Freezer Meals

I've been meaning to do a serious day of freezer meal preparation, but have put it off for some time. However, my friend, Josie, is due with her second child in April so it seemed like a good time to make us both some food. I had intended to do this for Josie during her first pregnancy, but I was mid pregnancy myself and I could barely cook for myself. Instead I bought her some groceries. This time I was determined to make her food. I reviewed my cookbooks, recipes I've found on blogs, Pinterest, and other sites and decided to make the following.

Chicken Spaghetti
Tortilla Soup
Sloppy Joe's
Heinz 57 Meatloaf
Barbecued Pulled Pork
Red Bean and Sausage Soup
Allspice Muffins
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Muffins
Jambalaya

Yes, I realize that list is a little long. It is a lot of food, but I had some extra days off recently so I thought I could tackle it. My only real obstacle was not having enough rice to make the jambalaya after going to the store twice. Jesse picked some up a couple days after I finished most of the cooking so I was finally able to complete that one as well.

Some of the above recipes I've made before, but the tortilla soup, pulled pork, and muffins were new recipes. It's hard deciding what to cook for others because apparently not everyone likes what I like. I know Josie is a meat and rice kind of gal (I lived with her for 9 years and she made rice with every meal) and she informed me that her husband, Rob, is a meat and potatoes kind of guy so that helped me decide on a few items.

Once I decided which meals to make I wrote down all the ingredients I needed to purchase and made sure to double them. I then organized them by category (meat, produce, dairy...) and listed them in the order they are stocked in the grocery story. This made the trip go so much faster especially since I was shopping with a 2 year old.

As I mentioned I had some extra time off to tackle this so overall the planning, shopping and cooking took place over 5 days (not all day long each day), but I certainly could have completed this over 2 days.

Day 1: Planned food and created grocery list

Day 2: Went grocery shopping and completed some cooking

Day 3 and 4: Cooked. Day three I spent the most time cooking

Day 5: Finally made the jambalaya

Chicken Spaghetti 
(print recipe)
I got this recipe off of It's All Happening, a blog written by a co-worker. She has some great information about meal planning and freezer meals that are certainly worth checking out. We've made this recipe a number of times and it has always been a hit for the entire family. I made a few alterations to the original recipe. For example, I just cooked up chicken breasts, and used chicken broth from a box. Also, I can't do onions so I eliminated that from mine, but included it in Josie's (which I did in most of these recipes). Also, we love mushrooms so we added that to the mix. The recipe as is has always been too much for us to eat so I typically divide it into two baking dishes and pop one in the freezer for later.

Tortilla Soup 
(print recipe)
So this one was pulled out of USA Weekend. I've actually been finding a number of good recipes there. As I mentioned earlier this was the first time I made this recipe... and the first time I've made tortilla soup ever. Besides not being able to find canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce at the first grocery store I went to this was a pretty easy and fast dish to make. When I originally couldn't find the chipotle peppers I thought I might have to skip that ingredient, but that would have been a huge mistake as it gives the soup a nice smokey flavor... and quite a bit of heat. If I make it again I might cut down on the chipotle peppers a little though as it was a little too hot for me.

Sloppy Joe's 
This was really as basic as you can get. Cook up a pound of ground beef; add can of sloppy joe mix. Done. And I might add, this one received the most excitement when I explained to Josie and Rob what I made for them.

Heinz 57 Meatloaf
(print recipe)
I came across this recipe so long ago that I can't remember where it came from. I turn to it whenever I want to make a tasty, easy meal like meatloaf. I often add mushrooms, and red or green peppers to get some more veggies in there as well. This is definitely my favorite meatloaf recipe.

Barbecued Pulled Pork 
(print recipe)
This was another new one, I think. I got this recipe out of a cookbook my mother in law gave me (Favorite Brand Name: One-Dish Cookbook, Slow Cooker Cookbook, Casseroles Cookbook). I made pulled pork once before, but was completely unsuccessful. To this day I have no idea what the problem was, but am so happy to have this turn out. The meat was tender and pretty much shredded without much assistance. I only made one batch of this as I was hesitant it would work out. All in all this was pretty good, but a little sweet for my taste. I'm not sure if it was the BBQ sauce I selected or if I would enjoy a different recipe without as much brown sugar. If you have a good recipe for this or a BBQ sauce suggestion I would love to hear it.


Red Bean Soup with Sausage
(print recipe)
I found this recipe in the same cookbook as the Barbecued Pulled Pork and have made it three different times. The actual recipe name is Red Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage, but each time I've made it with a different sausage. The first time I made it I asked my husband to get andouille sausage at the store, but he came home with something else (chorizo?). I wish I could remember what it was because it was my favorite version. The other times I made it with andouille and then with a beef smoked sausage. Both times were good, but just not as flavorful. I've also added rice to this soup to make it heartier. I'm not a huge soup fan as I never feel full after a bowl so this helped it act more as a meal for me. Oh, and I should admit that I totally cheat on this one and used canned red beans and have yet to add the ham hock. Maybe next time.

