Meatball Lasagna by Jackie

Ingredients:24 meatballs *(see recipe for Jackie's Homemade Meatballs)
4 3/4 cups Ragu**
6 cups cooked bite-size pasta
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint cottage cheese
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
12 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
Parmesan Cheese

Assembly:
Run cottage cheese through the blender to give smooth consistency. 
Combine cottage cheese, eggs, and Italian seasoning. 
Spoon 1 3/4c. Ragu on bottom of 9x13" baking dish. 
Layer remaining ingredients in this order: 

1. Noodles
2. Cottage cheese mixture
3. 1 c. of the shredded mozzarella
4. Meatballs
5. 3 cups of Ragu
6. 2 cups mozzarella cheese 

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.   Cover with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil.  Label and freeze.
Serving Day:
Thaw completely.  Remove plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Notes:
*You could use store bought meatballs, but you would need to add more if they are small.  I feel like the homemade recipe provides a more flavorful meatball, which makes a more flavorful lasagna.

** This is more than a regular size jar of Ragu, but less than 2 jars. I felt like 1 jar wasn't enough, but 2 was too much. I would just use the leftover sauce for dipping garlic bread, or freeze it for later.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Veggies by Erica

2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
1 tsp paprika
5 pieces of sliced provolone or swiss cheese cut in half (I did both for my recipe)
8 pieces of ham cut in 2 inch strips
4 cheese Alfredo sauce
1 bag of spring mix veggies (the kind I bought were already seasoned)

To cook:
Place chicken breast tenderloins in a pan
sprinkle with paprika
place sliced cheese on each chicken tenderloin
place two strips of ham on each chicken tenderloin
spoon 4 cheese Alfredo sauce over chicken tenderloin
place veggies in center of pan or around chicken.

To freeze:
Place plastic wrap and foil over dish and place in freezer

To Reheat:
Thaw completely
Heat oven to 375
Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is done

Breakfast Mini-Frittatas by Jackie

This recipe is not for the exchange.  I just made them and thought I'd share the recipe in case anyone else is looking for something different to make during their time off. :) 

makes 24 frittatas

Ingredients:
12 eggs
¼ c. heavy whipping cream
¾ c. milk
½ c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon or Italian sausage or diced ham
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

**You do not have to use the whipping cream.  I did because I had it leftover from a recipe.  You can use all milk or half & half if you want.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray muffin pans with non-stick spray.  Scramble eggs with milk and cream.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Pour into muffin tins.  I use the large Pampered Chef scoop to measure mine.  Cook 15-20 minutes or until knife comes out clean. 

To Freeze:

Cool completely on cooling rack.  Place in gallon Ziploc freezer bag. 

Serving Day:

Remove from freezer.  Place on microwave safe plate.  Reheat in microwave until heated through. 

Baked French Toast by Jen

Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm)
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.
2. Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours or overnight....it was about 12 hours.
3. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it all looks nice and crumbly (like small pebbles). Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.
4. When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge. Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).

Freezing instructions:
Complete tasks 1 & 2 then cover pan of bread and egg mixture in freezer.
Topping should be placed in a small ziploc and freeze until ready to bake.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. When ready to bake, remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb topping mixture over the top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like). You can serve with syrup.

Santa Fe Chicken Bake by Jackie

We loved this the last time Jackie made it, so we are making it again.  You can find the recipe and leave comments at the original post http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2011/06/santa-fe-chicken-bake-by-jackie.html

Thai Beef with Noodles by Erica

Ingredients:
1 lb of steak for stir fry cut into strips (I used a meat tenderizer on mine)
1/2 cup Sherry
3 tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp dark roasted sesame oil
1 bag of Japanese Udon noodles

Assembly:
Place strips of meat into a freezer bag.
Mix ingredients of sauce together in a bowl and whisk.
Pour into bag and freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely
Preheat skillet, cook meat and sauce until warmed and meat is cooked to your liking.
Serve over cooked Udon noodles.

Cincinnati Chili by Jackie

Mel made this in 2010.  Find recipe and leave comments at this link:  http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2010/01/cincinnati-chili-by-mel.html

BBQ Meatballs - Wendy's version

This makes a great appetizer dish too.  Make larger meatballs for a meal.  This is great when served with baked potatoes.

Ingredients:
3 lbs. Ground Beef
3/4 cup Milk
1 stack Saltines
3 eggs
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
3/4 teaspoon Paprika
2 teaspoons Salt
1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Rays)

Assembly:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  I used my hands to mix.  I then use my small cookie scoop to make balls in a 8x11 foil cake pan.  This recipe is enough to make 2 pans, so I split it in half for 2 meals.  Cover with plastic wrap and foil and freeze.

Pour BBQ sauce in Ziploc bag.  Freeze.

To Serve:
Thaw.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until heated through.

