Pot Roast Slider Meat Tacos...MMMMM

We had pot roast sliders for dinner last night, which were super yummy, and today for lunch I was hungry and did not want to spend much time fixing something. Derrick asked for a quesadilla, and I had been dreaming about using the leftovers from last night in tacos, so I that is what I made. It literally took less than 5 minutes to throw them together. I sliced the meat, heated the griddle, crisped up my taco shells with some cheese in them, topped them with the meat, chipolte sauce, lettuce, avocado, and some salsa (wish I had fresh salsa, but it was still delish).

What an awesome freezer meal, totally versatile meat, and so far 2 great meals out of it. Mmmm

So you can find the recipe for the meat here!  

1 3-4 lb beef roast

Bag1:

·       1 cup water

·       1 cup salsa

·       1 envelope onion soup mix

  1 envelope Italian dressing mix

1 envelope Au Jus mix

 

Bag 2:

·       ¼ c sour cream

·       2 Tbs chili sauce

·       2 tsp creamy horseradish sauce

 

Cook roast and bag 1 ingredients in crockpot 6-8 hours. Serve on rolls, with provolone, and creamy chipolte sauce(bag 2).

Beef...it's what's for dinner!

Do you remember that slogan? Haha! I do.

Well, here is another review of a freezer meal, this time the pot roast sliders.

YUM!

Another good one. 

I was sooo tired this morning, so I wanted a fast dinner, so I threw this in the crock pot, and then smelled it cooking all day. My mouth was watering. 

After I picked my munchkins up from school we stopped at a local produce stand and bought corn on the cob and watermelon and potatoes. We figured they would be a nice accompaniment to dinner. 

I made homemade french fries with the potatoes, wedged the watermelon, and steamed the corn.

I baked some biscuits from a can because I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to go home made tonight. It took about 10 minutes for the potatoes and corn to get done, and the same time for the biscuits to bake, so it was a really fast and easy dinner. I decided to slice the roast rather than shred it because it seems to stay on the buns (biscuits) better that way and is easier for my kids to eat. But it was super tender, and shredding it would have been a simple matter, for those that prefer shredded meat. Then pulled out some lettuce and avocado to top the sliders.

The chipolte sauce that came with the recipe was to die for. In fact, I am already dreaming of the tacos I am going to make tomorrow with the leftover meat and sauce. I am super full, but can't seem to get them out of my mind.

Everyone loved it. Dillan said, "That was freaking good mom!"  So you can find the recipe here! Under Pot Roast Sliders. I hope your family likes it as much as mine did.

The sliced meat

The finished product!

Freezer meal review

Okay, it is time for some freezer meal reveiws. I have not tried all of the ones from the last batch yet, but here is what I think of the ones we have tried. 

Bang bang chicken- Ugh, not my favorite. It is totally bang bang chicken, so if you like that at a restaurant you will probably like it, but for me it was way too salty. I used a barely sweetened peanut butter, so it may have been tastier if I had used less soy sauce and a more sugared peanut butter, but I probably won't repeat that recipe in my rotation. 

Mongolian beef- It was a hit with my family. Dillan was very enthusiastic about it. No one complained. The only change I made was when I made it, the sauce was not thickening up the way I expected, so I added corn starch during the final stages of cooking just so the consistency would be better. We really enjoyed it though.

Mongolian Beef

Pretzel

Orange chicken

Orange chicken- We love the orange chicken, which you already know if you follow my blog at all, but I did not love how much sugar it called for. I cut it in half, and my family did not even notice. Still a favorite. I added a little extra orange zest.

Pretzels- They are great, an easy after school snack, and have tons of options. I froze them at the point after making the dough, letting it rise, shaping it, then I let it rise for a few more minutes, and froze. Then when I pulled them out to cook them I added a minute to the baking time, and still did the soda wash and let them stand for ten minutes. 

Flank steak- It is a delicious recipe, and a real winner. 

I will keep you posted on the others as we try them and adjust them to out personal liking!

Pie Pockets...YUM

Tonight I had some leftover pastry dough from when I made freezer meals on Tuesday
(recipe here).

When I made them, I used them for lasagna pockets, pizza pockets, meat pockets, etc. all savory. Tonight I cut up peaches, and made pumpkin pie filling, and used them to make the pockets into peach pie pockets, and pumpkin pie pockets.

