Cooking Day #3

So it's that time again! Cooking day! Here is what I made this time around-

Chicken Chili x2

Lemon Honey Schnitzel x2

Chicken Enchiladas x2

Cranberry Chicken x2

Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks x3 

Chimichangs x2 {Recipe HERE}

Crispy Chicken Buffalo Wraps x2 {not a freezer recipe}

Potato Cheddar Soup {Not a freezer recipe}

Pork Loin

Roast 

And the food for all this cost $156. I think we will get about 20 meals out of all this. Not too bad. I have to show you my new Christmas toy -

 A food saver! Yay! It sucks out all the air so that when you freeze it there is no freezer burn. I'm excited to see how it works! Brock is modeling the finished product.

 Also- I learned a neat trick. When pouring a liquid into a bag, I always spilled it all over. One hand to hold the bag one to pour. Not a good combo. Well, if you fold the bag over a cereal box....

 Tada! So much easier! Anyway, here is our freezer, nice and full again! Can't wait to share all the recipes with you.

Chicken Parisienne

This dish was pretty good. I was a little worried about it actually. When I assembled it on cooking day, it didn't smell super good. All it is, is chicken breast, cream of Mushroom soup, mushrooms and sour cream. This was so easy to cook. Out of the freezer, thaw and into the crock pot. Shred the chicken and serve over mashed potatoes. There you have it. This smelled delish in the pot and tasted surprisingly good. And thanks to Pinterest, I learned a sweet trick. To easily shred chicken- just put cooked breasts into a bowl and with a kitchen aid {or I use a Bosche} and the paddle attachment, shred. Worked like a charm! SO EASY!

 The verdict- I loved, Tim like pretty well, Brock was a little weary of it and Delilah-

Well she like it. A lot. Will definitely be making this again! Let me know if you want the recipe. I'll be happy to share it!

Navajo Tacos

I love tacos. Who doesn't? So much you can do with them, customize them to your likings. And the toppings. I love toppings. I was excited when I saw a 3 ingredient freezer taco meat recipe. The recipe suggested serving it in a pita {?} but I thought it would go better on fried dough. Isn't everything better on fried dough? Anyway-

 As per the recipe alls you need it 1 Lb ground beef, 1 C salsa and 1 8oz can stewed tomatoes. I added in a can of black bean, cause we like 'em. Anyway brown the beef, drain and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir together and there you have it. An easy Navajo Taco topper.

 To make the fry bread- I totally cheat and use Rhodes rolls. They are so yummy. Just de thaw- flatten- fry. Easy as that. Add your toppings and your set!

This is a meal I most definitely will be making again. The meat was so easy and it was delish. You could easily spice this up with a hotter salsa. I like it hot, but kept it mild for the kiddos. My family loves this dinner. Hope you like it too!

Colorado White Chili

I had two issues with this soup right off the bat. First of all, it's called a "White" chili... Does that look white to you? Secondly, it's called a chili. I don't know about you, but in my chili experience, there is usually a few different types of beans. This soup called for ONE can of beans.. Strange maybe it's a Colorado thing that I am not familiar with? Besides those two things this soup was ok... It had some strange seasonings. Ground cloves? Not a fan in a soup, personally, but I'll try anything once. Everything else was pretty standard- cooked chicken,beans, corn, pepper, oragano, cumin, green chilies etc.

 Tim really liked this soup. He did comment that he thought it could use a little more of a kick. Maybe jalepenos instead of green chilies next time. I did not like this soup. It was the cloves. Just didn't do it for me. Brock would only each the chicken. I think D liked it. I would make this again minus the cloves. Perhaps some black beans. I think it would be really good with shredded cheese and tortilla chips too. So, if you want the recipe just holler and I'll type it up!

Cottage Pie

AKA Shepard's pie. I never really liked this dish growing up. Not sure why. This version is your basic ground beef, ketchup corn with a topping of mashed potatoes and shredded cheese. Nothing to special. I decided to give it a try because I have never made it before.