Variation:
For larger meatballs, approximately 3 tablespoons per meatball, bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes after allowing them to thaw.  Bake potatoes can cook with these at the same time. 

Yield:  60 or more small meatballs per 2 meals.

Bistro Ham Twist by Wendy

This is delicious served with a salad of mixed greens.

Ingredients:
2 cup chopped cooked ham
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz.) grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 pkgs. (11 oz each) refrigerated French Bread dough
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Assembly:
1.  Chop ham.  Dice bell pepper, snip basil with kitchen shears.  In medium bowl, combine ham, bell pepper, basil, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan Cheese, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise and garlic.
2.  Place bread dough, seam sides up, on a large cutting board.  Using a serrated knife, slice each loaf lengthwise, end to end, cutting halfway through to center of loaf;  spread open flat.  Using a roller, roll dough crosswise to a 4 inch width, creating a well down center of each loaf.
3.  Spoon half of the ham mixture down center of each loaf.  Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal.  Place loaves, seam side down, in an X pattern on a piece of parchment paper.  Crisscross ends of dough to form a large figure 8.
4.  Combine egg white and Italian seasoning mix;  lightly brush over dough.  Cut a 3" slit in each of the top sections of the twist to reveal filling.  Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese over loaf.

To Serve that Day:
Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Remove from oven;  cool 10 minutes.

To Freeze:
Cover with plastic wrap and wrap sides of parchment paper over plastic wrap.  Finish with foil over entire twist.

To serve after frozen:
Thaw completely.  Bake in a 375 degree oven 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Remove from oven;  cool 10 minutes.  Slice with serrated knife and serve.

Yield:  8 servings

Chicken and Stars by Erica

Serves 10

Ingredients:
One whole chicken
2 bags of trio medley frozen veggies corn, celery, onion
1 box of chicken stock
2 tbs oregano
1 1/2 tbs garlic
4 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes.
1 1b of star pasta

Assembly:
Place all ingredients except pasta in a pot to cook. Bring water to a boil and cook until chicken can be removed from the bone with a fork.

Take the chicken out of the pot with tongs and place to the side until cooled. Turn off the burner on the soup.

Remove chicken from bone while boiling water for pasta.

Cook the pasta for 5 minutes, rinse.

Place chicken and pasta into the soup.

To freeze:
Put soup into Ziploc bags and freeze.

Serving day:
Thaw soup completely, place in a pot and warm on stove top, or in the microwave.

Jackie's Angel Chicken

Ingredients:
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter 

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
10 oz. Philadelphia Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Cream
1 box angel hair pasta 

Assembly:
Melt butter over low heat, in small saucepan.   Blend in golden mushroom soup and chicken broth. Mix in cooking cream.  Stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil.  Place chicken breasts in gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.  Pour sauce on top of chicken. Freeze upright for ease of fitting in crock pot while still frozen.

Serving Day:
Thaw bag enough to pour chicken and sauce into crock pot. Cook on high for 4 ½ hours.  Shred chicken.   Serve chicken and sauce over cooked noodles.

Party Pasta Bowl (repeat from Mel) by Amy

Ingredients:
1 pkg. uncooked ziti
1 c. chopped onion
1 lb. ground beef
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 jar (48 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 egg
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 c. fresh parsley (I use dried)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, divided

Assembly:
Cook pasta according to package. Cook onion, beef and garlic over medium heat 8-10 minutes, then drain. Add seasonings, sauce and tomatoes. In small bowl, mix egg, ricotta, 1 c.mozzarella, 1/4 c. Parmesan, parsley and pepper. To assemble, place pasta in 9x13 baking dish (or slightly larger), add 6 cups of meat sauce and mix well. Spread cheese mixture evenly over pasta. Top with remaining sauce.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic and foil. Bake 1 hour. Top with remaining cheeses. Continue baking 10 minutes or until bubbly. (Yields 12 servings)

Beef Vegetable Soup with Potatoes by Amy (repeat)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

2 - 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 carrots, sliced or cubed

2 onions, sliced or cubed

2 potatoes, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

12 oz. can V-8 vegetable juice (or more)

1 1/2 - 2 cups sliced celery

2 tsp. beef stock concentrate or 2 beef bouillon cubes

2-3 cups vegetables (frozen)

Assembly:

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on Low 12 hours or High 4-6 hours.

*If you want to freeze, combine all of the ingredients except for the vegetable juice.

Cooking Day:

1. Thaw completely.

2. Pour into slow cooker and add the vegetable juice. Cook on Low 12 hours or High 4-6 hours.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs by Jen

Ingredients:
1 bag of Frozen Homestyle Meatballs
1 large can of pineapple chucks and juice
1 jar of Kikoman’s Teriyaki Baste and Glaze
2 cups of frozen seasoning blend (chopped onions and peppers)
1 large bag of egg noodles or Rice

Assembly:
Place frozen meatballs in 9x13 baking dish. Pour seasoning blend, pineapples and juice over the top. Pour glaze on top of that. Freeze until ready to bake. Thaw 24 hours in frig before baking. Bake covered at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Serve alone, with butter noodles or rice

Freezing Instructions:
In a large Ziploc bag: combine the pineapple chunks and juice, teriyaki glaze, frozen vegetables and frozen meatballs together. Freeze and store flat until serving day.

