Foodie Penpals: July 2012

I have a problem.  Well, two problems actually.

“Bethany, what are your problems?”

I’m glad you asked.  Hunger and laziness.

You see, every month when my Foodie Penpals box arrives, I eagerly tear it open.  I look forward to penpal day every month.  It’s a great way to find new products I would have previously passed right by at the store.  But, in my excitement to see and try the products, I often put off photographing my goodies until I have eaten some all of the contents.  Whoops.

(So, even though the products in the above picture look full and ready to eat, it’s a ruse!)

This month was no exception.  I tore open the box and peered curiously inside at the contents.  It looked like Lauren went with a local snack theme for my box.  The first thing that caught my eye was the box of brittle.  I love brittle, so before I could snap any pictures, I had to pop a sweet candy in my mouth.  It was the perfect balance of sweet and chewy.  Yum!  The downward spiral of devouring before photographing commenced.

Next I saw the pretzels and chips.  Both made locally, they looked delicious.  I hadn’t had lunch on penpal day, so I started munching on a pretzel.  They were very crunchy!  I think they would be great crushed up over a salad.  Salty and crunchy.  What else do you want in a pretzel?

I actually didn’t try the chips until Sunday night while watching the Olympics.  (This is how much I procrastinate my picture taking.)  They were good, but not my favorite chips I’ve ever had.  That honor belongs to Charles Chips from Cleveland, OH.  My, that’s a blast from the past.

(A little side story:  I was born in Cleveland but moved to Tennessee when I was 3.  Every few years, we would travel back to Cleveland to see various family members.  While there, we always had to pick up a few Cleveland staples:  Malley’s chocolates, some kind of bread (I forget the name…Mom, do you remember?), and Charles Chips.  I don’t think we were allowed to leave until all three were in our car.)

Anyhow, after I saw the brittle and the other snacks, I came across a dip mix.  Lauren says this dip is her favorite and she serves it with homemade baked tortilla chips.  She was sweet enough to include the tortillas she uses so I could make them myself!

Of everything I got, the only thing I haven’t tried is the dip, but I plan to remedy that soon.  Perhaps I’ll add it as a side dish or appetizer for this month’s meal plan!

Are you interested in participating?  It’s really very easy and fun!  Just head on over to the Foodie Penpal page and sign up.  Lindsay is so sweet and organized.  She does a great job coordinating everyone.  Here’s some more information about the game:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
– Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.

I hope you consider joining!  It’s great fun and you get something in the mail every month!  Who doesn’t like getting mail?  I also want to give a big THANKS to Lauren for putting together such a great box of goodies!  She’s the sweetest!

Have a great day, everyone!

Summatime Cookin’

I love Mexican food.  I could definitely eat Mexican at least once a week day.    So when I got to the “Tacos” day on my meal plan, I decided to try a new recipe.  We usually have chicken soft tacos, where I use Lawry’s Caribbean Jerk marinade on chicken.  Or, not very often, I use ground turkey to make the filling and we have a traditional “beef” taco.

I wanted something new.  I went to my trusty Allrecipes site and did a quick search.  I found the following recipe for the marinade:

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika

I quickly threw the marinade together before work and let my beef soak in it throughout the day.  When I came home, it was so hot out, I opted to cook the meat on the stovetop rather than outside on the grill.  It turned out great!

I just added a couple toppings (lettuce, cheese, salsa…we’re simpletons in this household) and chowed down!  This marinade was SO GOOD.  Will definitely be making this again!

To wash everything down, I decided to use my Pomegranate Oolong tea I got from Jungle Jim’s to make a Tennessee staple:  sun tea!  It’s so easy.  Take a big pitcher (you can use glass or plastic, but I prefer glass) and fill it with water.

For traditional sun tea, you add a couple family sized tea bags or 4 personal sized tea bags.  For my flavored sun tea, you add 3 personal sized bags and 1 flavored bag.  I find that if you use ONLY flavored bags, it is TOO STRONG.  Place the bags in the pitcher and cover the opening with plastic wrap.  This serves two purposes.  First, it keeps out any bugs.  Second, it helps create a “greenhouse” type effect and makes the tea percolate faster.

Once the tea is the desired color, you just take it inside, remove the bags and throw them away, and pour yourself a nice tall glass.