Allspice Muffins 
(print recipe)
I've tried a number of muffin recipes from Annie's Eats, but this one and the next listed were the ones I've made most recently. This one happened to be my hubby's favorite so it is likely to get made again.


Peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins
(print recipe)
I actually made this with soy nut butter. Good, but I was hoping they would be a little moister - not sure if it was because of the soy nut butter or what. Regardless, they were tasty and most were eaten so I had to make sure I set some aside for my friend.

Jambalaya 
(print recipe) 
My friend, Liza, suggested this recipe to me. She has 4 kids and a hubby, and all have some dietary restrictions. I figured this would be a hit as I only had to feed three people and only one of those has dietary issues. This is the second time I've made it and turns out it is a nice solid and yummy meal; although, I think I might add some of those chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to spice it up a little more next time.

Once completed I added all items to my freezer food chart (I actually created mine in Excel, but didn't know how to load it so I've now created it in Google docs to share).

I created the chart since food has been known to get lost in our little freezer in the past. Plus, I now don't have to move everything around in the freezer just to see what I have. I simply check the list posted on the side of the fridge and mark off items once removed from the fridge.

So there you have it. This was a little time consuming, but will save on time in the long run so it was certainly well worth it. So much so that I am tempted to buy a stand alone freezer so I can prep even more food.

Food Stuff

Not long ago I did a post on meal planning. Well, actually, it was more like a listing of all the cream cheese food I made that week. I noted that up next I planned to eat more fish and I did, but I never posted about it... so that leads me to finally write this post. Following my cream cheese extravaganza I was really looking forward to eating healthier food.

One of my staple fish dishes is Tilapia with capers. I used to work at Christos Greek Restaurant and this dish was inspired by one of their specials. I used to lightly bread the fish in flour and then pan fry it with vegetable oil and white wine, but now I have been baking it with just a little olive oil and salt and pepper. It's not quite as scrumptious, but it's easier and healthier. It's a pretty simple recipe and once cooked I put it on a plate with rice and steamed veggies... and, of course, some warmed capers on the fish. Tilapia is a pretty mild fish so it needs a little kick in my opinion. An alteration I've made to this is baking the fish with seasoned diced tomatoes, but I am partial to the capers.

Another fish dish I've made recently was introduced to me by my friend, Joanna, who is all about the healthy eating:

Thyme Roasted Salmon with Cucumber Salsa

Salsa:

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped up
1/4 cup quartered or chopped grape tomatoes
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 tsp lemon juice and some lemon zest
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together in a bowl and set aside.

I omitted the onions since they don't like me.

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray or pour a little olive oil on the foil (about 1 1/2 tbsp).
Rinse Salmon and pat dry.
Rub both sides of the salmon on the oil on the foil.
Sprinkle on the salmon:

• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Bake for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer to a plate and top with a scoop or two of the salsa.

I didn't have any thyme when I last cooked it, but it was still tasty and delicious

Often when I make dishes that only require half a vegetable I try to plan another dish where I can use the rest. I didn't do that with all the items in the recipe so instead I chopped up the rest of the green pepper and put it in the freezer to use later. In fact, the rest of this green pepper went into a meatloaf I made weeks later.

I did make another recipe that did have similar ingredients, however. My co-worker, Delena, brought this in one day and it's become one of my feel good staple items. And my kid LOVES it too... except when I put jalapeno in it so we've cut that out.

Mango Black Bean and Tomato Salad

1 large mango, pitted, and flesh diced
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 (14 ounce) canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked long-grain rice, cooled
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients above to a bowl and toss. Cover the bowl and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour for the flavors to develop... or serve immediately because you won't want to wait to eat it.

Lately my go to item when I want something fast, but don't have anything easy to make is shrimp. I can easily thaw the shrimp in water while I start some rice. By the time the rice is cooked I've also prepared the shrimp and a side of veggies. I usually just saute the shrimp in a little butter, but used to always make it with lemon juice and lemon pepper. Tasty.

You may have noticed that I pretty much mentioned rice with each of these recipes. I used to eat white rice a lot when I was in my young 20's, but that was because my roomie made it with every meal. It was through her that I learned how to measure out rice and water using my knuckles. I don't actually measure that way anymore, but she did teach me a thing or two about making rice. The last couple years I've started eating rice a lot more again as it is one of the food items that doesn't upset my delicate digestive system (white, brown, wild... I love them all). In fact, I just bought a rice cooker as a Christmas gift to myself. It was actually the only thing on my Christmas list, and while I got a lot of great gifts no one bought me the rice cooker so Merry Christmas to me... from me. 

Since I mentioned meatloaf earlier I should mention I recently made this as well. I have several meatloaf recipes in my cookbooks, but this recipe is the one I always go back to.

Heinz 57 Meatloaf


1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (we've been using grass fed beef or ground turkey)
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs (I recommend Italian bread crumbs)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup Heinz 57 Sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Heinz 57 Sauce for topping
*Since I don't do onions I add other veggies such as peppers and mushrooms.

