My 2nd attempt at 'Once a Month Cooking'

After my first time trying the whole "Once a month" cooking thing, I realized that I loved what I was able to pull out of the freezer with next to no notice.  But that it took A LOT longer than I expected.  We had a free night last Saturday (which never happens) and I wanted to try a couple new recipes that I had found for freezer cooking.  I put together 4 meals in under 1 hour and I was thrilled.  I have never made 3 of them and one my kids adore but I have never frozen it before.  Can't wait to try it!!

Then I saw a post on facebook of a young mother who is pregnant with her 4th and is extremely ill asking for help.  She really doesn't feel well enough to make dinner for her family.  I was so thrilled that I had 2 meals in my freezer that I can take her right away.  Now I know why my evening was free and I decided to make some meals for my freezer :)

Here are a couple of the recipes I tried and will add photos when I get them out and cooked.

The "4 Freezer Marinades for LAZY PEOPLE" screemed my name from www.eatathomecooks.com.  I made two of the 4 marinades, put 1/2 a bag of frozen chicken into 2 large GLAD freezer containers I just bought and covered each with a marinade.  Frozen chicken covered with a marinade; how will this ever work.  It took me 5 minutes to prep that.  I can't wait to take them out of the freezer tonight and have one tomorrow.  Here are the two I tried:

Chicken with Italian/soy sauce marinade

Italian Dressing and Soy Sauce Marinade
Mix 1/4 c Italian dressing, 1/4 c soy sauce and 1/4 c sugar together. 

Lemon Juice and Garlic
Mix 1/2 cup lemon juice with 1 tsp garlic salt. Season with salt and pepper.

Directions:
Pour over frozen chicken breasts. Close lid and shake to coat.  Label container.  Put back into freezer until ready to use.  Pull out of freezer to thaw and grill to your hearts content.

Goulash recipe I tweeked
and the first thing I pinned on Pinterest!

Next I made Goulosh from a recipe I have made before and froze for the first time.  Here is that recipe:  My Goulash recipe


Then, I made something called "Lawnmower Tacos".  It was super easy and I had everything on hand:  Lawnmower Taco recipe from Life as Mom

My favorite part of freezer cooking is using everything that I have on hand.  I always have hamburger, sausage and chicken breasts frozen in the freezer.  This way I am using up what I have and making easy to prepare meals using everyday ingredients my kids will eat. 

The biggest thing I have learned about freezer cooking is find what works for you.  Recipes that are easy to put together and your family loves are my favorites.  Make sure you have your staples stocked and be prepared to run to the store if needed. 

Goulash

One of the first things I pinned on Pinterest was a recipe for Goulash.  I made it that night and my son asked for 3rds.  It was so easy to throw together and it had basic ingredients in it so I had everything in the pantry or freezer.  I love that about recipes.  Finding the perfect one that your family loves, that doesn't cost a fortune and you have everything you need already in your house to make it. 

I have found that we have a couple really good recipes that everyone will eat consistantly and those are the ones that we go to every other week.  Having short cuts for those for during the week is my big struggle.  So we shall see how this turns out of the freezer.

Goulash
1 lb. hamburger crumbled and browned
garlic salt
1 pkg. elbow macaroni cooked and drained
1 jar spagetti sauce
1/2 can water
2 cups shredded cheese

While browning the hamburger, add the garlic salt to taste.  Cook macaroni according to directions.  Drain and add to a large mixing bowl.  Add hamburger (once drained).  Stir in spaghetti sauce, water and add 3/4 cup cheese to the mix.  Once all mixed well, pour into a greased 9x13 dish.  Cover with remaining cheese.  Cover with greased aluminum foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Serve with bread and a salad and you have a great meal.

Hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip in the Crock Pot

For my Pinterst Craft Night I made two dips and this was the second one.  I really liked this and it stayed warm the entire night.  Just needed to be stirred every so often.  I LOVE Spinach & Artichoke Dip but it's always cold too soon.  Plus, I hate heating up my house or having to take something cooked or to have to cook something when I arrive at a friends.  This way it stays warm and you just need an outlet. 

I threw everything in the crockpot and walked away for about 25 minutes.  Then I came back and mixed it all together.  It looked perfect right away!!!

Spinach & Artichoke Dip in the Crock Pot
1 pkg chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1 jar of artichoke hearts, diced
2 pkgs of cream cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tsp garlic salt

Toss all in your crockpot on low for 1 -2 hours.  Stir every 20 minutes.  Watch the cheese as it will burn to the sides of the crock pot very easily if you are not careful; like mine did.

Serve with bread, crackers or tortilla chips. 

Mississippi Sin Dip

I hosted "Pinterest Craft Night" last friday night with my girl friends and knew I had to serve some fun food/beverages from Pinterest as well.  We had a blast and are hoping to make it a regular night out for us.  I have pinned so many things with Pinterest and I have made a lot of the food items but hadn't dared on the craft items yet.  So, I am glad we had such a great turn out.

