Freezer cooking recap....

Last week, I finally was able to do some freezer cooking. I haven't had many Tuesdays free which is when Garyn is at mother's day out. I am either working the night before or have had doctor's appointments.

I got a good bit done, but not as much as I originally wanted. I also had a major flop trying a new recipe.

I have been wanting to make some type of pizza pockets and I got this recipe from a kids-meal-ideas website. First off, they were really small, so after making a few I made the circles bigger. And then you couldn't put much filling in or else they overflowed. Then I cooked them. As you can see the filling spilled out and the crust is dry having a strong corn meal taste (corn meal is the main ingredient). I just don't think they will get eaten. I threw out all but the ones that weren't overflowing. Oh well, I'll try a different recipe next time.

I did try some new burritos and they are good! I made the normal Brown Bag Burritos and some chicken burritos that I made up along the way. Basically, they have everything the Mexican Chicken Casserole has in it. Rice, shredded chicken, rotel tomatoes, corn, black beans, cheese and salsa. I let all this simmer together a little while and then rolled them up just like the brown bags. I did add some sour cream when rolling up but stopped because it was just melting from the heat and I worried about freezing and then reheating it.

I also made the Mexican Chicken Casserole which as usual I divided into 2 separate dinners. Then I tried money saving mom's brown sugar twists. I like them but will add more sugar and cinnamon next time. They aren't quite sweet enough for us. But are great dipped in honey!



I also froze some cooked ground hamburger meat and shredded chicken for use in other meals. So here is the final tally:

2 Mexican Chicken Casseroles
10 Brown Bag Burritos
10 Chicken Burritos
bag of shredded chicken
not pictured:
bag of cooked ground beef
20 brown sugar biscuit twists
and a few pizza empandas

I may try to have a smaller freezer day in the next couple weeks. I had some meat recipes I wanted to try that are just marinated or somehow prepared meats to add sides to when making dinner. We'll see if I can get some more stocked away before Ansley comes! Less than 7 weeks until my due date!

Freezer Cooking Day!

I am so proud of myself for doing freezer cooking today. I totally decided this morning. We have been saying over and over that we needed some freezer meals, especially BB burritos, to keep us from eating out as much. Garyn goes to Mother's Day Out on Tuesday and when I saw the rain, I decided going Christmas shopping and running errands wasn't going to be any fun. (I avoid getting out in rain since breaking my foot!) Which equals: impromptu cooking day!

Anyway, I got 4 dinners done and 10 burritos to put in the freezer (actually only 9 cause one I ate for lunch). I tried one new chicken casserole that I had gotten out of the Better Homes and Garden magazine a while back. Hoping its good!

Hot N' Cheesy Chicken Casserole
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 14 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli
    (I left this out since my boys don't like it)
2 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 10 oz can cream of chick. condensed
1 10 oz can fiesta nacho cheese soup
    ( I substitued nacho cheese dip....?)
1 10 oz ca rotel
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup crushed rich round crackers

1. Preheat overn to 350 F. Place chicken in bottom
of 3 qt. casserole dish. Combine broccoli, rice, and peas.
Spread over chicken. Then combine cream of chicken,
nacho cheese, soup, rotel, milk, and red pepper. Stir in
1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of mozz. cheese
Pour mixture over everything. Then sprinkle crushed
crackers and remaining mozz. & cheddar cheese.

2. Bake, uncovered, 35-45 mins or until topping is
golden. Makes 8-10 servings.

I split this into 2 dishes since there are only 3 of us.
And I didn't put the topping on cause I was worried the crackers wouldn't be crispy after freezing.

I also made the Mexican Chicken Casserole and split it into two dishes.

Just to let you know how we roll around here....I made all this, planned for us to eat one of the dishes, and my wonderful, sweet husband wants to go out to eat. Of course! And he talked me into it because he is leaving for a conference in Nashville for work tomorrow and won't be back till Friday.....oh the irony!

June Goals Completed...

Well hello everyone!~

June has been busy and I obviously have fallen off the blogging waggon a little.

To save time and since you all probably would rather see than read those goals, I am going to post pictures that I have of the things June entailed.....

Fun:

We have been swimming a lot. This is Tyler and Garyn at Tyler's uncle's pool Father's day weekend.

Garyn is loving the water, and actually now thinks he doesn't need his arm floaties, he can reach in the 3 ft, but he does need them and it is a fight to get them on most times.

We went to Riverbend one night this year. We got pins and passes to sit on the lawn from a wonderful lady my dad works with. We chose the night Third Day was there! They were great; Garyn did pretty good.

We also made it to the beach! The real one, not Chester Frost, unfortunately. We did try to go to CF one day, but it started raining on the way. BUT Myrtle beach was great and we had a lot of good family time. More photos to come on that one.

