Taco Lasagna

-2 lbs. ground beef
-2 pkg. taco seasoning mix
-4 cloves pressed garlic
-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
-1 and 1/2 cups water
-1 tbsp. cornmeal
-2 pkg. corn tortillas (10-12 each)
-1 (24 oz.) jar salsa
-16 oz. sour cream mixed with 1 tbsp. chili powder
-3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In large saucepan, cook beef until brown and drain well. Add taco seasoning, garlic, cayenne pepper, and water. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Set aside. Sprinkle cornmeal in bottom of 9x13 pan. Place 6 tortillas in bottom of pan, overlapping and extending up edges slightly.

Layer in the following order:
-1 cup salsa
-1/2 meat mixture
-1 cup sour cream mixture
-2 cups combined cheeses
Repeat, starting again with 6 tortillas, salsa, meat, sour cream, and 2 cups of cheese. Place 6 tortillas and remaining salsa on top.

Cooking instructions: Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

**When I make this for my family, the 9x13 is nearly overflowing, so I gave each family 1/2 a recipe.

**I omitted the cayenne pepper.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

I found this fabulous recipe at simply recipes and couldn't wait to try it! I thought it would be a great way to have a grill ready meal from the freezer with a change from the run-of-the mill fare (hot dogs and burgers, at our place!). Enjoy!

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Marinade Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Other ingredients
2 pounds flank steak
Spice Bag: Kosher salt and Freshly ground pepper

Cooking Day Directions:

1. Thaw the flank steak completely. Set aside spice bag for step 3.
2. Using olive oil soaked onto a paper towel, coat the grill rack of your grill with olive oil. Preheat the grill with high, direct heat. The grill is hot enough when you hold your hand about an inch over it and you can only hold it there for about a second.
3. Take the steak out of the marinade bag and sprinkle generously on all sides with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. The salt and pepper will help form a savory crust on the steak. Place steak on the hot grill. If you are using a gas grill, cover the grill. Grill for 4-6 minutes on each side. Half way through grilling on each side, turn the steak 90° so that you get more grill marks. How do you know if the steak is done? The best way to tell is to poke it with your finger tips. While the steak is still raw, test it with your fingers; it will be quite squishy. That's what a very rare steak feels like. As the steak cooks the muscles contract and firm up. Touch the tip of your nose and that's what a very well done steak feels like. Here's a visual guide from Men's Health magazine.
4. Flank steak is best eaten medium rare; well done will make it too tough. When the steak has cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil to hold in the heat and to keep the steak from drying out, and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. Make very thin slices, against the grain, and at a slight diagonal so that the slices are wide.

If you want, you can take the excess marinade and bring it to a boil, simmer for several minutes, and serve with the flank steak.

Serves 6.

April Swap Details

Our April swap will be held on April 8th at 10:00 a.m. at Josie's. We've changed out the soup categories to Grill in hopes that the spring weather is going to stick around and our grills are gonna be busy, busy! :) The category assignments are:

Beef: Laura
Beef w/Pasta: Suzanne

Chicken: Elisha

Chicken w/pasta: Jo Nell

Breakfast: Melanie

Other: Josie

Grill: Elizabeth

Grill: Paula

Italian Beef Hoagies

I found this recipe here: www.freezerfriendz.blogspot.com
Look under beef, no pasta.

-1 and 1/2 pounds ground beef
-1 medium onion, chopped
-1 garlic clove, pressed

Cook ground beef, onion and garlic together in a large skillet. Add the following ingredients and mix well:

-1/4 cup water
-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
-1 packet (1 oz.) onion soup mix
-1 tbsp. Italian seasoning mix

After freezing: Thaw completely. (You can defrost the bag in the microwave.) Pour into 10 inch skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Spoon mixture into hoagie rolls or buns. Top with a slice of Provolone or Mozarella cheese.

**I thought this turned out very strong! If I tried it again, I think I would use 1 onion soup mix per TWO recipes. Also, the original recipe calls for red and green peppers to be added with the seasoning. I left them out, because my kids are not big pepper fans.

Classic Baked Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

12 oz. (about 2 cups, uncooked) macaroni noodles

6 Tbsp butter

6 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups cream or half & half

3/4 tsp salt

black pepper to taste

1 Tbsp minced onion flakes

3/4 tsp dry mustard

3 cups cheese (I used half Sharp cheddar & half Mexican blend this time)

3/4 cup bread crumbs

Preparation

* Boil noodles according to package instructions, set aside

* In a sauce pan on medium heat, melt butter

* In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, & pepper

* Add flour mixture to melted butter in pan and mix well with a whisk

* Gradually pour in milk & cream, mixing well

* Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes

* When it starts to boil, add in the minced onion & dry mustard

* Turn down heat and cook, stirring continuously for about 7 minutes

* Slowly add in cheese, mixing well until all cheese is added and melted

* Allow to simmer for a few minutes then stir in the macaroni noodles

* Bag & Freeze or pour into baking dish

* Top mac & cheese with dry bread crumbs

* Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown

Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Rolls

6 skinless chicken breasts
3 slices provolone cheese (21/2 ounces) cut in half
6 thin slices deli ham (6 ounces)
1/2 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 T finely chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup milk

Flatten each chicken breast half to 1/4 inch thickness between plastic wrap or waxed paper. Place 1 piece provolone cheese and 1 slice deli ham on each chicken piece. Fold long sides of each chicken piece over deli ham. Roll up chicken from short side; secure with toothpick.

Mix bread crumbs, cheese and parsley. Dip chicken rolls into milk; coat evenly with bread crumb mixture. Place seam sides down in pan.

To serve now, heat oven to 425 o. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

To Store: Freeze unbaked chicken rolls uncovered about 1 hour or until firm. Wrap tightly and label. Freeze no longer than 2 months.

To Cook From Freezer: Bake uncovered about 50 minutes for 375 o or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

To cook thawed: Completely thaw in the refrigerator. Place on a greased baking sheet. Spritz with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 425 o for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear.

(I found the large pieces needed extra cooking time.)

Orange Beef Stir Fry

Marinade Bag:
2 lbs. flank steak sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 t. red pepper flakes

Vegetables Bag:
4 c. Chinese Vegetables

Sauce:
2 t. red pepper flakes
3 ½ T. teriyaki sauce
2 t. minced garlic
1 t. cornstarch
1 T. brown sugar
½ c. beef broth
2 T. orange jam.

1 ½ c. white rice (minute rice)

Additional Cooking Day Ingredients:

3T oil
3 c. water

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a pot, bring the rice and 3 c. of water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Heat the 2 T. of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the contents from the marinade bag to skillet. Cook and stir the beef in the skillet 10 minutes, until evenly brown. Reserving pan drippings, transfer the cooked beef to a bowl.
3. Heat 1 T. of oil in a skillet. Pour vegetables into skillet. Cook 3-6 minutes, until tender but still crisp.
4. Heat the remaining pan drippings in the skillet over medium heat. Add the contents of the sauce packet. Cook 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the beef to coat.
5. Toss the vegetables with the beef. Serve the beef and vegetables, along with some of the skillet juices, over the cooked rice.