This is a great recipe for those nights when you need something quick! Especially if you follow the freezer friendly steps I will give at the bottom of the post!
Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
8 oz sliced mushrooms (we actually do not put them in ours, kids are not fans, but it’s great with them!)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I usually make a homemade cream sauce but I do use the cans on quick nights)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz sour cream
1 pound pasta (egg noodles or elbow noodles are our favorites)
2 tbs melted butter
dash of parsley
1-2 cups peas (optional, I suppose)
Combine ground beef, mushrooms, cream of mushroom, water and spices in a skillet and bring to a simmer. Stir in sour cream. Lightly toss in the peas. Don’t squish them!
Cook pasta and drain. Toss with parsley and butter. Spoon stroganoff over pasta or just mix it all together like we do. I also like to sprinkle a teeny bit of parmesan cheese over the top.
Enjoy!
To make this meal freezer friendly: Cook and drain the ground beef. Mix with the mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, water and spices. Place in a freezer safe container and freeze. To make: Thaw frozen ingredients. Mix in a skillet and bring to a simmer; add sour cream. Cook pasta and toss with butter and parsley and serve as mentioned above.
This is a quick and easy recipe for a bread that can be enjoyed as a snack or as dinner on night when you need something, well, quick and easy!
Italian Cheese and Pepperoni Bread
Ingredients:
3 cups self rising flour (or you can use regular flour and add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for each cup of flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, plus extra to sprinkle on top
Pepperoni – as many as you want!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 bread pan.
Mix together dry ingredients. Slowly mix in the remaining ingredients until just mixed. Dough will be slightly sticky.
Place half the dough into the greased pan. Layer with pepperoni and cheese. Cover with the remaining dough. Top with more pepperoni and cheese and sprinkle with more Italian seasoning.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
With pepperoni…dip in pizza sauce for an extra side of deliciousness.
This is a keeper. I’m just telling you up front! This is so easy to throw together in a crock pot and your kitchen will smell divine when you come home at night for dinner!
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Crock Pot Southwestern Beef Stew
Ingredients:
2 lbs beef stew meat
1 can cream of tomato soup
1 16 oz jar of salsa
1 can of diced green chiles
1 can beef broth
1 packet taco seasoning
1 small bag of frozen corn
2-3 medium sized potatoes, cut into chunks
1 can black beans
Mix everything except the beans in a Crock Pot. Cook on high for about 5 hours or on low for about 7 hours. But don’t worry if it’s in there longer, the meat will just fall apart which isn’t a bad thing! The only thing I found is that if it cooks for too long after the 5 or 7 hours, it will cook out some of the seasoning and you may need to re-spice it in the end.
Add beans in the last 15 minutes of cooking. I like to serve this over rice. So I’ll throw the beans in and then cook the rice and it’s all ready at the same time!
Of course, we served shredded cheese over the top as well as some chopped green onions.
Side note: Make double (leave out the beans and potatoes which don’t always freeze well) and stick in the freezer for future use!
This is a family favorite around here. It’s a really quick and easy recipe and very versatile as well. It’s a freezer friendly meal, prepare and freeze, put straight in the oven on a busy night! Or just throw it all together last minute, quick and easy!
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
Pie Filling-
1 (9 oz) package of frozen mixed veggies (you can also use fresh) or use any veggies you wish!
1 cup cooked, shredded or cubed chicken (made even easier when you use some already prepared from your freezer!)
1 can cream of chicken soup
salt and pepper as desired (I like to throw in a little garlic powder as well for flavor)
(I’ve also been known to mix a little veggie puree in too)
Biscuit Topping-
1 cup Homemade Biscuit Mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
I usually sprinkle some Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese into there as well, just for fun.
Mix all of the filling ingredients together and place in a pie dish or a small casserole dish (I usually have to double this to feed my family and use a medium size casserole dish)
Mix all of the topping ingredients together and pour over filling.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until topping is browned and cooked through.
(Mine might look extra brown because my homemade biscuit mix is made with wheat flour.)
What do you get when you combine pizza ingredients stuffed into a zucchini shell? Pure healthy yumminess!
Even the kids will like this one, because, duh, PIZZA!
Pizza Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients:
3-4 medium zucchini (about 2 pounds)
12 ounces Italian sausage, browned and drained
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tbs chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese
Grated Mozzarella Cheese
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.
Scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4 inch shell. Reserve pulp.
Cook shells in salted water for 2 minutes
Remove and drain. Chop zucchini pulp.
Place pulp in pan and add sausage, peppers, onion, seasoning and tomato sauce.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Spoon filling into shells.
Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until heated through.
Enjoy!
Charlie prefers to pick them up and just shove it in his mouth, but you can eat it however you like.
Oh! And you probably have plenty of extra pizza stuffing, so here’s an idea for serving that for lunch the next day! Just spread on top of halved english muffins and top with cheese.
Stick in the oven for about 10 minutes and Volia! Mini pizzas!
You could also freeze the extra stuffing to use at a later time!