 It wasn't too bad. I suppose I'd make it again. Tim and I liked it. D ate it and B wouldn't even touch it. No surprise there. I did really like how easy it was. Just pop it out of the freezer and then pop it into the oven. Just make sure you take the foil off first because the cheese will stick! Everyone has a Shepard's Pie recipe. My guess is that you can freeze it -just cook the beef before hand-. So if you want this one leave a comment and let me know!

Chicken a la King

I have to apologize for this post a little bit. I made this dish when my parents were visiting and while cooking it was a little crazy. I had my zoom lens on my camera {not sure what the proper name is} so, the pictures are not great. Anyway- here is what it looks like cooking. It was really thick. Almost like gravy. I added some half and half and it helped quite a bit. It was also a little flat so I added garlic pepper and garlic powder. It helped a lot.

 And here we are over pasta. I was nervous to serve this since my parents were eating it. But, everybody liked it. I really liked it too. I will definitely be making this again! Check out the recipe HERE

Chicken Lelani

This dish was...interesting...I wanted to make it because it was a casserole dish. Something I didn't do last time. Although, I am not sure why I chose this one. It has lots of celery in it {cream of celery soup too} and Tim is not a fan of celery. But it was easy so I figured I'd give it a try. It has a chow mein noodle bottom, layered with a creamy chicken mix, topped with almonds. This is what it looked like before going into the oven-

 I also made these Olive Garden Breadsticks. They were YUMO. I found the recipe on Pinterest and of course I didn't pin it :(  So  if I ever find it again I will share. It was good and SO easy!

 The whole plate. I am going to be honest. I was not a fan of this dish. It just wasn't very...appeasing. And it didn't re-heat the best either. Brock didn't like it, Tim tolerated it and D didn't even try it. Needless to say, I won't be making it again. But if you are interested in the recipe, check it out HERE

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

It's time to play catch up! Sorry I have been slacking. I have had a super busy October so far. We went to Chicago and then my parents came to visit. So I have a few meals to share with you. First up is Chicken and wild rice soup. This is what it looked like out of the freezer-

                                     This was a pretty easy meal. Veggies, chicken, rice. It was time consuming, mostly because I had to cook the rice which took about and hour. I think you could use and Uncle Ben's microwavable pouch instead though. If you were in a hurry.

Here is what is looked like a'cooking. It was a little grainy so a was worried. But as it heated up it smoothed out.
                                     
 Here is what it looked like all heated through- sorry for the poor photo, steam. This soup was really thick. So thick in fact that Tim didn't even know it was soup. LOL he put it right on a plate instead of a bowl. Ha. So when we had it the second night, I added some extra chicken stock and it was much better.

The verdict? This soup was good. We all liked it. The bacon was a nice touch. I have never had Chicken and wild rice soup with bacon in it. I would definitely make this again. You can check out the recipe HERE

Blue Berry French Toast

Well, the first freezer meal....wasn't ever frozen. No room in my freezer. So I decided to leave this one out and bake it first. Mostly because it just looked so dang good! And who doesn't love breakfast for dinner once in a while?

So, here is what it looks- sorry about the iPhone photos. Basically lots of french bread, eggs and cream cheese! 

 Bake for 60 minutes and here is what we have! It smelled Ahhhh-mazing!

 Mmmmmm... Don't you want a bite. This dish was well received. Tim liked it, B loved it and D, well, she eats anything. It also reheated well. We just popped it in the oven.All in all an easy meal. I'm curious as how it would freeze, with all the eggs, but we'll have to see next time. Hope you like it! Get the recipe HERE

Cooking Day...again

I'm beginning to not like cooking day. Ha. It's a big mess. Lots of work. This time there were 3 loads of dishes done. And I was in a hurry today because I had people coming over at 5 for dinner {on cooking day?!? What was I thinking?} and I sliced my finger open pretty nicely. Blood got...everywhere... But not in the food. I just got blood all over the drawer while fumbling for a band aid. I was slicing raw chicken at the time, so I hope I don't get some strange sickness...Anyway. I thought I'd share what was on the menu this month. I didn't do as great of job as tracking my money this month because I bought the meat at a different time when it was on killer sale. But I'd say it's about $200. So a little more. But not bad, especially if it stretches over 2 months like the spoils from the last baking day did. In fact I still have 3 meals left! Anyway- here is the line up. I had to make soups! It's Fall, Ya'll!

