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.

As I set at the computer this morning wondering what to type, I had floods of information come. Yet in those floods, nothing made enough sense for me to try to put into words.

My new years resolution Make it Count is working, not always as good as I would like it to, but I am doing much better. Part of my goal was to make time with my children count, spending more time together. Hailey and I have started going to a local book club once a month, she starts volleyball next week and we have been practicing together and I have been letting her help in the kitchen more. Alyssa is my trial. She seems to zone out and not care about anything except for them wizzards on the disney channel. I still go to her class once a week as a volunteer, but I needed to let her know I care. This is why we did the valentine cookies last week... I still need help with her. Abby has become my little side kick. We play together during the day, I take her to story time at the library each week and she is getting to be a good little reader, reading to me daily. And Macey, well she gets lots of time each day, as does most two year olds.

Another part of making it count dealt with the way I spent my time. While reading through an old acquaintances blog a few weeks ago I found this chores chart from www.my3monsters.com/2011/09/housekeeping.html. I decided to give it a try and it's really working. I had to change up a few things, like it doesn't take me 30 minutes to do the daily chores (it's more like an hour) and I have a few more rooms to clean then she did. It's really helping me organize my schedule better each day and keeping my house clean is really easy.

So, to keep myself organized I have to first clean house daily, second workout, third keep a weekly menu so I only shop once a week and last remember that Macey is growing up quick and needs my time! As long as I stick to this and not to my computer I have plenty of time, I actually have had enough time to have made about 40 scrapbook pages this year already.

As for the second 1/2 of my resolution, it's good and I can really feel the effects with the spirit in our home.

Last night I tried a new recipe from this awesome blog: http://www.homesicktexan.blogspot.com/, she has lots of great recipes. It was easy and really good. My kids even loved it, so I thought I would share this with you.

Tex-Mex sloppy Joe sandwiches
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (I cut in half and removed seeds)
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounces canned tomato sauce
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of cayenne
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
12 ounces chicken broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup cilantro, divided (optional)
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
4-6 warm buns for serving
Guacamole

In a large skillet cook the meat until browned, about 10 minutes. (If you like, you can drain the extra fat once the meet is browned.) Add the onions and diced bell pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.

Meanwhile, in a blender mix the tomato sauce, chipotle chile, oregano, ground cumin, paprika, allspice, cayenne and Worcestershire sauce. Pour tomato sauce into the skillet along with the broth, ketchup and half of the cilantro (I didn't use this) . Stir until well combined.

Cook on medium-low heat uncovered for 15 minutes and then stir in the remaining cilantro and lime juice. Adjust seasonings and add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve on warm buns with guacamole

Now I'm off to make pretzel bites (thanks Shauna for the pinterest link)with Alyssa.