As I've mentioned before, I put quite a few meals in freezer bags with seasonings, and promised to share the recipes as we ate them. Last week we tried the Herb Wine Chicken, and tonight we had the Spiced Citrus Chicken. They were both from the Yahoo Group Frozen Assets.
Herb Wine Chicken
1 cup Red Wine
⅔ cup Vegetable Oil
2 Cloves Crushed Garlic
½ Lemon (sliced thinly)
2 Tablespoons Minced Parsley
1 Teaspoon Thyme
1 Teaspoon Basil
½ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Pepper
Combine wine, oil, and remaining ingredients in a gallon-sized reclosable freezer bag. Add 4-8 pieces of chicken - any pieces will do... breasts, wings, thighs, drumsticks, bone-in, skin-on, boneless, skinless, etc. Freeze.
To cook: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Then you can either a) cook it in the crockpot on LOW for 6-8 hours, b) cook it in an uncovered pan in the oven at 350˚ (boneless - 30 minutes; bone-in up to an hour), or c) grill.
----while this one smelled really good, the taste was "okay." Don liked it, but agreed with me that the herbs overpowered the wine.
Spiced Citrus Chicken
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Lime Juice
2 Tablespoons Orange Juice
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Paprika
1 Teaspoon Cayenne
½ Teaspoon Pepper
½ Teaspoon Salt
Combine olive oil, juices, and remaining ingredients in a gallon-sized
reclosable freezer bag. Add 4-8 pieces of chicken - any pieces will
do... breasts, wings, thighs, drumsticks, bone-in, skin-on, boneless,
skinless, etc. Freeze.
To cook: Thaw overnight in
refrigerator. Then you can either a) cook it in the crockpot on LOW for
6-8 hours, b) cook it in an uncovered pan in the oven at 350˚ (boneless -
30 minutes; bone-in up to an hour), or c) grill.
---this one gets a definite thumbs up from both of us. The citrus juices helped to tenderize the chicken (we used boneless thighs and breasts in this one), and the spices went well with the citrus. We ate this with baked sweet potatoes - a good contrast to the spicy chicken.
Showing posts with label freezer meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freezer meals. Show all posts
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Oh, my aching feet!
Two and a half days' worth of standing in the kitchen will do it to ya.
We got back from Colorado on Wednesday, and spent much of the afternoon putting things away that we'd brought home from the trailer. I'd asked my daughter to turn the big freezer on last weekend, so it was ready to load.
Yesterday I went to Costco, where I spent $365 on meat and some things like maple syrup, pecans, mixed nuts, and some other staples. Then I went to the commissary at March Air Reserve Base, where I spent $328 on everything else. Those two trips started my feet and legs on their way to being really sore.
It took many trips to get everything into the house. Don just couldn't understand why I did it all at once; I tried to explain that I didn't want to make two trips. From there I had to start getting some of the meats packaged and prepared since I didn't have room for everything in the refrigerator. At the end of the day yesterday, here's what I accomplished:
1) batch of Ruth's Best Chili Ever - made 2 full meals + a single meal for my daughter
2) batch of Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - we ate half of it for dinner and froze the rest for another meal
3) batch of Freezer Stash Meatballs - it made 5 meals' worth, which will be for things like meatball subs, teriyaki meatballs, Swedish meatballs with noodles, and so on.
4) 4 patties of ground beef for Taco Pockets
5) blanched and froze 1 pound of asparagus
6) blanched and froze 3 bags of green beans
7) 2 patties of ground beef for hamburgers
8) froze 1 lb. of skirt steak for Crockpot Beef Fajitas
By the time I was finished with the dinner dishes and the cleanup from the afternoon's work, I was exhausted and hurting. I watched a little baseball and TV ("Big Bang Theory" and "Person of Interest" had their season premiers) and then went to bed.
This morning, I started early - had one cup of coffee, then went to work. Today's completions:
1) made and froze 2 meals' worth of chicken fried steak
2) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Maui Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (recipe to come later)
3) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Pineapple Lemon Chicken (recipe to come later)
4) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Spiced Citrus Chicken (recipe to come later)
5) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Lemon Garlic Chicken (recipe to come later)
6) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Herb-Wine Chicken (recipe to come later)
7) made and froze Elegant Steak Dionne (recipe to come later)
8) froze 3 sirloin steaks
9) froze 7 double-thick pork chops (each one is a meal for Don and me)
10) made and froze 6 Barbecue Turkey Burgers (3 meals)
11) made and froze 4 marmalade patties for Turkey Burgers with Curry-Lime Mayo (2 meals)
12) made and froze 2 Spicy Asian Turkey Burgers (recipe to come later)
13) made and froze 5 sausage and egg biscuit sandwiches (actually, I made 8, but we ate 3 for breakfast) - I used Grands biscuits, Jimmy Dean sausage, eggs, and Velveeta sliced cheese.
