Freezer Friday: Marinara & White Bean Chili

This week I restocked my freezer with marinara.  I think it's different every time I make it depending on what I have for veggies that need to be used.  I started with my HV Marinara and twisted it a little by adding carrots too since I had some in the freezer that needed to be thrown out hidden somewhere.  I ended up with about nine quarts of marinara all portioned out for future meals-all for less than $6.  More reasons why I love making my on marinara!

I also put together this Chicken and White Bean Chili that was great!  We at half the batch this week and the rest went to the freezer for later.  I used broth and chicken from a Chicken Cooking Day and beans from a day of cooking and freezing beans.  This recipe came together very quickly and was quite yummy!  Today I'm making a stock pot of Beef and Veggie soup which will make quick meals this weekend and in the coming months.

White Bean & Chicken Chili

6 cup White beans, cooked and divided

6 cup Chicken Broth

2 medium Onions

4 cups cooked Chicken, chopped
1 can of  RoTel diced tomatoes (or regular diced tomatoes & chilies)

1 tsp Chili powder
1 Tbs Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

1.  Puree three cups of the white beans.

2.  Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot or your slow cooker.  Since all ingredients are cooked, you can just heat it through low and slow to combine all the ingredients.  If cooking on the stove, be sure to stir regularly as the pureed beans tend to sink can burn to the bottom of the pan.

This post is linked up at Life As Mom's Frugal Friday.

Grilled Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

I made these Grilled Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas as part of my September Batch Cooking.   They freeze great and are easy to pull out and bake for a hot, hearty dinner on a cool fall night. Top them with your favorite salsa, serve them with beans and Spanish rice y es muy bueno! (and it's very good!) You can use flour or corn tortillas - I used the cheap flour ones and they almost dissolved when I cooked my enchiladas this time, so you may want to spring for decent tortillas.

I LOVE good Mexican food. I was once served beef wrapped in a tortilla and smothered with canned tomato soup and called enchiladas – not good Mexican food. This enchilada recipe would probably get laughed at in some of my favorite Mexican restaurants but it follows in the tradition of my Mom's enchiladas – so we call them enchiladas.  With the dissolving  tortilla issue of this batch is was more like a casserole, but still muy bueno!

(Any extra cheese sauce makes great Mac & Cheese!)

Grilled Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients

16 burrito size Tortillas or 32 Taco size tortillas

Filling

4 Chicken Breasts, Grilled and shredded or chopped

2-4oz cans Green Chilis

1 cup chopped Red Bell Pepper

1 cup chopped Green Bell Pepper

1 medium Onion, finely chopped

1-24 oz containter of Cottage Cheese

4 cups grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Garlic Salt

½ teaspoon Black Pepper

Cheese Sauce

½ cup Butter/Margarine

½ cup Flour

2 ½ cups Milk

4 cups grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Make the Cheese Sauce (or skip this step by using canned cheese soup or jar nacho cheese sauce for more of a kick)

1. 
   

   Melt butter in a large saucepan.

   
   


2. 
   

   Add flour to melted butter and stir until all the flour is incorporated into a rue.

   
   


3. 
   

   Slowly add 1/2-1 cup of the milk and whisk until the rue dissolves completely into the milk. Add remaining milk and heat to near boil.

   
   


4. 
   

   Turn off heat and stir in 4 cups of grated cheese until melted.

   
   

Set cheese sauce aside.

Mix all the filling ingredients except the chicken.

Assemble the Enchiladas:

1. 
   

   Place 1/2-1 cup of the cheese sauce in the bottom of your pan – enough to  lightly coat the bottom of the pan.

   
   


2. 
   

   Place a tortilla on a flat working surface.

   
   


3. 
   

   Place 1/3-1/2 cups of filling and a sprinkling of the chicken onto the center of the tortilla.

   
   

   

   
   


4. 
   

   Roll up the tortilla burrito style.

   
   


5. 
   

   Place filled tortilla into pan. (mine ripped – and that's ok – they are just there to hold the filling in place)

   
   
   

   
   



6. 
   

   Repeat until you've squeezed as many enchiladas as you can into the pan (usually I can fit 8 – 10 in a 9x13 pan and 4-6 in an 8x8 square pan). Pour more cheese sauce over the top and top with a hand full of grated.

   
   

   

   
   


7. 
   

   Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees or until bubbly.

   
   

Freezer Friday: Summer/Fall Meat Stock Up

I love to buy bulk meat when I can get a good deal.  This was one of those weeks.  Our local restaurant warehouse store had meat on sale this week.  I was able to stock up for the summer and some parties we have coming up.

