Poppy seed chicken

Recipe is for a 13x9 pan

Place 2 large cans of chicken in the bottom of the pan

Mix;
2 cans of cream of chicken soup &
1 pint of sour cream
Pour mixture over the top of the chicken

Next:
Crush 1 roll of Ritz crackers and spread over top of the mixture the drizzle 1 cube of butter on top or the Ritz crackers.

Last but not least,
Sprinkle 2 tbsp of poppy seed over the top

Bake for 30 minutes @350 degrees

Serve over rice

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

5-7 chicken breasts
1 package italian dressing mix
1 cube butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz package of cream cheese

Cook chicken breasts, butter, and Italian dressing mix for 3-4 hrs in crock pot until chicken is done. Shred chicken, then add cream cheese and cream of chicken soup for the last 1/2 hour. Serve over rice or noodles.

Russian Chicken Recipe

1 cup Apricot or pineapple apricot jelly
1 cup Russian dressing
1/8 cup onion soup mix ( I didn't add this when I made it in March)

Bring Ingredients to a boil and cool completely. Pour into a ziplock bag over 2 large, frozen, chicken breasts. Freeze for up to 3 months. To warm, empty contents of the bag into a crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours. Make sure to check the chicken and make sure the center in no longer pink. Serve over Rice.

Swedish Meatballs Recipe

1/2 cup Original Bulls eye BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup Kraft Honey BBQ sauce or Sweet Baby Rays BBQ
1 cup Grape Jelly
1/8 cup dried onion (I used onion soup mix)
Dash of chilli powder

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Let mixture cool pour into a ziplock bag and add 30 frozen meatballs. Meatballs were purchased at Costco or Sams club in the frozen food section. To prepare heat in a crock pot for 3 hours on high. Serve over rice.


Makes about 4 servings

Swedish Meatballs

Emma I need you to post your recipe so I can steal it for the April exchange.

Tortillas

I've heard differing comments about the tortillas that are in the enchiladas. I heard from someone that they were soggy after cooking. I've also heard people say they tasted just fine. I was just wondering what experience you've had defrosting them since I was nervous to do enchiladas because of them. I just want to know for the future if they work or not. Let me know how they worked for you! Be honest!! :)

Parmesan Chicken

In march I'm planning on making Parmesan Chicken (for the exchange) it's one a Jared's favorites.

Recipes from Pinching your pennies

Monday, February 22, 2010

Freezer Cooking Recipes

Here are some of my family's favorite recipes for the freezer.

Chicken Tetrazzini
10 oz. dry spaghetti -- (10 to 12)
3 cups grated cheese - Jack or Cheddar
3 Tbsp. margarine
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup -- (10 3/4 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup -- (10 3/4 oz)
1 (10 3/4 oz) soup can milk
3 cups cooked diced chicken
salt & pepper
Cook spaghetti as directed until al dente; drain. Sauté onions in margarine.
Mix onions and remaining ingredients with spaghetti in a large bowl. Put
mixture in containers and freeze. To prepare for serving, thaw tetrazzini
and put in a baking dish. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350* oven until
bubbly, about 30-40 minutes. For 2 people makes 5 casseroles.

Chicken and Rice Bake
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup water
¾ cup uncooked regular white rice
¼ tsp. Paprika
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
To freeze: Dump all ingredients into 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Lay flat
in freezer.
To cook: Thaw in refrigerator. Place all ingredients in a 2 quart shallow
baking dish. Cover. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until chicken
and rice are done.


CHEESY Chicken and Rice Bake
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 cup water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¾ cup uncooked regular white rice
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
To freeze: Dump all ingredients into 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Lay flat
in freezer.
To cook: Thaw in refrigerator. Place all ingredients in a 2 quart shallow
baking dish. Cover. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until chicken
and rice are done.
notes: Try it with a can of cheddar broccoli soup and add broccoli
florets for added color and nutrition.


Sweet and Sour Chicken
1- 8 oz. Fat Free French Dressing
1- 8 Oz. can Jelly (whole)cranberry sauce
1 package - Dried Onion Soup Mix
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (you can add more or less - cut into cube pieces)
To freeze: Dump all ingredients into 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Lay flat
in freezer.
To cook: Mix all ingredients in a 13 x 9 glass pan. Cover with tin foil.
Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir and serve over rice or noodles.
note: I like to add a bunch of stir-fry veggies in the bag when I
freeze this. They cook well in the sauce, and add a lot more nutrition to
the meal. (Plus, I don’t have to bother with a side dish this way!)

Chicken Enchiladas
(Freeze the tortillas separately for this easy dinner)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 pint sour cream
pinch garlic powder
1 can diced green chiles
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 dozen flour tortillas
grated Monterey Jack cheese
Mix first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon into a 1 gallon
freezer bag and lay flat to freeze.
To prepare: Thaw sauce and tortillas. Spoon a bit of the chicken mixture
into each tortilla. Roll up and place side by side in a 9 X 13 baking pan.
Pour remaining mixture over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 30
minutes at 350 degrees.


