Freezer Meals Continued

Pizza Pockets

1 French Bread Recipe

Pizza Sauce

4 cups Mozzerella Cheese

Favorite Pizza Toppings

1 egg, beaten

Garlic Salt

Parmesan Cheese

Make French bread dough according to directions. Let rise for 1 hour. Form dough into 16 even balls. (I like to roll dough out, then use pizza cutter to cut dough into even sections, then roll into a ball.) Using rolling pin, roll each portion of dough into rounds. Place about a tablespoon of pizza sauce on half of the dough. Cover with a small handful of cheese, then desired pizza toppings, then more cheese. Fold dough in half with pizza toppings inside dough. Use fork to crimp edges together. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with Garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Let rise for 15-20 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-14 minutes.

Freezing Directions: After cooking pizza pockets, place in gallon size freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Heat in microwave for 2 minutes.

Here is the french bread recipe in case you missed it from the previous post.

Basic french bread recipe:

1 ½ cups warmish hot water

1 Tbsp (one pkg) active dry yeast

1to 1 1/2 tsp salt

4 cups flour (you can substitute 1-2 cups wheat flour for the white but you might want to add some gluten if you have it)

Mixing up the dough:

Food Processor (use a big 7 cup one):

In a small bowl pour ½ cup of your water and sprinkle the yeast over it. If you are adding sugar you can sprinkle a little of that in as well. Stir to get rid of clumps and let sit for 5 minutes or so while you get the other ingredients ready.

In your food processor add your flour (measure the flour carefully, 4 cups is the max) salt and, if needed for your recipe, oil and/or sugar and turn on. While it is going pour in the water/yeast mixture and the other 1 cup of water. Keep mixing till a dough ball is formed, if it doesn’t form you can add a tablespoon more water. It should make a nice smooth dough ball after mixing 30 seconds or so. 

 

The Rise:

 Place dough in a greased bowl turning it over once to grease top. Cover and rise till doubled (about 1 hour).

 

Gently deflate dough and form it into a long roll by grabbing the back of the dough and folding it over the front over and over till you have a pretty firm long roll. Place on a cookie or jelly roll sheet and slice slits into the top with a sharp knife (this helps it rise).Cover loosely with the plastic wrap you used before and let rise till double (about 45 min.). Preheat oven to 400 then after that second rise place cookie sheet with bread in the oven and cook 25 minutes or until nicely brown. Immediately take it off the pan and cool it on a rack or towel. 

****This is a favorite recipe in our house. They are super yummy. We make them every couple of weeks.****

 

 

Shredded Beef Burritos

2-3 lbs. Beef roast

1 onion, chopped

1 (10 oz) can chopped green chilies

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 T chili powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

8 flour tortillas

refried beans

cheese

Place roast in slow cooker. Cook on low 8 hours until it will shred easily. (This is perfect to let slow cook all night.) Add remaining Ingredients. Cook on low 2-3 hours. Spread meat filling on a tortilla. Add refried beans, grated cheese, and whatever toppings you prefer. If freezing, see directions below. Otherwise, wrap in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Freezing Directions: Wrap each burrito in plastic wrap. Place several burritos in a gallon-size freezer bag. To prepare, remove individually and microwave for 2 minutes (still in plastic wrap). Or thaw, wrap in foil, and bake according to directions.

**This recipe makes about 20-25 burritos. I like having them in the freezer for a quick lunch.

 

Chicken and Bean Burritos

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 pkg. Taco seasoning

1 cup water

1 pkg. New Orleans style beans and rice mix

1 (30 Count) pkg. Flour tortillas

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Place chicken and taco seasoning along with 1 cup of water in slow cooker. Cook until chicken shreds, about 4 hours. Shred and keep warm. Cook beans and rice mix according to package directions. Layer each tortilla with shredded chicken, beans, rice, and cheese. Roll up. If freezing, see directions below. Otherwise, microwave until cheese is melted and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Freezing Directions: wrap each burrito in plastic wrap. Place several in gallon-size freezer bags. To reheat, leave in plastic and heat in microwave for 2 minutes. This recipe will make enough for 3 family meals.

