19 freezer meals in 2 days!

At the beginning of January, I found some wonderful deals on hamburger and chicken at my local grocery store.  As for deals, I mean deals for our day, definitely not real deals.  I think the 93% lean hamburger was $2.99/lb and chicken breast were $1.59/lb.  Anyone living near days market, the hamburger has been on that sale every Monday for the past month.  I'm not sure how much longer that will go on.

My freezer has been free of freezer meals for a few months, so with these "deals" I decided to go to town freezing meals.  When I say 'go to town', I really mean it, in two days I made 19 freezer meals!!!  The recipes were found at random places and changed a little as they were put together.    

It really was easy to create this many meals and it didn't take that long.  Just make sure you have all the supplies and are not having to make last minute runs to the grocery store.  It kills the drive to get it done. You will need to see how many gallon sized freezer bags you will need and how many freezable containers for baked dishes you will need. 

 Monday was my beef day and Tuesday was my chicken day.  It helped by being able to cook all the beef and season it up in only two separate batches.  Just make sure your freezer bags are all pre labeled, labeling them after the food is in doesn't always work the best.  I know from prior experience.  It also helps to keep key ingredients, like vinegar, sugar... out on the cupboards.  

Here is my list:

Taco Soup- 2

Baked Ziti- 3

Mongolian Beef -1 

Beef Stew- 1

Sloppy Joes- 3

Orange Chicken- 2

Chicken Brocolli Alfredo- 1

Maple glazed Chicken- 1 (the only recipe I worry about)

Poppyseed chicken casserole- 1

Cilantro lime chicken- 2

Teriyaki chicken -2

I am not sharing all the recipes right now, because while I want to all taste wonderful, they are all new recipes to me.  I need to try them all out before passing on a recipe that isn't the best.  I have tried 4 of them so far and those I will share.  My favorite so far is the Teriyaki Chicken, it was awesome!  Most of the recipes I made are for the crock pot and the recipes say to thaw before cooking.  I usually will turn the crockpot on high for 2 hours if they are not thawed and then turn it down to low.  

Teriyaki Chicken (label bag: Cook low 6-8 hours, shred chicken and serve over rice)

3 chicken breasts

1 cup Teriyaki sauce (I used Yoshida's brand)

1 cup water

2/3 cup Brown Sugar

3 Garlic Cloves

1/2 tsp minced Ginger

Mix the sauce together good in the bag, then add the chicken breast.  Freeze  

Hawaiian Style Sloppy Joes (label bag: Cook low 3-5 hrs, Serve with bun)

1/2 lb bacon- Cooked

Cook together in 2 T bacon grease

1 lb ground beef

1 med onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

add & cook another 2-4 minutes

3-4 garlic cloves

1 tsp minced Ginger

Place this in the bag

Add this to bag

3/4 cup Ketchup

2 T Brown Sugar

1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke

1 T Soy Sauce

1/3 cup Pineapple Juice

This is for one recipe, which I tripled (minus the bacon)

Remember this is Hawaiian style and will taste sweeter than traditional sloppy joes.

Orange Chicken (label bag: Cook low 6-8 hours, shred chicken, Serve over cooked rice)

1-1/2 lbs Chicken

1 cup Orange Marmalade

1 cup BBQ Sauce

3 T Soy Sauce

Baked Ziti Penne (label 8x8 container: Bake 350 degrees 30 minutes with foil, 15 minutes without foil)

This recipe makes 2- 8x8 pans

1 lb Penne Pasta - cook 7 minutes
Brown- then add sauce
1 Onion, chopped
1 lb lean Ground Beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce

8 slices provolone cheese
16 oz sour cream
8 ounces Mozzarella cheese
3 T Parmesan cheese

Layer: 1/4 pasta, 1/4 Sauce, 4 Slices Provolone cheese, 1/2 Sour Cream, 1/4 Pasta, 1/2 Mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 Parmesan cheese

Remember this was for 2-8x8 containers.  Thaw before baking.

