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Friday, April 18, 2008

Mexican Pork Chops by Jackie

from 30 Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking Manual
http://www.30daygourmet.com/Members/Tools/Recipes/1444.aspx
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
6 pork chops
2 T. vegetable oil
1-1/2 c. water
3/4 c. uncooked long grain rice
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 T. taco seasoning mix (I used 3T. to give it more flavor.)
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 C. (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Assembly Directions:
To Pre-Bake on Cooking Day: Brown the pork chops in a large skillet with the oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper (optional). In a sprayed 9x13 baking dish, combine the water, rice, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning; mix well. Arrange the browned chops over the rice and top with green pepper. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour.

To Bake on Serving Day: Brown FRESH pork chops in the oil. Cool and place in freezer container or bag. In a separate freezer bag or container, place rice water, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Stir well in container and seal. Seal cheese and pepper in separate bags. Label all bags and freeze.

Freezing Directions:
Pre-Baked Casserole:
Remove from oven and cool. Wrap dish in freezer paper, or foil, or place dish in 2-gallon freezer bag. Put shredded cheese in a small freezer bag and attach to the casserole dish. Seal, label, and freeze.

Non-Baked Meal: Tape all freezer bags together or put all in 2-gallon freezer bag.

Serving Directions:
Pre-Baked Casserole: Thaw casserole. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese and return to oven uncovered for 15 minutes.

Non-Baked Meal: Thaw all bags. Pour contents of rice bag in sprayed 9x13 casserole. Arrange chops over rice. Sprinkle pepper over chops. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Top with cheese and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes.

7 comments:

  1. Whole family enjoyed these - very tasty! :)

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  2. We really liked this meal! Healthy too!

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  3. Something didn't work out quite so well in the cooking part this time - didn't realize the pork hadn't cooked through until I had it cut up on the kids' plates (oops!). Would it have been better to not cover it during the cooking part? Anyway - we nuked the pork chops quickly and ate it then - flavor was great, as before, but kids were freaked by that time! :)

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  4. I am so sorry Mags! I froze the pork chops on top of the rice mixture this time instead of putting them in a different freezer bag. I didn't think it would matter, but obviously it did. If you haven't used your meal yet, I would recommend removing the pork chops from the top of the rice mixture BEFORE THAWING. Thaw the pork chops on a separate plate and then put them on top of the rice mixture right before baking. Sorry to complicate things. I was wondering why it was necessary in the original freezing directions to freeze everything in separate bags, but now I guess we know why.

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  5. Great meal! We really enjoyed 'em! Thanks!

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  6. The flavor of this meal was terrific and the pork chops were great. The cooking process didn't go very well - the liquid didn't ever boil and the rice didn't cook. I baked the dish for an hour, covered for about 50 minutes of that time. Should I have cooked it uncovered?

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  7. Sorry Debbie! The first time I made this last year, I followed the instructions above exactly and the meal was great. This time, I tried to put it all in a pan for you to make things easier. That was a mistake. I imagine the thawing process left too much water in the rice. If you ever want to make this, follow the directions exactly as written above. It works great with those directions.

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