Freezer recipes

One of the advantages to having an extra freezer is being able to prepare lots of meals on the weekend that are quick and easy to heat up on weeknights. Here are some of my favorites, listed here to make one 9"x13" meal or two 8" square meals:

Farmer's Casserole
3 c frozen shredded hash browns
3/4 c shredded Monterray Jack cheese
3/4 c shredded cheddar
1 c diced ham
1 4.5 oc can milk green chilies (I left these out)
1/4 c sliced green onions
4 beaten eggs
1 12-0z can evaporated milk
Salt and pepper

Grease the pan. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom. Sprinkle with cheeses, ham, chilies, and onions. In medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and papper. Pour over potato mixture. Freeze or chill for several hours. Bake uncovered in a 350-degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until center is set.

Chicken and Biscuits
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
2 16 oz cans chicken broth (use more if freezing
3 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 - 10 oz. package frozen peas & carrots
Bisquick biscuts (follow dumpling recipe on box)

Cook onion in butter till tender, but not brown. Blend in flour & 1 tsp. salt. Add broth all at once. Cook & stir till thick & bubbly; Mix chicken and veggies in a 9 x 13 pan. Pour sauce on top. Spoon bisquick mixture on top & bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.

Stroganoff Loaf
Brown 1 lb. hamburger, add 1/2 cup chopped onion, cook til tender, drain fat. Add 1 pkg. dry Stroganoff mix, 1/2 c milk (substitute for sour cream), 1 can of mushrooms. Cook according to the package (not very long). Meanwhile, toast a loaf of Vienna bread; butter. Spread mixture on bread; place tomato slices & green pepper slices on top. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Bake 7-10 minutes at 375. Since this makes a lot, it's easy to freeze one of the halves before baking it.

Tater tot Casserole
Mix 1 lb browned hamburger and half a chopped onion on the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Layer with 1 cup cubed Velveeta. Pour on 1/4 c milk and 1/2 can cream of chicken soup. Next layer 1 package frozen tater tots. Pour on another 1/4 c milk and the rest of the soup. Bake for an hour at 350.

Lasagna
1 lb. hamburger
1 med. onion
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1-28oz. can chopped tomatoes
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/8 tsp. garlic powder)
1 tsp. oregano
1 lb. ricotta cheese or sm. curd cottage cheese
12 oz. mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
1 small box lasagna noodles.

Brown hamburger in deep, heavy pan. Add onions, cook until soft. Stir in tomato sauce. Stir in next 6 ingredients. Reduce heat, simmer covered about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, simmer 15 minutes. Cook noodles according to package. Place a layer of noodles in oiled 9 x 13 pan. Pour over some of sauce. Add layer of ricotta cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Repeat layer 3 or 4 times. Top final layer with generous amount of parmesan cheese. Bake in 375 oven about 30-35 minutes, or until cheese is melted & bubbly. Let stand about 15 minutes before cutting.

If I'm making a lot of this, I buy a big can of tomatoes and of tomato sauce at Costco, then throw in 2-3 lbs browned hamburger, an onion, some seasonings, and some diced veggies (carrots, zucchini, eggplant, celery, etc) and simmer until it tastes good. That makes enough sauce for about 15 square pans of lasagna and ravioli casserole.

Ravioli Casserole
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
1/4 c dry white wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1.5-2.5 lbs ravioli (we usually just use macaroni or rotoni instead, especially when making little pans - if you use ravioli you get about 6 per pan)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 c Parmesan chese
4 cups marinara or meat sauce (I use the same sauce from the lasagna)
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
12 oz shredded mozzarella

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over medium heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in milk, wine, salt, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring constantly, 5-10 minutes, until thick and creamy. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook ravioli (pasta) according to package directions, Drain and toss with olive oil. Heat oven to 375. Whisk eggs, one at a time, into sauce, then stir in 1/2 c Parmesan. Spread 1/2 c marinara sauce in 4-quart casserole dish. Top with half the ravioli. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella and 1/4 c Parmesan. Spread 1 1/2 c marinara sauce over cheese, drizzle with half the white sauce. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients, sprinkling top with remaining 1/4 c Parmesan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

Beef Stroganoff
2 lbs sirloin steak or beef tenderloin
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 c minced onions
1/4 c butter
2-10.5 oz cans beef broth
1/4 c ketchup
2 small cloves garlic, crushed
2 t salt
1/3 c flour
2 c sour cream

Cut meat into bite-size pieces. In skillet, cook and stir mushrooms and onion in butter until onion is tender. Remove mushrooms and onion. In same skillet, brown meat lightly on both sides. Set aside 3/4 c broth; add remaining brther, ketchup, garlis, and salt to skillet. Stir to mix. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Blend reserved broth and flour; stir into meat mixture. Add mushrooms and onion. heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Stir in sour cream and heat, but do not allow to boil. Freeze in gallon bags. Serve over rice or noodles.