Beans!

This last weekend, we went to Boise for a family fun 4 day get away.  While living in Kauai, you may know that we developed many strong friendships.  These are friendships that I hope will never die.  Some of our best friends (Mandie and Holly Cook and their families) have moved from Kauai to Boise, so we love going to Boise to see these friends!

One problem is that my camera never came out while on this trip, I do not have a single picture of my little girls playing with their friends.  Hailey and Alyssa stayed in Kyleigh's room and they both love Kyleigh so much (they always cry when she leaves us or we leave them).  Abby and Kaitlyn are the same age, and so they play together wonderfully!  Naiya is a year younger, but makes that a fun trio.  Then Macey, she has Ridge (the only boy) and Aliya just a few months younger than her.  Really our kids work together perfectly.  While our kids are excited to go to Boise anytime, it's John and I that are the most excited.  We love Rusty & Mandie and Mike & Holly and are still much closer to them than others around us.

While there, Mandie (whom is a wonderful cook) made creamy chicken taquitoes with homemade refried beans.  She made the taquitoes beforehand and had them frozen in the freezer so that the meal could be quick and easy.  Everything tasted so wonderful and I wanted to share the recipe for the beans here.  They are a great way to use your food storage and also save by not having to buy cans of beans.

Refried Beans (without the Refry)

1 onion peeled and quartered
3 cups of dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 can chopped green chili's
2 T minced garlic
2 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Pepper
1/8 tsp Cumin, ground
9 cups water

Place everything in the crock pot, stir to combine.  Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed.
When beans are cooked, strain them, reserving the liquid.  Mash the beans and add the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

My new Irish Cream Cupcakes

Yesterday we had our monthly Mother - Daughter bookclub here at our house.  You know when people get together, people have to have treats.  So Hailey and I spent the day making and trying cupcakes (and Alyssa made the cheese bread to go along with dinner :) ).  We had one failed recipe and one recipe that was so delicious!   In all it was a really fun cooking day and we learned a little about how these recipes will be altered for the next go around.  I will say Hailey is on her way to becoming a wonderful cook!
Caution: These are very Rich! (I'm not a dark chocolate fan, but with these I may become one)

Irish Cream Cupcakes 

1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

3 Large Eggs

1/2 Cup melted butter

2/3 Cup milk

1/3 Cup Irish Cream creamer

1/4 C Flour (due to high altitude)

Preheat oven to 350.  Using a large bowl, mix all ingredients until combined and then mix on high for 2-3 minutes.  Pour batter into lined cupcake pans.   Bake 20 minutes.  Cool completely, cut triangle out of top for chocolate caramel ganache filling. 

Chocolate Caramel Ganache (Delicious):

8 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

3 ounces caramels (about 10 candies unwrapped)

Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.  Using a small sauce pan, heat whipping cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the caramels have melted completely.  Pour caramel cream over chocolate and stir until melted.  Fill cooled cupcakes while this is warm

**tip** put this in a disposable frosting bag, cut the tip of and just squirt it into the cupcakes for a clean easy job

Frosting

 -- You may have your own favorite but this goes great with these cupcakes and is what makes the cupcakes the best.  This recipe is for frosting with cake decorating bag and tips (as shown in picture above) so if not using them, cut recipe in half. Here is some awesome directions on frosting cupcakes http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/05/how-to-frost-cupcakes/ .



3/4 Cup Butter, softened

1/2 Cup Cream Cheese, softened

5 1/2 to 6 Cups Confectioner's Sugar (powdered sugar)

1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla extract

1 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tbsp Irish Cream creamer

In a large mixing bowl cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla for 2-4 minutes.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time making it a little stiffer than desired.  Combine whipping cream and irish cream and slowly add to frosting, using more for creamy consistency, use less for stiff consistency.  Top cupcakes with this buttercream frosting.

Garnish with caramel syrup and remaining ganache (I didn't use ganache in picture)