Ice and colorful umbrella optional.

Swiss Burgers

I love burgers.  In fact, if you gave me a choice between steak and a cheeseburger, it would be a very tough decision for me.  I’m not quite sure what it is about the burger.  Maybe it’s the juicy, well seasoned beef.  Maybe it’s the melty cheese.  Maybe it’s just because I like dipping things in ketchup.

It could be all three.

No matter what the reason, I made a killer burger the other night.  I recently purchased Balsamic Glaze from Trader Joe’s.  After I had it on some grilled pizza, my brain started churning.  I immediately thought of putting it on a burger of some sort.

After a few minutes of brainstorming, I came up with what I believe to be a truly great burger.  Brace yourself.  Swiss burgers topped with caramelized onions and balsamic glaze on a toasted brioche bun.  *DROOL*

I just gave you an idea for dinner this weekend, right?  You’re welcome.

Swiss Burger with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Glaze

2 white onions, thin sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound 80/20 ground beef*
salt
pepper
1 tbsp Worchestershire
Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze
4 Brioche rolls

The onions take about 45 minutes to caramelize fully, so plan ahead and start them in enough time to eat them with your burgers.  In a small pan over medium high heat, add olive oil and onions.  Toss to combine.  Once the onions start sizzling, you can turn down the head to low and let cook, stirring occasionally.  Do not salt them at this point.  Salt will bring out the water in the onions and they will take longer to caramelize.  Once your onions are golden brown and very soft, they are done.

Preheat your grill.  In a small bowl, season your ground beef with salt, pepper, and worchestershire.  Mix to incorporate but don’t over mix or your beef will get tough.

Level out your meat in the bowl and divide it into quadrants.  Now, make each quadrant into a burger.  This ensures even sized burgers.  Grill your burgers over medium heat for a few minutes on each side or until your burgers are cooked to your desired doneness.

A minute or so before your burgers are cooked, throw your buns, cut side down, onto the grill so they toast up.  Now’s the time you can put slices of Swiss cheese on your burgers so they melt.

To assemble the burger, top your roll with the burger, then the caramelized onion.  To finish it off, drizzle the balsamic glaze over the onions.

I had some Alexis Sweet Potato fries in my freezer I cooked to serve alongside.  It was one of the best dinners I’d made in a long time.

*Every chef on Food Network suggests using 80/20 ground beef for the correct ratio of meat to fat.  This yields the juiciest, most flavorful burgers.

Take Out Fake Out

Who doesn’t love take out?  It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s delicious!  Jeff and I love take out, especially when said take out is Chinese food.  YUM!  Our favorites include General Tao’s chicken and Sweet and Sour chicken.  Healthy…

I love stir fry, but more often than not, when I make my own it’s lacking.  Therefore, when I chose to make Chicken Stir Fry for my meal plan, I opted to seek out a recipe to follow.  In the past, I would head to allrecipes.com first, but now, I hit up Pinterest.  The pin with the most repins was this recipe.

It looked delicious, but I was skeptical because a lot of times the recipes I pin don’t taste as good as they look. That was not the case this time!  It was oh-my-gosh delicious.  You may notice there are some different ingredients in this recipe (like sesame oil and oyster sauce).  Don’t be scared.  If you like Chinese food, chances are you’ve eaten them before.

Take a chance and try this recipe.  You will love it, I promise.  I made it for dinner on Wednesday night and Jeff already asked me to make it again for dinner.  That’s a win in my book!

Chicken Stir Fry
(from blogchef.net)

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” pieces)
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh ginger (minced)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic (minced)
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 pinch ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Combine chicken, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and black pepper in a large resealable bag.  Squish chicken around to ensure even coating.  Put in fridge and let marinate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, heat a wok (or large skillet) to high.  Add the oil and let it heat up.  The original recipe called for the entire bag’s contents to be poured into the wok, but I drained most of the liquid out.  It seemed like a LOT of sauce.  I also used more like 1 TBSP of oil, but that’s up to you.  It worked fine for me.

Stir fry your chicken until your chicken is thoroughly cooked and your sauce has reduced slightly.  It should take about 8 minutes.  After that, turn off the heat and add your oyster sauce.  Stir to coat.