Serving Day:
Thaw meatball mixture Ziploc bag, Prepare egg noodles according to the package instructions. Pour meatball mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, Bake covered at 350 for 30-45 mins. Serve over the hot egg noodles.

Chicken with Marsala Sauce by Erica

Ingredients:
8 tbs butter
4 tbs oil
2 cups mushrooms(sliced)
1 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic
4 chicken breasts cut in half about 3 pounds.
Garlic pepper, to taste
1 box of angel hair pasta

Assembly:
Mix butter, garlic and mushrooms in the bottom of a sauce pan. Cook until mushrooms are browned. Add the remaining ingredients, minus the chicken, into the pan and cook until boiled. Because of the wine, be sure to boil for at least 10 minutes to cook out alcohol taste.

In a deep baking dish spray bottom of pan with cooking spray. Place half pieces of chicken breasts in pan. Sprinkle with garlic pepper. Pour sauce over chicken.


To Freeze:
Cover uncooked chicken and sauce with foil. Freeze.

Note: I wanted the chicken to cook after thawing, to keep it moist, so the chicken I used was fresh and had not been previously frozen.

Serving Day:
Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Cook at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Check thickest portion of chicken to be sure it is done. Prepare angel hair pasta as directed. Serve chicken and sauce over the angel hair pasta.

Chicago Style Italian Shredded Beef Sandwiches by Jackie

I made this recipe before and it was a big hit.  At the request of my kids, I made it again for you.  You can find the recipe and leave comments at this link:  http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2008/11/chicago-style-italian-shredded-beef.html

Enjoy!

Creamy Corn & Chicken Soup by Jen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 red pepper, chopped, divided
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can (14.75 oz.) cream-style corn
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

Assembly:
Cook onions and half the red peppers in butter in large saucepan on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently.

Add cream cheese; cook on low heat 3 to 4 min. or until melted, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken, corn, broth and milk.

Cook 5 min. or until soup is heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve topped with remaining red peppers and black pepper.

Freezing Instructions: Spoon cool soup into a large freezer safe gallon Ziploc bag. Freeze flat in freezer.

Serving Day:
Thaw, Heat and Serve. I make this recipe 1 1/2 times for (6) adult servings - makes about 10 cups of soup.

Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Cream Sauce by Erica

Ingredients:
MEATBALLS (1 batch)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbs. Ketchup
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3 tbs. flour

In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 in balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking pan. I placed on cookie cooling racks to keep from sticking.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Drain Meatballs on paper towels, transfer to a serving dish.

CREAM SAUCE
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper
1 can chicken broth
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and cream. Brig to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

MASHED POTATOES
2 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and cut
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter

Cook potatoes until tender, in a mixing bowl blend potatoes, milk and butter until smooth.

Serve meatballs on top of mashed potatoes with cream sauce on top.

To Freeze: Place potatoes in the bottom of a pan, place meatballs on top. Cover with foil. Put cream sauce in a one quart freezer bag and place flat on top of the foil. Cover entire contents with foil. Freeze

To reheat:
Take off top layer of foil. Remove cream sauce packet. Thaw.
Heat in oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.
Warm sauce on stove or in microwave.
Pour sauce over individual servings.

Baked Ham & Cheese Sliders by Jackie

Ingredients
12 slider buns
3/4 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
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 (REMOVE PLASTIC WRAP FIRST).  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!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie by Wendy

Ingredients
1/2 cup Butter (1 Stick) melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cups cooked chicken breasts
1 cup milk
1 medium onion
2 cups frozen mixed peas and carrots or other frozen veg. blend
1/2 pkg. frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp water

To Assemble:
1.  Add butter and flour to 4 qt. pan; whisk until smooth.  Cook over med.-high heat 6-8 min. or until mixture is golden brown, whisk occasionally.  Add stock, whisking constantly until smooth.  Add thyme, pressed garlic, salt and black pepper to pan.  Simmer, uncovered, 6-8 minutes or until sauce is thickened.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chicken and milk.
2.  Finely chop onion.  Add onion, frozen vegetable and chicken mixture to pan.  Mix well.  Pour into casserole dish. Top with frozen puff pastry sheet.  In small bowl whisk together egg and water, lightly brush over pastry.  Cover and freeze.

To Serve that day or from frozen:
Thaw completely.  Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees, for 35-40 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.  Remove from oven;  let stand, uncovered, 10 minutes before serving.

Yield:  8 servings.