More freezer meals

In preparation for the baby coming in just over a month I made another batch of freezer meals. I started out my evaluating what my family is enjoying these days, and then did an inventory of what I already had in the freezer. I made a 3 month meal plan calendar, and determined what I needed to make to simplify dinners through the end of the year. Then I went to work. I started out by making a list of needed ingredients. Then I eliminated the things I already had on hand. Then I went shopping. It took me an hour and half, but I got all the things I needed, and surprisingly cheap! My total was just under $200. Had I eliminated flank steak from the menu, the total would have been far less, as at about $6.50 a pound, it is not a cheap dinner option, but we love it, and I had seen some new rubs and marinade recipes I wanted to try, so about $50 of my $200 was used to purchase flank steak. This meant I would have roughly 40-60 meals for my family. Combined with the meals I still have in my freezer, it would be enough to get us to the end of December.

So what's on the menu?
Lasagna- Alfredo chicken as well as traditional
Spaghetti and meatballs
3 varieties of flank steak served with twice baked potatoes
Cranberry pork tenderloin
Shepherd's pie
Breakfast burriots
BBQ chicken burritos
Mexican casserole
Jambalya
And the items I already had made in my freezer from the last couple rounds of freezer meals, namely asian themed chicken dishes (sweet and sour, orange, and lemon), a couple pot roasts, enchiladas, and pork chops.

I broke this batch of meals into 2 days. I started in the evening on Monday and made about 18 meals. Mostly the simple ones that do not take a lot of prep work, like the marinades, rubs, etc. Then the next day I made the lasagnas and burritos, which are more labor intensive. Then later that night, I finished the jambalya, etc. I would say it took me about twelve hours total.

Here are the recipes, as well as some of my comments on how they have turned out thus far:

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Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine egg, water, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper and combine. Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine. Form into meatballs about 1" in diameter and place on a broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until meatballs are no longer pink in center. Cool and freeze, or when baked, use in your favorite recipe. 

My kids love meatballs in spaghetti, and while we do not eat pasta often, I have been wanting it more lately, so this is a fast and fun way to make the meal more interesting. I also whipped up a batch of sauce, but I just kind of do it by taste so I do not have a recipe for it. Prego always works well. 

 

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Flank Steak

Rub 1: This is the rub I usually use, and it is YUM!

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 25 grinds fresh black pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

marinade 2: I haven't tried the finished product yet, but will update when I do. Looked really good though!

·  ¼ c. balsamic vinegar

·  1 T. Worcestershire sauce

·  2 tsp. dark brown sugar

·  1 garlic clove, minced

Marinade 3: I love a good asian themed meal, but I have yet to cook this particular one, so I will update when we try it. Smelled awesome though!

1/2        C   rice vinegar
1/2        C   oyster sauce
1   2/3   C   soy sauce
3/4        C   mirin
3            T   garlic puree
4            T   ginger puree
2            T   honey

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Cranberry Pork Tenderloin We haven't tried this one yet

1 can of whole cranberry sauce (not jellied)
1 package of onion soup mix
1 (3-4lb) raw pork tenderloin (or pork roast)
2 Tbs Dijon mustard

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Shepherd's Pie

1lb lean ground beef- browned

1 medium onion, chopped- sauteed

2 cloves garlic, chopped- sauteed

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

4 Tbs butter

2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I used 1/2 cup green beans, 1/2 peas, 1/2 cup carrots, and 1/2 cup corn)

1 can of cream of mushroom

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups of mashed potatoes (seasoned with butter and salt/pepper to taste)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

 Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

 When I made this one, I basically cooked the meat and the onions and garlic. Then I added the cream and butter, and cream of mushroom soup, then took it off the heat, and stirred in a bag of mixed frozen veggies. I think the more veggies the better. I really enjoyed this one when we prepared it. My kids were less than thrilled because they like their aunt's version which is basically hamburger, potatoes, and cheese. But they said it was yummy, just not what they expected. This made a lot, so it actually served us two meals, and my lunch a couple days later. 

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Burritos- Breakfast and BBQ chicken

Burrito sized flour tortillas- 2 packages

Black beans

Frozen corn

BBQ shredded chicken

Cheese

Onion (optional)

Peppers (optional)

24 eggs

1 cup spinach

18 slices of bacon fully cooked and cooled

8 cups of hashbrowns

shredded cheese

burrito sized flour tortillas

For these I prepared everything, and put it in separate bowls, then assembled, froze, and bagged according to how many my family would eat at a meal. I made the blackbeans from dry, in my crockpot, and cooked and shredded the chicken, then topped with a homemade BBQ recipe that my family loves, but any BBQ would work. The corn was frozen, the cheese a mexican blend. When I cooked the eggs for the breakfast version I chopped up a bunch of spinach and added it in to make them healthier, but you can't even taste it. These have been my favorite thing in the freezer. From frozen I just pop them on a cookie sheet for 30 mins at 350, and they come out crispy on the outside, delicious on the inside. My kids love breakfast food, but not me so much, so I just make a few of each when we have had this for dinner, and all are happy. While labor intensive, I think I got about 50 burritos of each, which resulted in about 20 dinners covered, or lunches, or after school snacks. I did make a few smaller ones in taco size flour tortillas so that when they were used for snacks they would be the right size. What a hit!

