Meet The Freezer Friendz!

Looking for a way to simplify dinnertime in your home?
You've come to the right place!
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!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Tater Tot Casserole by Jackie

Ingredients:
2 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8-10 American Cheese slices
1 bag of tater tots

Assembly Day:
Brown ground beef with onion. Layer beef in bottom of 9x13 foil pan. Spread soup over beef. Layer cheese slices over soup. Top with a layer of tater tots. Cover with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Uncover. Bake at 450 for about 22 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and tots are a golden brown color.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Easy Pizza Soup by Debbie

My family really enjoyed this soup that Katie originally made. I made a couple changes, so here's my version. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. ground beef
1 cans (26 oz. each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
3 1/4 cups water
1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 tbs. Italian seasoning
1 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Assembly:
In soup kettle, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add soup, water, spaghetti sauce, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted.

Divide into freezer bags. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. Add additional cheese if desired.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Manicotti by Mel

Directions:

1.) Cook 1 box manicotti shells
(this recipe usually only fills 9-10 shells--some tear in boiling)

2.) Sauce

2 Tbs. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
2-3 Tbs. brown sugar (I prefer sweeter sauce)
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook onion and garlic in oil about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add sauce and other ingredients over high heat to boil. Reduce to low for up to 30 minutes. (be careful--it can splatter a lot)

3.) Prepare Filling

2 c. ricotta cheese
2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 eggs
1 8 oz. package mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
2 Tbs. parsley

Combine all ingredients

4.) Rinse and cool shells
5.) Pour half sauce in 9x13 pan (I just do enough to coat bottom)
6.) Fill shells and arrange in pan
7.) Pour remaining sauce on top
8.) Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees uncovered

Freezer Directions:
Under cook pasta by about 3 minutes. Prepare the rest as above. Thaw completely before baking.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ground Beef Stroganoff Casserole by Wendy

Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) pkg. medium noodles
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb. hamburger
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup diced mushrooms-fresh, or canned-drained
1 (10 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can water
1 cup sour cream
parsley to garnish

Assembly:
Cook noodles until almost done. Place in foil pan. In skillet cook onion and hamburger. Cook until no longer pink. Drain grease. Then add flour, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, mushrooms, soup and can of water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

To eat that day: Pour sauce over noodles. Garnish with parsley. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until bubbly.

To freeze: Pour sauce over noodles. Garnish with parsley. Cover and freeze.

To eat from frozen: Thaw completely and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I baked it from frozen and it took approximately 2hours covered to cook.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Apple Butter by Katina Peters

Although this was not a Freezer Friendz meal, many people requested this recipe, so I thought I'd post it. It is from a friend from my MOPS group.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 bags unpeeled apples, cored and sliced (enough to fill slow cooker)
2 1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Assembly:
Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir. Cook on high for 4-5 hours. Blend in blender. Pour into canning jars. Cool. Freeze. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hearty Sausage Soup by Katie

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 (1-lb.) pkg. Hillshire Farm® Smoked Sausage (any variety), diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups celery, sliced
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. beef flavor instant bouillon
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. marjoram leaves
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 cups water
1/2 (1-lb.) pkg. pasta nuggets, uncooked

Assembly:
In large Dutch oven, melt butter. Add Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage and next six ingredients. Cook until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in bouillon and seasonings. Add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Prepare pasta nuggets according to package directions; drain. Stir into soup; heat through. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers.
(This is a Hillshire Farm recipe.)

Freezing Instructions:
Prepare as above, until directed to add water. Reduce water amount to just one cup. Spoon prepared mixture into a freezer bag, squeeze out all air and freeze. Prepare pasta. (I only cook it about 4 minutes when freezing it.) Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Allow excess water to drain off. Freeze in a separate freezer bag.

Serving Day:
Thaw. Place soup mixture and 3 cups of water into a Dutch Oven. Bring to a bowl. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Stir pasta into soup; heat through. Enjoy!
(I actually forgot to add the pepper with the seasonings. So feel free to add it to your bowl of soup, if desired.)

Serving size: 6-8 servings

Rosemary Turkey Meatloaf by Susan

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

Assembly:
In a large skillet, heat the oil then stir fry onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper for about 2-3 minutes or the onions are translucent but not turning brown. While stir frying, beat the egg in a large bowl. Then add onion stir fry mixture, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir. Add ground turkey and bread crumbs, kneading with your hands until completely combined.