I made a batch of jasmine rice to have with the chicken.  Normally I would add veggies in my stir fry, but in this case, I didn’t.  I will next time and use the excess liquid to cook my veggies in.  I think that would be yummy.  Speaking of liquid, the sauce you make is a little overpowering on it’s own.  I suggest making the rice because it helps balance the flavors and tone the dish down a bit.

I’m trying to resist making this again for dinner tonight.  The fight is not going well…

Pin-spiration

I heart Pinterest.  There are so many recipes, crafts, and ideas on that website that you could probably spend several hours looking through things.

Oh wait.  I have.

So, one day, during a massive Pinterest surfing session, I came across this post.  I loved it.  Steph of Modern Parents, Messy Kids has a goal to organize her entire life.  Part of this goal is to create a meal plan that is easy to plan and easy to follow.  Her friend Mel came up with just the type of thing she was looking for.

Basically, Mel breaks down the days of the week into categories (i.e. Meatless Monday, Pasta Tuesday, etc) and then fills in each category with meals.  What a great idea, I thought!  During one of the many midnight feeding sessions with Jake, I started to plan out what my calendar would look like.

Finally, last Thursday, I put my plan in motion.  After a little thinking, I came up with my categories.  They are a little more generic than Mel’s, but that’s OK with me.  It’s what will work for my family.  My categories are:

Sunday-Cookbook Recipe
Monday-Chicken
Tuesday-Pasta/Vegetarian
Wednesday-Beef/Pork
Thursday-Pinterest Recipe
Friday-Fish/Seafood
Saturday-Grill

I (of course) created an Excel spreadsheet, which made it super easy to fill various recipes in.  I knew I wanted to make our favorites once a month, so I immediately plugged in meatloaf, Dad’s spaghetti, Pantry pasta, grilled chicken, Sloppy Joes, and Beef Stroganoff in the spreadsheet.  Then it was simply a matter of filling in the rest of it.

I wanted to include two columns for new recipes (I am a food blogger after all), so I chose a column for cookbooks and one for Pinterest. Here’s what the final spreadsheet ended up looking like:

(click on spreadsheet to see it bigger)

You may notice there are no spots for leftovers, which means I will most likely be cooking every day.  I would love to cook every day, but with my work schedule, it’s just not always feasible.  This is just a work in progress, so I’m using the month of July as a trial.

I am also implementing a planning tool that Kath talks about in this video:

She uses Google Calendars to help her plan her meals and, more importantly, helps remind her of things she needs to do ahead of time.  I’ve started this with my own calendar and hopefully it will work out!

The last and final tool I started using was a board on Pinterest I labeled “Top 10″.

I wanted a place I could quickly refer back to the recipes I chose to try from my Pinterest boards.  This will also make it easier to mark as “Completed” once I have made them.  I’m such a dork, but I love things organized!  That’s probably why I have 33 Pinterest boards…

Only time will tell if my new system will work out.  I am hoping to do a follow up post in August with very positive news!  Stay tuned!

Blog Love: Warm Potato Salad

Pinterest is evil.  I can’t even tell you the number of recipes, craft projects, and gift ideas I have pinned in the last few months.  The bad part is, for ever one pin I complete, I pin 10 more!  At this rate, I will never work my way through all those pins!

Carolyn and I did come up with the idea of making a “Ten Pins to Try First” type of board, so I could always have an idea of what I was really looking forward to trying.  I haven’t done it yet, but if I had, I would have had this recipe on there for sure.

I love potatoes and I love salad.  What I don’t love is potato salad, mostly because of the mayo involved.  When I saw this warm potato salad recipe floating around on Pinterest, I knew it was a must try.  I mean bacon, caramelized onions, and potatoes.  What’s not to like??

The recipe comes from Ingrid at The Cozy Apron.  It’s such a delicious recipe and really not too hard to make.  I started with my caramelized onions and while that was simmering, I baked my potatoes and fried my bacon.  The rest was simple!

After your bacon is cooked, you make the warm bacon vinaigrette and then it’s as easy as tossing everything together.  I served our potatoes with some burgers from Dorothy Lane and, I must say, they made a perfect pair!

Jake kept me company while I cooked dinner.  He’s my little sous chef!

