Chicken Tortellini Casserole by Beth

Ingredients:
1 pkg (18-19 oz) frozen cheese filled tortellini
8 oz.  Mexican blend shredded cheese, divided
2-3 c. cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
¾ c. onion, chopped
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 T. chicken bouillon granules
1 ¾ c. chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms, drained
½ c. sour cream

Assembly:
Put frozen tortellini in boiling water for about 3-5 min, drain.  Place in bottom of greased 9x13 pan.  On top of noodles, sprinkle ½ c. cheese and then chicken.  Cook onion in saucepan with butter until tender, add flour.  Gradually whisk in bouillon and chicken broth and bring to boil over medium heat.  Boil for 2 min.  Add soup, mushrooms, sour cream and 1 c. cheese.  Pour sauce over chicken/noodles, sprinkle with remaining ½ c. cheese. 

Serving Day:
Thaw completely.  Bake at 350 for 45 min. or until golden and bubbly.

Taco Soup by Jen (Rerun)

via Julie Clark's Taco Soup

This is a rerun from 2008. See the following link for cooking instructions:
http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2008/07/julies-taco-soup.html

Rosemary & Roasted Garlic Pork Chops by Jackie

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Kraft Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb Mix, Rosemary & Roasted Garlic flavor
1 egg, beaten
6 pork chops, 1/2" thick *

Assembly:
Dip pork chops in egg.  Coat both sides with Fresh Take mix.  Place flat in gallon size Ziploc freezer bag, so that no pork chops are stacked.  Freeze flat.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely.  Bake on 375 for 28-30 minutes or until cooked through.  DO NOT turn during baking. 

*If pork chops are thinner, cook for less time.

Chicken and Broccoli Dinner by Wendy

Ingredients:
1 pkg. stuffing mix, chicken flavor
1 cup water
10 pcs. chicken tenders
4 cups broccoli
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon, cooked
4 Tablespoons Ranch dressing

Assembly:
Combine stuffing mix and water.  Pour in 8x8 Pan.  Top with seasoned chicken tenders.  Top chicken with broccoli.  Top broccoli with cheese.  Crumble bacon over cheese.  Drizzle with Ranch dressing.  Cover with foil.  Freeze or bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

To Serve from Frozen:
Thaw completely.  Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

How Freezer Friendz Conducts Their Freezer Swap

One question that I get a lot is, "What does a freezer swap look like?"   We captured our swap with our camera this time so you could see for yourself.  This is the swap we just had on Friday.  There are currently five members of our group.   Each member cooks the same meal five times.  She keeps one and brings one for each of the other four members to the swap.  You may notice that the person on the end did not get the buns.  That is my pile.  I made the meal with the buns, so I already had my meal in the freezer. 

As you can see in the photo, we have a tent card for each member.  When a member arrives for the exchange, she brings her cooler inside and starts placing a meal next to each member's name card.  After all members have passed out their food, we all start to pack our coolers.  The whole exchange takes about ten minutes if everyone arrives on time.  Most of the time we all leave and go on with our day.  Occasionally, we may make it a bit more of a social time. 

Our swap occurs once a month.  It is always held at the same house, on the same day of the month (2nd Friday) and at the same time.  Keeping things consistent helps to eliminate confusion and ensures that no one will get frustrated by constant changes to the schedule.  We have 2 full time teachers in our group.  They cannot attend the exchange because we hold ours during the school day.  No biggie!  They just drop off their meals to one of our members to bring for them.  They then arrange to pick up their coolers full of food at a later time.  It works beautifully. 

Do any of you do a meal swap?  Is yours similar?  We'd love to know how you conduct yours!

Parmesan Chicken by Amy

You can find the recipe and leave comments at this link: http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2010/12/parmesan-chicken-by-amy.html

Enjoy!

