Mexi Chicken

I forgot to take pictures of this meal but it turned out really well. We ate it for dinner once and then I divided the rest into 6 freezer bags for later.

Mexi Chicken - modified from Frozen Assets
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
2 cups pearl barley
2 16 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups tomato sauce
One small can Mexican sauce
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 cups kidney beans

1. Cook onion, pepper and garlic in a bit of oil until tender in a large stock pot.

2. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken and beans.

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often, until barley is tender.

5. Add chicken and beans and simmer an additional 10 minutes until heated through.

6. Cool, spoon into freezer bags, label and freeze.

TO SERVE:

Thaw in refrigerator. Heat mixture in skillet. Serve over multi-grain tortilla chips or in flour tortillas with a side salad.

Makes 18 servings.

Freezer Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast burritos are something I would have thought to include on my freezer cooking list if I hadn't have seen the idea in Frozen Assets. I decided that they would be a great addition so that we have something on hand that is hearty, quick and easy for breakfasts after the baby arrives.

Freezer Breakfast Burritos
1 lb sausage, casings removed
12 eggs
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup chunky salsa
2 cups colby cheese, shredded
24 small flour tortillas

1. Crumble cook sausage until well cooked. Drain if necessary.

2. Meanwhile, beat together eggs with salt and pepper.


3. Scramble eggs, pepper and onion together in a large skillet.

4. Once eggs are cooked, stir in cooked sausage and salsa. Mix until well combined.

5. Heat tortillas for 25-30 seconds in the microwave.

6. Add 1/8 cup of filling to each tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll up.

7. Place filled burritos side by side on a large cookie sheet.

8. Flash freeze for 1.5-2 hours.

9. Wrap burritos individually in waxed paper. Place in large freezer bags. Label and freeze.

TO SERVE:
Take out desired number of burritos. Heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes or thaw burritos, wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen burritos (I actually had enough filling to make 26 but I just ate the last two for my own breakfast).

Rice and Lentil Soup

Rice and Lentil Soup - adapted from Frozen Assets
1 12 ounce can tomato paste
2 16 ounce cans diced tomatoes, with juice
12 cups water (original recipe said 8 but this was not enough)
2 cups uncooked lentils
2 cups uncooked rice
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups frozen cut green beans
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Heat to boiling. Turn down heat and simmer for one hour until lentils are soft and rice is cooked.

2. Cool. Pour into freezer bags. Seal. Label. Freeze.

Makes 10 servings.

Rice and Beans

Here is another recipe that I made with the intention of placing it in the freezer for post-baby days. Again, it came from the book, Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month.

Rice and Beans - modified from Frozen Assets
2 cans beans (or 4 cups dried, cooked) - I used 2 cups black beans, and 2 cups kidney beans
2 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cups long grain brown rice, uncooked
4 cups chunky salsa (any heat)
3 cups tomato juice
1 T cumin
1 T oregano
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except cheese.

2. Pour into 3 8x8 freezer safe casserole dishes (I use disposable tin foil dishes).

3. Cover and bake at 375 for 1-1 1/2 hours until the rice is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.

4. Let cool. Label and freeze. Optional: you can divide the cheese into small freezer bags now and freeze it attached to the casseroles or you can just grate and add the cheese when you serve the dish, which is what I choose to do.

TO SERVE:

Thaw in refrigerator. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. Reheat at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and beans and rice is heated through.

Makes 3 8x8 casseroles (about 4-5 servings each).

Swiss Chard and Bacon Potatoes

As I mentioned on my other blog, I've started doing some freezer cooking to have things stored away for when the baby arrives. Over the next little while, I'll be sharing some of the recipes. I checked the book "Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month" out from the library at my midwife clinic and I've been using it from inspiration on some of the recipes to cook.

One of the ideas in there was for 'potato shells' or what I refer to as twice baked potatoes. Twice baked potatoes are a favorite in our home so it was fun to try a different variation.

Swiss Chard and Bacon Potatoes - inspired by Frozen Assets
10-12 large potatoes
Salt
Pepper
1/8 cup butter
1/8 cup milk
1 red onion, chopped
Large bunch of swiss chard, steamed and chopped finely*
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups Colby cheese

*You can also use spinach. Fresh or frozen

Bake potatoes for 1 hour at 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook bacon and swiss chard and prepare remaining ingredients.

When potatoes are done, although them to cool for about 20 minutes, then slice them in half lengthwise.

Allow them to cool a bit more until they are just cool enough to touch. Scoop the pulp out into a bowl of mixer. (Because I used fresh potatoes from the garden, I needed to leave more pulp in than usual because the skins were so thin - try to scoop out as much as possible while leaving skins in tact).

Mash potatoes with salt, pepper, butter, and milk.

Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

Scoop mixture back into potato shells.

Bake the refilled potatoes at 400 for 20 minutes

OR for freezer cooking ...

Place potatoes on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 20-30 minutes.

Arrange potatoes in a single layer in a large freezer bag.

Label and freeze.

To serve, remove the number of potatoes you need and allow to thaw in the fridge. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 until golden brown.

Makes 12 main servings or 24 side servings.

For me, having two halves with a salad would make an excellent meal. But they would also be paired well as a side dish accompanying steak, chicken or any other type of meat.

Stuffed Up Meatballs

I'm sure many of you already subscribe to the Kraft What's Cooking magazine. If you don't, you should. It's free and it is chalked full of great ideas. While I don't necessarily love how often they rely on Kraft Dinner and stuffing mix in their recipes, there are always a few great recipes and ideas in each issue. I recently received the fall 09 issue and found a recipe for "the best meatballs". I have always made meatballs the way my mama taught me but I thought I'd give it a try. This is a great make now, eat later recipe. It makes a lot of meatballs and so you can put half (or more) in the freezer for future use.

Stuffed Up Meatballs - from Kraft What's Cooking
2 lbs extra lean ground meat (the recipe called for ground beef, I used venison. You could use turkey, pork, bison, whatever)
1 package stuffing mix for chicken
2 eggs
1 cup water

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Form into balls. The recipe said this would make 32 meatballs but I ended up with 50 and I don't think mine were too small.

3. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet lined with foil and lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes, until done. I cooked most of mine in a roast pan with a rack. I like to do it this way so the grease drips off of them instead of staying in the meat.

4. Keep desired number of meatballs out. Cool and freeze the remaining ones. To freeze, place meatballs loosely in a freezer bag. Lay flat in the freezer to ensure that they freeze individually. Store up to three months.

I kept 15 out for dinner that night and put the remaining 35 in the freezer. I'm not sure these meatballs were any better than the recipe I usually use, but they were quick, easy and tasty.