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?

Like Money in the Bank

The other day I took eight pounds of ground beef and made:

2 pans of Heavenly Beef Casserole
2 pans of Meatloaf
1 batch of Sloppy Joe's
1 batch of CB Casserole

Then I put them all in the freezer. I love having meals ready and waiting for me, especially when my husband is traveling. When The King saw what I had done, he said, "Having meals in the freezer is like money in the bank for you, isn't it?" He's absolutely right. I'm feeling like the richest woman in the world right now.  My wealth will be a blessing to him this week while I'm out of town, so I am sure I'll be needing to make some new deposits as soon as I get home.

Anyone have a great freezer recipe you'd like to share?  I love trying new things.  

Freezer Cooking

One of my favorite things to do is to prepare freezer meals. My hubby travels quite often so I am left to care for our seven children. The days I am alone caring for our busy household and home schooling three of our children I feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and outnumbered by the time I should begin preparing dinner. Freezer meals have kept us from driving through fast food restaurants on the nights dad is out of town. I have been a member of a once a month cooking club for almost two years now. Between cooking with a group of friends and making meals on my own, I keep a great supply of meals on hand.

Multi Tasking Mom's recipe swap this week is make ahead meals. Here is one that I can easily make in large batches, separate and freeze I found it in one of my grandmother's church cookbooks. My kids love this meal, and we rarely have leftovers. It is a little bland in color, so I make a side of peas, carrots or a tossed salad to liven it up. My friend Rapunzel puts peas right in the meat mixture for a one dish meal.

Just a note: If you do have left overs and want to reheat in the microwave, we peel the biscuits off, heat the meat mixture until it's hot then add the biscuits for about 10 seconds more. This keeps the biscuits from getting hard.

CB Casserole
Serves 6-8

1 ½ lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2-8 oz. packages cream cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of milk

Have on hand: Three tubes of refrigerated biscuits (the cheap kind that come in a four pack).

Cooking day instructions: Brown ground beef with onion. Thoroughly cream the milk, cream cheese and soup together. Add ground beef mixture to soup mixture. Spread in bottom of greased 9 X 13 pan or in a freezer container. Do not place biscuits on top of casserole at this time. Label and freeze.

Serving day instructions: Thaw. If frozen ahead in a freezer container, spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake meat mixture at 375° until it bubbles all across the top (20-30 minutes). Cut biscuits into fourths. Place biscuits evenly over the top of hot mixture. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are brown and completely done.