Ravioli and Cheese Bake

-1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce
-1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
-1 can (10 oz) reduced sodium beef broth
-1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
-18 oz. cheese-filled ravioli
-1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Assembly: Combine spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, broth and dressing in freezer bag (or in a 9 x 13 pan). Add ravioli. Seal and freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until ravioli are tender. Remove foil. Stir. Sprinkle with cheese. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Enjoy!

*This is a Kraft recipe. I found it posted at http://www.freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/

Jo Nell's Hearty Sausage Soup

-2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
-1 (1 lb.) pkg. Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage (any variety), diced
-1 large onion, chopped
-2 cups celery, sliced
-2 medium carrots, sliced
-1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
-1 clove garlic, minced
-3 Tbsp. beef flavor instant bouillon or 1 can beef broth, use less water
--1 tsp. thyme leaves
-1/2 tsp. marjoram leaves
-1/8 tsp. pepper
-4 cups water
-1/2 (1 lb.) pkg. pasta nuggets, uncooked (I could not find so I substituted mini bow ties)

Assembly: In large Dutch oven, melt butter. Add Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage and next six ingredients. Cook until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in bouillon and seasonings. Add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Prepare pasta nuggets according to package directions; drain. Stir into soup; heat through. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers. (This is a Hillshire Farm recipe.)

Optional: May add 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

Freezing Instructions: Prepare as above, until directed to add water. Reduce water amount to just one cup. Spoon prepared mixture into a freezer bag, squeeze out all air and freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw. Place soup mixture and 3 cups of water into a Dutch Oven. Bring to a boil. Stir pasta into soup. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until is cooked. Enjoy!

Amish Ginger Snap Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Combine butter & sugar, mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients. Scoop balls and roll in sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

6 Frozen Chicken Breasts

Sauce:

12 Oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce (I've found that vinegar based sauces taste better in the end)

1/2 cup Italian Dressing

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Combine ingredients for sauce, mix well. Pour over frozen chicken in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken and serve!

From freezer: Put frozen chicken in crock pot. Thaw sauce under hot water, mush the bag well to mix and then pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and serve!

This makes a good sandwich, but it is also really yummy served over baked potatoes!

Super Simple Christmas Cookies

* A Family Christmas Tradition--makes uniformly, sweet and festive sugar cookies in a SUPER EASY process! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tube of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough
Sugar sprinkles in festive colors

Directions:
Use a small scoop to create balls of sugar cookie dough and drop into a small zip loc bag of sugar sprinkles. Do 6 or so and then zip the bag shut. Shake the bag until the balls of dough are fully covered in sprinkles. Freeze.

Baking:
Place sugared balls of dough on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Place on cooling rack.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Blossoms

1 C sugar

1 egg

Cream together well.

Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter. Cream till mixed well.

Place in cookie press and press cookies. Or press with a fork. Makes about 32 or so.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Immediately upon removing from oven, place a kiss on each cookie. Allow them to sit for a minute or two then lightly press in center.

Potato Oven Omelet

1lb. 4 oz. Bag Potatoes O'brien
2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 lb. Cubed Ham
8 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 Large Tomato (Optional)

To Freeze: Prepare a 9x13 foil pan. Pour bag of potatoes in bottom of pan. Spread shredded cheese over potatoes. Spread ham evenly over cheese. In a 2 quart bowl whisk eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper (I used my mixer). Pour egg mixture over ham and cheese. Cover with foil and freeze.

To Serve: If frozen, thaw completely. Or bake immediately after making. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle tomatoes over omelet. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut and Serve.