White Chili x2
Wild Rice Soup x2
Tomato and Leek Bisque x2 {I'm excited about this one, we'll see what Tim thinks}
Chicken A La King x2
Chicken Lalani
Chicken Paris x2 {Not to sure about this one..}
Navajo Tacos x2
Cottage Pie
Sloppy Joes x2
Hamburgers
BlueBerry French Toast bake- which actually didn't fit into my freezer, so we'll be eating it soon.

So 18 meals. Lets begin again, shall we?

Finger Licking- Stick To Your...

RIBS {too cliche?}

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a freezer meal per-say, but I thought I'd share the recipe anyway. A lot of people think Ribs are hard to make. We have invited a lot of people over for Ribs and they always seem impressed that Tim and I could "pull them off". We'll here is our secret- Ribs Are Easy. End of story. I had never in my life eaten Ribs until Tim and I were married. My first time at Texas Road House I ordered them and YUM. If you haven't ever eaten Ribs, try them. OK on to the recipe-

So I always buy Hormel Brand ribs. Usually baby back. They seem to go on sale on the "camping" holidays. You know- 4th of July, Labor Day, etc. Regularly they are about $4/lb, but I buy them only on sale for $1.99/lb. I usually buy a couple racks and just freeze em. Here they are- 

 You are going to want to get some tin foil and spray with Pam. Wrap your ribs. Then wrap them again. We don't want fat dripping all over the oven. Pop them into the oven at 275* for about 2 hours. Tim and I have tried different temps and times. This seems to work the best. If you cook them longer at a lower temp, it will dry them out.

 Once they are done in the oven, it's time to make the BBQ sauce. Back when we lived in ID close to a Winger's, we used to just buy Winger's sauce and use that. This is pretty much the same thing for lots cheaper {Winger's bottle is $11!}. To make your BBQ sauce you need 3 parts brown sugar and 1 part Franks Red Hot with a splash of water. I do 3/4 C brown sugar and 1/4 C Frank's. You can do more or less Franks, depending on how spicy you like it. Then bring to a slow boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Please Note: you can just as easily use any old jar of BBQ sauce. This is just our favorite way.

 This is what the ribs look like out of the oven.

 Slice 'em in half. This makes them easier to handle on the grill.

 As a side note- I also made these Potatoes. They. Are. Sinful.

 Throw those babies on a med hot grill and baste with the sauce. Flip and baste a few times. This doesn't take very long. Grill just enough to make the sauce tacky and a little caramelized.

 Mmmmmm

 Remove and serve! See? So easy that this guy can do it!

Dijon Pork Loin

It seems like I am getting behind on this blog doesn't it? Well I guess I kind of am... but not really. I made this Pork Loin on Sunday and here is it Wends and we are still eating left over pork. Last night I did make it into shredded BBQ for a little change of pace. AND I halved this recipe too, remember? Wow.

Anyway, to the Pork! 

Dijon Pork Loin. Pretty easily assembled, just throw the marinade into a bag then add the meat and freeze. On cooking day the book recommended cooking in the oven for a few hours, but to me Sunday it crock pot day. Just an easy meal day. Plus I wanted to throw some potatoes in with it for an easy side. It was pretty frozen still when I threw it in, so I cooked it on high for about 4 hours, then switched to low for another 4 hours or so.

 I also go brave and made a batch of rolls. My bread almost never turns out, but these actually tasted good. I'll have to keep it up I guess! Here is the dinner- pork, rolls and potatoes.  This just says Sunday dinner to me. Too bad I didn't make a dessert...

