Freezer Cooking Series, Part 3

Welcome back for the third part of my Freezer Cooking Series!

Missed a part?  No problem!

Here is Part One and Part Two!

Now that you know what you have to do to prepare for a freezer cooking session, today I want to share several recipes that I used in my last session!

Most of these recipes, I found here.

This is a great resource to use!

I tend to freeze all of my meals in a Ziploc bag.  I find that it's easiest for me, and I can squeeze several into my freezer!  You can use what works for you!  It really doesn't matter.

I get all my food out and segregate them into meals.

When I first get my Ziplocs out, I write the name of the meal, the date, and how to cook it.

Then I will fill them.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts
• 1 (16 oz) bag frozen broccoli florets (I used fresh)
• 2 (16 oz) jars Alfredo sauce 
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. 

Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.
Serve with cooked fettuccine noodles.

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Chicken Cacciatore:
Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 1 (26 oz) jar of chunky vegetable-style spaghetti sauce
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 sweet onion, chopped

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. 

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
Serve with cooked spaghetti noodles and garnish with olives and cheese. 

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Slow Cooker Beef and Mushrooms:
Ingredients:

• 3 lbs stew meat, cubed
• 1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 (4 oz each) cans mushrooms, with liquid
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 (1 oz) packet dry onion soup mix

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Zip closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 10 hours.
Serve over rice.

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Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs pork chops, boneless (about 4-6 chops, thick sliced)
6-8 medium potatoes, chopped into large pieces
2 (10.75 oz each) cans cream of chicken soup
2 (1 oz each) packages dry Ranch dressing mix
1 cup milk
Dried parsley to sprinkle on top (optional)

Directions:
In a bowl, mix together the soups, milk, and ranch dressing mixes and pour into a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. 

Combine all other ingredients together and zip closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. 

Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours.
Use the extra sauce in the slow cooker as a gravy for the potatoes and the pork chops. Sprinkle with dried parsley if you want.

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I also made the Marinated Chicken from this post because we liked it so much the last time.

So I had 5 meals that I made in less than an hour.

That would last us at least a week and a half (gotta allow for leftovers...there's only 2 of us).

I then stacked them all in my freezer, and off I went.

It's super easy to prepare these meals, and especially easy to have on hand when you don't know what's for supper that night!

Just pull it out of the freezer and dump it in the crockpot!

Sometimes I don't thaw it in the refrigerator, but I will run it under hot water to thaw just a bit before putting in the the crock.

I will also mention that we've eaten all of these now, and they are all delicious!!
We were not disappointed! :)

Have questions?  Feel free to leave a comment or email me!

Happy Freezing!

Dessert Recipes

So life has been busy.
Like so busy that this is our only "free" weekend from Thanksgiving til the end of December.
I know I promised dessert recipes from Thanksgiving, so before we get anymore into Christmas season, I'm going to share with them with you.

Puppy Chow:
Ingredients:

• 9 cups of rice chex
• 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:

Melt the butter, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and vanilla in a large pan, stirring constantly until all ingredients have melted.  Remove from the stove.  Add cereal and stir well until coated.

Place cereal mixture in a large brown paper bag.  Add the powdered sugar and shake the bag until the cereal is completely covered with it.  {You may have to add more powdered sugar if needed.}

Spread the cereal out on wax paper to cool.  Once cooled, place in an air tight container.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350*.

In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and butter until blended.  Beat in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy.  Mix in oats, flour, and baking soda; stir in chocolate chips.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool slightly and remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack. Once cooled, store in an air tight container.

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These are just the desserts that I made for my family to eat as they were waiting around.  Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my dad's favorite, and my brothers seemed to enjoy them as well.  They're super easy to make, and really yummy!! :)

Happy baking!

Confetti Chicken Pasta

This recipe is for the more advanced cooker.  So if you're just beginning, I wouldn't advise you to start with this one...


I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it looked delicious so I thought I would try it.  There are two sections to this recipe:  the veggies and pasta and the spicy cream sauce.


Ingredients:
Veggies and Pasta:

• 16 oz of whole wheat penne pasta (I got the 13.25 oz and it was PLENTY)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
• 1 cup grape tomatoes

Directions:

• Cook your pasta and let it drain.
• Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook chicken until done.  Remove and let rest in a big bowl.

• Add the remaining oil and begin sauteing the onions for 2 minutes. 

• Add in the garlic and the bell pepper (I used orange and yellow...I'm sure you can use whatever color you'd like).  Saute for another 2 minutes.

• Then add in the broccoli and asparagus (I couldn't find any fresh asparagus, so I left it out).  Saute for another 2 minutes.

• During the last minute, add in the tomatoes.

• When everything is cooked, combine the veggies with the chicken in the big bowl.
  

Ingredients:

Spicy Cream Sauce:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups half & half
• 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup feta cheese

Directions:

• In the same pan you cooked the chicken and veggies in, melt the butter over medium heat.  Toss in the flour and stir, cooking 1-2 minutes.
  
• Slowly add in the half and half while stirring to prevent any clumps forming.  Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes and allow to simmer until you see boiling action.  Stir periodically.  (We don't like hot things, so I left the red pepper flakes out.)

• When the sauce begins to thicken and bubble, turn off the heat and add in the cheese.  Stir until it's melted.
  
• To assemble everything, add the pasta to the sauce.  It gives it a nice coating before you add the veggies.  The pour the chicken and veggies it and mix.

• The recipe says it will feed 4, but I think it could definitely feed 8 normal sized people.  (I say "normal sized people" because I come from a family with boys over 6 feet tall and they love to eat.)

Happy cooking!!