Mexican Casserole- For this I basically used all the leftovers from the BBQ chicken burritos (I ran out of tortillas), added a can of rotel, mixed in some spices, and put in a casserole dish, topped with cheese. I made these in smaller container so they would work for lunches when it is just me at home! I have prepared one dish so far, and it was pretty tasty. I topped it with fresh avocado!


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Jambalya

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomatoe paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning blend
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups chopped cooked ham
• 3 cups cooked Keilbasa sausage, sliced
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups frozen cooked shrimp
• 4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

Directions

1. Melt butter in large stock pot. Saute onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until tender, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add tomato paste and cook to brown slightly, stirring constantly. Stir in bay leaves, Creole seasoning blend and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into a large roasting pan. Add in tomatoes, chicken stock, ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp and rice. Mix well. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Freeze
2. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through baking time. Remove bay leaves before serving.

  For this one I left out the ham and chicken, and forgot to buy Creole seasoning, so I just made up my own seasoning with spices I had on hand. It looks yummy but we haven't made it yet.

Lasagna
I basically just make these up. I shredded chicken, mixed in broccoli, and used alfredo sauce, cottage cheese, and ricotta. For the other one I sauteed zuchinni and carrots, browned ground beef with some garlic and seasonings, and used prego, ricotta and cottage cheese. I made both roll ups and pan lasagna. We used two of them last night for my brother's mission homecoming, and they were really tasty.

Pictures to come!

 

Freezer/Bag meals

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Okay, Yesterday I made some freezer bag meals. These are meals that are not really cooked all the way, but that are prepared so all you have to do is throw them in the skillet or oven. Very convenient. Very cost effective. And time efficient. The pocket pies take a while! We made 20 meals about 3-4 servings per meal, and 100 twice baked potatoes. It took a few hours, and cost about $140. I did not shop sales or anything. Here are the recipes and bag instructions. I got some of these online, but can't remember where, so I am not taking total credit! 

To get the twenty meals I basically made everything times four. Only with not as much chicken because I like lots of sauce, and we don't need that much chicken. So I kept the sauce measurements and halved the chicken to make portions right for our family on the two asian ones, but kept the chicken for the pocket pies.

Sesame chicken:

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pat dry with paper towels . Cut into 1 inch strips or bite size pieces.

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2-1 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh is better)

1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Orange chicken

Chicken cubed and dredged in seasoned flour

Bag 2:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

6 1/2 tablespoons orange juice

5 tablespoons sugar

1 orange, zest of

Bag 1: Stir fry mix:

1 teaspoon garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red chili pepper 1/4 cup green onion, chopped 1 tablespoon rice wine

Cream cheese salsa tacos

1 jar salsa, 1 package cream cheese, Chicken (I use about 4-6 breasts). Crock pot, and shred

Serve with tacos, cabbage, etc.

Chicken pot pie

• 1 heaping cup of shredded chicken
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup chopped carrot (1 carrot)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (my addition)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried dill (my addition)
• 1 recipe (2 disks) Cream Cheese Pastry (recipe below)
• 1 large egg, for egg wash

Melt butter, sauté onions, celery peas and carrot for 3 mins. Stir in salt, dill, and flour, cook for another rminute, add chicken broth and stir, add chicken, and cheese. Cool in fridge

Cream cheese pastry

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt           

Mix all but flour and salt, then add in flour and salt until combined and holds together in ball. Turn into well floured surface, and divide. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Roll dough out, center to edges, turning frequently until 12 inches wide.

Flank steak rub

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 25 grinds fresh black pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

These are the instructions I put on the outside of the bags:

Sesame Chicken

·       Heat a large non-stick skillet that has been sprayed with Pam, over medium-high heat.

·       Cook chicken for about 6 minutes or until no longer pink. 

·       Pour sauce mixture into skillet with chicken.

·       Cook until sauce thickens slightly

·       Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

·       Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken starts to soak up the sauce.

Orange Chicken

·       Heat wok or large skillet add 1 Tb oil, cook dredged chicken

·       Remove chicken, set aside.

·       Add Bag 1- wok for one minute

·       Add Bag 2- Bring to boil

·       Add chicken back in.

·       Serve over rice

Chicken pocket pies

·       Preheat oven to 375, line baking sheet

·       Place pockets on tray, pierce top with fork.

·       Beat an egg with 1 TBS water, brush on each pocket pie

·       Bake 20-25 minutes

·       Let rest 5 minutes before serving

Flank Steak

·       Thaw in fridge

·       Preheat broiler

·       Remove from foil

·       Broil 6-9 minutes per side

·       Remove from heat, let stand for 5-10 minutes, slice thin, against the grain.

Chicken tacos

·       Thaw and heat filling

·       Heat tortillas on skillet

·       Serve with cabbage and other toppings