Sunday, October 21, 2012

Chicken Tater Bake
Source: Taste of Home Magazine
  
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted 
1/2 cup 2% milk 
1/4 cup butter, cubed 
3 cups cubed cooked chicken 
1 package (16 ounces) frozen peas and carrots, thawed 
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided 
1 package (32 ounces) frozen Tater Tots

In a large saucepan, combine the soup, milk and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in the chicken, peas and carrots, and 1 cup cheese.
Transfer to two greased 8-in. square baking dishes. Top with Tater Tots; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. 

To use frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Cover and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each).

Just had this tonight and it was so good. Tasted similar to a chicken pot pie but had Tater Tots as the crust. It was so good! Definitely one of my top favorite freezer meals. The 6 servings were very very small...like my daughter ate her portion and it was not enough for her. So, realistically it serves 4 unless you have lots of other sides. We just had a salad and fruit.  Maybe next time I will add cubed ham and mixed vegetables instead of just the peas and carrots. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken
Source: SixSistersStuff

4-6 Boneless Chicken Breast (mine were still frozen!)
1 Bottle Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce (from Target)
1 20oz. can Pineapple chunks, drained

Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray for an easy cleanup! Place frozen chicken beasts in the crock pot and cover with sauce. Empty can of drained pineapple chunks on top. Cook on High for 2-3 hours or Low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks while still in the crock pot so the chicken will be well coated with sauce. Serve over rice. 

I always type the recipe up exactly how I see it...so here are my recommendations.
We made this with thawed out chicken and it only took 3 hours on Low. We also shredded our chicken in our Kitchen Aid, but make sure you don't shred it too much...that machine can get carried away. Over the next few days we ate this with rice in tortillas....so yummy! Oh, and we also added onion and green bell peppers in the crock pot, but we will probably not do that again. We didn't like the taste they gave. Lastly, we tried to find this BBQ sauce at Walmart. No luck. Only sold in Targets.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Ranch Chicken Parmesan
Source:Modified from The Baking Beauties

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing

In a resealable plastic bag, marinade chicken breasts in ranch dressing for at least half an hour. Set oven to 400° degrees (set oven rack to lowest position). Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. In a shallow bowl mix together the dry breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing any excess to drip off. Coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place in a single layer onto a greased baking sheet or line with non-stick foil (do NOT bake in a smaller baking dish or the bottom of the chicken will be soggy). If desired you can sprinkle black pepper over the chicken pieces. Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked

Freezing Directions

Marinade chicken breasts and coat with crumb mixture. Place on a big plate or in a big dish to Flash Freeze* in the freezer and when firm place them in freezer bags for future use. To Serve: Thaw and place in baking dish. Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.


*Flash Freeze: the process of spacing items out on a tray, freezing them until they are firm and then storing them in more space-efficient freezer bags

Very moist and delicious. I love the new (to me) technique of Flash Freezing. Instead of freezing in a baking dish I can place them in freezer bags to save space and save my baking dishes for other meals when I need to use them rather than having them held up in the freezer.
Cream Cheese Chicken
Source: Pam - Once A Month Mom
 
2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of chicken soup
8 ounces cream cheese
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix


Place chicken, soup, cream cheese, and seasoning mix in slow cooker. Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-9 hours, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over hot cooked rice or mashed potatoes, or noodles, if desired.

Freezing Directions:

Mix soup, cream cheese, and dressing mix. Place raw chicken in freezer bags. Pour sauce over chicken, seal, label, and freeze. To serve: Place bag contents in slow cooker. No need to thaw. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 8-10 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.


This one is Super Duper Easy! Few Ingredients and very few steps....and smelling it cook in the Crock Pot is torture through out the day but so worth it when it is time for dinner.
Noodle Heaven
Source: Lisa - Once A Month Mom

8 ounces egg noodles (I used 8oz for the first batch and decided it was not even...so for the second batch I used 16oz.) 
1 lb  ground beef 
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
16 oz tomato sauce
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp onion salt
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded


Brown ground beef in skillet and drain grease.  Combine beef, garlic, salt, sugar and tomato sauce and simmer on low for 10 minutes.  In a small bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream, and onion salt.  Boil noodles according to package directions, under-cooking by a minute & drain.  In a greased 9X13 pan, lawyer noodles, cream cheese mixture, and meat sauce.  Repeat.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until heated through. (We covered it while baking it in the oven)

Freezing Directions:

Follow directions as listed above but DO NOT BAKE. Cover with foil and freeze up to 3 months.  To Serve: Thaw.  Bake 350 for 40 minutes or until heated through. (We covered it while baking it in the oven)

I made this and brought it over to my family's house to have dinner with them and it was a huge success. My mom asked me for the recipe over and over and I was finally able to print them out for her. Now she, and everyone else that reads this, can have it for themselves. It definitely is a Heavenly Dish.

Teriyaki Honey Chicken
Source: Pam - Once A Month Mom


4 pieces boneless, skinless, chicken breast or thigh
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
gallon freezer bag


In a bowl, combine marinade ingredients. Place chicken in zippered bag. Pour marinade over chicken, seal bag, and let marinate 8 hours. Remove from marinade. Grill chicken until juices run clear. Or to cook in oven, place in a greased baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350ºF covered 20-30 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes longer or until juices run clear.

Freezing Directions:

Prepare as directed above but instead, place in freezer bag and freeze, no need to marinate in refrigerator. To serve: Thaw if frozen. Remove from marinade. Grill chicken until juices run clear. Or to cook in oven, place in a greased baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350ºF covered 20-30 minutes. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes longer or until juices run clear.

 

We LOVE this Teriyaki Chicken dish. 

We baked it in the oven and served it over rice with some steamed veggies. So simple and so delicious. 

A New Beginning - Freezer Cooking

Some people like to:
Sew
Craft
Can
Scrapbook
etc...

I like to:
Freezer Cook

What is Freezer Cooking?
Freezer Cooking is cooking/preparing a meal or a bunch of meals at one time that will be placed in the freezer for later use.

This type of cooking has given me so much time. So often we say that "there are not enough hours in the day" to be able to do this thing or that. This Freezer Cooking has given me "extra hours" in the day because I am not in the kitchen putting the cutting board and knife on the counter to chop up the vegetables or pulling out the skillet to brown the beef or gathering the ingredients to make the meal. I'm not having to wash the skillet, knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, and any measuring tools. I am not having to do that each day because I already did that once. All I have to do each do is pull a meal out of the freezer to thaw and then I put it in the crockpot or oven to cook. I might throw a few vegetables in the steamer or get a pot of rice cooked....but that is it. No big hassle. Now I get to spend more time with Tatum and I know that dinner will be ready for when Nik gets home from work.

This type of cooking also saves me money because I can get all the ingredients at one time and by doing that I do not have to go back to the grocery store multiple times through out the week. When I go multiple times through out the week I might have missed out on a deal and now have to buy the ingredient at the regular price or I might pick up a few other unnecessary items that add up after a while.

Cooking like this is fun. Yes, it is hard to cook for a few hours straight, but it is fun to feel so accomplished. I am so blessed to have family that will watch Tatum for me while I cook.

I am so happy to have found this and I've been able to bring my cousin/best friend along for the ride. Arianna loves it just as much as I do.

So....here is my blog with all the experiences and recipes that I have enjoyed. All these meals can be made up, cooked, and eaten in the same day or you can freeze them like I have. Don't think that you have to do freezer cooking to enjoy these meals. Please....make them and eat them and let me know what you think.

Loves,
Dawna