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!
Teriyaki Chicken (Freezer Meal)
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.
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.)
To Die For Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Becoming a better bake is something I definitely need to work on. My friend Susan (who is amazing) made and brought these to the book club meeting I hosted earlier this month and they were SOOOO GOOD!!! She had them cut in bars and I kept a whole plate of them after the meeting...and only let Mike eat one...I wanted them ALL for myself :-)! These will be the first thing I try to master! Definitely make these, you can thank Susan later! (and I'll thank her now...thank you for sharing the recipe Susan)
CHOCOLATE PETAL CRUST
Ingredients:
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups unsifted flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
-Beat butter in large bowl of electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy.
-Combine dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture, beating well.
-Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9" by 13" pan. (I lined the pan with waxed paper, too)
-Pat crust mixture into pan.
-Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until crust is slightly puffed and feels somewhat firm when gently touched with fingertip. Cool slightly before filling.
FILLING:
Ingredients:
2 lbs cream cheese (low fat, not non-fat) (room temp helps)
1 1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs (room temp.)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 cup sour cream (light)
1 cup semi sweet choc chips, melted
Directions:
-Beat the cream cheese with the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 or two at a time and then stir in the sour cream. I usually have to scrape the bowl 2 or 3 times while beating the cream cheese, sugar and eggs to get it all smooth.
*For the Chocolate swirl Cheesecake I made, pour all but 1/3 (roughly) of the batter on the prepared crust. Stir the chocolate in to the batter in the bowl, and then spoon it onto the batter in the pan. Try to place the spoonfuls so they are not touching and then gently swirl the batter a little with a butter knife.
-Cook at 300° for 1 hour or until middle springs back when touched. Chill before serving.
GLAZE:
I glazed it with a Ganache made with 1/2 cup cream and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Bring the cream to a boil, add the chips, and stir until smooth. Unnecessary, but good.
Other Options:
Once you have the basic filling, you can melt 2 cups of chocolate chips and stir it into all the batter and have chocolate cheesecake. Or you can buy a bag of mini chips and stir them in. Or you can make it plain and put fresh berries or a glaze on it. You can also do it in a 10" spring form pan and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. It will make a tremendous mess if you try a 9 inch pan.
Nacho Spuds
I saw this recipe awhile ago on Rachael Ray's site. It would probably be better as an appetizer than a dinner (it's not the most well balanced meal around), but it was good. A little twist on nachos...and I love potatoes no matter how you serve them! (part of my potatoes got a little burned for some reason, but overall they turned out fine)
Ingredients:
2 large baking potatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
One 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered lengthwise (I just used a regular tomato)
Sour cream and shredded lettuce, for serving
Directions:
1. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the beans, taco seasoning and 2 tablespoons water. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring, until heated through, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the potatoes to an ovenproof platter. Sprinkle half of the cheddar on top, spoon on the meat mixture, then top with the tomatoes and remaining cheddar. Place in the oven and turn off the heat. Let stand until the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes. Serve with the sour cream and lettuce.
Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
This is another recipe idea from Melissa's Bargain Blog. It moved up on my menu because I had leftover avocado slices from last night's dinner that I knew would be delish in these :-). We used corn tortillas, so they were more like tacos than burritos, but they were really good (and oh so easy too)! I also put Cilantro Lime Rice inside, which made for a perfect combo!
Ingredients:
1 taco/fajita seasoning packet
2 cans black beans, drained
2-3 chicken breasts (I just used 1)
1 can green enchilada sauce
tortillas
optional fillings: cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomato, etc.
Directions:
Place chicken breasts in bottom of the crockpot and then add remaining ingredients. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
Shred chicken before serving and serve in tortillas.
This is also really good if you use beef instead of the chicken!
Cilantro Lime Rice
I saw this recipe on Jamie's Cookbook and thought it would be a perfect match for the chicken burritos I had planned for tonight...it was! I didn't follow the recipe exactly, just used it as a guide for what to add to our rice in the rice cooker.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups rice
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 large lime (juice and zest)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Directions:
In a skillet, melt butter and add rice. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except cilantro) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes. Add cilantro with a few minutes before done. Fluff with fork and serve.
(**I put 3 1/2 cups chicken broth in our rice cooker with 1 c. uncooked white rice and 1/2 c. brown rice. I stirred in 1 t. cumin, 1/2 t. garlic powder, and 2 T. lime juice. When it was done cooking I stirred in 3 heaping T. cilantro.)
Peppered Steak
This recipe came off Melissa's Bargain Blog and we all LOVED it! Her website is full of great information and one of her newest features is Menu Monday (on which she posts her menu based on her $40/week grocery budget). Check it out! I've been trying to learn from her for quite a few months now (I'm obviously a slow learner) and it's really paying off with our monthly budget!
Ingredients:
3 cups hot cooked rice
1 lb lean beef round steak (cut into 1/2 inch thick strips)
1 T Paprika
2 T butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 c. beef broth
1 cup sliced green onions
2 green peppers, cut in strips
2 T cornstarch
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 lg tomatoes (cut in eighths)
Ingredients:
Pound steak to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 1/4 inch wide strips.
Sprinkle meat with paprika. Brown meat in butter.
Add garlic and broth. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Stir in onions and green peppers. Cover and cook 5 minutes.
Blend cornstarch, water and soy sauce. Stir into meat mixture.
Cook, stirring until clear and thickened, about 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and stir gently.
Serve over rice.
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