Freezer Meals: Meatballs

The day of Grace's second birthday party I was in need of another main course to serve at her party. I had intended to pick up frozen meatballs from Ikea (only place I know that sells them here,) but I had forgotten. Typical. So I hopped onto pinterest in hopes to find a quick and easy barbecue meatball recipe. I was pretty quickly annoyed when every recipe I opened up included two ingredients:

1. frozen meatballs.
2. barbecue sauce

Finally, I just winged it and came up with my own meatball recipe and it turned out great. The wonderful thing about meatballs is that you can mix up huge batches just as easily as a small batch, and once they are baked and cooled you can separate and freeze them into portions for each meal. The recipe below makes about 50 meatballs but could easily be doubled.

And meatballs aren't just for spaghetti. We use them in meatball subs, barbecue meatballs, meatball stroganoff, or reheated with taco seasoning and served over some spanish rice.

And I have now use the word "meatball" more than I thought I would in my entire life.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef (not lean!)
4 eggs
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 tbs oregano
2 tbs thyme
2 tbs basil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Using clean hands (and take off your rings!) thoroughly mix all ingredients evenly. Use hands to form the meat into small balls, roughly the size of a doughnut hole and place on broiling pan so that fat/grease can drain off of them. Place meatballs on pan with space between so that they can cook evenly and don't stick together*.  Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool completely. If using, use immediately in recipe. If freezing, let cool for one hour on countertop. Place family size servings ** in freezer proof container or baggie and freeze. When using from freezer, let thaw for  45 minutes to an hour before using in a recipe.

Enjoy!

*I can fit all 50 onto one pan with just a little space between each of them
** We use 10-12 for 2 adults. 15 for 2 adults and 1 toddler.

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Freezer Meals: Meatballs

{Freezer Meal} Lasagna

I love lasagna, but it is a little daunting to make.

Because of that, I have never made it.

That, and the fact that I have a deep love for store bought, frozen lasagna. Don't ask.

That is, until about a month ago, when I finally spotted ricotta cheese in a grocery store. Ian was able to track down some sausage too, meaning I had the ingredients to finally try my hand at making lasagna.

And to add pressure to my first lasagna experience, we were having dinner guests. AND I was doubling the recipe so that I could freeze it.

I found a recipe, over at Annie's Eats that seemed relatively simple. I won't bore you with instruction and pictures, since her recipe is beautifully written and illustrated.

I love the taste of this lasagna and the simplicity of the instructions. When doubling the recipe, be careful on your noodles in he pot, as you don't want to crowd them and they tend to stick together. I also realized I like a little more cheese than what the recipe called for- I would probably use 4 cups of mozzarella cheese per recipe.

To double and freeze:
1.) Double the recipe.
2.) Cook portion intended for freezer for at least 30 minutes (because of the raw egg.)
3.) Allow to cool completely
4.) Cover and freeze

Pretty easy and I can't wait to have our second portion of this recipe!

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{Freezer Meal} Lasagna

{Freezer Meals} Baked Ziti

I love cooking for the freezer. It is so satisfying to me to know that I am cooking one meal for my family for that night, but will have a magical, ready made meal on a night when I don't have time. or energy. or will power.

Whatever the case might be that night.

OR you could give away the meal to a new mom, or a family that's been sick lately, or to a friend who has been really busy lately! Either way, an extra meal equals encouragement to someone, even if it is you!

Baked Ziti was next on my freezer meal prep meal plan. Baked ziti is one of those meals that seems pretty intuitive to me. After all, it's pretty much like spaghetti. That you bake. And have cheese on top of.

But I'll share anyways, in case you are out of loop on how to Bake Ziti.