I know it’s not Thanksgiving, but I love stuffing. I just do. I serve it year round in all kinds of ways. With roasted chicken, with ham mixed in like a casserole, stuffed in a pork chop, the list goes on! So here is my favorite stuffing recipe! Forget the box, this is easy and much better for you!
Homemade Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 pound of bread – of course, I like to use whole grain and/or whole wheat
1/2 stick of butter, softened ( I almost always use unsalted butter, who need extra salt in their diets anyway?!)
1 clove of garlic, pressed
1 small onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium, all natural chicken broth
2 tsp poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Dry out the bread. I just lay it out all over the counter the day before or in the morning on the day I am going to make it. Flip them around about half way through. You could also toast them or stick them in the oven for a quick fix. But I like to do it this way so it doesn’t turn out too crispy. Once nice and dry, stale-like, cut into cubes. I find it’s easiest done with a serrated bread knife.
Saute onion and celery in the butter until soft and translucent. Add in garlic and cook for just a moment, don’t burn the garlic!
Add in the poultry seasoning. I like to use this one. If you do not have any, get creative and season it with whatever you have, but poultry seasoning gives it that yummy “I’ve been baking inside a turkey all day” flavor.
Toss the bread cubes into the pan with the celery, onion and garlic. Yes, you are going to want a big pan for this. Toss it around and coat it with the the seasoned veggies. Then pour in the broth and mix together well.
Place in a 9×13 casserole dish. I like to use my Pampered Chef stoneware which does not need to be sprayed, but if you are using a glass or aluminum dish, you just might want to do that.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until the desired crunchiness or sogginess that you prefer. I like mine to be just a tad bit soggy-ish with crispy edges.
Delicious with leftover ham from Easter! Also, this freezes really well, so make a double batch and stick the leftovers in the freezer for another time!
My boys love French Toast so I have tried it many different ways. I love this recipe because it gets some healthy stuff in them and tastes delicious. You just can’t beat that!
Pineapple French Toast
Ingredients:
12 slices of bread (stale bread works great!)
1/4 cup milk
8 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup pureed pineapple
2 tbs milled flaxseed
Puree pineapple by processing until smooth.
Whisk together all ingredients.
Dip bread slices into mixture. Cook on hot griddle until crispy and browned on both sides.
(I swear I took pictures of the rest of these steps, but they have disappeared! Just use your imagination, ok?)
Of course I always make a big batch so I can freeze the leftovers for breakfast on another day!
This is one of my family’s favorite meals. If you have a small family, you can freeze the uneaten half. We always end up wiping out the whole thing though! Also can be prepared and frozen to be baked at a later time!
Mexican Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cups salsa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbs taco seasoning
6 soft shelled tortillas (8 inch) I like to use whole grain ones for a healthy oomph!
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese
Grease 9×13 baking dish (I use my Pampered Chef stone that is really seasoned so I don’t have to grease mine) You can also line the pan with foil instead. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brown ground beef with onions in a large skillet. Drain. Add salsa, beans, seasoning; mix well.
Arrange three tortillas in a single layer on bottom of baking dish. Cover with layers of half each of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat all layers. Cover with foil.
Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until casserole is heated through and the cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting to serve.
A quick and easy way to prepare chicken is to freeze it with a marinade and then on the day you need it, take it out in the morning and let thaw in the fridge. By dinner time the chicken will be thawed and soaked in the marinade! Just pour the chicken and sauce into a baking dish and bake at 375 degrees until cooked through (the time will depend on how thick your chicken breasts are).
Here I froze chicken breasts in salsa and teriyaki sauce.
I use salsa, italian dressing and teriyaki sauce the most often for marinades. Here is the “recipe” I use for making Salsa Chicken.
I’ll thaw the chicken and place in a baking dish at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. I’ll then top the chicken with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. I’ll serve with spanish rice (which is basically rice and salsa mixed together!) and a vegetable. Because the chicken is baked and the salsa is full of veggies, it can actually be quite good for you! (assuming you don’t overdo the cheese and smother it with sour cream as I sometimes do!)
Waffles: Another great way to start the day! Be sure to double the recipe so you have extras to freeze!
Homemade Waffles
Ingredients:
2 Cups Homemade Biscuit Mix
1 1/3 cups milk (or more if needed)
1 tbs Milled Flaxseed
2 tbs water
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
splash of vanilla extract (optional)
This will make about 4-5 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron and how thick you make your waffles. I doubled it and got 9 good sized waffles out of it.
Stir ingredients together until well blended. Pour onto waffle iron. (I have this one and it works great.)
Be careful not to pour too much batter or you will have this result:
Whoopsie!
Cook on waffle iron until done (about 4 minutes). Some waffle irons have indicator lights for when they are done, mine is not fancy like that, but I can tell when it’s done because it will steam and when you open it, nothing sticks and it looks nice and brown, like this:
To freeze your extras: Place on a cookie sheet or baking rack and freeze. Once frozen, store in airtight, freezer safe container. Stick in the toaster or microwave to warm up just like you would the boxed kind!