Jeff offered to grill the burgers.  What a great guy!  I could get used to this!

So, head on over to The Cozy Apron and show Ingrid a little blog love.  Try her Warm Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.  I promise you won’t regret it!

What pins on your pin boards are you most looking forward to trying?

Grillin’ Frenzy

Carolyn was here for a visit earlier this week.  On night one, I made my Pistachio Chicken with roasted veg and some fruit.  When I asked her what I should make on night two, she suggested grilled pizza.  When my mom is visiting, she almost always requests grilled pizza.  It was the perfect night for it!

After a quick run through of the ingredients we’d need, we stopped at the store before picking the little guy up from daycare.  Once home, I gave C the task of stretching the pizza dough, a task I really hate doing (don’t as me why).

I had sliced an onion and cooked it down in a little butter so it got caramelized and delicious.  If you have time and like onions, I highly suggest doing this.  It gives your pizza another dimension you can’t normally get otherwise.

After the onions were cooked and the pizza dough stretched, we prepped the other ingredients.  If I can give you one piece of advice when making grilled pizza, it’s to have your ingredients ready to go before you step foot outside.  I also suggest using white dough as opposed to wheat, but that’s me.  I try to use whole wheat ingredients when I can, but honestly the white is just better!

So, when your dough is stretched, your ingredients prepped, and your grill is preheated, you’re ready to start.  I have made the pizza two ways:  taking all the ingredients outside and doing the entire process out there and just taking the dough outside, then bringing it back in once it’s partially cooked.  In my opinion, the second way works better.

I take the dough outside with a little dish of olive oil.  Then I brush the dough with the oil and put it, oil side down, on the grill.  Cook the dough until it’s slightly done and the lines from the grill are golden brown.  Be sure not to over cook the dough.  It will burn quickly.

Once the dough is cooked, take it off the heat and bring it inside.  Add your desired toppings.  That night, we made four different pizzas:

Jeff’s pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, thin sliced tomatoes, basil pesto, crushed red pepper flake, parmesan cheese, thin sliced fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes.

My traditional style pizza-pizza sauce, large pepperoni, proscuitto, caramelized onions, basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, torn basil leaves, and thin sliced fresh mozzarella.

Jeff and I typically have very similar pizzas as you can see.

Margherita pizza-very traditional with tomato, torn basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella.  We didn’t put pizza sauce on this one and I was kind of regretting it.  I think we did put pesto on it.

Peach & Proscuitto pizza-since it’s peach season, C and I wanted to try something with peaches.

We did thin sliced peaches, proscuitto, a bit of goat cheese, a little mozzarella, and a drizzle of the Balsamic Glaze I picked up from Trader Joe’s the last time I was there.  YUM!  C and I decided it was the best one of all of them.

This stuff is seriously good.  They suggest you “Use it on salads, as a drizzle over grilled meat and fish, or as a dessert topping for fresh, summertime berries or vanilla ice cream.”

If you’ve never tried grilled pizza, you need to.  It’s delicious and so much better than oven baked.  The fire gives the crust a nice flavor and crunchy texture.  Jeff and I grill pizza probably once every couple weeks in the summer.  It’s the perfect dinner!

PW’s Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

The other day, I was watching my version of Saturday morning cartoons:  Food Network “In The Kitchen”.  One of my new favorite shows is the Pioneer Woman.  Sure, she’s not the best on camera, but she’s a food blogger.  I’m a food blogger.  We have something in common.

So anyhow, there I was watching the show when she did a fancier version of my Crock Pot Pulled Pork.  Just the other day, I was rereading my food diary from when I lost 35 pounds a few years ago and I noticed a common theme.  Pulled pork and barbeque.  Since my pulled pork had been lacking something the past few times I’d made it, I decided to try Ree’s version.

It’s quite simple, really.  You lay your pork roast over a bed of onions, top with a can of chipotles in adobo, brown sugar, salt, pepper, pop and you have her recipe for Spicy Pop Pulled Pork.  I made it the other day before going in to work and I gotta tell ya.  It’s pretty yummy.  Just spicy enough to hit all the notes on your tongue, but not so spicy you’re gulping water.

I topped our sandwiches with a little Dorothy Lane BBQ sauce.  It’s the best I’ve found in Dayton.

