Friday, January 8, 2010

Freezer Friendly Friday


Do you have recipes that are freezer friendly? When I did once a month cooking with a group of friends, my goal was to find new and exciting recipes that I could assemble ahead of time, throw in the freezer, and bake later.

Now that I don't meet with that group anymore, I try to do it on my own (a little at a time). I've had failures and flops, but I have also had some pretty tasty creations. I appreciate having meals in the freezer. It cuts down on those times of being 'forced' to eat out when we've had a hectic day.

Here's a recipe that is a hit with my entire family.

Turkey Meatloaf

3# ground turkey
1 16 oz. bag of seasoned cubed stuffing (I like Pepperidge Farms Heb Seasoned)
3 cups chicken broth (might need to increase)
5 stalks of celery, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
2 sticks of butter (I think you could cut back on the butter but you'd definitely need to increase the chicken broth)

Saute the onion and celery in butter (okay, it's really more like "boil in butter", but saute sounds better) until tender, then mix with stuffing and add chicken broth to moisten the stuffing. Mix turkey in with the mixture. Transfer mixture to a greased 9 x 13 pan. (Or loaf pans) Cover and freeze.

On serving day, thaw mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

The last time I prepared this, I had to add more chicken broth because the mixture seemed too dry. As long as it holds together and looks like the bread cubes are pretty moist then it should turn out okay. Sorry I can't give you better advice. I should have taken pictures to show you.

Anyway, my kids love this as well as my church group. We have a pot luck every Sunday and this was a hit. It's yummy with mashed potatoes too. The flavor is reminiscent of a Thanksgiving dinner without all the prep time or clean up.

How about you? Do you have any freezer friendly recipes you'd be willing to share with me?

8 comments:

  1. I take one Sunday a month and spent a few hours making several batches of soup and breakfast pockets (small whole-wheat rolls stuffed with eggs, cheese, beans, and salsa). I freeze the soup in small serving sizes so it defrosts quickly, and the breakfast pockets heat up nicely in the toaster oven while I'm in the shower.

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  2. I wish I did! But I have a great marinade recipe! 1 cup water, 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, marinate over night and grill any meat in tis and you will thank me :)! Easy and fab!

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  3. I made some beans from scratch and they freeze well. Soak three kinds of beans overnight..I did Great Northern, Pinto and small Lima..the next morning add more water bring to boil..and then cast off the old water, rinse and add more water..cook in seperate pots about one hour. Then fry up some bacon ends and some onion and throw that in a large pot like a dutch oven..add about 1 cup molasses, 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, a little mustard and ketsup and salt and pepper...add all the beans and bake in the oven for a long time..about three hours..you can add more molasses and brown sugar if needed or to your taste. These freeze well..they don't get mushy..at least ,mine did not..but I am not a real cook either:)

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  4. hahaha...laughing, because the last freezer meals I made were last January. and that is not what is making me crack up...it is that I made a few lasagnas for the kids to have while we were gone. something went wrong with the recipe, because my poor brother and sister in law (who was and is my best friend...who I led to my brother) had to feed it to the kids like soup. hahahha. I have know idea what I did wrong, but will definitely have to try something different next trip to Ethiopia. So please do post some good recipes, my kids are begging you.

    and you are rocking with this blogging thing my friend!

    hahahha
    Kimmie
    mama to 7
    one homemade and 6 adopted
    *expecting one from Ethiopia!!

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  5. laughing even more...the word I had to type to get my post transcribed was...boozo! hahahah

    guess I am.

    Kimmie

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  6. Yummy....sounds delicious! I am terrible about freezing meals for our family, and when I do, they sit in the freezer for about a year before I throw them out!

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  7. http://gallagherspace.blogspot.com/

    Sarah just had a freezer recipe today that sounds really good!

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