Meet The Freezer Friendz!

Looking for a way to simplify dinnertime in your home?
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Our freezer cooking recipes are sure to take the headache out of evening meal prep.
We invite you to leave comments after you try a recipe, as well.
We'd love to know what you think!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Sweet Baby Rays B-B-Q Pork Chops by Wendy

This is great for the grill! Ingredients: 6-8 Fresh Pork Chops (depends how big they are) 1 bottle BBQ Sauce Assembly: Drop pork chops into a Gallon Size Ziploc Freezer bag. Pour in BBQ Sauce. Freeze for later or bake after 4 hrs. of marinating. If Frozen on Baking Day: Thaw bag. Cook on grill on Medium-Low for 30-40 minutes or bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes. Alternatives (by Mags): You can baste your vegetables as well - so add potatoes, broccoli, carrots or cauliflower around the pork chops and bake it all together. We like rice too - so whip up a box and serve it with the chops!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pockets-submitted by Tish

Yields: 12 pockets

Ingredients:
3- (8 count) tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls (I use the REDUCED FAT variety)
1/3 cup reduced fat or fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup of ham, cooked and diced (I use Bluegrass 95% fat free smoked ham)
2 cups of COOKED, diced chicken***
a little salt and pepper to taste

***NOTE from Tish: you can use chicken breasts only, but I like using a whole chicken - I think a little dark meat adds more flavor - you can even use rotisserie chicken to make it super easy to fix, just take the skin off and shred the meat)***


Assembly Day:
In a large mixing bowl, combine sour cream, Parmesan cheese, Swiss cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well, then toss in diced ham and chicken, coat meat well with sour cream/cheese mixture.

Option #1: Spoon prepared filling into labeled freezer bags, removing as much air as possible and then freeze. Just make sure to have 3 (8-count)tubes of crescent rolls on hand when you decide to defrost and make the pockets. Then when you are ready to make the pockets, thaw the filling completely and follow the directions below for assembly and baking.

Option #2: Open crescent rolls and leave 2 triangles together to form a rectangle. You might have to pinch the seams together on some of them. (You will only get 4 pockets from each tube of rolls. That is why you need 3 tubes of rolls to yield 12 pockets.) Spoon about 1/4 cup of COMPLETELY THAWED filling (if you froze the filling originally) close to the end of each rectangle. Then fold over the remaining crescent roll dough to form a pocket. Seal the edges all the way around by pressing them down with the tines of a fork. Place pockets on cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes or till golden brown. Cool completely, then place cooked pockets in labeled freezer bags or rigid containers and freeze.

Serving Day:
1)If you have already baked your pockets, thaw them completely overnight in the refrigerator, then microwave them on High for 2-4 minutes till hot.You might be able to put them on cookie sheets and rewarm them at 200-250 degrees for a few minutes till hot as well.

2)If you froze your filling only, thaw it completely and assemble and bake as detailed in option#2 above.

**Note: This recipe is from the 30Day freezer gourmet site - so the pockets should freeze well and re-heat well even if already cooked. I have not tried this recipe yet myself so I was afraid the rolls might get soggy if cooked then frozen and rewarmed. That is why I made the filling and froze it separately and am sending the crescent rolls onto you to assemble them for yourself.**

Lemonade Chicken by Katie

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder

Assembly:
Place chicken in freezer bag.
Combine the lemonade, soy sauce and garlic powder and pour over the chicken.
Seal out air and freeze flat.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Uncover. Spoon juices over chicken and cook another 10 minutes uncovered.
Enjoy with a salad and your favorite side!

Chicken Broccoli Shells by Jackie

Ingredients:
1 box Stove Top stuffing (chicken flavor)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
10 oz. box frozen chopped broccoli
1 12oz. box jumbo shells
Parmesan cheese (I used Kraft Natural White Sharp Cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan Cheese Block.)

Assembly:
Cook shells as directed on box. Prepare stuffing as directed. Mix stuffing, chicken, broccoli and mayonnaise well. Mix 2 cans soup and 1 can water. Pour a little on bottom of 2 - 13"x9" pans. Sit the rest aside. Lay cooked shells on waxed paper on table. Stuff chicken mixture into shells. Pour remaining soup on top of both pans. Sprinkle with cheese. Wrap well and freeze. (Hint: I use the medium size Pampered Chef scoop to fill the shells.)

Serving Day:Thaw. Bake covered 40 to 60 minutes at 350°. Or bake from frozen for 2 hours.