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.