swap and Mike really, really liked it! I thought the flavor was great, I'm just not as big of a meat person. It is nice that it is versatile and can be served in more than one way!
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
6 hamburger buns, split (or noodles or rice)
Prep:
Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir frequently, and break into pieces. Drain off grease.
Add onion, celery, and green pepper to the skillet, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. To freeze, store meat mixture in gallon size freezer bag, removing all air.
Serve:
Heat meat mixture and serve over hamburger buns or noodles. (We ate ours over rice)
Poppy Seed Chicken (Freezer Meal)
This is another freezer meal recipe from 30 Day Gourmet. We were rushing to eat before heading out for Ella's kindergarten orientation so I didn't get a good picture of it, but I thought it was really good! This is what I made for the freezer swap we are having today. This has been my 3rd group and will be my last for awhile, but I'm really excited about having a little stash built up for after I have the baby in 6 weeks! I made some white rice and put this on top, but you could also cook up some extra egg noodles...it definitely could use the extra though and it makes the meal go further (we only ate about 1/2 of it).
(1 recipe=8 servings, in my opinion)
Ingredients:
- 5 oz. wide egg noodles
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup (21 oz)
- 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
- 16 oz. fat free sour cream
- 4 c. chicken cooked and cut into small pieces (I used 1 can chicken for each recipe, which is about 2 c.)
- 1/2 stick margarine, melted
- 1 1/2 c. Ritz crackers, crushed
- 2 T. poppy seeds
Assembly Directions:
-Cook noodles slightly less than package directions.
-Mix soup with broth, sour cream and chicken.
-Drain noodles and add to soup mixture.
-Combine crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter in a separate bowl.
Freezing and Cooking Directions:
-Label 2 bags for each person, one for chicken mixture and a small one for cracker topping.
-To serve: Thaw chicken mixture. Spread in 9x13 pan and stir (mixture will separate in freezing). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir, add topping and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.
Chicken Cacciatore (Freezer Meal)
This is the first freezer meal we have tried from the second round and so far so good! Much better than the picture, I promise. We ate ours over rice instead of spaghetti noodles and really liked it. All I had to do was dump the frozen bag in the crock pot in the morning...beautiful...especially since I had to work last night! The chicken shredded apart wonderfully after cooking all day. I will say I added lots of salt and pepper to mine though. Our fearless freezer group leader Kelly made this one, and also started a blog of our freezer meal recipes, Katy Freezer Swap, so check it out.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
1 can Spaghetti Sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Oregano
*On hand: 12 oz. Spaghetti
Prep Day:
Cut Chicken breasts into quarters. Combine with all ingredients into a gallon-size freezer bag and mush.
Serve:
Place Cacciatore, frozen, into a crock pot and cook all day on low. Serve over cooked spaghetti.
Serves 6, Cost per dish $4.98
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!
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.
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).
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.
Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce (FREEZER MEAL)
So, this was my first attempt at making a freezer meal...and at making this large a quantity of food period! Here I am all ready to go and looking pregnant in my cute apron I got for Christmas from Kayley (photo courtesy of Ella). The recipes our group is using all coming from 30 Day Gourmet and are nice because they multiply out the ingredients for you based on the number of recipes you are making. I will post the ingredients for 1 recipe of this meal (6 servings), but keep in mind I was making EIGHT recipes worth at once!
I decided to prepare my meals on Sunday evening since Mike makes our family dinner that night and I wouldn't have to cook twice. We had all the ingredients ready to go (I did realize after taking this picture and luckily before starting that the sauce recipe made 10 servings per recipe, not 6, and I therefore had an extra gallon of milk...but it is still a lot of stuff). From start to finish it took me a little over 4 hours, but considering that will equal 8 different meals in the end, it's not too bad. The cost for my ingredients was $50 but I'm hoping it is one of the more expensive meals due to the number of ingredients required. We'll see next week when we get together to trade meals and share the costs.
Overall the meal was fine, not the best enchiladas I've had, but not bad either. Here are my tips for when you make them at home...
*If you use corn tortillas, tear them in pieces in the casserole dish, don't roll them. Mine dissolved because the sauce is so liquidy. And use 15 maybe instead of 12.
*Top with cheese. There is a lot of cheese in the filling, but I didn't feel like you could taste it all that much.
*I had extra filling and extra sauce, so you could make more than 12 enchiladas if you wanted.