Yields: 12 Servings. Nutrients per serving: Calories 170, Fat 10g, Sodium 360mg.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:
2 c. Chicken Breast cooked and cubed
(I used canned chunk chicken from Sam's)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
16 oz. bag of egg noodles-cooked
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1 c. crumbled potato chips (optional)

Assembly:
Mix all ingredients. Place in Freezer bag. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw. Place into baking dish. Stir to mix ingredients up. Crumble potato chips and put on top of mixture. If desired, put shredded cheddar cheese on top of potato chip layer.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe was borrowed from Freezer Friendz

December Swap Details

Our December swap will be held on Dec. 10th at 10:00 a.m. at Suzanne's house. Welcome to our newest member, Misty! Glad to have you! This month you will be cooking 8 meals--and the category assignments are:

Beef: Melanie
Beef w/Pasta: Josie
Chicken: Elizabeth
Chicken w/pasta: Elisha
Soup: Misty
Breakfast: Laura J.
Other: Suzanne
Soup: Jo Nell

Laura's Chicken and Pasta

Cooking instructions...thaw and warm on stove thinning a little with chicken broth if needed. That's it. Easy Peezy Chicken Pleasy! :)

Cheese-lover's Pasta Roll-ups

-1 egg, beaten
-1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta cheese
-2 cups three cheese blend
-4 green onions, chopped
-1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
-1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
-16 lasagna noodles, cooked
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first 5 ingredients until well blended. Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce onto bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Spread each noodle with 3 tbsp. cheese mixture; roll up. Place, seam-sides down in dish. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan; cover. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until heated through, uncovering the last 10 minutes.

From freezer: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered, 1 hour 5 minutes or until heated through, uncovering the last 10 minutes.

Melanie's Chicken, Corn, and Rice Soup

-1 qt. cooked chicken, diced (4 chicken breasts)
-1 qt. chicken broth
-1 medium onion
-1/2 cup celery or celery leaves, chopped
-1 qt. corn, fresh or frozen
-1 and 1/2 cups brown rice
-1 qt. water
-1 tbsp. salt
-pepper to taste
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped, optional

Cook together until tender. Serve.

Quiche in a Bag

-1 cup cooked meat, diced or browned
-3/4 cup vegetable, blanched, thawed
-1 cup cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup onion
-1 and 3/4 cups milk
-4 eggs
-1/8 tsp. tabasco sauce
-1/2 cup flour
-2 tsp. baking powder

Combine meat, vegetable, cheese, and onion. Place this mixture in a gallon Ziploc bag. With a mixer or blender, combine milk, eggs, tabasco sauce, flour, and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the bag with the meat/vegetable mixture. Seal bag and freeze.

To serve, thaw completely. Shake bag well and pour into a spray treated or greased deep dish pie plate or quiche pan. Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until lightly browned on top and well set in center. Cool about 5 minutes before serving.

**I wanted a crust because I like crust, so be careful not to overfill your pie plate. Also, I'm wondering if this may take a few minutes longer to bake because of the crust?? Sorry. I'm experimenting again!

Italian Chicken Replay!

I had chicken this month (well, I got it by default, really, but hey, I did it!) and decided to go for E-A-S-Y since my husband and oldest son were going to be doing the prep-work.
They repeated the Italian chicken from this post....hope it's good. This is a standby favorite that is hard to beat.
Enjoy!

November Swap Details

This month's swap will be held at Melanie's house at 10 a.m. on November 12, 2009.

Our category assignment's this month are:

Beef: Josie
Beef w/Pasta: Elizabeth
Chicken: Elisha
Chicken w/pasta: Laura J.
Breakfast: Suzanne
Other: Jo Nell
Soup: Melanie

Please note that there are only SEVEN this month!! If you have any friends who've expressed interest in joining our group, I think we have openings! :)

Laura's Mom's Chicken

In the crock pot--
put chicken in and pour the sauce over. Cook on low all day (or high for 3 hours). Serve over rice and top with almonds.

Or in oven--
Put chicken and sauce in 9x13 baker and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 90 minutes. Serve over rice and top with almonds.

Enjoy!!

Chicken a la King

-1 (4.5 oz.) can mushrooms, rained, liquid reserved
-1 green bell pepper, chopped
-1/2 cup butter or margarine
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-1 tsp. salt
-1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
-1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1 1/4 cups hot water
-4 cooked boneless chicken breast halves, chopped
-4 oz. chopped pimento

1. Cook and stir drained mushrooms and green pepper in butter or margarine over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Blend in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in instant bouillon, milk, water, and reserved mushroom liquid. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.

