Breaded Chicken Breasts by Tish

*** Ladies sorry I was a little late getting these to all of you and then I completely forgot to post the recipe. Just WAY TOOOOO much going on personally that time. Sorry for the delay.***

This was actually a re-run of a recipe I did a very long time ago. Just look in the achives under Tish and it should come up with the Breaded Chicken Recipe. The only difference I made was that I cut the chicken up into smaller strips so it would defrost and cook more quickly. I hope you enjoy them and again so sorry for the delay!

Saucey Mexican Chicken by Wendy

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast halves
1-24 oz. Jar Salsa
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

To Freeze: Place frozen chicken in pan. Add salsa and beans. Cover with foil. Place a 1 cup of cheese in Ziploc bag and freeze everything.

To Cook from Frozen: Thaw completely. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes or until chicken is done (165 degrees). Top with cheese. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered or until cheese is melted.

To Cook on day of assembly: Thaw chicken, place in pan with salsa and beans and bake uncovered 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered or until cheese is melted.

Stove top assembly: Cook chicken in nonstick skillet on med-high heat 4 min. on each side or until browned on both sides. Add salsa and beans. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on med.-low heat 5 minutes or until chicken is done (165 degrees). Top with cheese. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Tastes great served over rice! Makes 6 servings.

Mexicalli Pie by Susan

Ingredients:
16 oz 90% lean Ground Beef
1/2 C Chopped Onion
1/2 C Chopped Green Pepper
1 1/2 C Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
1 C Chunky Salsa
3/4 C Kraft Shredded 2% Cheddar Cheese
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1 Cup Crushed Fritos

Assembly:
In a large non-stick skillet brown meat, onions, and green pepper. Add corn, salsa, cheese, and pepper to mixture.

To Freeze: Allow to cool and place in freezer bag. Place one cup of Fritos into separate freezer bag and crunch them up.

To Serve: Allow meat mixture to thaw completely. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray. Add meat Mixture and top with crushed Fritos. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the center is hot. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

This was adapted from Fixing Healthy with a Man in Mind by JoAnna M. Lund

Shepherd's Pie by Mel

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can carrots (with juice for more gravy-opt.)
1 can tomatoes (with juice)
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
Mashed potatoes (can be home-made or instant)

Instructions:
Brown ground beef and drain. Add all other ingredients(except potatoes) and place in 9x13 pan. Top with generous amount of mashed potatoes (at least 6-8 servings). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Freezer instructions:
Same as above, but don't put potatoes on until right before baking on serving day!

Italian Pasta Bake by Jen

Ingredients:
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
3 cups whole wheat penne pasta, cooked, drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1-1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1.) Heat oven to 375°F. Brown meat in large skillet; drain.
Add pasta, sauce and 1/2 the Parmesan; mix well.

2.) Spoon into 13x9-inch dish; top with remaining cheeses.

3.) Bake 20 min. or until heated through

Freezer Instructions:
Thaw, Preheat oven to 375, Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

Tuscan Bean Soup by Andrea

Ingredients:
2 lb. Italian Sausage
3 T. garlic olive oil, divided
3 strips thick bacon
1 onion, chopped
1 bag frozen onion, carrots, celery
64 oz. chicken broth
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 c. water
3 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 heads garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh Thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cans cannellini beans
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
1/4 c. basil chiffonade
fresh kale

Instructions:

In large Dutch oven, break up and brown sausage in 1 T. olive oil (Squeeze sausage out of casing). Drain. In same pan, cook bacon until crisp, chop.

Saute onion with frozen vegetables in 2 T. olive oil until onions are translucent. Add chicken broth, tomatoes (mashed), water, tomato paste, garlic, thyme and, bay leaf. Simmer 30 minutes.

Next add beans, sausage, bacon, parsley and, basil. Simmer 20-30 more minutes, adjust seasoning and add kale, as desired.

Optional: Top with Croutons: thin sliced Crusty Bread, toasted in oven on both sides till lightly browned then topped with a combo of melted butter and Garlic 00, and good grated Parmesan. Return to oven to melt cheese. Can be held at room temp for several hours.

To Freeze: Prepare to assemble to adding bean, sausage, bacon, etc. Put in freezer bags. Blanch and freeze kale in individual bags to be added to soup later.

Serving Day: Simmer 20-30 minutes. Add kale and heat through.