- 1/2 c. diced onion
- 1/2 c. diced green pepper
- 1/2 t. minced garlic
- 2 c. chicken, cooked and cubed (after being at 3 different grocery stores and pricing their chicken I decided to go with my trusty canned Costco chicken. I used all 6 cans in 1 pack, which cost $10.99 and saved me a lot of work too)
- 3 c. fat free white sauce, divided (recipe below)
- 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (I used Rotel b/c they were on sale)
- 1 4 oz. can diced green chilies, divided
- 1/2 t. chili powder
- 1/4 t. black pepper
- 1/4 t. crushed red pepper (I left this out b/c I knew the Rotel and pepper jack cheese would add a kick already and didn't know how sensitive the rest of our group was)
- 1 c. fat free mozzarella cheese (I used 2% cheddar b/c it was on sale)
- 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese
- 1 c. reduced fat sour cream
**On Hand: 12 6-inch corn tortillas** (which means I don't freeze that as part of my meal, but write in on the bags so people will know they need those when they go to defrost and make this one)
DIRECTIONS:
-Saute onion, pepper and garlic in some water and butter in large skillet 5 minutes, or until tender.
-Remove from heat, stir in chicken, 1/3 of the white sauce (1 c. per recipe), diced tomatoes, 1/2 of green chilies (2 oz per recipe), chili powder, black pepper, crushed red pepper and cheeses.
-In separate bowl, combine the remaining white sauce (2 c. per recipe), with remaining green chilies and the sour cream to make sour cream sauce.
-3/4 c. flour
-6 c. skim milk
-2 T. chicken bouillon granules
Directions: (I did it over the stove, but the directions are for the microwave)
-Warm up 2 c. milk for 60-90 seconds. Then stir the flour and broth flavoring into the warm milk.
-Microwave for about 60-90 seconds again until the mixture is bubbly.
-Add 2 c. of the milk for 2 minutes.
-Add 2 more c. milk for 2 minutes.
**Before filling freezer bag, write serving directions on it for others. We decided to also write the person's name and the recipe title facing out on the edge, so when the meals are stacked in the freezer we can easily flip through and pick one out.**
-Place the chicken mixture in a gallon freezer bag or in a rigid freezer container.
-Place the sour cream sauce in a quart freezer bag. Seal, label and freeze.
**On hand: 12 corn tortillas
-Thaw in refrigerator or microwave.
-Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
-Divide the chicken mixture evenly between the tortillas.
-Roll them up and place in pan.
-Stir the sour cream sauce until thoroughly blended.
-Pour even over the enchiladas.
-Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly.
(I had a lot of extra sauce left, and again, would not suggest rolling the tortillas if you use corn.)
Marci's Chicken Tortilla Soup
Well, I know I am always looking for new recipes to try so I decided to start posting some of mine. If you have ever eaten at my house you have probably had this tortilla soup, or chicken enchiladas - well, probably both :-). I guess everyone has their trademark dish though and this soup has become mine. My mom passed the recipe on from my grandma when I first started college and I instantly loved it (I have always been a tortilla soup fan!). It is delicious of course, but also really healthy which is a great bonus. 
MARCI'S CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
1 T. olive oil
1 (12.5 oz.) can chicken (do NOT drain)
1/2 c. finely diced onion
2 garlic cloves
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. chili powder
1/4 t. ground pepper
(I use "heaping" teaspoons when measuring the spices)
1 (14 ½ oz.) can chicken broth
1 (15 ¼ oz.) can corn kernels (do NOT drain)
1 (15 oz.) can black beans (rinse and drain)
1 (14 ½ oz.) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes (cut up)
Toppings:
tortilla strips (see below)
fresh cilantro
diced avocado
sour cream
cheese
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-Heat oil in pan over medium heat and sautee onion and garlic.
-Add can of chicken and spices (cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper).
-Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
-Stir in broth, undrained corn, black beans and tomatoes.
(I like a little extra broth in my finished soup so I add some extra water, maybe 1/4-1/3 cup)
-Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
-Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 min.
While the soup simmers you can prepare the tortilla strips (or if you are pressed for time, just crush tortilla chips):
Using kitchen scissors (there is probably an actual name for them) cut tortillas into thin strips (I cut 3 at a time). Spread evenly in a lightly greased 9x13 dish.
Bake them in oven approx 4 minutes then stir them around and bake 3 more. 
I often put them under the broiler for a couple minutes at the end to make them golden brown. Let them cool and harden, then serve on top of the soup with your other favorite toppings. Avocadoes are to die for in it in my opinion.