Salisbury Steak
1 can condensed French onion soup
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1 egg
salt and petter
1 tbsp flour
1/4 c ketchup
1/4 c water
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard powder

In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 c condensed French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt, and pepper. Shape into patties. In a small bowl, blend flour and remaining soup until smooth. Mix in kethup, water, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder. At this point, everything can be frozen (freeze burgers and sauce separately). On eating day, cook the thawed patties in a large skillet over medium-high heat until both sides are browned. Pour the thawed sauce over the meat in skillet. Turn down heat, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Belgian-style cooking

When we were in the Quad Cities last month, my grandma bought me a Belgian cookbook. After flipping through it, I noticed that Belgian cooking seems to consist of the following: butter, beer, and deep-frying. Using that as my guide, I made a batch of Flemish sloppy joes. Well, actually, I was making sloppy joes and the beer I was drinking (Flying Dog) was disgusting but I didn't want to waste it, so I poured it in. What I ended up with tasted nothing like sloppy joes, so we've decided to call them loosebeermeat sandwiches. I think this is how I did it.
Loosebeermeat Sandwiches

1. Sauté an onion in butter.
2. Add 2 lbs ground beef and 2 lbs sausage; brown slightly.
3. Add half a bottle ketchup, a bottle of beer, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 c brown sugar, 3 tsp or so Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tsp dry mustard. Maybe some white wine too? (All measurements are approximate)
4. Simmer for an hour or so, tasting occasionally.

We froze a bunch of it because it was too much for us to eat all at once. It makes probably 20 sandwiches. To reheat, thaw in fridge overnight and heat slowly on the stove.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...

...and sometimes it rains.

Tonight, while it rained a bit, I tried making strawberry roulade with the Amish friendship bread. I made plain vanilla and baked it in a 9"x13" pan, 3 cups of batter per pan (next time only use 1.5 cups and try a cookie sheet), for about half an hour instead of the full hour. I let it cool briefly (just long enough to make the frosting and puree the strawberries). Then I sliced it in half and frosted one of those with cream cheese frosting (1 stick butter, 1 package cream cheese, and enough powdered sugar to make it spreadable), topped with pureed strawberries (great to have on hand in the freezer, especially if you buy too many at the farmers' market like I tend to do). Roll it up, wrap in wax paper, and chill. Voilà!But when I tried it with the other half it stuck to the waxed paper underneath it when we tried to roll it. So that became strawberry cheesecake cake. I'd already made up the other sliced sheet, so we flipped it onto the second, whole sheet, sandwiching the frosting and strawberries between. I then made more frosting (same recipe), frosted the top, and put more strawberries on top.

More bread flavors

Looking through my Complete Baking cookbook, there are a lot of types of bread I think I can adapt to the Amish friendhsip bread, which I think I may have to start up again because we're down to only about a dozen mini loaves left in the freezer right now. Here are some I'd like to try:

1. Raspberry crumble - add fresh raspberries and grated lemon rind, then for the crumble top use 1 oz finely chopped nuts (I think I'll do granola instead), 2 oz brown sugar, 3 tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 3 tbsp melted butter
2. Blueberry
3. Apple cranberry - orange juice (maybe in place of some of the milk?), cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, 1-2 apples, 6 oz cranberries (craisins); dust with powdered sugar
4. Pumpkin - 8 oz pumpkin, nutmeg, currants or raisins
5. Maple pecan - maple syrup and toasted pecans with pecan halves on top
6. Cherry marmalade - glacé cherries, orange marmalade, with marmalade brushed on top after they're baked
7. Blackberry almond
8. Orange and honey - use orange juice and grated orange rind
9. Apple loaf - applesauce and currants or raisins
10. Pineapple apricot - dried apricots, chopped crystallized ginger and pineapple, and grated lemon and orange rinds
11. Apple apricot - dried apricots, 1 apple, grated rind and juice of an orange
12. Pear and sultana
13. Saffron and cardamon - plus honey and honey for brushing
14. Bilberry - probably I'll use blueberries because I don't know where I'd find bilberries; top with 4 oz sugar, 1 1/2 oz flour, cinnamon, and 2 oz butter cut into all that

Red Leicester and apple risotto

A Southern Season is having their annual clearance sale this month, so I bought some cheap risotto and had to try it out. I made a basic risotto (chopped onion sauteed in olive oil, 2 cups rice, 1/2 cup or so white wine, 4-6 cups chicken broth), then added a block of red Leicester cheese and a couple grated apples. I think I'll add less cheese next time, but overall it was really yummy. The spinach gargonzola risotto is still my favorite though.