My Freezer Cookin Weekend!!

Freezer Cooking Session!!

Ok, well I attempted a long weekend of freezer cooking. I am not quite done yet but have realized I need to make sure I am doing this religiously. For our menu for 30 dinners, 15 breakfasts, and baked goods I only spent $88!! Granted, yes I have a pretty good food storage but I got a steal on meat. Turkeys of course on sale we already had one and when I went to walmart the thawed turkeys were only $.50 per pound. That is a steal so I cooked 45 pounds of turkey this weekend ( thanks moms roaster!). I also made 6 packages of homemade hamburger buns and hotdog buns, muffins, and banana bread. I will post more when I finish up.

Freezer Meals

I have found a wonderful blog/site to share that has lots of ideas for make ahead/freezer meals. Freezer cooking is another way to save alot of $ on your grocery budget. We usually can do a month's worth of meals (dinners), 10 desserts, and 15 breakfasts for under $250 a month for our family of 6! I will continue to try to share recipes for other freezer meals that we enjoy as well. Here is the link : http://makeaheadmeals.blogspot.com/

Here is one of Brian's favorite freezer meals:   Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked Chicken
• 3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
• 2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Onion
• 1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained
• 2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

Make Your Own Spreadable Butter

Soft Butter Spread

Picture: 

Description: 

A fluffy butter mixture that's easily spreadable

Yield: 

2 cups

Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water, at room temperature

Instructions: 

1. Using an electric mixer, blend butter on HI until fluffy.

2. Continue mixing, and slowly add oil. Continue mixing and slowly add water. Mixture will turn white and be very light and fluffy!

3. Chill until set. (See additional notes.)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Icing

Picture: 

Description: 

Spiced pumpkin scones with cinnamon icing drizzled on top!

Yield: 

8 scones

Ingredients: 

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons butter, sliced and chilled
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon Icing Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons milk

Instructions: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 8 ingredients (dry). Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form.

2. In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, cream, sugar, and vanilla.

3. Add to dry mixture and stir just until mixture forms a thick dough. Use your (clean) hands to knead the dough once or twice, pressing it together. (For more tender scones, don't over-knead.)

4. On a lightly floured surface, form dough into a circle, about 3/4 inch thick. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut circle into 8 wedges/triangles. Place wedges on an ungreased baking sheet, not touching.

5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, until scones are lightly browned on the bottom.

6. Make icing by whisking together the icing ingredients, adding just enough milk to make a drizzling consistency. Icing can be drizzled over warm or hot scones, or brushed on.

Sweet and Salty Halloween Treats

Ingredients:

Mini Pretzels (I used the snaps, shaped like squares, but you could use the twists too.)

Hershey Kisses Hugs (any kind of kisses would do)

Candy Corn

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place pretzels on cookie sheet, not touching. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and place on top of pretzels and then place filled cookie sheet in oven. Bake for 3-5 minutes but no longer.You will know they are ready when the Hershey Kisses start to get shiny. Take out of oven and gently place candy corn on top of Hershey Kisses, pushing down ever so gently. Cool and then transfer to serving platter or wrap up as gifts. I actually placed mine in the fridge for a few minutes to speed up the cooling process, and it worked perfectly.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 Pillsbury pie crusts to make it easier

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Maple Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons milk

Chocolate Topping:

1/2 cup chocolate morsels

vegetable oil

re-sealable plastic bags

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.

On a lightly-floured surface, roll pie crust ¼ inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut pie dough into same-sized rectangles, approximately 4 inches tall by 3 inches wide. You could really make these any size you want, Mine were all different sizes. If you're using store-bought Pillsbury roll out crusts, they may need to be rolled a little thinner, I'm not sure. I didn't use them.

Spoon a 1-3 Tablespoons of the pumpkin pie mixture on top of one of the rectangles. Gently place a second rectangle of pie dough on top. Secure edges together by pressing them gently with a fork. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges of the tart begin to brown slightly. Remove and cool.

To make the glaze, stir together all ingredients until a thick, spreadable consistency is reached. Spoon a thin layer of the frosting on top of cooled pumpkin pie tarts.

To decorate, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more liquid. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle onto pop tarts, sprinkle with orange sprinkles.

Store in an air tight container. Best if eaten within 2-3 days. Keep refrigerated.