4. Stir in chicken and pimento. Heat through.

**I did not use the mushrooms or green pepper. Instead, I melted the butter and started with step 2. I used a little extra hot water instead of the reserved mushroom liquid.

After freezing: Thaw. Reheat in saucepan on medium heat. Serve over biscuits or toast.

Biscuits Supreme

-2 cups all purposes flour
-1 tbsp. baking powder
-2 tsp. sugar
-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1/2 cup butter, margarine, or shortening
-2/3 cup milk

1. Sitr together dry ingredients (I did this for you in Ziplocs.) Cut in 1/2 cup butter, margarine, or shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center. Add 2/3 cup milk all at once; stir till moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Quickly knead dough by gently folding and pressing dough 10 to 12 strokes or till nearly smooth. Roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thinkness. Cut biscuits with a biscuit cutter or drinking glass.

3. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or till golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve hot (with chicken a la king!)

Cranberry Pork Roast

2lb pork roast
3 c. apple juice
1 can whole cranberries in sauce

Directions:
Mix apple juice and can of cranberries and pour into ziploc bag. Add roast.

Cooking day instructions:
Put all ingredients from zip-loc into crock pot on high for 5 hours. Slice and serve or shred and serve as sandwiches.

Layered Enchilada Bake

Adapted from Kraftfoods.com

Ingredients:

1# Ground Beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups salsa

1 can (15 oz.) Black Beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

2 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning Mix

6 flour tortillas (8 in)

1 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Mexican style finely shredded four cheese blend

Preparation:

* Brown ground beef, drain

* Add onion, salsa, black beans, Italian dressing, Taco seasoning to meat and mix well

* lay 3 tortillas in bottom of 13x9 baking dish

* spread 1/2 of the meat/bean mixture on top of tortillas

* spread 1/2 of the sour cream on top of the meat/bean mixture

* sprinkle with cheese

* lay tortillas on top and repeat each layer topping with the rest of the cheese.

* can bake right away for 30 minutes in 400 degree oven, serve with lettuce & tomato on top

OR

Serving Day:

* Take casserole from freezer to oven. Does not have to be thawed. Bake covered in 400 degree oven for 1 hour, uncover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

* If thawed, bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

* Serve with lettuce & tomato on top! Enjoy!

October Swap Details

t's that time again! :)

Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. the swap will be held at Laura Burns' house. Due to the busy-ness of harvest season some of our group has opted for a substitute this month, so we're welcoming two new brand new faces to our group this month--welcome Laura J. (Elisha, Pat and Elizabeth's friend!) and Joe Nell (Josie's Mom!) and welcoming Laura B. back to the group for the month. Looking forward to tasting everyone's great dinner this month! See you on the 8th!

Beef: Elizabeth

Beef with pasta: Laura Burns

Chicken: Laura Jackson

Chicken with Pasta: Suzanne

Soup/Breakfast: Joe Nell
Other: Elisha

Grill: Melanie

Grill: Josie

Seasoned Burgers with Zesty Corn Relish

Burgers seasoned with Lowry's Seasoned Salt ready for the grill

Tangy Corn Relish

from Kraftfoods.com

1 jar (10 oz.) Sweet Pickle Relish

10 oz. pkg. of frozen corn

1 small jar (2 oz.) diced pimientos, drained

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Mix all ingredients and enjoy on hamburgers, hotdogs, or as a side dish.

Cheesy Chicken Jumbo

2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
5 c. chicken, cooked and chopped
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 c. finely chopped celery
1/2 c. finely chopped onion (opt.)
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. pepper
35 jumbo macaroni shells
2 (10 3/4 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
2 c. chicken broth

Cook macaroni shells and drain. Combine chicken, cheddar cheese, celery, onion and seasonings. Now add softened cream cheese and mix well. Stuff each shell with chicken mixture and put into a 28 x 35-inch baking dish. Heat and mix broth with soup, making a gravy. Pour over shells and top with more cheese. Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350.

*I left out the onion
*If you should choose to make this yourself, just a note...I don't have that big of a dish, but I think one recipe would probably give you two good-sized 8x12's. Hope you like it!

