Freezer Meals

With a little inspiration from pinterest, I decided to give freezer meals a try.  Let me just say that I LOVE it!  All of these nights of not having to worry about what I am going to make or making sure I am home in time to get dinner started have been wonderful.  Did I mention that my kitchen stays clean too? :)  A few friends are going to join me and we plan on doing this again so if you have an good recipes that freeze well please send them my way! (khayden1@gmail.com)

In one night I made Chicken Enchiladas, Three Cheese Pasta Bake, Turkey and Black Bean Chili, Homemade Lasagna, and Cowboy Chili.  I split most of them into 2 meals which gave me a total of 8!  Plus there is usually leftovers so that gives me almost 1/2 month of meals that I cooked in one night!  While I was preparing these I had my crock pot out making the easiest Baked Potato Soup that turned out really good.  It took me about 5 hours to make all of these, but it might have gone faster if I waited until the boys were in bed to get started.  We have already tried several of these and they have turned out great!  Here are a few recipes from the ones we have tried:   

Chicken Enchiladas

·         3 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

·         2/3 cup Onion and Garlic Mixture*

·         1 (4-oz.) can chopped green chiles

·         1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

·         3 (10-oz.) cans enchilada sauce, divided

·         2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican four-cheese blend, divided

·         8 (9-inch) burrito-size flour tortillas, homemade if available.

·         ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

·         *Onion and Garlic Mixture:

o    2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)

o    1 tablespoon vegetable oil

o    3 garlic cloves, chopped

Sauté onion in hot oil in a 3 1/2-qt. saucepan over medium heat 8 minutes or until tender; add garlic, and sauté 2 minutes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

·         Preheat oven to 425º. Stir together first 4 ingredients, 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, and 1 1/2 cups cheese.  Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll tortillas up, and place, seam sides down, in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over tortillas making sure it goes down between each enchilada. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.  Bake, covered, at 425° for 20 minutes; uncover and bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Cowboy Chili

4 chicken breasts

3 cans of chicken broth

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can black eyed peas

1 can yellow corn

1 small can tomato sauce

1 jar of thick and chunky salsa

1 pack of taco seasoning

     Boil and cut up chicken.  Rinse and drain beans and corn.  Mix all ingredients together in large pot, bring to boil, let simmer 30 minutes.  (I mix in crockpot and then turn on low and simmer all day.)  I make corn muffins and place one at the bottom of the bowl, then add the chili on top.  Then I top that with a little sour cream and cheese. It is so good!

__________________________________________________________________________________

EASY CROCKPOT POTATO SOUP 

1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns {I used Ore Ida}

3 14oz. cans of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese {don’t use fat free.  It WON’T melt!!!}

      In a crockpot, combine everything EXCEPT for the cream cheese.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat.  About 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese and keep heated until thoroughly melted.  Serve with cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, green onions, or whatever else you think would be good!!

__________________________________________________________________________________

Homemade Lasagna

 1 lb ground beef

1-16oz can tomatoes

1-8oz can tomato sauce

2- 1 1/2 oz pkg spaghetti sauce mix

2 cloves of garlic- minced

1- 8oz pkg lasagna noodles

2 6-8oz mozzarella cheese slices

1 cup cream style cottage cheese (I only use about 1/2 cup)

1 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

         Brown meat and add next 4 ingredients.  Cover and simmer 40 minutes.  Add salt to taste.  Cook noodles as directed on pkg.  Place layer of noodles in 11x7 baking dish. Then layer with 1/2 of meat sauce, 1/2 cottage cheese, 1/2 mozzarella cheese, noodles, 1/2 cottage cheese, 1/2 meat sauce, 1/2 mozzarella cheese.  Add parmesan cheese if desired.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.