Freezer Friendz: August 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Re-Run Meatball Subs by Jen

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2015/10/italian-meatball-subs-by-jen.html

Monday, August 22, 2016

Rosemary Citrus Chicken by Jackie

This month, I decided to make a rerun of a healthy, citrus chicken dish.

I think this dish is SO pretty! It makes me smile every time I make it!

The whole recipe can be found here:

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2015/04/rosemary-citrus-chicken-by-jackie.html

Brazilian Steakhouse Chicken by Jackie

Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup McCormick Grill Mates Brazilian Steakhouse Seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 Tblsp. red wine vinegar

Assembly:
Rinse and trim chicken. Place in one gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Mix all remaining ingredients in bowl. Pour over chicken. Freeze flat.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Grill until done.

Beef Smoked Sausage Primavera by Jackie

This is a rerun of a summer favorite. You can find the recipe here: http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2015/06/smoked-beef-sausage-primavera-by-jackie.html

Monday, August 1, 2016

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin by Beth

http://thecookiewriter.com/bacon-wrapped-pork-loin

Ingredients:

4 lb bonless pork loin

8 slices bacon, uncooked

Salt and pepper

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. red chili flakes

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp. honey

Assembly:
Combine the garlic, ginger, chili flakes, soy sauce, mustard, vinegar, and honey in small bowl. Whisk together until combined, set aside. Place pork loin in foil pan; score the meat; season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce evenly over the pork loin. Drape the bacon slices over the top of the roast, tucking ends under the side of the meat. Cover with foil lid and freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw in fridge. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 1-1 hour 30 minutes, uncovered, or until meat thermometer reads 160. Cover near the end of cook time to prevent bacon from burning, if necessary. Allow roast to rest for 10 min before slicing.

Freezer Cooking Quick Tips

When wrapping meals for freezer: make sure to double wrap to prevent freezer burn. Using one layer of plastic wrap and a top layer of foil is best.

Freezer Bags: Use GOOD freezer bags! Don't skimp on cheapo freezer bags or your food will taste like plastic!

Meat in Freezer Meals: Thawed meat must be cooked before it can be refrozen. Frozen cooked meat can not be refrozen once thawed.

Freezing Soup: Pour soup into gallon size Ziploc bag. Lay bag of soup flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen, then remove cookie sheet. Doing this allows soup to freeze flat, so it can stack easily with other meals in your freezer.

Flash Marinade: Put raw chicken or beef in a ziploc baggie, pour in your marinade, then freeze. In the thawing process, your meat will be infused with the marinade and ready to cook!

Cooking Noodles: Cook noodles only 3 minutes, drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Noodles will freeze well and not turn to mush if done this way. Tip from freezerchicks blog site!

Slow-Cooking Chicken for the Freezer: You can fill crock pot with chicken breasts and pour a can of chicken broth over meat. Cook on high for 4 hours. Another method that gives the meat more flavor is to layer 1 sliced onion in the bottom of slow cooker. Top with chicken. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook on low for 4 hours or until done. With either of these methods, you need to keep an eye on your meat to make sure you do not overcook. Shred or dice and freeze in 2 cup portions for use in casseroles, tacos, etc...

Freezing Cooked Ground Beef: You can boil ground beef, then freeze it - it will be easy to thaw and use for tacos or something similar! To do this, add raw ground beef to large pot. Add onion, salt & pepper. Fill pot with water until water is 1" above the top of the meat. Boil, stirring occasionally to break up chunks. Meat is finished when no longer pink. Drain off the water (which drains off the fat).

1lb. raw ground beef=12 oz. cooked ground beef=2 - 2.5

Freezing Sandwiches: You can make lunchmeat sandwiches ahead of time and freeze them. Just assemble the meat and cheese on bread and place in ziploc sandwich bags. Place all bagged sandwiches into a large ziploc freezer bag. I did this once with cheap sandwich bags and the sandwiches tasted like plastic; however, they taste fine if you use Ziploc bags. **PBJ works too, if bread is a higher quality wheat bread.

Freezer Efficiency: If your freezer isn't full, fill empty milk jugs 3/4 full with water and place in freezer. This helps your freezer not have to work so hard to stay cold, saving you money.

Substitutions: Here is a great source for figuring out substitions for your recipes when you start making something and realize you are missing an ingredient: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Common-Substitutions/Detail.aspx

Meet The Freezer Friendz!