Baked Apple French Toast

This has become a favorite at our house. I found a slightly different recipe (from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer) this month and decided to up the ante with some apple pie filling! :) Yum! Hope your family enjoys it!

Ingredients:

8 slices of french bread cubed

8 oz. package of cream cheese cubed

1 can of apple pie filling divided

6 large eggs

1/4 c. maple syrup

1 c. milk

1/2 t. cinnamon

Cooking Day Instructions:

Butter the 8 1/2 by 12 1/4 pan. Place half the bread cubes in the dish. Scatter cream cheese cubes over the first layer of bread cubes. Spoon half the can of pie filling in dollops over the top and complete layering with remaining bread cubes. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, syrup, and milk. Whisk until well blended. Pour over existing layers. Spread remaining pie filling over the top, then sprinkle cinnamon. Freeze, covering the dish in foil.

Serving Day Instructions:

Thaw completely. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the dish with foil and bake covered for 30 minutes Remove the foil from dish and continue baking uncovered an additional 30 minutes. Place in individual serving bowls and serve with warm syrup.

Substitutions:

Other fruit pie fillings may be substituted.

Cranberry Chicken

-1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
-1 packet dry onion soup mix
-1 and 1/2 cups french dressing
-1 pound chicken breasts

Assembly: Wash and trim chicken breasts and place them in tins. Mix cranberry sauce, onion soup mix, and dressing. Pour sauce over chicken. ***When I make this at home, it goes in a 9 x 13. I found that a double recipe filled 3 of the 6 cup tins nicely.***

Baking day: Thaw completely. Remove board lid and plastic. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

This is a bit different than anything we've had before. My family enjoys it. Hope you do too!

September Swap Details

It's that time again! :)

Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. the swap will be held at Traci Smith's house.

Beef: Pat

Beef with pasta: Traci

Chicken: Suzanne

Chicken with Pasta: Kayann

Soup/Breakfast: Elisha
Other: Melanie

Grill: Josie

Grill: Elizabeth

Grilled Pizza

I hope that you enjoy this easy & tasty twist on pizza!



Ingredients:

2 loaves frozen bread dough spinkled with garlic and coated with olive oil

Favorite Pizza toppings



Directions:

* Thaw bread dough in the fridge (this only takes a few hours or about an hour on the kitchen counter, if it starts to rise, just punch it down and go on.)

* You can stretch the dough as a loaf, or pull it into 3 or 4 balls to make individual size pizzas (a little easier to flip on the grill) The pizza will have an "organic" shape and won't likely be a perfect circle.

* Flatten dough to a thin crust, less than 1/4 inch thick

* Place directly on the grate of a medium heat grill until browned and has lines on the bottom, then flip over

* After about 1 minute on side 2, add the sauce (go light on the sauce as it can get really messy) and then your toppings.

* Close the lid on the grill to allow the cheese to melt

* Remove from the grill & enjoy!



This makes a yummy flatbread pizza. You can use traditional pizza topping, BBQ sauce & chicken, pesto & veggies... whatever you like. The first time we did it, my husband said he thought it would be simpler to call Domino's. After he was surprised how fast & tasty!

Italian Chicken

This is a VERY complicated recipe...or not!

Ingredients:

6 fresh chicken breasts trimmed

1 bottle of Italian Dressing (any kind/lite or not)

Zip Loc Freezer Bag

Directions:

Put chicken breasts in zip-loc bag and pour Italian dressing over it. Zip the bag shut and put in the freezer.

Cooking:

Thaw and...

Grill

Bake

Fry

Yep, it's a hard one! But tasty! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls by Melanie

-2 1/2 cups warm water
-2 tbsp. granulated yeast or 2 packs yeast
-2 beaten eggs
-3/4 cup sugar
-3/4 cup oil
-2 tsp. salt
-8 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine rest of ingredients and 2 cups of flour. Beat well, then add remaining flour. Knead 8 to 10 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll out. Spread with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. (Make a long roll.) Slice 1 inch thick. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool and top with powdered sugar icing.