14) froze leftover beef trimmings from the chicken fried steak to make a stir-fry
15) made a batch of Whole Wheat and Oat Baking Mix
16) blanched and froze 2 bags of Brussels sprouts
17) froze 8 packages of ground beef (3/4 lb. each) for other meals
I still have more to do - I might do some after dinner tonight. We're having rahmschnitzel and salzkartoffeln (pork schnitzel with a mushroom and cream sauce, and boiled new potatoes) and possibly a salad. I might just open a can of peas - I haven't decided yet!
We got back from Colorado on Wednesday, and spent much of the afternoon putting things away that we'd brought home from the trailer. I'd asked my daughter to turn the big freezer on last weekend, so it was ready to load.
Yesterday I went to Costco, where I spent $365 on meat and some things like maple syrup, pecans, mixed nuts, and some other staples. Then I went to the commissary at March Air Reserve Base, where I spent $328 on everything else. Those two trips started my feet and legs on their way to being really sore.
It took many trips to get everything into the house. Don just couldn't understand why I did it all at once; I tried to explain that I didn't want to make two trips. From there I had to start getting some of the meats packaged and prepared since I didn't have room for everything in the refrigerator. At the end of the day yesterday, here's what I accomplished:
1) batch of Ruth's Best Chili Ever - made 2 full meals + a single meal for my daughter
2) batch of Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - we ate half of it for dinner and froze the rest for another meal
3) batch of Freezer Stash Meatballs - it made 5 meals' worth, which will be for things like meatball subs, teriyaki meatballs, Swedish meatballs with noodles, and so on.
4) 4 patties of ground beef for Taco Pockets
5) blanched and froze 1 pound of asparagus
6) blanched and froze 3 bags of green beans
7) 2 patties of ground beef for hamburgers
8) froze 1 lb. of skirt steak for Crockpot Beef Fajitas
By the time I was finished with the dinner dishes and the cleanup from the afternoon's work, I was exhausted and hurting. I watched a little baseball and TV ("Big Bang Theory" and "Person of Interest" had their season premiers) and then went to bed.
This morning, I started early - had one cup of coffee, then went to work. Today's completions:
1) made and froze 2 meals' worth of chicken fried steak
2) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Maui Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (recipe to come later)
3) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Pineapple Lemon Chicken (recipe to come later)
4) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Spiced Citrus Chicken (recipe to come later)
5) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Lemon Garlic Chicken (recipe to come later)
6) made and froze 2 meals' worth of Herb-Wine Chicken (recipe to come later)
7) made and froze Elegant Steak Dionne (recipe to come later)
8) froze 3 sirloin steaks
9) froze 7 double-thick pork chops (each one is a meal for Don and me)
10) made and froze 6 Barbecue Turkey Burgers (3 meals)
11) made and froze 4 marmalade patties for Turkey Burgers with Curry-Lime Mayo (2 meals)
12) made and froze 2 Spicy Asian Turkey Burgers (recipe to come later)
13) made and froze 5 sausage and egg biscuit sandwiches (actually, I made 8, but we ate 3 for breakfast) - I used Grands biscuits, Jimmy Dean sausage, eggs, and Velveeta sliced cheese.
14) froze leftover beef trimmings from the chicken fried steak to make a stir-fry
15) made a batch of Whole Wheat and Oat Baking Mix
16) blanched and froze 2 bags of Brussels sprouts
17) froze 8 packages of ground beef (3/4 lb. each) for other meals
I still have more to do - I might do some after dinner tonight. We're having rahmschnitzel and salzkartoffeln (pork schnitzel with a mushroom and cream sauce, and boiled new potatoes) and possibly a salad. I might just open a can of peas - I haven't decided yet!
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Jumping into Freezer Meals
Hello from Lake City, Colorado. We've been in Colorado for 6 weeks now, and won't be heading home until the first of October. You can read about our fantastic trip on my travel blog, Wanderlust.
Before we left, I emptied out our big freezer in the basement, so when we get back, it'll need to be restocked. Since I plan on going back to subbing, as well as swimming and sewing, I've decided to try making freezer meals - where much of the prep is done all at once, and you pull out your meals or meal components and have an easier time to prepare the meal.
I thought I'd list the resources I'm using to plan this venture:
Books
Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
Don't Panic - More Dinner's in the Freezer: A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead
Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
When you're looking at those books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, you'll see quite a few others. I just started with those three. They're on my iPad now so I can access them easily.
Yahoo Groups
I re-joined (I was a member many years ago) the Frozen Assets Yahoo Group. I've noticed that the traffic is fairly slow these days - but joining gave me access again to the files and old messages.