As previously stated, we had a great anniversary and a fun time rafting.

Cooking:

Yea!! I had a freezer cooking day. I tackled more than usual and got 3 casseroles, 2 bags of Brown Bag Burritos, some chicken salad for sandwiches, 30 meatballs, and about 20 mini apple pies. It was a longer day spent in the kitchen but worth it. I'll post recipes once they are eaten and approved. ;)

I also want you to know I have been reading Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Man it is rocking my little world of security and comfort in what I have been taught about Christianity. It challenges you to be the real Biblical Christian and not what the norm is in today's society and even in churches. Haven't finished yet but I am thinking there will be some changes to come.

Well, that's all folks!

I leave for Honduras Saturday!  I will try to get those July goals in before then.

Dinner Plans and Freezer Cooking!

Sounds like I am cooking a freezer from that title!

We have been having internet issues the last couple of days. I was sure it was because of all the storms we have had lately, but Tyler sat down to try and figure it out and found the reason it wasn't working. Garyn had pressed the button, evidently, that turns the Wi-Fi off. One click and the internet was back up! So I wasn't able to get my meal plan up yesterday because of one click of a button! Such is life with a 2 year old.

Dinner Plans:
Monday- Breakfast
Tuesday- Eating out (me with SS girls at Ichiban and the boys are going to Amigos with Nana & Poppa)
Wednesday- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans
Thursday- Chicken Stir Fry * new one
Friday- Eating out
Saturday- Tacos and Roasted Corn
Sunday- Deep Dish Pizza casserole * new one

Freezer Filling Day was today {cooked things to fill the freezer :) }

I got a lot done this time! I was shooting for making 3 casseroles/ dinners, atleast. I ended up getting this done:

I made 2 meat loafs, 2 Curried Chicken Casseroles, 2 Mexican Chicken Casseroles, 11 Brown Bag Burritos, 11 Mini Apple Pies { 6 already made and 3 already eaten} + one bigger-mini apple pie for 2
 * I split the 8 serving casseroles into 2 that will be more our size. If some friends or family come, I can easily put the 2 together to cook.

All together thats 8 + meals plus a dessert. I worked longer, of course, and made a bigger mess, but now I can have 2 dinners a week until next time I freezer fill/cook!

One trick I have learned from http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ is to bake the chicken I need.

 It cooks in about 30 mins at 350 and is tender. It also keeps the stove top free. I actually started cooking them this morning when getting Garyn's lunch ready for school. I placed them in frozen and then approx. 30 mins later I pulled them out. By the time I got back from taking Garyn to school {a.k.a. Mother's Day Out}they were nice and cool for cutting.

Tyler came by to pick up some lunch during his planning period and actually helped me some. He wanted to try some of the mini apple pies so he prepared the first 6. Not so sure he was a big help since he made a mess making hot dogs and chili for his lunch, and then spilled coke all over the place that I had to mop up. BUT I enjoyed his company for an hour or so!

Speaking of the mini apple pies, they are pretty good, not so sure that they are easier than the Slab Apple Pie. The taste, obviously, is very similar. I halfed this recipe and either I measured wrong or Tyler made the first 6 crust too thick, but I ran out of crust. When I made extra it was in between 1-2 muffin cups so I opted for the small oval pie. I froze the ones I didn't cook for a yummmy dessert.

The Curried Chicken Casserole, I had made once before awhile back and came across the recipe when planning. I LOVE curried chicken. I, also, love all the food groups being in this one....isn't it colorful?

Well, you can't quite see it all, but it has carrots, celery and apples. Better yet, here's the recipe:

Curried Chicken and Rice Casserole:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 apple (granny smith is the best) peeled and chopped
2 cups brown rice (uncooked)
2 cups diced cooked chicken
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. curry powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a skillet and add celery, onion, carrots and apple, cook and stir for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and combine well.
2)Pour mixture into an 8 inch sq. casserole dish. Sprinkle with additional curry powder if desired.
3)Bake for 45 mins approx., until rice is tender and it is bubbly

I made my Mexican Chicken Casserole, again. It is an all time fav around here. I love how colorful it is too! Lots of veggies for these non-veggie boys of mine.

Tyler loves meatloaf and just until recently was stuck on no onions in it. I put some in this time, so we will see how he likes it. This recipe isn't anything grand, because its so plane for Tyler. I may be able to try some other recipes now that he is branching out.

Meatloaf: { I doubled this}
1 cup tomato juice ( I use ketchup and a little water)
3/4 cup Quaker Oats
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lbs ground beef

Last, I made Brown Bag Burritos again. I switched it up a little this time because I didn't have enchilada sauce. I added a can of Rotel and some taco sauce. I got 11 from halfing the recipe.

I am so excited to have 2 meals a week that can come from the freezer!