Freezer Meals

I have had several people ask me for the recipes that I used to make freezer meals this last week. So I decided to post the recipes here so everyone can get them. I pretty much just used recipes that I already use regularly that I thought would freeze well. I also found a few recipes from the "Our Best Bites" cookbook that had instructions for freezing. I think there were only three recipes that we made, that we had never tried before, Chicken and Bean burritos, sweet and sour meatballs, and breakfast taquitos (which I have now tried and LOVED). So here goes.

This first recipe is a recipe that I make quite often. It is super yummy and is nice to make when you have some already cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer. I haven't tried the ones that we froze yet, but it worked really well to put them in an aluminum pan. One batch makes about 18 pinwheels.

Chicken Broccoli Pinwheels

1 recipe French Roll Dough, or your choice of dough will work too
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli
2 cups cheese (Use your favorite, anything works.  I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)
3/4 cup finely chopped green onions

Follow the recipe for your roll dough until the dough has risen. Punch down the dough and roll the dough out into a large rectangle (approximately 13×20 inches).

In a small bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Spread the rolled out dough with the butter/cream cheese mixture. Top with each of your fillings.

Roll the dough up, like you would a batch of cinnamon rolls. Slice the roll into about 1-inch segments.
Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.

Let the rolls rise until nearly doubled and bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.  Enjoy with a nice salad and great friends!

***These freeze beautifully.  After slicing the pinwheels, place them on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once frozen, wrap the pinwheels, label and return to the freezer.  On the day you want to serve them, set them on a cookie sheet lightly covered.  They will raise as the they thaw.  Place in the oven and bake as directed above.

I use a really easy french bread dough recipe that I got from my sister, Debbie for the dough. 

 

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 next recipe is a recipe that I made up using several other similar recipes to make it how I like it. 

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 small finely chopped onion

1 Cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 can corn, drained

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 15 oz cans chicken broth

1 can rotel (diced tomatoes and green chillies)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 packet taco seasoning

1/8 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 lbs chicken, diced

10 corn tortillas

Add everything to slow cooker (it makes a lot, mine is pretty full with all the ingredients). Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours. During the last hour before serving soup, add 10 corn tortillas ripped up into 2” pieces. Garnish with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips. 

Freezer Instructions:

This recipe makes a lot, so we split it into two meals for a smaller family. We used cooked chicken for the freezer meal. But when I make it the day we are planning to eat it, I usually use raw chicken. Just put it into a gallon size freezer zip lock bag. When ready to eat, place soup in crock pot on high for 3-4 hours. Add the tortillas a half hour before eating.

Creamy Crock-pot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
1 10oz can cream of chicken soup
1 10 oz can cheddar soup
1 14 oz can chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic salt seasoning

1 cup sour cream
6 cups broccoli florets, just fork tender (I cooked it in boiling water for 3-4 minutes)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Place soups, chicken broth, salt, and garlic seasoning into a crock-pot over low heat. Whisk until smooth. Place chicken in, pressing to the bottom. Cover lid and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours

2. When chicken is cooked, use 2 forks to shred into bite size pieces. Stir in sour cream and broccoli.

3. Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle with cheese.  4-6 servings

Freezer Instructions:

Again, this meal makes a lot. So we split it into two meals when making it for a small family. I used cooked, shredded chicken for the freezer meal. We added the broccoli, but not the sour cream. When ready to eat, heat in crock pot for a few hours. Add the sour cream about a half hour before eating. Serve over rice.

Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Lime-Chipotle Dip Recipe by Our Best Bites
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 C Breakstone’s Sour Cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 C grated pepperjack cheese
1/4 C chopped roasted red bell peppers
1/4 C sliced green onions
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1-2 tsp hot sauce
16 6″ flour tortillas
cooking spray or olive oil
Dipping Sauce:
1 1/2 C Breakstone’s Sour Cream
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up.  Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Crack eggs into large mixing bowl.  Whisk in 1/2 C sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to pan.  Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble.  Remove from heat when slightly undercooked.  Add cheese, roasted red peppers, green onions, cilantro, and hot sauce to taste.  Gently fold to combine.
Warm tortillas in microwave to ease rolling process.  Working with a few tortillas at a time, place a scant 1/4 C egg mixture into the center of each one and roll up into a cylinder.  Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other.  When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil.  Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.
While taquitos are baking, coming 1 1/2 C sour cream, lime juice, chipotle chili powder and kosher salt.  Stir to combine and store in fridge.  Remove taquitos from oven , let cool for 5 minutes, and then serve with dipping sauce.
Make Ahead Prep: The egg mixture can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to use.  You can also prepare the taquitos and instead of baking right away, cover tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight, or freeze for later use.  To prepare frozen taquitos, place (un-thawed) directly on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Follow original baking instructions, increasing time by 5 minutes or until taquitos are golden brown.

*we placed these in an aluminum pan with lid. I like to make these using the uncooked flour tortillas rather than the tortillas the recipe calls for. I used my frozen taguitos that we made this morning and they were super yummy! We were also going to add sausage to this recipe, but then ended up forgetting to add it. I'm sure that would have been really yummy too.


I got this recipe from Our Best Bites
 

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

12 uncooked flour tortillas (you can use cooked tortillas too, but the uncooked ones are super yummy!)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.
Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.
Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip ‘em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole,
Makes 12-16
Freezer Instructions: Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 and place the taquitos on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

White Chicken Chili

Recipe by Our Best Bites

I call this a chili, but it’s really a soup consistency.
If you want it thicker, just reduce the amount of broth.

1 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 lb boneless chicken, cubed (about 3-4 boneless, skinless breasts)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 3.5 oz can green chilies
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 lime
1/2 C chopped cilantro

1 32oz box chicken broth Condiments: (in addition to measurements above)
Sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Pepperjack or Jack cheese, shredded
Avocado
Tortilla Chips or make your own tortilla strips
In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes- just until it starts to become translucent. While onions are cooking, drain beans and rinse with cold water and set aside. Sprinkle chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot. Add garlic as well. Cook until there’s no more visible pink on the chicken, probably 3-4 minutes.
Then add green chills- along with all of the juices in the can. Add beans, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and the 1/2 C chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream. Serve with condiments. If you don’t have all those condiments- at least have sour cream! But honestly, it’s best with everything :)
Makes about 8 cups of soup.
*Oh, and this freezes well. Sometimes I make a batch and when it cools I put single servings into zip-locks and pop them in the freezer. Makes a great quick lunch.

*We used cooked chicken for this recipe. We didn't actually heat up anything, just threw all the ingredients in a gallon zip lock freezer bag.

This is maybe half of the recipes that we made this week. I will get the rest on here soon.