I decided to try something called "Mississippi Sin Dip" that I pinned one of my first days on Pinterest.  It had caught my eye and it was super easy to make and yummy!!!!  Which of course are my requirements for anything I try to make :)  I of course didn't have everything the recipe called for but I am not too into super spicy!

Mississippi Sin Dip
1 pkg of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups of sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped ham
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1 (4oz) can of green chilies, undrained
1 tsp worchestershire sauce

Cream the cream cheese and sour cream together until well blended.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into an 8x8 baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  I let it sit for 5 minutes and served it with crackers and tortilla chips. 

I wish I had baked it in a baking stone because it would have stayed hotter longer.  You could also pour it into a bread bowl, cover with aluminum and bake as well.  But I didn't have one or the time to run and get one :)

Hope you enjoy!

Here is the link to the original recipe as well!
http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2010/09/mississippi-sin-dip.html

Homemade French Fries

My neice and sister-in-law made these while we were on vacation in the Wisconsin Dells and we wanted to try them at home.  I was surprised how easy they were to make and how many we made.  My daughter helped cut the potatos, so I put her in charge of that.  I let her prepare them all and I watched them while they baked.  She was thrilled they turned out as well as they did on our first attempt.  Hope you enjoy!

Ready to eat! YUM!!

Homemade French Fries
1 5 lb bag of potatos
1 bottle of Italian salad dressing
1 jar shreadded parmesan shaker
(shaky cheese as my kids call it)


Wash potatos and slice in halk then 1/4s until you have thin strips of potatos.  Pour 1/4 of italian dressing into a baking dish and sprinke about 1/4 of the cheese into the dressing.  Mix well.  Toss potatos strips in and coat with the mixture.  Place on a greased cookie sheet in a thin layer.  Repeat making mix to cover all your potatos.  A 5lb bag will fill atleast 3 cookie sheets so determine how many you really/need want.  Bake at 350 degrees for atleast 1 hour.  I set my timer for every 15 minutes so I could shuffle my fries and turn the trays.  Don't want any to burn.  But if they do, they are the best!!!!!

A full oven full of fries!

Serve Hot!!!!

Tator Tot Casserole

I made this weeks ago in the crockpot for my kids and my son cleared the plate.   I wanted to make it just in the oven because my crockpot really isn't big enough for most of the recipes I have for crockpot cooking.  Really want to get the 6qt one to add to the 4qt one I have :)  Excellant christmas present for me or black friday find :)

Anyway, I threw this together and asked my hubby to throw it in the oven while I was at a meeting at Church and it would be ready when we got home.  It was so yummy.  My son would have had more than the 2 helpings I allowed him.  I had it for lunch yesterday and it was just as good as the night before. 

This dish is total comfort food and I am all about food making me happy :)

Enjoy!!

Tator Tot Casserole
1 lb hamburger, browned and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c milk
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 bag of frozen tator tops.


Place browned and drained hamburger in a 13x9 greased baking dish.  Spread it out so it covers the bottom.  Cover with tator tots.  Mix milk and soup to thin it out.  Pour over top of tator tops.  Cover entire dish with cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken

I had pinned this weeks ago and have been wanting to try this recipe for Hawaiian Chicken in the crockpot.  With baseball games taking almost 2.5 hours its been a struggle to come up with something to eat.  We don't have time before the game and I hate to be eating after 8pm at night.  I threw this in the crockpot right before we left for my son's game last night and it was soooo good.  Super easy because I don't have the recipe in front of me as I type.  Which I like the best!!!

I had leftovers for lunch today and it was wonderful.  Serve over rice and even my little one ate some.

Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
4-6 frozen chicken breasts
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 bottle of barbacue sauce

Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot.  Cover with barbacue sauce and pineapple.  Cook on high for 2 hours.  Serve over rice.

I thought I had a can of pineapple but I didn't.  I did have a package of pineapple chunks for school lunches in the cabinet.  I used 3 of those and I used about 2/3 of the jar of barbecue sauce.  I didn't want it to be too over powering.  You could use a sweat kind of barbecue sauce, but I just used Sweet Baby Ray's Original which I use for everything.

Cream Cheese Kicker Dip

My favorite dip of all time is something so simple to make but the hardest part is keeping the ingredients on hand.  If I have a jar of the main ingredient, I am sure to make it and eat it myself for no other reason than I love it!  It's not a good thing for my waistline to be eating this at night while I watch my favorite DVR'd shows :) But it sure makes me happy.



Cream Cheese Kicker Dip
1/2 jar of Harry & David Pepper & Onion Relish Classic Recipe
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened

Cream the cream cheese and stir in 1/2 the jar of Harry and David goodness.  Chill and serve with crackers.

Here is the link to the Harry and David Recipe:
http://www.harryanddavid.com/gifts/store/view__10455_10002_Recipes-Appetizers.html

Cream Cheese Kicker Dip Alternative
You can also just place your brick of cream cheese on a plate and pour 1/2 the jar over top of it and serve with crackers as well.  I like it either way :)

Baked Corn on the Cob

I had pinned this the other day on Pinterest and had to try it out.  My hubby and I were a little leary about it but it was WONDERFUL.  I told him I am never boiling the corn again.  This is the easiest and fastest way to have perfectly done corn in no time. 