The ingredients:

One box of ziti
Two jars of pasta sauce (or you could make your own, I'm taking the lazy man approach)
Parmesan Cheese
4-6 cups of shredded cheese
4-6 finely diced garlic cloves
2 pounds of ground beef
Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Garlic Salt

1.) Bring large pot of water to boil, add plenty of salt (1 tablespoon)

2.) Pour in dry pasta, let boil for 7-9 minutes until nearly done
3.) While that is boiling, saute garlic, and then add ground beef in skillet
4.) Add sauce and spices to taste to garlic and meat, reduce heat  to simmer for 10-15 minutes
5.) Remove pasta from heat, drain water, return pasta to pot
6.)Spoon pasta into two baking dishes
7.) Cover pasta with half of meat sauce into each pan, stir gently

8.) Top pasta and sauce with 2-3 cups of shredded cheese and Parmesan cheese
9.) Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes
 

 *For freezer meal, Complete steps 1-8, then let cool completely before covering and freezing. Thaw dish when time to serve, and cook for 20 minutes on 375.

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{Freezer Meals} Baked Ziti

{Freezer Meals} Chicken Enchiladas

To me, nothing says warm, gooey, delicious, comfort food like Chicken Enchiladas.

And I don't even like them from a restaurant. Only this recipe.

It's the perfect combination of cheese, chicken, and tortilla, baked into a perfect dish.

In fact, I would liken it to the Mexican version of Chicken and Dumplings. And I am not particularly crazy about the whole "wet bread," concept of Southern chicken and dumplings.

You'll notice most of my freezer meal recipes are simple. And that's because over here we can't always find the more complicated ingredients. So, these recipes may not be gourmet, and they may not be healthy, but they are simple, and they are delicious!

Chicken Enchiladas
(recipe is doubled, one for cooking night, one for the freezer.)

The Ingredients:

4 cups boiled, shredded chicken (I like mine pulsed in the food processor)
1/2 cup butter
4 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp cilantro
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 cans diced chili peppers
1 tsp salt
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use powdered soup mixes)
1 jar picante sauce (salsa)
2 pkg flour tortillas
6 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican, Colby Jack)

Directions:

1.) Saute butter, cumin, cilantro, garlic, peppers, and salt, together in large skillet over medium heat
2.) Add in chicken, and mix together. Remove from heat.

3.) Combine soup, picante, and 3 cups of cheese in sauce pan and heat over medium heat until cheese is melted. Remove from heat..

4.) Fill tortillas with chicken mixture, roll, and place seam side down into baking dish.

5.) Cover one pan with half of sauce mixture and top with cheese.

6.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

(Only bake freezer dish for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool before covering and placing in freezer. Then, when it is time to use, let thaw and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.)

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{Freezer Meals} Chicken Enchiladas

{Freezer Meals} Chicken Pot Pie

Last week I wrote about how I like to Double Up on my meal that I'm cooking for dinner and freeze the second portion as a freezer meal for later use.

I shared one of my favorite recipes for Lil Cheddar Meatloaves and I am plowing ahead with more freezer cooking. I'm trying to cook one beef and one chicken meal a week for storage, so last week I made a second freezer meal: Chicken Pot Pie.

I think Chicken Pot Pie is a definite comfort food. I prefer mine with a biscuit topping, but Ian likes it with pie crust, so, this time, pie crust it was!

The ingredients are very simple:

(ingredients are for a double batch, one for that night, one for freezing!)

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2/3 finely diced onion (about one medium onion)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 and 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 and 1/3 cup milk
• 6 cups boiled chicken, shredded (I love it finely shredded, so I use my food processor)
• 2 cans of peas and carrots, drained
•  Pie Crust or biscuit topping

Directions:

1.) Melt butter in large pot
2.) Add flour, onion, salt, and pepper
3.) Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. until mixture turns a deep yellow/light brown.
4.) Pour in broth and milk and let entire pot come to a boil for 2-3 minutes
5.) Mix in chicken and peas/carrots.
6.) Pour mixture into two separate casserole dishes- 8x8 or 9x9
7.) Top with your choice of pie crust or biscuit topping
8.) Bake, one dish at a time, in an oven for 35 minutes at 425 degrees.
(bake only 20 minutes for your freezer meal.)

Enjoy! It really is a simple meal, especially if you are using boiled shredded chicken in several other dishes that week. I tend to make this in the same week I am making chicken enchiladas or bar b que pulled chicken, so that I can just buy a GIANT bag of frozen, skinless, chicken breasts, boil for 20 minutes, and shred it all in one go.

Recipe originally from Betty Crocker

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{Freezer Meals} Chicken Pot Pie