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.

Chimini-changas!

Whenever I eat chimichanga, I think of Napoleon Dynamite. Ya'know, that part in the movie when Summer is giving her election speech and she says "Who wants to eat ChimiNEEchanga's every week?" I always think, Is that how I am supposed to say that? Who says that? Anyway, if you haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite yet, stop reading this blog immediately and rent it. It's a gem. Anyway, if you haven't already guessed, tonight's freezer meal is Chimichangas. This was super easy to make on baking day. 

Here is what it looks like de-thawed and on a tortilla-  

 After baking in the oven about 15 mins. Nice and Crisp~

 And my dinner plate. Served with spanish rice and chips and salsa. I like my 'changa with extra cheese, salad and ranch on top.

I don't have a pic of the after dishes because hubby got to them before I could snap a picture {thanks honey!}. But trust me, they were minimal. Like 6 or something crazy like that
Verdict? Fan-freaking-tasitic! So yummy! They were super quick too. Total time -including baking- 25 mins. That includes the wrapping, baking, shredding cheese and making the rice. Tim loved them. They were kind of on the spicy side, so B didn't really like them. I didn't even feed it to D, because it was on the spicy side. Would I make these again? Heck Yes! Next time I may try to tone the spice down a little bit though so B will eat it. Now, go grab your own tots and take down this freaking recipe, Gosh!


Freezer Chimichangas
1 t salt
2 lbs ground beef
2 cloves garlic
2 t cumin
2 t oregano
1/2 C chopped green chillies {I used jalapeno's instead, I like the spice}
1/2 C taco seasoning
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C cider vinegar.

Serving day:
butter, cheese, flour tortillas

Sprinkle salt in pan. Add meat, garlic, and spices. Cook until meat loses pink-ness. Stir in remaining ingredients. Remove from heat and cool. Freeze the meat in a freezer bag. Please note that I made this recipe and divided it in half. One half made 5 chimichangas.

Serving day
Thaw meat completely. Heat tortillas in microwave under a damp paper towel for about 20 seconds until soft and pliable. Spoon meat down the cent then wrap envelope style and place seam side down in pan.  Drizzle about 1T melted butter on top. Bake 15 mins in a 460* oven. Sprinkle cheese and bake a few mins longer until cheese is melted.

Serve with spanish rice. I cheat and use the Uncle Ben's 90second microwave kind. Cheap, fast, and easy. Just my style. Oh and it tastes good too!

I am going to be MIA for a few dinners, Little man is getting his tonsils and adenoids out tomorrow. So while we will be eating from the freezer-mostly popsicles and ice cream- it wont be anything worth blogging about.  Tootles!

Chicken Yawn

I mean Chicken Cacciatore. I have never made or ate this dish before. So I was excited to try it. Plus it was a straight from freezer to crock pot kinda thing, so that's nice too. This is the image I get when I google Chicken Cacciatore. Mine did not look like that. {RECIPE}

 Like I said, I have never made this before, so I pretty much stuck to the recipe. Mine called for a can of Tomato sauce, can of diced tomatoes, one onion thinly sliced, some white wine, S & P to taste and 2 whole chicken breasts. Simply mix it all and throw it in a freezer bag.

 Ta-daa! This is what it came out like. According to the book, just stick it straight into the pot. One problem- It didn't fit. So I tried to mash it in there the best I could, but I was late to meet a friend and D was screaming, so I just put the lid on it and hoped as it melted down the lid would just "fall" on. And it did.  Just cook on low 5-6 hours.

It smelled divine. All day long I was hungry.  I decided to shred the chicken because it was falling apart from cooking anyway. So here is what it looked like in the pot. 

 To serve- cook some noodles {I did egg noodles} and serve on top of the noodles. Here is the finished product. We also had freezer corn that I made. And just regular bread, because most every time I try to make home made bread, I epic fail.

And here is the clean up. Not bad at all. This includes the plates we ate on too. I did like the easy clean up of this meal.