Combine ground beef and all ingredients except the sauce for topping.
Shape into a loaf (8"x4"x1 1/2) in shallow baking pan.
Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour (depending on your loaf size it could be 45 minutes).
Allow meatloaf to sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

With mushrooms and red peppers

So that's what I've been eating lately. All relatively healthy... except for that frozen pizza I didn't mention. : )

Meal Planning

Not long ago I decided to buckle down and commit to meal planning. Each Thursday I would come up with a list of items to make and Jesse would take Riley to the grocery store each Friday to pick up the ingredients. It was a little challenging at first to figure out when to make all these items with my schedule, and sometimes it was difficult getting Jesse to figure out where some of these ingredients could be found in the grocery store. Week after week I stayed on track until one week I got a little lazy. I put a few go to items on the list and hoped they would feed us for the week. Over the next few weeks the grocery list started to dwindle until the week that I simply wrote "food" on the list. I felt a little defeated, but knew I had to get my act together. Again, I committed to planning our meals each week. Not every week has been a winner and I certainly could be more organized about it, but I feel I am sort of back on track with meal planning. As long as I use my time wisely, and freeze items when I can we will generally always have good (and hopefully healthy) meals to eat each week.

I usually have a number of tried and true recipes, but I also like to try new things hoping they will be added to the tried and true list. Being that it was recently Thanksgiving week and I needed to bring a pie to our family gathering I thought I would try a new recipe. Jesse's mom usually makes pumpkin pie, but I happened to have her pie tin so we were asked to bring a pie. I thought about going the standard route, but once I came across a pumpkin cheese cake recipe (and got Jesse's thumbs up) I knew I had to try it out.  I found the recipe on the-girl-who-ate-everything.com which is a site that I had utilized before. Earlier in the fall, after hitting up an apple orchard, I was looking for new apple recipes. I have my grandma's apple crisp recipe (which is fantastic), but I had many, many apples so I thought I would try a variety of items. I found a recipe for Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars that were to die for and figured they would have something fabulous for pumpkin as well. Which leads me back to the Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake. (I would also recommend the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins which I made a few weeks back).

This recipe was super simple, but I might add more pumpkin and delete the whipped topping. This may not exactly fall into the healthy category, but it's the holidays, right?

I know I mentioned that I try to make healthy items, but pretty much everything in this post will include cream cheese (or cream of mushroom or sour cream...). We hardly ever eat cream cheese so it was a little overwhelming to eat so much of it in a short amount of time. In the future I would probably break these recipes up to eat on different weeks. On the up side I used low fat cream cheese. However, we have unofficially banned cream cheese from our house for awhile because I am pretty sure I have consumed my year's quota in one week.

After Thanksgiving I decided to utilize the extra days off of work to do a little more cooking than usual. The next item on my list was another recipe from the site referred to above: Easy Crockpot Fiesta Chicken.

Basically dump chicken, black beans, corn and salsa into a crockpot and cook on high for 4 - 5 hours (see hyperlinks for full recipes). During the last half hour add the cream cheese and serve over rice. This was a hit with our daughter so I will likely make this one again. This recipe goes a long way so I was able to package some of it up and stick it in the freezer for a meal later on.

I also made a staple from my regular recipes. I need to credit a former co-worker, Liz, who brought this in for a work potluck and ended up having to give each of us her recipe since we all begged for it. The pictures are super crappy, but trust me that this one is a winner. Most of this one also went into the freezer since I was making so many dishes at one time. I love having meals already made that I can simply defrost and warm up when I need it. And this might not have had cream cheese in it, but it had cream of mushroom soup and cheese. Creamy.

Liz's Chicken Strata

1 1/2 cups seasoned croutons
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1/2 cup shredded American or cheddar cheese
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can cream of mushroom

• Place 1/2 of the seasoned croutons in the bottom of a 8x8x2 baking dish.
• Combine chicken, vegetables, mayo, and seasonings and spoon over croutons.
• Sprinkle remaining 1/2 of croutons over chicken.
• Combine eggs and milk and pour over all.
• Chill one hour or overnight.
• Spoon mushroom soup over top, and sprinkle with a few croutons.
• Bake in a slow oven (325 degrees) for 50 minutes until set.
• Sprinkle cheese on top for the last few minutes of cooking.

I made a few alterations to the above recipe as onions are not my friend. In place of them I added more celery and also added a bunch of fresh mushrooms. Really, you can alter the veggies to your liking and it will come out delish.

  

Next was a new stuffed mushroom recipe... that included, you guessed it... cream cheese. My husband cringed when he saw me make these as he had already had enough of the cream cheese, but he gobbled these right up. In fact, he made a comment that went something like "if I hadn't already married you these would have convinced me to do so".

And finally Corn Pudding. My husband LOVES cornbread so I thought he might enjoy this recipe. Kinda wish I made chili to go with this, but it was certainly tasty on it's own.

Overall, all the recipes were a hit and will likely be made again... but on different weeks, for sure.

Next week? Fish and veggies sound perfect.