To Eat Now: Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees

To Freeze: I didn't have disposable loaf pans on hand, so I lined my loaf pan with foil and shaped the meatloaf in it. Wrapped the loaf in the foil, placed it in a labeled Freezer bag and froze it raw.

Serving Day:
Thaw meatloaf completely. Place in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

Adapted from : www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/rosemaryturkey.html

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Holladay Chicken by Mags

This is a recipe I got from my friend Michelle (Holladay) - they call it "Special Chicken" - regardless of what it's called, it got rave reviews from my family! :)


INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 chicken breasts

  • 6 slices Colby-jack cheese

  • 6 slices deli ham (I used the thin-sliced Deli Selects Ham)

  • 1 can cream-of-broccoli soup

  • milk

  • toothpicks


PROCEDURE:
1. Pound out chicken breasts flat.
2. Wrap chicken around a slice of Colby jack cheese.
3. Wrap slice of ham around the chicken rolls and secure with toothpicks. (Putting the ham on the outside helps keep it rolled. You could put it inside with the cheese if you want.)

SAME DAY COOKING:
Lay rolled chicken breasts in baking pan (spray with Pam!)
In a small bowl, mix the can of cream-of-broccoli soup with 1 can of milk.
Pour soup/milk mix over chicken.
Bake at 375, uncovered, for 45 minutes (or until cooked through)

TO FREEZE & EAT LATER:
Lay rolled chicken breasts in Ziploc Freezer Bag.
Press out air (watch out for those toothpicks!).
Freeze.
On cooking day, THAW out chicken breasts and follow the cooking instructions above.

This great with steamed broccoli on the side.

Enjoy!
:) Mags

Monday, October 5, 2009

Steele Style Sloppy-Joe Sandwiches by Missy

WHAT YOU NEED
3 cups cooked hamburger
1/3 cup diced onion and green pepper (mixed together)
1 can Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce

ASSEMBLY DAY
Brown hamburger with onions and green peppers in a skillet. Mix in one can Manwich Sauce and stir together. Serve warm with buns. ENJOY!!

TO FREEZE
Follow assembly day instructions and place cooled mixture into a Ziploc Freezer Bag.
Smooth out to freeze flat.

TO EAT ONCE FROZEN
Thaw, warm on stove ,and serve on buns...pretty easy, eh?

Pizza Mac-N-Cheese by Tish

What You Need!
1 can (8 oz.) pizza sauce, divided ( I just use 1 cup of Ragu spaghetti sauce)
1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner, prepared as directed on package (I used Kraft shells and cheese dinner for this recipe)
1 lb. extra lean ground beef, cooked, divided ( I always season my ground beef with a little salt and pepper)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves (I used 1 tsp of Italian seasoning)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (I used same amount of Tastefully Simple Garlic, Garlic)
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Assemble and Freeze:
Remove and set aside 1/4 cup of the pizza sauce for later use. Combine already prepared mac-n-cheese Dinner, two-thirds of the meat, the remaining pizza sauce, egg and seasonings.

SPOON evenly into baking dish or aluminum pan. Top with the remaining meat and reserved 1/4 cup pizza sauce;(I left the shredded cheese off and put it in a separate bag for folks to add at last 5 minutes of baking.) Wrap tightly with 2 layers of aluminum foil or heavy duty aluminum foil and place inside extra large freezer bag if desired.

Prepare:
Remove from freezer and thaw COMPLETELY! Then preheat oven to 400 degrees F and remove foil from pan. Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes till hot. Then remove and add shredded cheese to top of dish and return to oven just till melted. Remove and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Santé Fe Soup by Jen

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs. Ground chuck, beef or turkey
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can red beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel’s chilies & tomatoes
1 pkg. Of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing Mix
1 pkg. of Taco seasoning mix

Assembly:
Brown meat, drain as needed, place in crock pot add dry pkg. mixes; add each can – including juice. Cook on low overnight or on high for 6 hours.

Optional: Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, taco chips or cornbread.

Serving Day:
Freezer Friends – Thaw soup, heat and enjoy!