Freezer Pasta

Made this for the freezer in 2 8x8 containers, which were pretty shallow, so put the remaining 3rd in bakeware for lunch. Simple to put together but needs vegetables in it. 
11/13/12 Had this for dinner. Moved from freezer to fridge night before. Noticed was still mostly frozen at 5 pm so left on counter for an hour. Baked suggested time but middle still cold so left in for another 10 min. 

• 1 box medium sized pasta (about 4 cups, uncooked)
• 1 lb hot italian sausage (or ground beef)
• 2 jars pasta sauce (~40 oz)
• 3/4 c cream cheese spread
• 1/4 c milk
• 1/4 c parmesan
• 1/2 c chopped fresh basil
• 1.5 c shredded mozzarella
• Optional: veggies (mushrooms, spinach, zucchini)

1. Cook pasta to al dente.
2. Meanwhile, cook sausage. Add pasta sauce. Simmer on medium for 2 min, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Drain pasta.
4. Combine cream cheese spread, milk and Parmesan in a large bowl.
5. Add pasta and basil. Stir gently until pasta is evenly coated.
6. Spread half the meat sauce onto bottom of baking dishes. Cover with pasta mixture. Add optional veggies. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella. 
7. Cover with foil.
8. (If freezing, then label:) Bake 375F covered for 30 min. Uncover and bake another 10-15 min. 
9. If frozen, then thaw before baking as directed.

Freezer Meal I

First attempt at freezer meals. Planned ahead for 8 dishes but only got through 5 of them. This was with MP's help - which was massive.

[Chicken Pesto] - didn't make it - simple enough to be able to throw together any time. Would be better to have it for dinner and make a second for the freezer version at the same time.
Teriyaki Chicken * - #2 to complete
Chicken Curry **** - last one to be started - made this for dinner - ran out of coconut milk. Fed 3 people and put remainder in 2 mason jars for the freezer. Increased to 6 thighs and 1 breast.
Beef and Vegetable Soup **- #3 to complete. Accidentally put the onions and garlic in the freezer bag then realized was supposed to cook with the beef.
[Unstuffed Shells] *** - didn't make it - simple enough to throw together tomorrow.
E Fagioli Soup **/NI - started putting everything in the slow cooker and realized it wasn't going to all fit in the 4 qt dish. Not sure how it will turn out without 7 c of beef broth, 20 oz of sauce, nor all the pasta. Feels like this may be the disaster dish
Mongolian Beef - #1 to complete
[Bread Sticks] - didn't start prepping til afternoon, so this didn't get attended to. Would be easier if had 3rd person or started much earlier in the day.

Tomorrow want to do the unstuffed shells, chicken pesto and bread sticks. And maybe salvage the E Fagioli Soup.

Process

- chose dishes
- grocery shopped
- chopped fresh veges
- got out meats
- did freezer bags first, then stove top cooking
MP helped with chopping and cleaning throughout - this was priceless!

Lessons Learned

Good to combine dishes: Teriyaki Chicken, Chicken Curry, Beef + Veg Soup, E Fagioli Soup, Mongolian Beef. Because...

• limited to 2 meats (chicken and beef)
• share many chopped items (carrots, onion, garlic, celery).
• 3 are straight to freezer, 1 is stove top and 1 is slow cooker. 

Chicken Pesto could be combined because it also uses chicken, but I didn't have the pesto ready so couldn't throw it together. The unstuffed shells require boiling pasta and also didn't have time (or make time) for that.

When choosing recipes, I was trying for variety. But realize after better to group by similarity. Today could be the carrot/onion/garlic/celery dishes. Next time could be the pasta/cheese dishes. Another time could be themed with something else. If freezer gets full of 3 types, then when pulling out, there can be variety.