Simple Salsbury Steak
(Campbell's soup recipe)
1 can of mushroom soup
1 pound of ground beef
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of the soup, beef, bread crumbs, egg, and
onion. Shape firmly into 6 patties. (If you are using raw meat, you can
freeze it now and brown the mushrooms and freeze them too, or you can freeze
everything after cooking)
In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties, a few at a time, until browned
on both sides, spoon off fat, set aside.
Stir in remaining soup and mushrooms, return the patties to the skillet,
reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until done, turning
patties occasionally.
Allow to cool and place patties and sauce into freezer bag. Lay flat to
freeze.
To COOK: Allow to thaw. Reheat and eat!

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf
2 lb. Ground beef
1 package (6 oz.) stuffing mix
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup barbeque sauce, divided
Mix all ingredients well except for ¼ cup of the barbeque sauce. Shape meat
mixture into 2 oval loaves, side by side, in a 9"x13" baking dish. Top with
remaining barbeque sauce. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until center
is no longer pink.
To freeze: Allow loaves to cool. Wrap individually in tin foil, and place in
1 gallon freezer bag.
To serve: Thaw, and reheat in oven or microwave. Top with more barbeque
sauce, if desired.

CHICKEN & BROCCOLI
(Serves 4 people; 4 times)
1 cup margarine
1 cup flour
8 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups cooked chicken, cut up
2 lbs. broccoli, cut up and lightly steamed
2 lbs. cheddar cheese, grated
Make white sauce: melt margarine in a large heavy pan. Add flour, stirring
constantly. When it reaches the boiling point, add milk, mixing constantly
with a wire whisk. Heat until almost boiling, stirring constantly. Remove
from heat. Place cooked chicken into four 8x8-inch baking pans; sprinkle
each pan with grated cheese; cover pans with foil; label and freeze. You can
also store this in zip-top freezer bags, saving the grated cheese to
sprinkle on top at serving time.
To serve: Thaw. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or pour from freezer bag and
heat in heavy pan on stove top.
Serve over cooked rice, spaghetti, or fettuccine noodles.

Chicken Parmesan
1/3 C. dry bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
3/4 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
To freeze: Combine first four ingredients in a shallow bowl. Dip each
chicken breast in beaten egg, then roll in bread crumb mixture to evenly
coat.
Place chicken on a greased cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. Bake in preheated
375' F. oven 10 min. Turn chicken over; bake 10-12 min. or until chicken is
thoroughly cooked.
Freeze in 1 gallon bag with separate bags of sauce and shredded cheese.
To serve: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat chicken in 375' F. oven
until heated through and crust is crispy. Spoon tomato sauce over chicken.
Sprinkle cheese over top. Bake an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is
melted.
Makes 4 servings

Cowboy Delight

1 Lb. Ground beef or Ground Turkey
1 pkg. Elbow macaroni/Sea Shell Pasta
1 Lg. can tomato sauce
2 Cans diced tomatoes (or use bottled spaghetti sauce, or pasta sauce)
salt and pepper -- to taste
pinch garlic powder
pinch onion powder or dry onions
pinch Italian seasoning
3 TBSP. brown sugar
3/4 C. grated cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger and onions. Drain Fat. Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse. Combine remaining ingredients, EXCEPT cheese, in a very large bowl. Add hamburger and pasta and sauce together. Mix Well.

Spread evenly into a foil pan. Freeze. To Serve: Allow to thaw and then cover with grated cheese. Bake 350˚F oven until cheese melts and casserole is hot.

Fun

I like the idea of a blog. I'm not sure everybody will contribute (c'mon guys!) but I think it's a good idea to put our recipes on here each month.

I had a lot of fun last night. Everyone's food looked really yummy and I wish I could try them all. We should bring extra recipes next time for those who don't get the food.

Five meals is perfect for me! I don't have a ton of freezer space. Also it was easy and I could prepare it in 1-2 hours. I think if people want to do 10 meals, they can. We just have to make sure there are 10-11 people there. If you bring 10 and there's 10 people then you will end up taking one of your own home. I don't think that's a problem though.

I would love to make an extra meal for a family in need each month.

Now I have to decide what to make next month....

A blog for our Recipies

On this blog we can put down the recipes for the meals we are planning to exchange. This way we can make sure not to have to many of the same meals each exchange. Anyone can contribute to this blog and this way if we want to reuse some of the recipes from past months we can. I have a few questions I would like input on;


Did you like doing 5 meals? Would you like to do more or less?
Would you be willing to make one extra meal each month that we could give to a family that needed it?

Please feels free to give suggestions or ask questions about the exchanges.