Freezer Cooking ~ Part 2

Hey Kids,

Sorry Part 2 is a bit delayed. I was going to write it up yesterday but spent most of my day fighting with our cable company. They have been nothing but hassle since we moved down here. It been frustrating. But I think we are set (for the time being) so I am glad that is out of the way. So due to all of that, I figured I should hold off on writing this up until I was in a better space! :-)

Before I get into all the yummy deliciousness that took place, I will mention that I was asked to make a little something extra for my book club taking place Sunday evening. So Bob was kind enough to whip up a delicious pot of Baked Potato Soup. It never disappoints!

Alright, Sunday consisted of enchiladas, orange chicken, apple crisp, apple dumplings, the 2nd pizza of the weekend, and some buffalo baked chicken. I don't have pictures of all dishes, but I will have recipes/descriptions:

1. Enchiladas - BAM! The sauce came from, you got it, Emeril Lagasse via the Food Network and can be found here. And the recipe/how to put it all together came from Recipe Girl and can be found here. Broken record warning - obviously we used ground turkey rather than ground beef, but you can use whichever you choose. This recipe is easy and delicious.

And here is the end result:

YUM-O!

*Side note - we made a double batch of the sauce because we like it "saucy" in "The Bob's" household. We used all the sauce we wanted and froze the rest for next time.

After all the enchilada's cooled, we put some brown rice (that we steamed in our Rice Cooker) in the bottom of our storage containers and then placed 2 enchiladas on top of the rice. These were then placed in the freezer.

We used small soft tortilla which allowed us to make 14 enchiladas = 7 frozen meals.

2. Orange Chicken - This recipe came from "The Everything Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook" (which if you are looking for some great crock pot recipes, this is the book for you!)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons spiced ginger preserves

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 large orange, sliced into 1/8 inch - thick slices

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound)

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the soy sauce, preserves, and juice in a small bowl.

2. Arrange the orange slices along the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. Top with the chicken breasts. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cook for 3 hours on low or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Per Serving

Calories: 170| Fat: 2.5g| Sodium: 560mg| Carbs: 10g| Fiber: 1g| Protein: 26g

Okay so thoughts on this recipe - I will admit I was not a fan of this recipe. Try as we might, we were unable to find the spiced ginger preserves. We used sweet orange preserves which ended up making it too sweet/orange-y. Dr. Bob thought it was too orange-y as well and wished he had added some more soy sauce and a little chili or sesame oil to round out the flavors.

We will most likely not make this recipe again -- Can't be perfect all the time right?! ;-)

3. Apple crisp - I am actually going to be a tease here and not give you the recipe yet because I intend to do a post full of apple recipes (soon, I promise). I will say that it was delish and my book club members that tried it, quite enjoyed it.

*Random side note - one book club gal actually skipped over it because she thought someone put beef (yes I said beef) on top of the apples and she doesn't eat meat. First of all gross, and second of all - who would do that?! Oh well!

4. Apple dumplings - Tease againq. Stay tuned!

5. Pizza - I was informed that because we were not going out to watch the Lions (Dr. Bob's team) play, he needed some football food so he kindly requested "delicious pizza." How could I turn him down?? If you missed it on Friday, you can find the recipe here.

6. Baked Buffalo Chicken - We were looking for some other football munchy food so we cut up some chicken, pan fried/simmered it in the buffalo sauce. We dipped it in some ranch. Yum!

I would ultimately like to get chicken *on* the pizza but we always seem to cook the chicken after the pizza goes in the oven. We will get there eventually.

That sums up our afternoon of cooking this past Sunday. Quite productive. We actually could not freeze everything we made over this weekend because our 2 freezers became over filled. So we made sure to plan our meals accordingly this week.

Question:

Have you tried any of the recipes we have posted? If so, which ones?

If you haven't but want to try one - which one(s)?

Football = Sunday Funday!

Dr Bob loves football. I love beating my family members in our family fantasy football league!

We have found some great new friends in the area that love football and food. They have the NFL super extravagant, premium edition, no holds bar network package. We love to cook. We are a match made in heaven.

We went to their place for the 2nd weekend of football and brought all necessary items to have an out of this world "Day of Football."

Here is a what we brought all packaged up and ready to go: 1 small cooler, 1 reusable bag filled with necessary items (including a crockpot), and my crocheting bag (very important that I stay semi interested and focused for the day).

Our new pals had a tradition for their previous Sunday Fundays in Wisconsin of ordering Chinese for the first round of munching. Seeing as it was going to take a little while to get our stuff up and going, we figured we would carry on the tradition.