 The verdict?
I give it a 3. To me the chicken was tasteless. Which is strange because It smelled so good.  Mine was really runny, not thick like the first picture. I don't know if that is because of the recipe or because of the freezer to crock pot thing. Anyway, I personally didn't care for it. B wouldn't even try it, he just ate the pasta.  D put one bite of chicken in her mouth and threw the rest on the floor. Tim, surprisingly, liked it. I thought he would hate it. He said he would eat it again. Hmm. Well that's good because I have another bag frozen! Next time I might try to add a few things to jazz it up a little. And even though I halved the original recipe, I had tons of shredded chicken left, so I froze that to be used at a later day. Probably for chicken nachos or enchiladas.

D ate the most dinner, so she gets a cookie.

So, have any of you ever made this dish before? Was it good? Is it worth trying again? I think I would give it another try, but I would definitely alter the recipe.

On Top Of Old Smokey...

Meatballs. Yes Meatballs. What a boring first freezer meal to try eh? Well, Tim was on call Sat Night and frankly, when he is not home for dinner, Momma ain't doin' nuttin' fancy. In fact, it's usually a hot dog for B and cold cereal for me and D. So this is quite the step up. 

  Actually, I was pretty confidant that meatballs would be a great freezer meal. Up until our move to Rochester, we bought the huge bag of frozen meatballs at Costco. Those are amazing. Totally worth the $10/bag. Sadly, Rochester doesn't have Costco, just Sam's club and their meat balls are not the same. Nor are they good. Anyway, we love meatballs, there is just so many things you can do with them. I'll share my favorite recipe at the end. I had however, never actually made meatballs from scratch. 

 They came out of the freezer like this. Some of the balls were stuck together, even though I flash froze them. Next time maybe I'll have to leave them in a little longer.

 Once thawed put them in a baking dish and bake 30 mins @350*. They came apart fine for cooking.

 I have to admit, I was surprised to pull out this. Holy greasy nasty mess! Like I said I have never made Meat balls before. Is this how they always come out of the oven? So I put them on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil. This time I just threw them in with some pasta and red sauce from a jar. Like I said not too fancy. But here is what they look like in action-

 After all the cooking, here is all the dirty dishes. This includes the dishes we ate on. Not to bad since we usually fill both sides of the sink. I will say though that I had extra pans for the pasta, the sauce, and I sautéed some fresh mushrooms to add to the sauce {so yum}. As I was doing all this it occurred to me that perhaps I could have made the pasta and sauce on baking day and froze that too. Have any of you ever froze cooked pasta? Not sure how it would work.  Something to think about for next time!

The verdict-
Taste- I liked them OK. Costco's are better. D loved them, B ate them {which is saying a lot for him) and Tim said they were fine.
Ease of the meal- pretty easy still some clean up. Plus I had to mop because B dropped pasta on the floor.
Would I make again?- Yes

Ok and my favorite recipe with meatballs is-

Meatball Subs
Get hoggie buns and spread a thin layer of mayo. Then put 3-4 cooked meat balls down the center of your bun. Top with marinara sauce and cheese. Bake open faced in a 350* oven until cheese is melted and bun is slightly toasted. 

Easy! Enjoy!

And so it Begins...

Well after reading various blogs about how mothers are feeding their families on the cheap through freezer meals, I decided to give it a go. Tim and I are trying really hard to stick to a food budget, now that he earns a real pay check and we have to pay real bills {Boo to grown up life!} And...it's been hard. We haven't been able to do it the first month and a half, even with my feeble attempt at couponing. So here we are. Freezer meals. My first time trying this ever. Hopefully this blog will help others who may be interested in this. So lets get started-

I bought this book-

It's very helpful on how to get started, how to shop and how to organize your cooking day. Although as you can see from my train wrecked kitchen, I kind of skimmed over that part... Anyway, I used these recipes as a general guide. As I do will all my cooking. I end up doing my own thing anyway, so we'll see how they turn out. My family are tough critics. Brock hardly eats at all and Tim is Mr Picky.

Messy, messy kitchen.

Anyway, in my first attempt, I got 18 meals- really 9 meals cut in half. My family isn't to keen on leftovers- 4 bags of freezer corn in 3.5 hours and the cost was roughly $130. I am hoping this can get me through 2 and a half weeks. We'll see. I'll be sharing the meals with you as I un-freeze and re heat and give you the taste test. Since I alter the recipes quite a bit, I will share the good ones with you. I am really looking forward not having a sink full of dishes after every meal, because honestly, I still have a sink full of dishes after this cooking day, and that's after washing a full load. :/