Rerun: Sloppy Joe Muffins by Jackie

You can find the recipe and leave comments at the following link.  Enjoy!
http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2009/05/freezer-sloppy-joes.html#comment-form

Spice Rubbed Pork Loin by Erica

Ingredients:
3-4 pound pork loin
4 tbs. brown sugar
8 tsp. sweet and smoky chipotle powder
3 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp. dried thyme
3 teaspoons garlic pepper

Assembly:
In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. Place pork evenly on plastic wrap. Rub spice mixture evenly on pork. Bring up the sides of the plastic wrap to enclose pork. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Defrost completely.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil and coat foil with nonstick cooking spray. Unwrap pork and place on baking sheet. Coat pork evenly with non stick cooking spray.

Cook loin for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Internal thermometer should read 160 degrees.

Remove from oven, cut and serve.

Rerun: So You Forgot to Defrost Chicken! by Jen

The original recipe is from Fix-it and Forget-It Cookbook and was written by Mary Seislstad. I have made slight adjustments for freezing.

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (original recipe calls for frozen chicken)
2 10 3/4oz. cans cream of chicken soup
4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, or 1/2c. sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Egg Noodles or Rice

Assembly:
Place chicken in gallon Ziploc bag. Mix remaining ingredients in separate bowl and pour over chicken. Freeze standing up, so it will fit in the crock pot when you are ready to cook.

Serving Day:
Cook from frozen. Remove plastic bag from frozen meal. Place meal in crock pot. Cook on low 10-12 hours. Serve over cooked egg noodles or rice.

Freezer Friendz: I included egg noodles.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder by Wendy

Ingredients:
4 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped carrots
2 stalks celery
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 cups chicken broth
4 large potatoes
1 pkg. (12 oz) Polish sausage (or chicken)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water
1 1/3 cup milk
4 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups shredded cheese

Assembly:
Saute in butter-onions, carrots, celery until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flout with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk, broccoli and cook until broccoli is tender and soup is heated through, about 30-45 min.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt and serve or cool and freeze in gallon Ziploc bags.

To Serve from Frozen:
Thaw bag and reheat until hot.

Yield:  8 servings

Li'l Cheddar Meat Loaves by Jen

Ingredients:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 pounds ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Assembly:
In a large bowl, whisk egg and milk. Stir in the cheese, oats, onion and salt. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into eight loaves; place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard; spoon over loaves.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes or until no pink remains and a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Freezer Friends:
Thaw, Bake at 350 for 45 mins.

Internet Explorer Issues

Hi Friendz,
Our site and many others are experiencing issues with Internet Explorer.  This is not something that Freezer Friendz can fix, but hopefully IE will fix it soon.  If you are clicking on a recipe and it disappears after a brief appearance, you may need to temporarily access the site through another browser.  You can download Firefox or Google Chrome for this.  So sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused.

Thanks,
Jackie

Pork Chops with Caribbean Jerk Marinade plus Pot-Luck Potatoes by Amy

Ingredients:

6 Pork Chops (pork tenderloin sliced 1 1/2" thickness)

1 bottle of K.C. Masterpiece Caribbean Jerk Marinade

Assembly:

1. Place chops into a gallon sized Ziploc bag.

2. Pour marinade over pork chops.

3. Freeze.

Serving Day:

1. Thaw pork chops.

2. Grill chops and enjoy

3. Serve with the potatoes!!!

Pot-Luck Potato Casserole:

Ingredients:

2 pounds of frozen hash browns (I used the shredded kind.)

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 cup of chopped onion

1 can of cream of chicken soup

16 ounce container of sour cream

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Assembly:
1. Defrost potatoes.2. Combine potatoes and melted butter in large bowl.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix carefully.

4. Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan. (I split this recipe and place the mixture into two 8x8 pans. I freeze one pan.)

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serving Day:

1. Thaw completely.

2. Remove covering.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Jackie's Homemade Meatballs

Ingredients:
1lb. lean ground beef
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. minced onion
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c. milk
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. bread crumbs

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in bowl until well blended.  Form 1 1/2 inch balls.  I use the medium Pampered Chef scoop.  Place on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink.  Place on cooling racks lined with paper towels to catch grease.  Once completely cooled, place into Ziploc freezer bags.  Freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw and reheat.