 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 lb. Extra lean ground beef

2 T dehydrated onion

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup bread crumbs

Sauce

¾ cup packed brown sugar

3 T flour

1 ½ cups water or pineapple juice

¼ cup white vinegar

3 T soy sauce

1. In a medium bowl, combine meatball ingredients. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lines with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place under the broiler in your over for 5 – 7 minutes or until the meatballs begin to brown.

2. In a large saucepan, whisk together the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Tip: Using a cookie scoop is a great way to get meatballs that are all approximately the same size.

Slow Cooker Instructions: After bringing the sauce mixture to a boil, transfer it to a slow cooker and add the meatballs. Cook on law for 3-4 hours.

Freezer Instructions: Follow the directions as written through adding the meatballs to the sauce. Rather than placing the meatballs in the pan with the sauce, place them in a freezer-safe container and pour the sauce over them. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to cook, invert the container into a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

***I have never actually eaten these, so I can not attest to how they taste, but they were easy to make and from the "Our Best Bites" cookbook. I have never tried a recipe from that cookbook that I didn't like.

 

Turkey Tex Mex Soup

1 lb ground turkey

½ cup onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups milk

2 10 ¾ oz cans of cream of chicken soup

1 14 oz can of whole kernel corn

1 med-large tomato

2-3 carrots, sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 4 oz can of diced green chilis

4 T. of fresh cilantro or parsley or 4 tsp. Dried parsley

½ tsp. Crushed red pepper

2 cups (8 oz) monterey jack cheese

any other vegetables that you think would taste good in the soup.

Brown ground turkey in large pot with onion and garlic, Drain water and add other ingredients except cheese. Heat to a boil then turn down and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cheese and heat till just melted in. Serve. Feeds around 8-10 people. *NOTE* if you are adding carrots or other vegetables you might want to boil them in water while you are getting the other things ready so they have time to get soft. 

Freezer Directions: We browned the turkey with the onion and garlic. Then added corn, carrots, celery, chilies, and cilantro. This recipe makes a lot so we split it into 2 bags for a small family. When you cook it. Place ingredients in slow cooker. When vegetables are soft, add milk, cream of chicken soup, and tomato. Add cheese right before ready to eat. 

 

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

½ Cup Butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. Tomatoes, quartered and seeded

¼ cup white cooking wine (can substitute with more broth)

¼ cup chicken broth

2/3 cup fresh basil, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb cooked spaghetti noodles

grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter in saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and tomatoes, cook 5 minutes or till tomatoes are soft. Add wine and cook on high heat for 4 minutes. Add broth and cook 2 more minutes. Add basil, salt and pepper and take off the heat. Put the sauce through a food mill to strain out seeds, skin, etc. Then add sauce to cooked noodles and toss together. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. ***Note*** if you don't have a food mill you can just blend the ingredients together.

Freezing Directions: Cook sauce as directed above. Place in Gallon size freezer bags. When ready to eat, Cook spaghetti noodles. Heat sauce in pan. Add sauce to pasta. I added 1/2 pound browned sausage because my husband doesn't believe it is dinner without meat. It was yummy.

 

Lasagna

16 oz lasagna noodles

1 lb Mozzerella Cheese

1 lb Hamburger, browned

16 oz tub cottage cheese

1large jar spaghetti sauce

Cook noodles. Divide ingredients in half, then add in layers: half each of noodles, cheese, hambruger, cottage cheese, sauce, repeat with the other half. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes.

Freezing Directions: Make lasagna as directed above. Put in an aluminum pan with lid. Freeze for up to 3 months. To cook, add 20 minutes to cooking time.

***So there you have it. These are the meals that I made this past week for my sister and mom. We quadrupled most recipes to have several of each meal. My sister and mom both have 2 or 3 people to eat each meal, so we split a lot of the recipes into 2 meals. I had intended on finding a lot of crock pot meals that we could just put all ingredients in a bag until ready to cook, but I couldn't find very many recipes I liked. So I decided to go with recipes that I knew. If anyone has any suggestions of recipes that freeze well, I would love to hear them.