Then, the next day, I was hunting around in my fridge for breakfast options and saw the pulled pork.  The wheels in my brain started turning and I created Pulled Pork Scramble.

Scrambled eggs tossed with leftover pulled pork and topped with bbq sauce.  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  Eggs with pulled pork?  Really?

Well according to my brother, eggs go with everything.  Who am I to question a chef?

So what do you think?  Do eggs go with pork and BBQ sauce?

Single Serve Twice Baked Potato Casserole

One of my go to side dishes (especially when I’m closing at work) is a “baked” potato with Philadelphia Low Fat Onion and Chive Cream Cheese.

I usually buy a huge bag of small potatoes and take one with me to work, scrubbed and ready to go. When I want to eat it, I pop it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes depending on the size, then cut it open and serve with a few tablespoons of the cream cheese.

Today, after watching the Pioneer Woman make twice baked potatoes on her Food Network show, I decided I wanted that for my side dish. I had already started thawing some marinated chicken breast and I thought I had all the ingredients for the potatoes, so I went to work.

First, I baked my potatoes in the microwave. Once cooked, I scooped the flesh into a bowl, added a bunch of stuff, mixed well, and threw it into buttered ramekins. Then I baked them in our convection oven. They were so good!

Quick, easy, and delicious. I couldn’t ask for a better dish!

Single Serve Twice Baked Potato Casserole
2 Idaho potatoes, scrubbed
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sour cream*
1/4 cup Mexican cheese, divided
2 slices proscuitto, cut in thin strips (chiffonaded if you will)
1 clove garlic, grated
salt & pepper to taste

Scrub your potatoes and cook them in the microwave for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from microwave and scoop the flesh into a small bowl, discarding the skin. Add butter, sour cream, 1/8 cup of cheese, proscuitto, garlic, salt & pepper. Mix well. Divide between two medium sized buttered ramekins. Top with remaining cheese and one more slice of proscuitto if desired. Bake in a 400º oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is heated through.

I think you could definitely make this ahead and store in the freezer. I’m thinking you wouldn’t even need to thaw them first, just put them in the oven frozen!

*Plain Greek yogurt would work wonderfully here and I would have used that if I’d had any on hand.

 

“Dump” Chicken and Other Such Things

In my quest to become the “perfect” (ha!) mom, I have stumbled upon a little thing known as “dump” chicken.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s back up, shall we?  (Oh…it’s too early for shall we!...Anyone??)

You all know I like to make a healthy, home cooked meal for us for dinner.  We don’t always get a healthy, home cooked meal for lunch, but I can control dinner most of the time so I like it to be as wholesome as possible.  I’ve also dusted off my britches and climbed not so gracefully back on that wagon of healthy eating.  I’ve lost nearly 40 pounds of the weight I gained when I was pregnant, but unfortunately I had gained about 30 pounds between my healthy weight and my second pregnancy, so I have to re-lose that 30 pounds now.  It was a struggle then and I’m sure it will be even  more of a challenge now considering my time is even more cherished than it was before.

The problem?  When you have a 5 month old who goes to bed around 7p every night and a husband who gets hungry for dinner around 6p, your time is limited especially considering I don’t want to spend those precious few hours between day care and bed time cooking.

The answer?  Freezer meals.  It’s not a new notion.  In fact, it is one of the most pinned topics on pinterest!  I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get on board, but once I did, I never looked back.  Here are just a few ways my freezer has saved me in the past few weeks:

Dump Chicken:  This website has tons of seemingly great recipes.  In less than 10 minutes, I “made” three different recipes from this site.  The concept is simple…take a gallon freezer bag, add chicken, veggies, and sauce.  Seal and throw in the freezer.  When you’re ready to make it, pull it out the day before and put in the fridge to thaw out a little.  The next day, either put it in the crock pot in the morning or bake in a casserole dish that night.

I tried the Caribbean Dump Chicken and I have mixed reviews.  I’m not sure if it was because I used the crock pot or I just didn’t like the recipe, but something tasted off.  I’m thinking I just don’t care for chicken in the crock pot though, to be honest.  I also have Citrus Ginger Dump Chicken and Chili Maple Glazed Dump Chicken in my freezer, but haven’t cooked them yet.

