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, February 21, 2014

Pesto Chicken by Jen (Re-Run)

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2010/08/pesto-chicken-by-jen.html

Ingredients:
6 Frozen chicken breasts
2 jars of prepared Pesto
1 box whole wheat pasta

Assembly:
Place frozen chicken breasts in dish.
Next spoon pesto over the top of each breast.
Freeze until ready to bake.

Serving Day:
Thaw 24 hours in refrigerator
Place entire bag of chicken with marinade in 9x13 dish.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered.
Serve with whole wheat pasta.

Baked Ham & Cheese Sliders by Jen (Re-Run)

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2012/06/baked-ham-cheese-sliders-by-jen.html

Ingredients :
12 slider buns
1 lb. thinly sliced deli ham
6 oz. sliced Swiss cheese
3/4 c. melted butter
1 1/2 T. yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. poppy seeds (I cut back a little bit based on comments)
1 T. dried, minced onion

Assembly:
Line baking pan with buns. Remove tops of buns and set aside. Layer ham evenly on all buns. Layer cheese evenly on all buns. Place tops of buns onto the sandwiches. In small bowl, mix butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds and onion. Pour mustard mixture evenly over buns.

Serving Day: Preheat oven to 350. Place in oven directly from freezer.  Bake covered for 40 minutes. Uncover. Bake another 5 minutes.

**Can use Kings Hawaiian rolls in place of slider buns.
***This makes a great appetizer for parties too!

Make-Ahead Unstuffed Shells by Jen

Recipe From: Kraftfoods.com

Ingredients:
4 cups pasta shells, uncooked
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef - I used my grass-fed beef ;-)
1 jar (24 oz.) marinara sauce
1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Italian Herb Cooking Crème OR 8 oz Cream cheese and added herbs
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1-1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Assembly:
Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain.
Stir in marinara sauce; simmer on medium heat 2 min.
Remove from heat. Drain pasta.
Mix cooking crème, basil and Parmesan in large bowl; stir in pasta.
Spread half the meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with layers of pasta mixture and remaining meat sauce.
Sprinkle with mozzarella; cover with foil.
Refrigerate up to 24 hours or freeze for later.

Serving Day:
Thaw, Heat oven to 375ºF. Bake casserole, covered, 40 to 45 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 30 min.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Shredded Salsa Beef over Rice by Jackie

**Recipe adapted from Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer

Ingredients:
1 1/2-2 lbs. beef chuck roast
1 Tblsp. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 c. chunky salsa
2 Tblsp. brown sugar
1 Tblsp. soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2-1 c. water

Assembly:

Place oil in skillet and brown beef on all sides. Place beef in crockpot. Add remaining ingredients and enough water to barely cover roast. Cover. Cook on low 10-12 hours until beef is tender. Remove and shred, using 2 forks to pull apart.  Discard fatty pieces.  Return meat to crockpot and stir to combine meat and liquid. Cool completely. Skim solid grease off the top and discard.  Pour into Ziploc quart-size freezer bag. Freeze enough rice for 6 servings in Ziploc sandwich bag. Place both small bags in a gallon-size Ziploc bag.  Freeze flat.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Reheat slowly in pan. Serve over cooked rice (see directions below).

Directions for cooking rice on stove top: Pour contents of rice bag into pan with 3 1/3c. water. Add butter and salt if desired. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and stand for 5 minutes.

Directions for cooking rice in microwave: Pour contents of rice bag into microwave safe container with 3 1/3c. water. Add butter and salt if desired. Stir and cover. Cook on MEDIUM (50%) power for 20-25 minutes. Remove from microwave and let stand for 5 minutes.

Optional:
Serve as a filling for tacos, burritos, chalupas. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

Mexican Chicken Bean Filling by Amy

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken (3-4 chicken breasts)
3 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 jar (32 oz) of salsa

Optional Ingredients: To be put with meal AFTER IT IS COOKED! 
1 bag of shredded cheese
1 bag of tortilla chips

Assembly:
1. Make a "rub" with the 4 spices and rub on the chicken breasts - place in a crock pot.
2. Add the other ingredients (except chips and cheese) and mix.
3. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken during the last hour of cooking to give the meat more flavor.

If you want to freeze:
1. Cool chicken mixture.
2. Pour into Ziploc freezer bag.
3. Freeze.

*For our group, you will need to thaw ingredients and then start at #3 under "Steps".

Serving day:
1. Thaw overnight.
2. Heat mixture and serve over rice with shredded cheese on top or just eat with tortilla chips.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Chicken Casserole by Beth

Ingredients:
8 oz. macaroni noodles, uncooked
3 c. chicken, cooked and cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 c. milk
1 can water chestnuts, sliced and drained
1 jar pimento strips, drained
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 t. pepper
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Assembly:
In gallon freezer bag, dump in all of the ingredients EXCEPT macaroni noodles.  Freeze.

Day BEFORE Serving:
Thaw freezer bag in fridge.  Pour into greased 9x13: stir in uncooked macaroni noodles and stir until all ingredients combined.  Cover and return to fridge for 9-13 hours. 

Serving Day:
Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 1 hour.