**Side note - one of the biggest shocks moving down here has been the lack of "strip mall cheap chinese places"!! Can you believe it?! They were EVERYWHERE in the 518! We have finally found a few good places though thankfully!

While our tummies were digesting lunch and the next round was cooking, we had a good time watching the games and playing with the pooches (Jake and Wrigley). Clearly Jake thinks he is a lap dog. I could believe how long he stay wrapped around Mike on the couch. It was pretty hilarious and pathetic at the same time.
Wrigley was getting a little mouthy so (and I quote) "It's time to get the dog drunk" was stated. He settled down a bit. Lol. Obviously Jake wanted in on the action too.
Okay enough football and hanging out talk, let's get to the good stuff....or should I say delicious stuff?!

We first introduced Mike and Jillian to our Buffalo Chicken bites: (Ready to go in the oven)
We got this recipe idea out of a little cookbook (Pillsbury Crescents - biscuits & more) that you can find while waiting to check out at the grocery store. Dr. Bob L.O.V.E.S these things...I think we own 3 or 4. The recipe is super easy and super delicious.

Ingredients:

1 package of crescent rolls

1 roasted chicken (we get it from the deli section in the grocery store)

Some Buffalo wing sauce

Cheese (we use cheddar, but you can use any really)

Instructions:

~ Shred the roasted chicken into small chunks. (We have found that it is easiest to this while the chicken is still warm.)

~ Mix in buffalo wing sauce to taste.

(We did these 2 steps the night before so the sauce could marinate, but this is not a necessity.)

~ Unroll crescent rolls.

~ Put a spoonful of the chicken/sauce mixture in the largest part of the roll.

~ Add a bit of cheese

~ Roll up roll making sure it is as closed up as possible.

~ Follow baking instructions on the crescent roll packaging.

~ Enjoy!

Alternatives:

This can be made in various combinations. We have made this with BBQ sauce and pork. Marinara would be yummy. I would love to try it with teriyaki and chicken. The ideas are endless!

And feel free to have something to dip these suckers into such as ranch or blue cheese. We kept them plain this time but have done it in the past.

Next, we found some bratwurst on sale so Dr Bob pan fried them in beer and then let them simmer for a good long time.

I don't eat them but I heard they were delish! (If you have more questions about these suckers, let me know and I will have Dr Bob address them.

Crock pot Mac n' Cheese....need I say more?!

This recipe came out of another grocery check out line cookbook called "Slow Cooker Recipe Book."

Info:

Serving Size: 7

Per Serving: 170 cal, 17 g pro, 15 g carb, 0 g fiber, 4.5 g fat, 2.5 g sat fat, 400 mg sodium.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups fat-free milk

3 cups shredded or cubed low-fat cheddar cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1 tsp salt

8 oz elbow macaroni (about 1/2 box), cooked al dente

Instructions:

1. Combine milk, cheese, egg, and salt in a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Add ground black pepper to taste.

2. Cover. Cook on high 30 minutes. Add macaroni and stir. Cover and cook on low 2 hours longer. Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

We will often make a double batch because it goes quickly in this house and it is a great side dish for lunches and dinners! Also very easy to freeze and reheat.

Finally, we couldn't forget about an Erin favorite: Turkey Chili Dip!

I actually forgot to take a pic right after it came out of the oven so here it is somewhat devoured. There were no leftovers of this sucker!

A friend brought this wonderful recipe into my life a few years ago and I can't say thank you enough! I truly <3 this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 packet of cream cheese

1 can of Hormel's chili (I prefer turkey chili obv)

Cheese (any type is acceptable except the super duper healthy stuff - I ended up causing a small oven fire once because the healthy cheese wasn't melting and it caught on fire when I put it on broil...never again. Somethings are just not meant to be healthy!) ;-)

Instructions:

~ Layer the cream cheese on the bottom

~ Add chili (I like to season with some salt and pepper)

~ Add desired amount of cheese

~ Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted.

*Make sure to let this cool off before digging in. It is hard to resist it but your intact taste buds will thank you!

So that is what we made up for our "Sunday Funday" event. It was a pretty awesome day all around, if I do say so myself!

Towards the end of the second game, Ms. Jillian prepared an awesome dessert which included a cake mix, butter cream cheese and a little bit of amazing. Not quite sure what it was made of, but I know it tasted really yummy!

So that about wraps it all up. Fun friends, fun food, fun times!

Questions:

Do you watch football? If yes, by choice or by force?

What do you munch on while it is on?