Freezer Chicken Curry

Made this for dinner and kept the leftovers for freezer meals. Day of was *** but leftovers was ****
11/14/12 Had one of the frozen jars for dinner. Moved from freezer to fridge night before. Was still frozen next evening, so left in tub of water for a while (an hour?). Heated on stove top and served with rice. Delicious!
1/16/13 Made this again using 10 thighs, 3 T fresh ginger plus ~1/2 T powdered ginger, 1 giant sweet potato and 2 zucchini - used the spicy east indian curry powder and asoefetida instead of onion - delicious!
8/13/13 Used 6 breasts, 1 giant sweet potato, 3 carrots, 1 home grown zucchini, 2 granny smith apples, no onion, ~10 cl garlic, no sugar and only a dash of salt (to make better for baby to taste). 3.5 c low sodium chicken broth and gold label (thick) coconut milk. Didn't have enough fresh ginger so put in a bit of powdered ginger. Cooked chicken in cast iron pan and the rest in the big one (where in the past the chicken sticks to the bottom of it).
5/27/16 Used 4 breasts, 1 giant sweet potato, 4 carrots, 2 apples, no onion/zuc. Used cumin/coriander/cayenne/pepper/turmeric mixture on chicken and partial Kensington Hot Curry Powder plus all the rest of the Jamaican curry packages. Meant to put in green beans but ran out! All in cast iron wok.
10/9/19 Used 8 thighs. XBD ate the chicken before I could combine it with the vegetables. Then when the meal was complete, gobbled up the dish with rice.

• 6 chicken thighs + 1 chicken breast, cut into chunks 
• 3 T flour
• 1 T curry powder (I used mix of Madras and Jamaican)
• 4 T ginger, finely chopped
• 6 cl garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green apple, chopped (would increase this next time to 2)
• 3 T curry powder
• 6+ T flour
• 1 t sea salt (or none for Baby Led Weaning)
• 1 T sugar (or none for Baby Led Weaning)
• 2.5 c chicken broth (low sodium/home made no salt for Baby Led Weaning)
• 1 can coconut milk
• Optional: 1 sweet potato, 1 zucchini, carrots: chopped

1. Combine first 3 ingredients (chicken, flour, curry powder) in a bowl to coat.
2. Fry lightly in oil for just a few minutes until cooked. Set aside.
3. Combine garlic, ginger, onion, apple, curry powder, flour, sugar and salt in a frying pan with the optional veggies. Fry on medium heat for ~10 minutes until the ingredients mold together and onions are transparent. 
4. Add liquids (broth and coconut milk). Stir frequently until heated through and thickened. Add more flour as needed to thicken.
5. Add the breaded chicken.
6. Serve over rice.
7. Let cool and store in mason jars, leaving room for expansion. Freeze. When ready to serve, thaw and reheat, serve over rice.

Grapefruit Risotto with Broccoli, Mushrooms and Peas

The grapefruit flavor was a little too strong for me though MM liked it. I would reduce the amount next time. I used Tropicana but you could use freshly squeezed as well. Risotto is typically made with wine but using juice instead makes this version Halal!

• ~8 cups broth (7-9 cups, depending on rice)
• 4 T butter, divided
• bag of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 crown of broccoli, separated into small flowerets/cubed trunk
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/3 c grapefruit juice (** would only use 1/2 c next time), warmed in microwave
• 2 c Arborio rice
• 3/4 c frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 c grated parmesan (fresh is better)
• optional: salt and pepper

1. In saucepan, bring broth to simmer.
2. In small pan, blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and remove to bowl.
3. In large saucepan, melt 2 T butter. Add mushrooms and cook until done. [Lightly salt to speed up cooking.] Remove to bowl (with liquid).
4. Melt the remaining 2 T butter and add the olive oil.
5. Add the rice and stir to coat.
6. Add the warmed grapefruit juice and stir constantly until fully absorbed.
7. Add in half a cup of the broth, stirring constantly until fully absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. Keep adding broth until rice is mostly cooked.
8. Add in broccoli. Continue adding 1/2 cups of broth. Add in peas and mushrooms. Continue adding 1/2 cups of broth, reserving 1/4 c broth for final use.
9. When rice is fully cooked, remove from heat. Add in 1/4 c broth and parmesan. Stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
10. Serve immediately.