I used an egg wash on the top. Then I sprinkled them with sugar and cinnamon. Baked them at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, and YUMMO! My kids loved them. I loved them.

I made several to freeze so that when I need a quick treat I can just throw them in the oven. Brett was awesome and totally helped me out. We also made about 50 pretzels for after school snacks. It was a fun night with my hubby cookin' in the kitchen!

Recipes for Latest Freezer Meal Batches

As you know I have been doing a lot of freezer meals lately. This is in preparation for baby #4, as well as to make my day-to-day life simpler during the school year so that I actually have time to play with my kids, help them with homework, etc. without the stress of dinner hanging over my head. Here are the various instructions, recipes, labels, etc. I used for this last batch.

These are the instructions/labels I put on the bags that go in the freezer. This way I know how to prepare the food I have in there when I am ready to use it:

Pretzels:

·       Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F

·       Lightly grease a baking sheet

·       Dip each pretzel into the soda wash.

·       Sprinkle with salt, let rest 10 mins

·       Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Brush with butter while hot        

Soda wash:

·       Whisk together 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tbsp baking soda

·       Cook in microwave 1 min

Pork chops:

·       Thaw in fridge in marinade. (not more than 7 hours)

·       Remove chops from brine, pat dry.

·       Brush chops with oil, and cook 2-3 mins per side until browned

·       Bake at 350 for 20 mins or grill

Pot Roast Sliders:

·       Put roast and sauce mix (bag 1) in crockpot. Cook 8 hours.

·       Thaw bag 2 while roast is cooking

·       Shred or cut meat, serve on rolls with cheese and sauce from bag 2

Mongolian Beef:

·       Coat meat in corn starch, let sit 5 mins.

·       Heat 1 cup oil in skillet or wok, and then add coated meat. Cook until done to your likeness.

·       Remove meat from pan

·       Use 1 TBS oil, add bag one, stir fry 30 secs

·       Add bag 2. Heat until sugar melts, bring to boil. When starts to thicken, add meat in, let simmer until sauce thickens. Top with Bag 3.

Sweet and Sour Chicken:

·       Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

·       Coat chicken with cornstarch

·       Beat 2 eggs, dip chicken in eggs.

·       Heat 2 TBS oil in skillet and brown chicken (not cooked through).

·       Put chicken in 9 x 13 baking pan, pour sauce over.

·       Bake for 1 hour. Turn chicken half way through.

Fried Rice:

·       Heat 1 TBS oil in large skillet or wok

·       Add bag one, stir fry until tender, move to side of skillet

·       Scramble 2 eggs in same pan.

·       Add bag two and three (rice and soy sauce)

·       Stir fry until well heated

Lasagna Roll Ups:

·       Preheat oven to 375 degrees

·       Bake 30-35 minutes

·       Top with extra sauce and shredded mozzarella, let it melt (or return to oven to melt it)

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

Pockets:

·       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

Bang Bang Chicken

·       Heat skillet with 1 TBS oil

·       Cook chicken, when almost done, add Bag 1.

·       Add Bag 2, Simmer for 5 minutes

·       Add Bag 3, cook until crisp tender

Egg rolls:

·       Heat oil in wok or skillet

·       Cook until light brown

·      Serve with dipping sauce 

 Meatballs: Thaw, heat, and use as desired

Here are the actual recipes:

Pretzels

For the Dough:

·      12.5 oz all purpose flour (2.5 cups)

·      1/2 tsp sea salt

·      1 tsp sugar

·      2.25 tsp instant quick rise yeast

·      1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

Mix in mixer, put in Ziploc bag, let rise 30 mins

Cut into 8 pieces, roll into ropes and pretzels. (this is the point where you freeze them if not making them day of)

Dip in soda wash, top with salt, let stand 10 mins, bake at 450 for 10 mins

Soda Wash:

·      1/2 cup warm water

·      1 tbsp baking soda

Wisk together and microwave one minute, then dip pretzels

Pork chops

Ingredients
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup molasses
4 whole cloves
1 cup boiling water
7 cups cold water
4 (2 1/4 inch thick) center cut, bone-in pork chops

Directions
Combine salt, molasses, cloves, and boiling water in a large container. Stir until molasses and salt are dissolved; let cool to room temperature.
Pour cold water into molasses mixture; stir to combine.