Meatball Lasagna by Jackie

Ingredients:24 meatballs *(see recipe for Jackie's Homemade Meatballs)
4 3/4 cups Ragu**
6 cups cooked bite-size pasta
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint cottage cheese
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
12 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
Parmesan Cheese

Assembly:
Run cottage cheese through the blender to give smooth consistency. 
Combine cottage cheese, eggs, and Italian seasoning. 
Spoon 1 3/4c. Ragu on bottom of 9x13" baking dish. 
Layer remaining ingredients in this order: 

1. Noodles
2. Cottage cheese mixture
3. 1 c. of the shredded mozzarella
4. Meatballs
5. 3 cups of Ragu
6. 2 cups mozzarella cheese 

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.   Cover with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil.  Label and freeze.
Serving Day:
Thaw completely.  Remove plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Notes:
*You could use store bought meatballs, but you would need to add more if they are small.  I feel like the homemade recipe provides a more flavorful meatball, which makes a more flavorful lasagna.

** This is more than a regular size jar of Ragu, but less than 2 jars. I felt like 1 jar wasn't enough, but 2 was too much. I would just use the leftover sauce for dipping garlic bread, or freeze it for later.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Veggies by Erica

2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
1 tsp paprika
5 pieces of sliced provolone or swiss cheese cut in half (I did both for my recipe)
8 pieces of ham cut in 2 inch strips
4 cheese Alfredo sauce
1 bag of spring mix veggies (the kind I bought were already seasoned)

To cook:
Place chicken breast tenderloins in a pan
sprinkle with paprika
place sliced cheese on each chicken tenderloin
place two strips of ham on each chicken tenderloin
spoon 4 cheese Alfredo sauce over chicken tenderloin
place veggies in center of pan or around chicken.

To freeze:
Place plastic wrap and foil over dish and place in freezer

To Reheat:
Thaw completely
Heat oven to 375
Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is done

Breakfast Mini-Frittatas by Jackie

This recipe is not for the exchange.  I just made them and thought I'd share the recipe in case anyone else is looking for something different to make during their time off. :) 

makes 24 frittatas

Ingredients:
12 eggs
¼ c. heavy whipping cream
¾ c. milk
½ c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon or Italian sausage or diced ham
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

**You do not have to use the whipping cream.  I did because I had it leftover from a recipe.  You can use all milk or half & half if you want.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray muffin pans with non-stick spray.  Scramble eggs with milk and cream.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Pour into muffin tins.  I use the large Pampered Chef scoop to measure mine.  Cook 15-20 minutes or until knife comes out clean. 

To Freeze:

Cool completely on cooling rack.  Place in gallon Ziploc freezer bag. 

Serving Day:

Remove from freezer.  Place on microwave safe plate.  Reheat in microwave until heated through. 

Baked French Toast by Jen

Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm)
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.
2. Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours or overnight....it was about 12 hours.
3. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it all looks nice and crumbly (like small pebbles). Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.
4. When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge. Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).

Freezing instructions:
Complete tasks 1 & 2 then cover pan of bread and egg mixture in freezer.
Topping should be placed in a small ziploc and freeze until ready to bake.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. When ready to bake, remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb topping mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like). You can serve with syrup.

Santa Fe Chicken Bake by Jackie

We loved this the last time Jackie made it, so we are making it again.  You can find the recipe and leave comments at the original post http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2011/06/santa-fe-chicken-bake-by-jackie.html

Thai Beef with Noodles by Erica

Ingredients:
1 lb of steak for stir fry cut into strips (I used a meat tenderizer on mine)
1/2 cup Sherry
3 tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp dark roasted sesame oil
1 bag of Japanese Udon noodles

Assembly:
Place strips of meat into a freezer bag.
Mix ingredients of sauce together in a bowl and whisk.
Pour into bag and freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely
Preheat skillet, cook meat and sauce until warmed and meat is cooked to your liking.
Serve over cooked Udon noodles.