As a bonus meal, I emptied one bottle of Lawry’s Sesame Ginger marinade over two extra large chicken breasts and froze.  I thawed, then grilled them up last night and they were fabulous!  So moist, tender, and flavorful!  Definitely trying that again!

Chicken Enchiladas:  If you read this post, you know I’ve made enchiladas for the freezer in the past.  The only problem?  When you freeze them with the sauce and then thaw them to cook, they can become soggy.  I’m not sure how I came up with the solution, but I decided to make up the enchiladas and freeze them without the sauce!  Genius!  I bought burrito tortillas, filled them with chicken, refried beans, black beans, and corn, and wrapped them up, tucking the ends in so the filling didn’t fall out.  Then I froze the burritos in a freezer bag.  When I wanted to serve, I pulled out a couple burritos, put them in a small baking dish, covered with sauce and some cheese and baked at 400º until heated through.  I even put them in the oven frozen!  Love this.

Dad’s Spaghetti Sauce:  I love the recipe I affectionately call Dad’s Spaghetti.  I could eat it every week.  The problem?  If you want to do it right, the sauce has to simmer for approximately 3-4 hours.  How did I solve this?  I made a huge batch and let it simmer all day.  I dumped 4 cans of diced tomatoes in a large pot, added some olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and some more spices and brought it to a boil.  I then reduced the heat to simmer and let it sit there for several hours, stirring occasionally.  Once I thought it looked done, I turned off the heat and let it continue to sit on the stove until it was cooled.  Then I split the recipe up into four separate containers and froze them.  Now, when I want a quick dinner, I’ll defrost the sauce, cook up a batch of pasta, and toss to combine.  Add a side salad and maybe some rolls and you’re done!  Easy peasy Japanesey.

Casseroles in general:  We are a huge casserole family in this house.  We love them!  I asked Jeff if he had any requests for my cooking extravaganza and he said Tater Tot Casserole and Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.  I love both of those too!  My problem is I don’t have enough casserole dishes to prepare them ahead of time.  I have two solutions to this.

The first is lining the casserole dish with aluminum foil, making the casserole, and then wrapping the foil around the dish.  You then freeze the entire thing and pull it out of the dish once frozen.  When you want to serve, you pull the foil wrapped casserole out of the freeze and put it back in the dish you used to freeze it.  Then bake, eat, wash, etc.

The second way I found was to implement those trusty freezer bags again.  Let’s use the chicken cordon bleu as an example.  In this recipe you make a white sauce, then combine it with diced chicken, ham, and swiss cheese.  Then you top it with a mixture of crackers, cheese, and butter.  YUM!  I put the chicken, ham, and cheese in a bag.  I then made the white sauce and let it cool to room temperature.  I put the sauce in the bag with the chicken mixture, sealed it, and rolled it around to cover everything with sauce.  Then I put the crushed crackers and cheese in a separate sandwich bag.  I added the butter, unmelted, to the bag.  The day I wanted to serve, I put the chicken mixture in a dish.  Then, I melted the butter, added it to the sandwich bag, and tossed to coat.  Finally, I put the cracker mixture over the chicken mixture and baked in the oven.

I can’t decide which way would be easier for me.  I like the dump method of using freezer bags, but it may be more economically friendly to use the foil as opposed to the bags.  Either way, I would recommend leaving anything you want crispy or crunchy out of the mix until the day you serve, otherwise it could become soggy.

These are just a few of the ways I have started implementing freezer cooking in my life.  I also made a few meatloaves to store in the freezer.  Jeff loves my meatloaf and has requested to have it once a week.  When I make it, though, he eats it for dinner, then for breakfast the following day, and if there’s enough left he eats it for lunch.  I have to hide some if I want leftovers!

For more tips and tricks, check out the following posts from other bloggers:
Freezer Meals on the Cheap by A Turtle’s Life for Me
Dump Cooking by When the Dinner Bell Rings
101 Spring Freezer Meals to Make Your Life Sane by Once a Month Mom

Also, Natalie at A Turtle’s Life for Me recommends the book Don’t Panic, Dinner’s in the Freezer.  She says it’s where she gets a lot of her recipes.  I just bought the book and will be hopefully putting it to good use in the next few weeks.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

So, I want to know…what is your favorite recipe to make ahead?