Pork loin, boneless skinless chicken breast and ground beef were all on sale for less than $2 per pound.  The catch: they were all packaged in ten pound packages.  I was able to have the butcher slice up the pork loin in to grilling chops.  I’ll turn a good portion of the ground beef into hamburger patties and chicken breasts were separated and portioned out for the freezer.

I usually like to throw marinade in with my meat when I freeze it to save a step later but I didn’t have the time this go-round.

When all was done, I had a nice stack of meat in the freezer ready for all of my summer grill meals to come!

And I have rhubarb coming out of my ears that needs to be picked and packed for the freezer… add that to the list!

Freezer Friday: Chicken Cooking Day

This week my big cooking project was Chicken.  It was my goal to have cooked chicken, broth and Chicken Pot Pie filling for the freezer.  After giving my Crock Pot and stock pot good workouts, my missions were accomplished!

I’ve been following Kate at Kitchen Stewardship and decided to follow her instructions for making broth.  I started Monday evening by putting 4 ½ pounds of chicken thigh pieces and 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the stock pot with 6 quarts of water and vinegar.  Let it sit then fired it up.  Let it boil until I wanted to go to bed –about 4 hours.  Then I poured the liquid into the crock pot and added the chicken thighs.  The chicken breasts wouldn’t fit so I shredded them up.  I set the crock-pot on low and went to bed.  At an un-namable hour of the morning when GBaby had me up, I turned the crock pot up to high for another 3 ½ hours.  I added the veggies to the crock for about 45 minutes until the carrots were tender.

After straining the broth, I had cooked carrots for GBaby (see February Kithen Goals), two bags of shredded chicken, in addition to 4 cups of shredded chicken I set aside for the Chicken Pot Pie Filling, and about 5 quarts of broth.



I left 1 quart of broth in the crock-pot for the Chicken Pot Pie fill and returned the rest to the stock pot where I let it boil a while longer to condense (so that it won’t take up as much room in my freezer!).  After it boiled down, I had three, 3-cup containers of rich looking broth.



I added water, chicken, carrots, celery, onion, potatoes and spices to the crock pot until it was full, covered it and walked away.  At dinner time I added one can of condensed soup to one- 2 quart portion of the filling and topped with the biscuit topping (which I subbed in part whole-wheat flour) and popped our dinner in the oven.



Meanwhile, two more portions of filling went to the freezer.  I think they will come in handy for a lunch I will be “catering” next month.



When all is said and done, I only had to wash the crock-pot once and the stock pot twice.  Fewer dishes make me happy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage Stew

When I was making my January menu I wanted to try to use up some of the things that have found a semi-permanent home in my freezer because they’re things that I’m not particularly fond of.  One such thing was a 2 pound hunk of corned beef brisket.  I saw “beef brisket” and missed the “corned” part.  Straight up, I’ve never been a fan of corned beef, but I took this recipe for Caldo de Res (Mexican Beef Soup) as inspiration and concocted a stew that I have to admit I won’t mind seeing come back from the freezer for another meal.

Corned Beef & Cabbage Stew
Ingredients
3 c. chopped carrots
6 beef bullion cubes
8 c. water
3 c. frozen corn
2 chopped onion
2 pounds Corned Beef, trimmed, cubed, browned and drained
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes

Directions
1.  Brown corned beef cubes in a large skillet over medium heat.
2.  Combine all ingredients in a large slow-cooker.


3.  Let cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender.  Serve with you favorite bread.



Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Shepherd’s Pies with Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

My batch meal of the week last week was Shepherd’s Pies.  Generally Shepherd’s pies consist of some combination of ground beef, vegetables and mashed potatoes, this recipe follows the basic formula with a few adjustments.

I doctored up the Shepherd’s Pies and topped off the beef and veggies with Garlic Cheddar Smashers.  I also used TVP to stretch the beef a little bit farther.   This recipe will make two deep dish pie plates or 1-9x13 plate.  I doubled this and made 1 deep dish pie plate and 3-8x8 square pans that and now in the freezer for future meals.

ThrivingMama's Shepherd’s Pie

1 pound Ground Beef

½ medium Onion

1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)*

1 ½ cups of water

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

4 cups of Vegetables (any combination of carrots, corn, green beans, etc.)

½ batch of Garlic Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

3 Tablespoons of Butter

Directions

1.  Brown ground beef and onion.  Hydrate TVP with water and add to the cooked ground beef.

2. Combine vegetables and soup.  Add beef to vegetable mixtures and put on the bottom of greased pan(s).



3. Spread Garlic Cheddar Smashers on top of meat and veggie mixture.

4. Dot top of potatoes with 3 tablespoons of butter and bake at 375* for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.



Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Freezer Friday: Beef Brisket

Tonight I have about 8 pounds of beef brisket in my crock-pot.  Tomorrow morning, I will have a crock-pot full of falling apart ready to  use shredded beef.  First a bit about brisket.  *This is NOT corned beef brisket.  This is just a plain beef brisket.  I have purchased briskets that were a wonderful cut of meat and marbling that cook to perfection.  I have accidentally purchased others that were more marbling and fat than they were meat.  Look at your cuts of meat closely and make sure you're getting the meat you're paying for and not just fat.  It is usually a relatively inexpensive beef cut that you can use for a number of meals.  To be well prepared, brisket requires a long cooking time so the crock-pot works great!

I found a great brisket today that was about 16 pounds.  I cut the meat in half and one half went to the freezer while the other went to the the crock-pot.  Mrs. Ringle's Brisket one recipe from Once-A-Month Cooking that I have used a number of times that has never failed me, and it's so easy you really can't mess it up.  Put your brisket in your crock-pot, fat side up.  Squirt 3-4 tablespoons of your favorite mustard (yellow or spicy) on top of it and spread it over the top.  Open a packet (or 2 if you have a large brisket) of onion soup mix and sprinkle over the top.  Turn your crock-pot on low and let it cook for 12 to 18 hours, until it is falling apart and shreds easily with a fork.

We rarely have the meat as the center-piece of a  meal, although with the brisket we will have Hot Beef Sandwiches (brisket added to sautéed onions and peppers, served on sub rolls).  I plan on using some for Beef Stew tomorrow.  The rest I will portion out into quart size freezer bags and freeze it.  It will be thawed at a later time to be used in Burritos, Shepherd's Pie, Beef & Barley Soup, Hot Beef Sandwiches (again) and whatever inspiration hits me.  I plan to have 4-6 bags of meat off to the freezer, in addition to the remaining half of the brisket) after I pull some for sandwiches on Sunday and make the stew.

My house is already smelling good and it still has all night to cook!  I can't wait :D

Chicken Pot Pie

As promised yesterday, here's the recipe for my Chicken Pot Pie.    In the area of the country where we live now, I think it may be better known as Chicken & Biscuits, but I’m really not sure.  Look it over and let me know what those around your dinner table would dub this pot of supper goodness!  The combination of the  smokin’ deal on chicken this week, the fresh carrots and the cooler mornings, I decided to make what I knew growing up as Chicken Pot Pie.

A note on the biscuits:  there is no wrong way.  I’ve included the biscuit batter recipe I use, and it’s very easy and hard to mess up.  But, if you prefer a boxed biscuit mix, that will work, so will the pre-made biscuits from the refrigerator section of the grocery store if you prefer those. Take your pick, throw the biscuits on top and bake it up.  Enjoy!

The Chicken Pot Pie recipe below is for one casserole dish.  When I made it this week, rather than cooking it in the oven as the directions call for, I made a triple batch of the filling in my Crock-Pot.  Once the filling was done, I transferred one batch to the casserole dish and two batches to freezer containers.  Later this fall, I can thaw, add biscuits and bake the Pot-Pie and have dinner ready in a fraction of the cooking time.

Thriving Mama’s Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound Chicken meat chopped or shredded (I prefer boneless/skinless chicken breast, but any will work)

1 cup Chicken Broth

2 cups chopped Carrots

1 cup frozen Corn

2 cups diced Potatoes

2/3 cup chopped Onion

1-10.5 oz can of Cream of Chicken Soup

½ teaspoon Black pepper

1 teaspoon Thyme

Biscuit Topping:

2 cups Flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Sugar

½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar

½ cup melted Butter

1 cup Milk

Oven Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (excluding Biscuit Topping) and place in a two-quart oven dish.


2. Cover and allow to cook 45-60 minutes at 375, or until vegetables become tender and chicken is cooked through.


3. Combine biscuit topping ingredients, mixing the dry ingredients first then adding the butter and milk.


4. Remove filling from the oven and drop spoonfuls of biscuit batter on top of the filling.


5. 


6. Return to the oven and cook 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.  Allow to stand 5 minutes and serve.

Crock-Pot Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (excluding Biscuit Topping) and place in a slow cooker.      


2. Cover and allow to cook on high until mixture is bubbly (2-3 hours) then reduce to low until vegetables become tender and chicken is cooked through (additional 3-4 hours).  If you over cook it, the condensed soup will separate and you will lose the “creaminess” of the filling.  If you will not be around to tend to the crock-pot, cook on low.      


