Boneless Pork Loin Roast with Herbed Pepper Rub by Jackie

Adapted original recipe from Pork: The Other White Meat

Ingredients:
1 (3lb.) boneless pork loin roast

Herbed Pepper Rub:
1 1/2 Tbsp. cracked black pepper (original recipe called for 2 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Assembly:
Pat pork dry with paper towel. In small bowl, combine all rub ingredients well and apply to all surfaces of the pork roast. Place in Ziploc freezer bags. Lay flat in freezer.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Place roast in a shallow pan and roast in a 350 degrees F. oven for 1-1 1/4 hours (18-20 minutes per pound), until internal temperature on a thermometer reads 150 degrees F. Remove roast from oven; let rest until temperature reaches 160 degrees F., about 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Freezer Cooking Tips/Ideas From Our Readers

Hello Readers,

We've really enjoyed sharing what we know about freezer cooking with you. Now it's your turn to share. We'd love to hear some of your favorite tips/ideas/recipes that we may not have heard of before. Just for fun, how about you post a comment and teach us a thing or two. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Your Freezer Friendz

Mexican Dinner Dip Remix by Mags

Mexican Dinner Dip - by Mags

This was originally posted in June 2008, but is so far back in the archives, I thought I'd just repost it instead of linking.

This works well as a dinner or as an appetizer for a party!

Ingredients:

• Deep square aluminum pan OR deep round Corning Wear dish OR shallow 9x13 pan.
  
• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 pkg. taco seasoning
• 1 bag shredded cheddar
• 1 can refried beans
• 8-10 oz. of your favorite salsa
  
• sour cream
• large bag of your favorite taco chips (I like "Scoops!")
  
• Optional: chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce
• Optional: substitute taco shells for the taco chips

Procedure:

1. I used a deep square pan for a thicker dip. You can also use a 9x13" pan for a shallow dip -- either works fine!
2. Grease your pan!
3. Spread out the refried beans to be the bottom layer.
4. Brown and drain the ground beef. Add in taco seasoning and water according to taco pkg. directions.
5. Spread out the ground beef on top of your refried beans.
6. Spread the salsa out on top of the ground beef.
   
7. Spread out whole bag of cheddar cheese on top of beef.

To Bake Immediately: Bake at 350 for 10 minutes covered with aluminum foil. Then bake for 10 minutes uncovered until cheese is melted.

To Freeze for later: Cover with a couple layers of plastic wrap and foil, and freeze. On cooking day, thaw first, (remove any plastic wrap!), then bake at 350: 10 minutes covered with foil and 10 minutes uncovered until cheese is melted.

Add globs of sour cream on top of dip - or you can have people add this to their own plates. Scoop out big spoonfuls of the meal (be sure to get all of the layers!), and use your taco chips to dip!

You can also add chopped tomatoes, onions, or shredded lettuce to make taco salads. You could scoop up the mixture into taco shells for a fancy taco as well!

This is one of my favorites from growing up - my younger brother was in to cooking in junior high - this was his recipe! Enjoy!

Taco Soup-Submitted by Tish

**This is a good one to save for a crisp Fall or cold winter day!! I used mild reduced sodium taco seasoning, because I was afraid to make it too spicy for the others in the group. My family and I like all things spicy, so we spice ours up more:)**

This recipe is out of the first volume of "Don't Panic-Dinner's in the Freezer", bu Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell and Bonnie Garcia.

Original Recipe yields 4-5 servings (so I increased it by 1 1/2 times)

Ingredients:
1 1/5 pounds of ground beef (I used 85% lean)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 pkgs. of mild (or choose the spice-level you like) taco seasoning- I used mild reduced sodium type.
2 Tablespoons of Tastefully Simple Garlic-Garlic- or you can use garlic powder to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 (15oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 (15 oz) cans of whole kernel corn
1 1/2 (15 oz) cans of kidney or red beans (you could also use navy beans and/or black beans)
1 (15oz.) can of water

1 small bag of Frito corn chips, shredded cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, and/or hot sauce- if desired as toppings on serving day.