Friendly-Freezer - similar to Frozen Assets. It's also slowed down in recent months.
If you search on freezer meals or once a month cooking, you can find several more groups to try. I'm waiting on membership confirmation from FoodPreservationDryingCanningAndMore - it's a moderated group instead of open, so my application has to be approved.
Blogs
There are quite a few blogs out there that either focus directly on freezer meals, or have freezer meals as one area. Here are a few that I follow and have enjoyed reading:
Freezer Meals for Us - oodles and oodles of great recipes
Journey of a Home-Schooling, Transracial Foster Family
Once a Month Cooking | Freezer Cooking | Once a Month Mom
Other
I found several ideas via Pinterest, and continue to follow the links to more sites. There is a ton of information out there!
---------------------------------------
I've been going through my own cookbook, and have found many that I will be able to adapt to freezer cooking. I'll be sharing those as often as I can. I'll start with one that came to mind after Don and I passed a restaurant called "Southern Vittles" yesterday in Lake City. Their specialty is chicken fried steak. Well, I can do my own, thank you. I like my gravy better than any I can get in a restaurant - I don't care for the heavy doses of pepper you get in restaurant gravies.
Chicken Fried Steak
for the freezer
Note: this can be adapted to boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork chops, too. To make additional meals, just multiply the ingredients by the number of additional meals you'd like to make.
Cooking Day
1 cube steak for each person (my meals are all for 2 people, so I'll use two)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t paprika
Set up two shallow bowls. In one, put eggs and milk, and mix with a fork or whisk. In the other, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge a cube steak in the flour, then dip in the egg mixture to coat. Dredge again in the flour. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the flour in a small bag and add to the freezer bag with the steaks.
Serving Day
To cook: Thaw cube steaks in refrigerator. Fry in hot oil until browned. Set aside and keep warm. Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the reserved flour, and stir while continuing to heat over medium heat. When flour/oil mixture is lightly browned, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk, using a flat whisk to combine. Continue to cook and stir until gravy is thickened. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with steaks and mashed potatoes.
Before we left, I emptied out our big freezer in the basement, so when we get back, it'll need to be restocked. Since I plan on going back to subbing, as well as swimming and sewing, I've decided to try making freezer meals - where much of the prep is done all at once, and you pull out your meals or meal components and have an easier time to prepare the meal.
I thought I'd list the resources I'm using to plan this venture:
Books
Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
Don't Panic - More Dinner's in the Freezer: A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead
Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
When you're looking at those books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, you'll see quite a few others. I just started with those three. They're on my iPad now so I can access them easily.
Yahoo Groups
I re-joined (I was a member many years ago) the Frozen Assets Yahoo Group. I've noticed that the traffic is fairly slow these days - but joining gave me access again to the files and old messages.
Friendly-Freezer - similar to Frozen Assets. It's also slowed down in recent months.
If you search on freezer meals or once a month cooking, you can find several more groups to try. I'm waiting on membership confirmation from FoodPreservationDryingCanningAndMore - it's a moderated group instead of open, so my application has to be approved.
Blogs
There are quite a few blogs out there that either focus directly on freezer meals, or have freezer meals as one area. Here are a few that I follow and have enjoyed reading:
Freezer Meals for Us - oodles and oodles of great recipes
Journey of a Home-Schooling, Transracial Foster Family
Once a Month Cooking | Freezer Cooking | Once a Month Mom
Other
I found several ideas via Pinterest, and continue to follow the links to more sites. There is a ton of information out there!
---------------------------------------
I've been going through my own cookbook, and have found many that I will be able to adapt to freezer cooking. I'll be sharing those as often as I can. I'll start with one that came to mind after Don and I passed a restaurant called "Southern Vittles" yesterday in Lake City. Their specialty is chicken fried steak. Well, I can do my own, thank you. I like my gravy better than any I can get in a restaurant - I don't care for the heavy doses of pepper you get in restaurant gravies.
Chicken Fried Steak
for the freezer
Note: this can be adapted to boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork chops, too. To make additional meals, just multiply the ingredients by the number of additional meals you'd like to make.
Cooking Day
1 cube steak for each person (my meals are all for 2 people, so I'll use two)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t paprika
Set up two shallow bowls. In one, put eggs and milk, and mix with a fork or whisk. In the other, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge a cube steak in the flour, then dip in the egg mixture to coat. Dredge again in the flour. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the flour in a small bag and add to the freezer bag with the steaks.
Serving Day
To cook: Thaw cube steaks in refrigerator. Fry in hot oil until browned. Set aside and keep warm. Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the reserved flour, and stir while continuing to heat over medium heat. When flour/oil mixture is lightly browned, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk, using a flat whisk to combine. Continue to cook and stir until gravy is thickened. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with steaks and mashed potatoes.
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