Removing the hull after being baked

Baked Corn on the Cob
Corn on the Cob with the silks and husks still intake.  Do NOTHING to the corn.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place corn on the racks and bake for 30 minutes.  Peel husks and silks off after 30 minutes to perfectly done corn.  I used a hot pad to hold the corn while I peeled everything off.  It was so easy to shuck the corn after it was baked.  The corn was PERFECT.

Check out this perfectly prepared corn.  It was wonderful.

Adam's Chicken Dip

This is my brother-in-law's dip that we have at every Koch function any more.  Its so easy to throw together and everyone loves it.  You can serve it with tortilla's cut up or use tortilla chips (which is my personal favorite).  I take this dip to a lot of functions and you can make it hotter to your tasted based on your willingness to burn your mouth :)

Will update photo when I get a better one

Adam's Chicken Dip
2 cans of chunked chicken
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, cubed
1 jar jalapeno peppers, chopped


Place all the ingredients in a crock pot and stir.  Place on high for 30 - 45 minutes or until its hot.
Served with cut up tortillas (sliced into 8 sections) or tortilla chips.

Chocolate Covered Popcorn

This is one of my favorites from years of Bunko.  I FINALLY made it myself and realized how easy it really is.  Everyone raved about it last night when I took it to a friends for the annual carnival at our school.  There were about 2 pieces left in the bowl when it was time to leave.  Guess that is a sign that something was well liked.   Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Popcorn
2 bags microwave popcorn
1 1/2 bags white chocolate chips
2 T paramount crystals
Colored sugar sprinkles

Fix popcorn according to the directions.  Pick out as many unpopped kernels as possible.  Pour into a large bowl.  Melt white choc for about 1.5 minutes in microwave so it's melted and mixes easily without scorching it.  Add paramount crystals and it melts instantly.  Pour over popcorn and mix well.  Spread out on was paper and sprinkle with sugar.  Let dry for at least an hour.  When dry, break apart chunks and enjoy.  Keeps well in the fridge.

The paramount crystals are something I can find at a specialty baking shop for about $2 a bag.

Brown Sugar Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

I had found a recipe on Pinterest for Brown Sugar Chicken in the Slow Cooker and I wondered if if would work on the pot roast I had defrosting in the fridge.  I love to try new ways to make pulled pork and this sounded so yummy to me.  It smelled even better!!!  It was very sweet and my oldest was OK about it.  I really liked it and it made a great sauce for the 3lb roast I had. 

Try it and let me know what you think!!

Brown Sugar Pulled Pork
3 lb pork roast (defrosted)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2/3 cup vinegar
2 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 tsp garlic salt

Place pork roast in slow cooker.  Place brown sugar on top of roast.  Pour in remaining ingredients.  Cook on low for 6 hours or High for 4-5 hours.  Mix sauce about half way.  Shred roast with fork and mix well with sauce.  Serve on buns with mozzarella.

We had some leftover and I am having it for lunch today!!  Hope it's just as good the second time.

Oriental Slaw

One of my favorite sides for any family gathering or cookout has to be this recipe.  My sister-in-law is a fabulous cook and I stole this from her.  She made it at a wedding shower years ago and it has become a staple that I serve.  It can be made ahead in parts and then thrown together at the end.  Its super easy and I keep the main ingredients in my pantry just in case.  It is that great mix of sweet and salty with an added crunch.  I will warn you, it doesn't keep well so remember that when you are fixing it for a large group.

Oriental Slaw
1 bag cole slaw
1 bag of ramen noodles (I use the blue chicken package)
1 c slivered almonds
1/4 c margarine

For the sauce:
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 Tbl soy sauce
1/4 c vinegar

With the ramen is still in the package, smash it until its in small chunks.  Be careful, it tends to squirt out the sides of the package.  In a skillet, melt butter. Add almonds and ramen noodles and cook until golden brown. 
Place the coleslaw in a large mixing bowl and add browned mix.  Mix well.
In some sort of container with a lid, put the ingredients for the sauce together and shake to mix well.

Right before serving time, add sauce to the coleslaw mixture and mix well.

My favorite part is the crunchy ramen pieces.  Hope you enjoy!

How time flies!!

My family went on vacation for a week to the Wisconsin Dells with my husband's entire extended family.  It was a crazy, wonderful time full of sun, lots of water and lots of togetherness.  It also included a lot of adult beverages and late night food fun!  While I was away my blog reached 2000 hits.  I am shocked and thrilled that it's gotten this many in such a short amount of time.  I haven't really done anything to promote it.  It's really a place for me to put my favorite recipes together electronically that I can pull up anywhere.  Sharing is an excellent byproduct.

Hope you have enjoyed my crazy rambling and I have a few recipes to add this week that are from the family vacation!