Cooking Instructions:
Place chopped onions and beef in large skillet. Top with garlic-garlic seasoning or garlic powder, taco seasoning, and black pepper. Cook till meat is completely done. Drain well and set aside.
In a gallon size Zip lock Freezer bag, add all canned items (UNDRAINED) and the one can of water. Add drained beef/onion mixture and seal, removing as much air as possible. Also, gently knead bag to mix all ingredients. Lay flat on cookie sheet to freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Then pour into a large saucepan/stock pot/crock pot and simmer for 30minutes-1 hour till hot and bubbly.
Top with Frito Corn chips, shredded cheese, jalapenos/hot sauce, and/or sour cream if desired.

I love serving this with corn muffins and a salad too!
Hope you all enjoy it and remember to spice it up more if you are like us and like your food hot and spicy!

Ground Beef Stroganoff Casserole by Wendy

Ingredients:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. Medium noodles, cooked
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb. hamburger
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon. black pepper
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup diced mushrooms-fresh or canned-drained
1 (10oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can water
1 cup sour cream
parsley to garnish

Assembly:
In skillet heat hamburger and onion until no longer pink. Drain grease from pan. Add flour, salt, black pepper, garlic, paprika, mushrooms, soup and can of water. Mix well and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat stir in 1 cup sour cream.

To Cook day of:
In a 2 quart casserole dish put in noodles and top with beef mixtures. Garnish with parsley. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until bubbly.

To freeze:
Pour noodles in a square foil pan. Top with beef mixture. Garnish with parsley. Freeze.

To Serve:
Thaw completely and uncover. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until bubbly.

Yield: 8 servings.

Rerun Mustard Marinated Chicken Breasts by Jackie

Please follow this link to the recipe and leave your comments there.
http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2008/04/marinated-mustard-chicken-breasts-by.html

Thanks! :)

Fast Fancy Chicken by Amy Sauve

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup

1 stick melted butter

6 slices Swiss cheese (or 1 pkg. of shredded)

1/4 lb. sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup white whine

2 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb stuffing mix

Preparation:

1. Place chicken in greased 9x13 baking dish

2. Top each piece with a slice of cheese or cover with shredded cheese.

3. Lay mushrooms on top of cheese.

4. Mix soup and wine - pour on chicken.

5. Spread stuffing mix on top and drizzle with melted butter.

6. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch for browning of stuffing - cover with foil.

Serving Day:

1. Thaw dish completely.

2. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch for browning of stuffing - cover with foil.

French Dip Sandwiches by Andrea

Ingredients:

1 1/2- 2 lb. chuck roast

1 can French onion soup

1 can beef consomme

1/2 can beer (can substitute beef broth)

Slices Provolone cheese

Sub rolls or French bread, cut to sandwich size

Cooking day Directions: Pour all liquid ingredients over meat in a crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove and let cool if freezing.

Eating day Directions: Defrost and shred meat. Open French bread and top with meat and cheese. Reheat juices to use as au jus. Broil open face sandwiches on cookie sheet until cheese is melted and sandwich is heated.

Mexican Two Bean Chicken Chili by Wendy

Another delicious Pampered Chef Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Medium Zucchini, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) chicken broth
1 jar (16 oz.) thick and chunky mild salsa
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2-2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, crushed corn or tortilla chips, sliced green onions and fresh cilantro leaves.

To Assemble to freeze: Chop zucchini. Drain and rinse beans. Drain corn. Add all to a gallon size Ziploc bag. Add chicken broth, salsa, tomato sauce, garlic, chili powder and cumin. Freeze flat in freezer. I gave everyone a 2 cup bag of cheese, an 8oz. container sour cream and a 1 cup Ziploc bag of crushed tortilla chips. So there were 4 pcs. total for this recipe.

To Serve: Thaw bag completely. Pour into 4 Qt. Pan. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Ladle chili into soup bowls. Top with desired toppings.

Yield: 6 servings (10 cups)

Freshly baked cornbread, cornbread sticks and soft flour tortillas are also nice accompaniments.