The verdict? It was good, I give it a 7 because it tasted like any other pork loin I have ever made. I couldn't taste the Dijon mustard marinade at all. Maybe because I cooked it in the Crock Pot? I don't know.. It was still good though, not dry at all. Tim liked it. B didn't even try it {he is such a stinker, I have no idea how to get this turd to eat}. D loved it. I think I have mentioned how much she likes meat.

As I said above, this was  half the recipe. We ate it Sunday, Monday and Tues I made shredded BBQ {mostly because I was getting sick of regular Pork} and we will be finishing it off tonight! Wow, 4 meals isn't bad. I'd also like to say that come Thursday, it will mark 4 weeks since I did my "big" shopping trip. I still have a freezer full of meals! Awesome, I usually have to do 2 "big" shopping trips a month. Of course I still have to make the little trips, for milk and fresh veggies and cereal- I don't think any one eats as much cereal as we do. So I think for the month of Aug I spent about $190 on groceries. This is an estimate, but pretty close. That's awesome, I think. I mean before I spent closer to $300 sometimes almost $400/month. That's without coupons and all that. So, I am going to continue my Freezer meal experiment. I have gone through almost all my meals {I halved them tho- so I am starting round 2}. So this blog might be quiet for a while. But If I cook the recipes differently or add something -think Chicken Yawn, it's going to get a big make over- I'll share it with you! Until then-

Orange Pork Chops {From last time}

Dijon Pork Roast

Orange Pork Chops

Orange Pork chops, out of the freezer and into the pan. The oranges were frozen with the chops. These took a little bit of work on cooking day, but not too bad.

 We also had green beans that I had frozen earlier. I decided to oven "fry" them instead of in a pan with butter. I just added some olive oil and the good old Garlic Pepper to a bag and tossed to coat. Then cook them on the bottom rack at about 400*.  Turn the beans every so often. And just cook until crisp.

 YUM. These smelled heavenly. They tasted good too.

 And here is the Orange Pork out of the oven. It smelled de-LISH.

The verdict? I liked it. It had a strong orange flavor and wasn't dry at all. Tim liked it OK, wasn't his favorite though. B wouldn't even try it. D loved it. She loves pork.

I'll be back later with a recipe. I am a sleepy lady tonight! Chow!

Buttermilk Fixins'

Hello again! I have to apologize for the pictures in this post. My fancy camera's battery was dead... I discovered this right as I was ready to photograph. Bummer! So you get pics from my point and shoot instead.  Tonight we had buttermilk chicken, buttermilk biscuits, asparagus and watermelon. I had recently purchased one of those Groupon like things, $20/$40 worth of food at our locally run market. I love shopping a small stores that sell local organic produce, so I was all over that. 

That is where I picked up my watermelon and asparagus. Here is the watermelon. Looks normal, right? What? This is what I found when I cut it open. Hmm I have never seen a watermelon that was bright yellow inside. But it tasted like a regular watermelon. I, by the way, like sea salt on my melon. Tim thinks I'm crazy. What do you think? Am I the only one who likes this sort of foolishness?  ANYWAY-

Here is the chicken. Another super easy thaw and bake dish. It is marinated in a mustard and rosemary sauce. It smelled pretty good. According to the cook book, it's supposed to be grilled, but- the Dr. wasn't home and I really don't know how to "man" the grill {ok I can't even turn it on, I'm afraid I'll get blown up. Not kidding, gas and open flame= not for Stephanie} So I just put it in a baking dish instead.

 And asparagus. Yum. I love it sauteed in butter with garlic pepper. McCormick grinders are my friends. Love them. How else do you cook this veggie? I steamed it once, not good. Let me know, I am open to ideas. Until then- sauteed in glorious fatty butter.

 Here they are out of the oven. I loved how the spices stayed on the chicken during cooking. Usually they just slip off. This smelled very good too.