3. Combine biscuit topping ingredients, mixing the dry ingredients first then adding the butter and milk.


4. If you have a removable crock in your crock-pot, carefully drop spoonfuls of biscuit batter on top of the filling.  Otherwise, transfer the filling to oven-safe bakeware and add biscuits.  Place in oven cook 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.  Allow to stand 5 minutes and serve.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

10/28/2010 Update: This is an easy recipe to take to a friend, cook one for you and one for them-all in one pot so it's easy clean up too!  This Chicken Pot pie is great comfort food with all the food groups involved!  (Linked up at The Ultimate Recipe Swap)

Easy Broccoli & Rice Casserole

Wonder of wonders, I am still picking broccoli out of our garden.  Usually the heat of early July will end our broccoli crops but not this year.  We’ve just recent gotten tastes of summer heat.  So, we are still enjoying broccoli.  Some has made it to the freezer but a lot of it is getting used fresh.  Here is an easy, one dish dinner.  I put chicken in this recipe, but it can easily be omitted for a great vegetarian dish.  Since it was about ninety-five degrees the day that I made this, I made it in the microwave.  It can also be cooked in the oven or slow-cooker.  Drop me a line if you’re interested in other cooking methods.

Broccoli & Rice One Dish Dinner

Ingredients

2 cups Brown Rice, uncooked

4 1/2 cups Water

3 cups Broccoli, florets or chopped

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 cup cubed Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded or chopped Chicken (cooked)



Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe casserole dish with a lid.


2. Cover and microwave for 15 minutes.   Remove from microwave and stir.  Repeat.


3. At this point the rice should have absorbed most of the water and it should be soft most of the way through.  If not, cook longer at 5 minute intervals.  If it has reached the point of near softness put the lid back on the dish and let it sit for 20 minutes.  The steam in the dish should continue to cook the rice the rest of the way.  If, at any point, it looks like your rice is absorbing too much of the liquid and the casserole looks dry, stir in additional water as necessary in ¼ cup increments.

It was a crazy day in the kitchen, so I didn't get any "after" pictures, but your final dish should be moist and cheesy.  Enjoy!  Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Classic Fajitas

Fajitas are one of my favorite meals for so many reasons!  In the summer they can be prepared entirely on the grill.  No pots and pans to clean up afterwards. The meat is not the central item of the meal.  It is easy to pack your tortilla with veggies and other proteins (cheese & beans).  This helps to save a bit in the meat department on your grocery bill.  Finally, this meal can be completely prepped, left in the fridge for the day and then prepared when you get home.

Fajita meat is great as a carry-over ingredient in the fridge.  Grill extra meat to put in a taco salad later in the week or add with cheese and tortillas for quesadillas.

If you buy your boneless-skinless chicken in bulk when it is on sale, make up the marinade recipe; add it to the chicken in a quart zip-top bag before you put your chicken in the freezer.  Defrost when you are ready for it and you will have marinated chicken ready to go!

This week I made our fajitas with chicken, but you can also make them with your favorite grilling beef.

Classic Fajitas

Ingredients

1 batch of Fajita Marinade (below)

1-2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breast

2-3 Bell Peppers, sliced

2 small Sweet Onions, sliced

3 cups Shredded Lettuce

3 cups Diced Tomato

1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

½ cup Sour Cream

½ cup Salsa

2 cups (or 1 can) Black beans, Refried beans or Pinto beans (optional)

1 package of your favorite burrito-size tortillas

Fajita Marinade:

3 Tablespoons Lime Juice

1/3 cup Water

1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic

½ teaspoon Liquid Smoke

1 teaspoon Cumin

¼ teaspoon Chili Powder

¼ teaspoon Black Pepper

¼ teaspoon Salt

Directions: Whisk the above ingredients together and add to meat for 4+ hours.

Directions:

Preparation

1.  Place chicken and marinade in a zip-top bag and allow it to marinate at least 4 hours


2.  Create a foil packet (like we did with the potatoes) for the sliced onions and peppers.  Add a bit of olive oil or spray the bottom foil with non-stick spray to keep them from sticking to the foil.


3.  Prep your toppings: dice the tomatoes, shred the lettuce, grate the cheese, and put salsa and sour cream in serving dishes if you wish.



4.  Put beans in a microwave dish to prepare for heating at the last minute.

Cooking
1.  Start your grill and bring to medium-low coals or heat
2.  Place meat and veggie packet on the grill
3.  Cook until meat is done appropriately. (Chicken cooked to 170°F, beef at least 145°F.)
4.  Remove meat and veggie packet from the grill.
5.  Microwave beans and tortillas to warm them up while you slice the meat.
6.  Place veggies and meat slices on the serving platter or bowl of your choice and serve with all of your prepared toppings.  Enjoy! (sorry for the poor picture - at this point we were too focused on eating!)










Spanish rice or chips and salsa are great side dishes along side fajitas, but this time around, we just had straight up fajitas – grilled in the rain – but no less delicious!

Click Here for a printable version of this recipe.

Linked up at LifeAsMom.com's BBQ Recipes Ultimate Recipe Swap -