Pesto Chicken by Jen

Ingredients:
6 Frozen chicken breasts
1 jar of Classico Pesto
1 box whole wheat pasta

Place frozen chicken breasts in dish. Next spoon pesto over the top of each breast. Freeze until ready to bake. Thaw 24 hours in refrigerator and then bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered. Serve with pasta, risotto or garlic mashed potatoes.

Freezer Friendz:
Thaw 24 hours in refrigerator
Place entire bag of marinaded frozen chicken in 9x13 dish.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes covered.
Serve with whole wheat pasta.

Note: When I made this for our family, I cooked pasta then removed the chicken breasts on to another plate and mixed the pasta with the pesto sauce and served the chicken on top of pasta.

Grilled Honey Lime Chicken-submitted by Tish

**This is one of my favorite easy grilling dishes that I got from my cookbook entitled, "Don't Panic MORE Dinner's in the Freezer"-by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell, and Bonnie Garcia.**

(original recipe yields 4 servings, so I followed the instructions for 24 servings and then just divided it up into 4 portions for each of our families)

I am giving you the directions for 8 servings, since most of you need at least 6 servings. I used dried cilantro this time since I forgot to buy fresh at the store. It works just fine, but I do like fresh cilantro the best if given the option.

Ingredients:
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of lime juice
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, finely chopped or 1 T. dried cilantro
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp. chopped jalapeno peppers

Assembly and Freezing Directions:
Mix all ingredients except chicken in a large bowl. Place chicken breasts in a large zip top bag and pour marinade over top. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Label and lay flat to freeze.

Serving Directions:
Thaw completely.Discard marinade. Grill over medium heat till chicken is tender and juices run clear.

**Delicious served as a whole chicken breast, but also is awesome when cut into strips and made into fajitas or a southwestern wrap with your favorite toppings!!**

Breakfast Sandwiches by Andrea

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat English Muffins
sausage patties, bacon slices, Canadian bacon slices
scrambled eggs
cheese slices

Preparation:

Open, butter and toast English muffin halves. Cook meat and cool. Mix eggs, season to taste and ladle 1/4c. into greased plastic snack cups. Microwave @ 2 min. each until cooked through. (I did 5 at a time because I had 5 cups.)

Assembly:
Layer breakfast meat, egg, and cheese on English muffin. (You each have 5 of each type of meat. The bag is labeled with which type it contains.) Top with remaining English muffin half. Wrap in foil. Freeze inside freezer bag.

Serving Day:
These can be cooked from frozen.
Option 1: Keep in foil and bake at 350 for about 20 min.
Option 2: Remove foil and wrap in a paper towel to heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes. (Maggie tried the defrost setting for 5 min, also.

Meatloaf by Amy Sauve

Ingredients:

2 pounds of ground beef (or other ground meat - could be a meatloaf mix)

1/2 cup of onion (minced)

3/4 cup of oats

2/3 cup of milk

1/4 cup of ketchup

1 egg

1 minced garlic clove

1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 of a bottle of chili sauce (approx. 6 ounces)

Preparation:

1. Mix the above ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Shape into a loaf and place in lightly greased loaf pan.

3. Wrap with saran wrap and then heavy duty foil.

4. Freeze.

Serving Day:

1. Thaw completely.

2. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.

3. Bake for 40 minutes at 325 degrees F., and remove from oven.

4. Spread chili sauce on top of loaf.

5. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

6. Let rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Taco Mac by Jackie

*adapted from recipe from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Ingredients:
• 1 lb. ground beef (= 2 c. cooked meat, if cooking meat in bulk)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 T. cumin
• 2 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. salt
• 2 c. elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 c. beef stock or broth
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes (= 2 c. if using Sam's size can)
• 2 c. frozen corn
• 1 c. shredded cheese

Assembly:
1. Brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Stir in seasonings.
2. Place in gallon Ziploc freezer bag.
3. Place broth, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes in bag with meat mixture.
4. Place corn in Ziploc sandwich bag.
5. Place uncooked noodles in Ziploc sandwich bag.
6. Place cheese in Ziploc sandwich bag.
7. Place corn, noodle and cheese bags into a 2nd gallon Ziploc freezer bag.
8. Lay both gallon bags flat in freezer.