Sorry, no full dish picture tonight. The photo I had was just beyond help.   :(

The verdict?
YuMm-OOO
I give it an 8/10. And only and 8 instead of 9 or 10 because it dried out a tad in the oven, but I bet it would be amazing grilled. The chicken had a very good flavor. You could really taste the mustard. I think the fact the it marinates while freezing and them marinates while de-thawing may be the reason. Either way, it was super good and easy to make. Tim liked it, D liked it, B still doesn't want to eat, poor kid.

Get the recipe-

Buttermilk Chicken

Recipe!

Ok so a number of you wanted the chicken recipe. So here it is- except I thought it would be easier to share it as a google Doc. Then you could easily print it instead of trying to cook from your computer or cut and paste. So will someone try it out and let me know if it works properly? Thanks

Cheesy Chicken

And I already gave you the link to the potatoes, but here is is again

Twice Baked Potatoes

I'll be back later to share a fabulous Honey Pork Recipe that both me and the Mr. enjoyed! Have a nice day!

And now, The Rest of the Story...

{yes I am old enough to remember Paul Harvey. Are you?}

After I wrote my post last night and went to bed, I realize that I didn't even give my "verdict" on the Cheesy Chicken bundles. Sorry 'bout that. Like I said, I have had my head else where with B's surgery and all. So with out further ado-

The Verdict-
Yummy. The chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The coating had a nice flavor. Sometimes, I think chicken can dry out in the oven, but this one didn't. I give it a 9 for taste and a 4 for ease of making, LOL. I'll make this again though. If B could have eaten it, he would have enjoyed it. The twice baked potatoes- I'd give them an 8. They were a tad bit drier then when eaten on the day prepared. I think next time I'll simply add more butter. Who doesn't love butter? I'll definitely be making these again, we love twice baked taters!

So there you have it! Sorry I forgot to do that last night!

Messy Chicken 'n Twice Baked Taters

I have been a little sparse due to Brock and his tonsillectomy. Although, I have to say that I am so thankful I had a freezer full of meals. All I had to do these last few days was literally "just throw it in the oven" It's been so nice, especially when my free time is limited because if I'm not holding Brock, I'm holding Delilah- who no doubt is feeling a little neglected about the whole thing. Anyway,

The other night we had "messy chicken" AKA chicken bundles. I called this messy chicken because, well, out of all the meals I made on cooking day, this was by far the most messy and to most... labor inducing. {?} Anyway, the idea is dredge the chicken then coat with bread crumbs, cheddar and parmesan cheeses. This alone is a messy task, but according to the recipe, you are then supposed to fold the chicken breast in on itself to form "bundles". Uh... nothing doing. I don't know how one is supposed fold a chicken breast that wasn't pounded, and as per the recipe, pounding isn't involved. So, I just wrapped them individually in Seran wrap and then put them into the zip-loc bag. A messy task as well.  Anyway, here is what they look like out of the freezer-

 Oh and we had twice baked potatoes too. The recipe I used was from P-Dub. And if you don't have The Pioneer Woman's cook book yet, you need to get it. Anyway, I used her recipe minus the green onions, they don't freeze well, a chemical reaction or something like that...

 Into the pan. Messy, messy business. See all the cheese scattered around? All I had to do was put it in the oven, drizzle butter and cheese on top and pop 'er in. Cook it for an hour. When there was about 15 mins left, I threw the tater's in too.

 Yummmmm I love twice baked potatoes... Cheesy goodness. Am I right?

 And the chicken. It crisped up nicely in the oven.

 All together. The most important part, the cucumber water. My favorite. I drink a cucumber's worth every night. Thanks to my nice neighbor's who give me lots and lots of free cukes. If you haven't had cucumber ice water, you must try it. So refreshing.

 And wow, I really need to work on my food photog. So please be patient with me... I got lots more dinners to practice on. Anyway, do you want this recipe? I could post it. Let me know.