Bang bang chicken

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

Bag 1:
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tsp. ginger root or bottled ginger
1 scallion, chopped into 1 inch pieces or 1 small onion, chopped
Bag 2:

3/4 cup water
6 tbsp. soy sauce
6 tbsp. peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Bag 3: 4 cups broccoli florets or florets and spears (if not using fresh the day of)

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

 

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

 

Bag 1:

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

 

2 eggs, beaten (not frozen)

 

Sauce bag:

 

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

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.  Cut circles. Fill with whatever fillings you want. Then crimp edges with fork

Roast sliders

Roast:

1 3-4 lb beef roast

Bag1:

·       1 cup water

·       1 cup salsa

·       1 envelope onion soup mix

·       1 envelope Italian dressing mix

·       1 envelope Au Jus mix

Bag 2:

·       ¼ c sour cream

·       2 Tbs chili sauce

·       2 tsp creamy horseradish sauce

Serve on rolls, with provolone, and creamy chipolte sauce

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.

Mongolian Beef

Bag one:

½ teaspoon ginger, minced

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

 

Bag two:

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup water

¾ cup dark brown sugar

 

1 lb flank steak

¼ cup cornstarch

 

Bag 3:

2 large green onions, chopped

Fried Rice                                                                                             

Bag 1:

1cup diced ham

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Bag 2:

cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)

3 tbs sesame oil

Bag 3: 1/4 cup soy sauce

Lasagna Roll up

1.     Cook lasagna

2.     Layer sauce (prego)

3.     Layer of cheese filling (one pint cottage cheese and one ricotta mixed together with garlic and a cup of paremsan)

4.     Layer of ground beef- Cook with garlic, onion powder, and salt pepper

5.     Roll them up, freeze on a cookie sheet with wax paper individually, then pop in a ziplock bag

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

I know this is a long post, sorry I need to start doing it as links, but I am kinda lazy.

Also, I got some of the recipes from Pinterest and various other sources, of which I can't remember all, but I am not taking credit for them. I do adjust and make changes to most based on preference, but they are not my original recipes by any means. 

Freezer meal review #2: Sesame Chicken

Sesame Chicken

 

I am pretty happy to report that my second freezer meal review is another positive review. It was really delicious. My kids did not love it as much as the orange chicken. Dillan in particular did not like it, but Derrick gobbled it up and asked for seconds. Lexi ate it without comment. 

I thought it was really yummy. I was busy and distracted when I made it, and so I dredged the chicken in flour and corn meal before I remembered that this recipe does not call for that. It was really good with the coating on it, and was the perfect consistency. However, I have no idea how it would be without the flour coating. It only took about 8 minutes to prepare, which was a huge plus for me, and only one dirty pan. (My veggies weren't done when I took the picture).

We will definitely be making this dish again. I will probably reserve it for dinners with Brett as I think he would love it. I highly recommend it if you like sesame chicken! Mmmmmm

Freezer meal review: Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken

Okay here is my review: YUM!

My kids loved it, the husband loved it, and I loved it. I followed the posted instructions. I made a few tweaks because I always do. What I did was I seasoned the flour first with some salt and pepper, patted the chicken dry, then dredged it. Then I put a TBS of oil in the skillet and cooked it 3 mins on each side with a lid on. Then I removed it from the pan. Added bag one. Then about a minute later added bag two. It seemed a little runny so I added half a tsp of corn starch, but then after I added the chicken I realized I probably did not need to. So I brought it to the boil, which took about 30 seconds, added my chicken back in, covered it for a couple minutes, then flipped all the pieces so it would be evenly coated, and then took it off the heat. I let it stand about two minutes, then served it with rice and broccoli.

It thickened up nicely. The flavor was good. Maybe a little spicy if you don't like a kick, but you can always reduce the red pepper flakes a little if you do not want spice. It was not Panda Express flavor, but definately orange chicken, and really very yummy. My kids ate every bite!

What I would do differently:
1. For the recipe I only used three chicken breasts, and the full sauce, but I would maybe even do 1.5 times the sauce for the 3 breasts because I wanted extra for the rice, and there wasn't much.
2. Make more. I was really careful about portioning so we would not have any waste, as my family is not big on leftovers, but since Dad was home (He usually does not eat dinner with us), it seemed like we had enough, but not enough for seconds. We had just spent a couple hours at the pool, and the kids were pretty hungry, so on an average night, where they snack between meals, it probably would have been plenty.

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