No More Flimsy Aluminum Pans

Have you ever gone to take a lasagna out of the oven and had the flimsy aluminum pan bend to spill sauce on your floor? It’s just so sad to lose any of that cheesy, gooey deliciousness.

Aluminum pans definitely have their place in freezer cooking. Many times they are great option for storing casseroles, enchiladas, and pasta dishes in the freezer; and are especially appropriate for those participating in freezer meal exchanges.

My wise friend, Miken, shared a different storage option for all of the casserole and casserole-like recipes. The simplicity of this idea made me do a palm-to-forehead move and think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Here it is:

1. Line a baking pan, like this 9”x 9” pan, with two layers of aluminum foil. The foil needs to be higher than the sides of the pan.

2. Place your casserole recipe directly on top of the foil. Here I added Sour Cream Enchiladas to the foil lined pan.

Notice that one pan is lined and the other isn't?
This is another way I like to keep my freezer
stocked. Split a recipe into two portions- one to eat
right away, one to freeze for later. 

3. Put another piece of foil or plastic wrap over the top.

4. Place the pan in the freezer.

5. When the casserole is frozen solid, just lift the edges of the foil to remove the casserole, leaving an empty baking dish behind.

6. Double check the frozen casserole is completely wrapped. Then, slide the whole thing into a gallon-size bag.

7. Store in your freezer until needed. I store this vertically just like my other gallon-sized bagged meals.

8. On cooking day, place the frozen casserole back into the same sized baking dish. Allow the casserole to thaw during the day. Then, bake according to the recipe’s directions.

Wa-la! No more aluminum pans. Plus, as an added bonus, the foil lined baking pan makes clean up so easy. 

Sour Cream Enchiladas (adapted from Skinny Mom)

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
10-ounce can green enchilada sauce
½ cup sour cream
10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken Soup
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
10-ounce can diced tomatoes & green chilies
4.5-ounce can chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
8 flour tortillas or 16 corn tortillas
¾ cup Mexican shredded cheese
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions 

Line two 9”x 9” baking pans with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick spray. 

Cook the chicken with the onion, tomatoes with green chilies, cumin, and salt and pepper in slow cooker for three to four hours. Remove chicken and shred. Add back to the slow cooker. Set aside
Place chicken and contents of the slow cooker into a large pot. 

Add the enchilada sauce, sour cream, chicken soup, and milk to a large pot. Stir frequently for 2 to 3 minutes and set aside. 

To assemble: Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture. Tightly roll each tortilla and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. 

Pour and evenly spread the sour cream sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the cheese.

 
Cover the tops of the pans with foil or plastic wrap. Freeze. 

Place frozen enchilada packets into gallon-sized bags for storage. 

On cooking day, place the wrapped enchiladas into the baking dish to thaw. 

Bake at 375° for 18 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melted. 

To serve, garnish with the cilantro and a generous dollop of guacamole.

Enjoy!

So You Want to Start a Freezer Exchange?

It’s no secret that I am a super fan of my freezer meal group. Given just a sliver of an opening in conversation, I will rave about how much I love the convenience, community, money-saving, and ease of our freezer meal exchanges.

So, if you are interested in saving time, money, (and perhaps, your sanity), you might want to consider starting your own freezer group.  (Hold on to your hats, here comes a long post. But, never fear, not only is there a good amount of useful information, but there is a printable at the end.)

STEP 1: Find 2-5 friends.

You need to be a little picky about who invite to your group, not because you don’t like them. There are just some practical commonalities you must have in order for these exchanges to work. Start by finding families of a similar size. In our group, we all have a need for meals that feed families of four. All the meals we bring to the exchange include the same number of servings.

Next, think about who has similar culinary tastes. Consider questions like: Does your family like adventurous, gourmet meals? Are you okay with meals that may use cream of chicken soup? Do you eat meat or poultry with every meal?  Do you eat exclusively organic? Etc.

Finally, your exchange pals need to be dependable. Your freezer meal exchange will be most worthwhile if you have group members consistently participating.  Remember, it takes teamwork to make the dream work.

STEP 2: Agree upon group guidelines.

You’ll want to establish some guidelines for your group to function smoothly.

Communication

How will you communicate with one another about the date of an exchange and what meals you’ll prep? Our group started by using texts and Facebook messages. We’ve since graduated to a secret, closed Facebook group, which I think was a great move. I highly recommend you check out this communication option. I’ve also read about other groups that meet at a park while their kids play or at someone’s house while they snack on appetizers. I know of some groups that use group emails. There are many possibilities, find one that works for each member of the group.