Variations

Garnish with fresh grapefruit slices and/or parsley.

Related

5/15/2011 Mushroom Risotto

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

While making this, I tasted the batter and was surprised how good it was - the best batter I've ever tasted. So it seemed a good sign that the cake in baked form would be just as tasty. I didn't cook it quite long enough, so it ended up being a little gloppy in the middle. But despite the lack of perfect texture, the taste was phenomenal! A 5 star recipe, easily. This was shared among 7 and finished in one night. Will definitely make this again for any adult occasion. The original recipe is from smittenkitchen.

• 6 T butter, room temperature
• 3/4 c brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 3/4 c red wine (I used Bin 555 wyndham estate shiraz)
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 c + 1 T flour
• 1/2 c Dutch cocoa
• 1/8 t soda
• 1/2 t powder
• 1/4 t table salt
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• Decoration: confectioner's sugar

1. Line the bottom of a 9" cake pan with parchment butter. Lightly butter the paper and the sides of the pan. It's a shallow cake, so no need to go very high.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter on medium speed, until smooth.
3. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy (3 min).
4. Add the eggs and beat well.
5. Beat in the wine and vanilla.
6. Sift the flour, cocoa, soda, powder, cinnamon and salt right over the batter. Beat lightly until 3/4 combined. Then use spatula to fold the rest of the batter. 
7. Spread evenly in pan.
8. Bake at 325F for 25 to 30 minutes. 
• Note: The original recipe says "The top of the cake should be shiny and smooth, like a puddle of chocolate." At 25 minutes, it looked like a puddle, but I believe it still could have used the extra 5 minutes - maybe then it would have still looked puddle like. 
9. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes.
10. Flip onto plate and continue to cool.
11. Just before serving, sift some confectioner's sugar decoratively over top. Serve with remaining wine.

Notes

11/26/11 Made this again with another Shiraz (McGuigan Black Label). Not as good as the first time in terms of flavor, but I did bake it the full 30 minutes and it rose more and was fully cooked in the center.

Tomatillo Sauce

Got a container of organic tomatillos and made this tasty sauce for chicken. Turned out very limey -- maybe a little less next time. Increase jalapenos or add some seeds for more heat.

• 10 tomatillos, husks removed, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and membranes removed
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• salt

1. Pulse until chunky. Serve fresh or cook with chicken (see below).

• oil
• 3 lbs chicken (next time just 1.5 lbs)
• 1.5 T oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper
• 1 onion
• Monterey jack cheese

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken with oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. 
3. Stir until chicken is lightly browned.
4. Stir in the onion. Cover and reduce heat to low.
5. Prepare tomatillo salsa. Add half. Simmer for 30-40 min.
6. Serve over rice with remaining fresh salsa and shredded cheese.

Zucchini Cookie Sandwiches

everybody enjoyed these at a potluck today (along with a chicken salad). I cut the filling down to be less sweet and also only enough to sandwich some of the cookies. Inspired by marthastewart, but adjusted to reduce the amount of filling and sugar/butter ratio to cream cheese in said filling.

• 1 c flour
• 1 1/4 t cinnamon
• dash of cloves
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 t soda
• 1/2 t powder
• 1/4 t coarse salt
• 1 1/4 sticks butter, room temp; divided
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 c finely grated zucchini (1 zuc)
• 1 c rolled oats
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c confectioners sugar, sifted

1. Combine flour, spices, rising agents and salt into a small bowl.
2. Mix 1 stick of butter and the sugars.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Combine in flour mixture.
5. Mix in zucchini, oats and walnuts.
6. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. 
7. Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes.
8. Let cool on wire rack.
9. For sandwich filling, combine 1/4 stick butter, cream cheese and the sifted icing sugar. Spread filling on a cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat. Refrigerate cookies.