Directions for freezer group:

Thaw rolls completely. Put in microwave or oven just long enough to warm. If desired, put your favorite icing on top. I usually use "creamy butter frosting."

Creamy butter frosting
-6 tbsp. margarine, softened
-1 lb. powdered sugar
-1/4 cup milk
-1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cream margarine, gradually adding about half the sugar. Blend well. Beat in half the milk and the vanilla. Blend in remaining sugar gradually. Add just enough of the remaining milk to make frosting easy to spread. It should be fairly stiff.
***Melanie says you may only need half of this recipe, unless your family has a sweet tooth, like the Rileys!

Cheesey Mostaccioli 8-11-09

-1 16 oz. pkg. mostaccioli
-1 lb. ground beef
-1 tsp. black pepper
-1 tsp. Italian seasoning
-1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
-1 can (11 oz.) cheddar cheese soup
-3 cups shredded mozarella cheese, divided

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Brown meat and drain. Add seasonings to meat. Stir in spaghetti sauce and soup. Combine and mix pasta, sauce mixture, and 2 cups of mozarella cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. (Cover with foil) and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. This is one of Ron's favorites. We prefer the pasta moist, so we bake it covered. Enjoy!

Suzanne

August Swap Details

It's that time again! Time to think about what you'll make for the freezer swap in August. We'll meet on August 13th at Elisha's house. Below are the category assignments for the month. Don't forget to post your recipe and/or cooking directions to the blog. Thanks! Looking forward to it!

Beef: *Traci

Beef with pasta: Suzanne

Chicken: Kay Ann

Chicken with Pasta: Elisha

Soup/Breakfast: *Melanie

Other: Josie

Grill: Elizabeth

Grill: Pat

Pizza

Here are instructions for the pizza I brought to the July exchange. Get ready, it's complex:

Bake approximately 30 min. at 350 degrees.

Think you can handle that? :-)

You may want to check the bottom of the crust as it's baking to make sure it's getting done. I went a little over 30 minutes because I like a little crisper crust.

For anyone interested, I got all ingredients at Piqua Pizza Supply Company. You have to buy in bulk (minimum of 10 crusts) but when making a large order (or if you want to freeze them), I think it's worth it! You can also get the sausage pre-cooked if you're short on time. I didn't think the prices were too bad either. They don't have a website that I know of, but you can google it for phone number and directions.

Shanghai Stir-Fry

This has become a family must-have since making this last month! It's from my new favorite cook book, Fix, Freeze and Feast . It's super simple to do and delicious to eat. If you want to add Chinese vegetables or lo mien noodles, it's simple to add them at the end. Yum!

Shanghai Stir Fry

(Makes 3 entrees, 6 servings each)

Ingredients:

1 Tray (about 6 lbs) of boneless top sirloin steaks

2/3 c. cranberry juice

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

3 t. minced garlic (9 cloves)

3 t. minced ginger (I used paste)

1 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes

zest of one orange

On Hand for Cooking Each Entrees:

2 t. vegetable oil

1 (11 oz.) can of mandarin orange slices, drained

2 t. sesame seeds

1. Rinse steaks and trim excess fat. Cutting across the grain, slice each steak into narrow strips. Divide beef evenly between the 3 freezer bags.

2. Whisk together juice, soy sauce and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Divide the marinade evenly over the beef. Into each bag, measure 1 t. garlic, 1 t. ginger and 1/2 t. crushed red pepper. Divide the orange zest evenly among the bags.

3. Seal and freeze.

To Cook one Entree:

1. Completely thaw in the refrigerator.

2. Pour off the marinade and reserve. Heat oil in a large skillet over med.-high heat. Add beef and stir-fry until well browned, about 10 minutes. Remove beef from pan and keep warm. Add marinade to the skilled, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 minutes. Return beef to pan. Add mandarin oranges and stir to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.

Sausage and Rice Breakfast Bake

Looking for a new breakfast recipe is always a challenge. So when I found this one on a web site and was intrigued by the extra ingredient of Krispy cereal, I had to try it! It was super easy to prepare in mass quantities and baking/serving was a snap too! Bonus was that my kids ate and ate and ate it! It was even good warmed up the next day! Sounds strange to be putting cereal into a casserole, but they actually take the place of the bread cubes and give it good texture. It was a hit all the way around!