Meal Preparation

Will your group prepare meals together or individually? There are definite advantages to both. When you prep the meals together, it’s like a party. You’re all together for the shopping, you split the workload, and only make a mess in one kitchen. It may be a long day, but you’re finished with all the meal prep in a day. For us, it has always worked well for us to each prep our freezer meals at home and do a trade on the day of the freezer meal exchange. It’s a little more of a flexible approach. I like this because then I can pick and choose when I want to prep my meals. Sometimes I find a great sale on beef, but our exchange isn’t for another few weeks. I’ll prep the freezer meal while the beef is on sale and fresh, then store it in my freezer until the exchange day. But again, there are advantages to both, so just pick what works best for your group.

Food 

How many servings should be included in each meal? How much should each meal cost? How will you package and label the meal? How many different meals will you each prep?

Like mentioned above, our group preps meals portioned to feed a family of four. We budget $5-7 per meal. On the rare occasion that an entrée costs less than $5, we include a side dish that will bring the total to the agreed upon range. Most of our meals are frozen in gallon-sized bags and the occasional aluminum pan. Miken shared a great tip on how to freeze casseroles without an aluminum pan. Check out this post to learn about it. To label the meals, we usually just use a Sharpie and write directly on the bag. I recommend to do this labeling before you put the food in the bag. Did I learn this the hard way? Maybe.

Frequency 

How often will your group exchange meals?

Think about how often your family eats freezer meals- a few times a month, once or twice a week, or most nights. This is a major factor in how often you meet and how many meals are exchanged.

Our groups meets just about every other month. We all eat at least one or two freezer meals a week. So, the math goes kind of like this:

≈1 ½ meals a week x 8 weeks = 12 meals

Since there are six members in our group, we each bring two different meals to exchange with the group. In the end, we have 12 meals tucked away in our freezers to last through the next two months.

STEP 3: Follow through and adjust.

By this point in the process, you’ve done all the leg work to get rolling. Make sure that you and your pals follow through. After your first exchange, talk about what worked in the process and what didn’t. Make adjustments to how your group functions until you start cruising along without any hiccups.

I’m such a believer in freezer groups. This wonderful group of gals and their freezer meals have really helped to simplify this part of my life. So, if you’re wondering if it’ll be a good fit for you, just give it shot. It might just be one of the best decisions you make.

Use this printable to help you record the choices you and your group make while organizing your freezer meal exchange group. 

Chili a la Amy

It's that time of the year again... cold nights, tired mommies, and hungry kiddos. In our house, the latter seems to be all the time! Being a home school family you might think that we have SO much time to cook and prepare large elaborate meals; that is, however, not the case at all. I actually feel that now that we are home, we have less time to cook. Between lessons, and refereeing arguments between siblings, and transporting kids places, I am so thankful for a few of my tried and true recipes I keep up my sleeve. And shall I add, recipes that don't take me all day to make either. One of my family's favorites is chili. Now, I have made chili for a number of years, but only lately have I been including a secret ingredient...MASA... mmm, goodness!

Chili a la Amy:

Many recipes combined to make this one...

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 pound ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey)
3 (or more) crushed cloves garlic
salt and pepper

1 tsp oregano
1 Tbls cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne (I omit for the kiddos)
2 Tbls chili powder

1 large can of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup masa (corn flour)
1/2 cup water

serve with choice of:
cheese
chopped onion
FRITOS.... YUM!


Directions:
Get yourself a big pot, no need to do a lot of dishes with this meal! Who has time for that anyways!?

Cook onions on high heat in olive oil until then appear transparent. Then add the meat and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain off any excess fat you might see.

Now dump all your spices in with the meat. Give it a good stir and let everyone meet up with each other in the pot! Now is the time to open and dump...

Add all your canned ingredients and give it another stir around. Turn the stove down to simmer and let it cook for about an hour, or if you don't have time, just until it gets all bubbly and good tasting! I have made this and let is sit for a few hours and I have made it and served right away.

Right before you are going to serve, mix the masa and water in a little bowl until blended and add that to the pot of goodies. Stir together, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. If the chili is to thick, you can add some water to reach the desired consistency.

Just as an added note... this freezes and reheats wonderfully. I have plopped this right in my slow cooker frozen with some water and turned it on low... stirring every now and again.

Now who's ready for some chili!?! I know I am....

~ Amy

Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup

Pumpkin is as synonymous to Fall as Douglas Fir is to Winter.  Anything pumpkin this time of year makes me happy. Last night I wanted something warm and not too heavy. It was one of those nights when I wanted a broth type soup but with some substance. The flavor combinations that came through with this soup was just the right spice and thoroughly warmed my soul.

Recipe (adapted from several different recipes)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, ghee, or butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cans 100% pure pumpkin
1 cup light or full fat coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and melt oil, ghee or butter. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add curry powder, cumin, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Constantly stir until spices become toasted and fragrant, about 60 seconds. Add stock, coconut milk, and pumpkin. Bring to a gentle boil, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Use an immersion blender to smooth out the soup.  You can also use a blender, working in batches, process until smooth.  Return soup to heat and bring to a simmer. 