Serving Day:
1. Thaw all bags, except corn completely.
2. Bring noodle and meat mixture bag contents to a boil in a skillet. Reduce heat to low. Cover skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, until noodles are cooked, about 15 – 20 minutes.
3. Stir in corn until heated through.
4. Top with cheese and serve.

Hearty Hamburger Stew by Mel

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 1/4 c. chopped onions

2 c. carrots, sliced (uncooked)

1 c. chopped green pepper

3 stalks celery, diced

1 can green beans with juice

1 can corn with juice

1 c. sliced mushrooms (canned is fine)

1 46oz. can tomato juice

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. celery seed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef and drain. Mix beef and remaining ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve or cool and freeze.

Freezer instructions:

Thaw and reheat.

Marinated Pork Chops by Jackie

*This recipe is adapted from The Freezer Cooking Manual from the 30 Day Gourmet

Ingredients:
8 pork chops
2 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/3 c. Italian dressing

Assembly Day:
Place pork chops in gallon size Ziploc freezer bag. Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Pour over pork chops. Seal and lay flat on cookie sheet to freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Grill pork chops until no longer pink inside. Discard marinade.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken by Andrea

Ingredients:
chicken tenderloins
Bacon slices


Instructions:
Lay out tenderloins on 1/2 a slice of bacon. Roll up and skewer or use toothpicks to hold together. Freeze for later or grill to desired doneness.


Note: This was hard to determine servings for. I used @ 2 lbs of chicken per entree, which by serving size should feed @ 8. Please let me know if there was enough food so I can adjust if I make it again.

Coke-a-Cola Pot Roast (aka.Pepsi Pot Roast)

***This recipe was originally submitted by Susan Lape. I used Coke a Cola instead of Pepsi simply due to personal preference. Any regular or diet Coke/Pepsi/or generic Coke/Pepsi-type soda will work just fine.***

Ingredients:
(1) 2-3 lb. pot roast (I used 2.5 pound chuck roasts for each recipe)
(1) pkg. of dry onion soup/dip mix
(2) cans of 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
(16 oz.) of regular or diet Coke/Pepsi/generic cola equivalent

Assembly/Cooking/Freezing Directions:
Mix soup/dip mix, both cans of soup, and cola together in a large mixing bowl. Place roast in a slow cooker/crock pot and pour soup mixture over top. Cover and cook on high 6 hours till it is falling apart. Then cool completely and place roast and its gravy into freezer bag, label and freeze.

Serving Directions:
Thaw completely and re-heat. Serve with mashed potatoes, veggies, and/or a salad. Or you can easily shred the beef for delicious sandwiches.
Enjoy.

Inside-Out Cheeseburgers by Jen

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
3 Tbsp. ranch Dressing, divided
4 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled
2 American cheese Singles, cut into quarters
4 hamburger buns

Heat grill to medium heat.

Mix meat and 2 Tbsp. dressing; shape into 8 thin patties. Combine remaining dressing and bacon. Spoon onto centers of 4 patties; top with Singles quarters and remaining patties. Pinch edges together to seal.

GRILL 7 to 9 min. on each side or until burgers are done (160°F).

Freezer Friendz:
I usually thaw then grill burgers 7 to 9 min. on each side or until burgers are done (160°F). If you do not defrost burgers, then adjust the cook time accordingly.

Note: I grilled our burgers and was very careful when I flipped them so the burger would not fall apart. Very good flavor!

Serve with buns, lettuce, tomato, etc.

Chicken Enchiladas by Amy (variation of Stephanie Cooksey's recipe)

Ingredients:

12-20 flour tortillas (fajita size)

1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 small can of green chilies, chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

3-4 cups cooked chicken

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 cup picante or salsa

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Assembly:

Warm tortillas if necessary to be pliable. Blend shredded chicken, Monterrey Jack, chilies, onion, and chili powder. Fill tortillas and place seam side down in a lightly greased shallow glass casserole dish.

Mix together soup, salsa, and Cheddar cheese. Spoon over enchiladas. Cover with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze.

Freezer to Oven:

Thaw completely. Remove plastic wrap and foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (preheated). Cover with foil if top is getting too brown.