Sausage and Rice Breakfast Bake

4 1/2 c. Rice Krispies (reserve 3/4 c.)
1 lg. onion, chopped
3 c. cooked rice1 lb. cheese, grated (reserve 1/2 c.)
2 1/2 lb. breakfast sausage
5 eggs, beaten
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Brown onion and sausage. Drain. Spray 9x13 inch pan with Pam. Layer half of the rice, Rice Krispies, sausage mixture, and grated cheese. Repeat. Mix eggs and soup, pour over casserole. Sprinkle with reserved cheese and Rice Krispies. Freeze.

To serve:
Thaw casserole completely. Bake 45 minutes at 325 degrees. Enjoy!

Strawberry Soup

Here's Pat's recipe adapted from this recipe. It's quickly become a summer favorite! Yum!

Strawberry Soup

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
4-3/4 cups strawberries
2-1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons orange juice
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons water
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions:
In a blender, combine the strawberries, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, water and cardamom. Puree until well mixed. Put into Large Zip-Loc Bag. Freeze flat.

To Serve:
Thaw and serve in six individual servings. Enjoy!

Nachos

Nachos

I made nachos for the July meal exchange. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how to reheat meat and cheese for nachos, but I've never posted on a blog before, so I'm writing my very basic instructions for practice!

Nacho instructions:

1. Thaw both bags.
2. Heat meat and beans in saucepan or microwaveable dish.
3. Snip a corner of nacho cheese and squeeze out into microwaveable dish. Heat.
4. Open bag of chips. Top with meat and beans, nacho cheese, and other toppings (sour cream, tomatoes, salsa, olives, etc.)

I would have included some fresh salsa or tomatoes, but ours are all still green right now!

Suzanne

Urban Garlic Chicken

*This was the dish I chose to make for our Freezer Swap this month. After I put seven of them together for the swap, I decided to cook mine for dinner! My favorite method is to cook it in my microwave in my PC baker (with lid) and it was DELICIOUS! The chicken was tender and moist and browned (in the microwave?!). My children loved it and the youngest asked for repeated helpings (he can be finicky!). It was SO good--and SO easy! Great summertime meal--hot, but no heat in the kitchen!

Urban Garlic Chicken

Adapted From Fix Freeze and Feast

1-5lb. Whole chicken

1/8 c. olive oil

1 T. Red Wine Vinegar

4 cloves garlic

½ T. dried thyme

1 t. salt

½ t. black pepper

1 carrot peeled and cut in half

1 celery stalk cut in half

½ onion peeled and quartered

1. Rinse chicken under cool water. Remove giblets from cavity and discard. Pat chicken dry with paper towel.
2. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Place chicken, breast side up, on a work surface. Gently loosen skin on breast and legs by working your fingers between the skin and meat. Using half the marinade, rub under and over and the skin and in the cavity. Put the chicken in a 1 gallon zip-loc bag.
4. Put all vegetables in a one quart zip loc bag and then directly into the larger bag with the chicken.
5. Seal and freeze.

To Cook:

Oven:

1. completely thaw in the refrigerator
2. preheat the oven to 325 F
3. Place chicken, breast side up, in a greased baking dish. Put vegetables in cavity. Roast for about 1 ½ hours, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 180 F.

Crock Pot:

1. Don’t thaw! J Put chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker (must have a

removable insert). Cook for 8 to 10 hours. Drain juices, reserve and cool. Place

the uncovered crock in a 350 F oven. For 15 minutes to brown the skin.

Meanwhile use the reserved juices to make gravy or a sauce.

Microwave: (My method of choice!)

1. Put thawed chicken in the Pampered Chef Covered Baker (with lid) breast side up.

Put vegetables in the cavity. Cover with baker lid and place in microwave on high

for 30 minutes. Check temperature at the end to be sure it is 180 F when inserted

into the thigh. Enjoy!