Serve with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and roasted pumpkin seeds.  

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Fall is such a wonderful time of year.  Here in Northern Californina we have been patiently waiting for the cooler weather and even more so for the rain to fall from the sky and quench our dry land.  This type of weather begs for me to pull out the slow cooker, fill it with a delicous dinner and let my house permeate with the warming smells of Fall.  It's a dinner that when set upon the table your eyes will feast, your nose will smell the aromatics of cinnamon and nutmeg, and your tastebuds will delight in the tang of the cranberry. Serve this dish with some of your favorite roasted root vegetables and a sauce from the pan drippings.  I am telling you, Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken will become a dinner you will put into rotation!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast or 6 chicken thighs or combo of both
1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce
1 pkg of dry onion soup mix
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 cup of chicken stock or vegetable stock

Directions for cooking that day:
Place ingredients in crockpot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low 6- 8 hours.
Check chicken periodically to make sure there is liquid to avoid drying out.
To make a sauce for the chicken by straining the drippings, adding a flour slurry, bring to a boil.  Finish with some honey or your preferred sweetness to cut the tartness and some butter  ('cause butter always makes things better).

Freezer Directions:
Label a gallon size Ziploc bag with recipe name and cooking hours.
Place all ingredients listed above in the order listed. Seal bag, knead to mix flavors, lay flat to freeze.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

This soup is on my Win-Win List. It’s a win because it’s cheap and freezable, and it’s a win because I have had every age from 2-70 enjoy it . . . how often can you say that?? It also makes a ton, is healthy, is easy to make . . . so Win-win-win-win?

I will say, to make this, especially if you are doing it as part of a freezer club and need to make six meals at once, there are a couple of tools that are VERY helpful. If you have not invested in a mandolin, it is so worth it when thin slicing all those carrots. And for dicing the onions and garlic, I love my chopper! Saves on tears and hand cramps- trust me!!

I hope you and all of your 2-70 year olds enjoy it as much as my family does!

Adapted from Thriving Home

Tortellini and Sausage Soup

16 oz. Mild Italian Sausage, crumbled
olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (or more if you like it spicier!)
4-5 medium carrots, sliced
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
2 (14 oz, non-marinated) can quartered artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic seasoning (liquid and all)
1 (28oz) can tomato sauce
2 cans French Onion Soup
4 cups Vegetable, chicken or beef broth
1 cup frozen corn
1 package frozen cheese tortellini

Optional:
Spinach leaves
Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

In a LARGE stockpot, heat olive oil.

After prepping your carrots, celery, jalapeño, zucchini and onion, sauté in olive oil over medium heat until they begin to soften (about 5 minutes).

Add diced garlic and stir constantly for about 1 minute.

Add remaining ingredients, except for sausage and tortellini. Bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.


***If you are freezing, stop here, cool, and bag to enjoy at a later time. After defrosting, continue with the following steps**

Meanwhile, cook sausage in a separate pan. Drain and pat dry. Add to soup mix.

Add in tortellini. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, or until done.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Optional:
In the last minute, add in fresh spinach leaves. Allow to wilt before serving

Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Crowd-Pleasing Slow Cooker Meatballs

Saucy meatballs are one of my favorite freezer meals. They’re quick to assemble, take very little time to prep for dinner, and my four year old will eat them every time. What else can you ask for in a freezer meal?

I typically just use stored bought, frozen meatballs. (Every once in a while, maybe two times a year, I’ll make homemade meatballs and flash freeze them myself. Best tool for mass producing meatballs?  A cookie scoop.) You can find meatballs in a bunch of different sizes, but my favorite are the party meatballs from Trader Joes. They are small, about 1” in diameter, and so are easy for kids to eat. These meatballs also have a nicely seasoned flavor that pairs well with many different sauces.

Here are just a few different sauce recipes that our family enjoys.

Saucy Asian Meatballs adapted from Gimme Some Oven 

2/3 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
2 TBS. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 lbs. frozen meatballs
Garnish: chopped green onions and sesame seeds

In a large mixing bowl, combine the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. Add the meatballs and stir to coat. Portion the meatballs into gallon-sized Ziploc bags. One bag should be enough for one meal for you family. Place bag in freezer.

On the day you’d like to eat this meal, place the frozen saucy meatballs in a greased slow cooker. Cook on high for 1-2 hours or low for 3-4 hours.

Our family likes to eat this over rice with stir-fry veggies on the side.

Meatball Stroganoff adapted from Rita’s Recipes 

2- 12 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
2- 14 oz. cans of beef broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I’ve never added this to our meal since we’re not huge mushroom fans in our house)
2 TBS. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. pepper
1 cup sour cream

In a large bowl, whisk the mushroom soup and beef broth together. Add the onion, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Add meatballs and stir to coat. Portion the meatballs into gallon-sized Ziploc bags. One bag should be enough for one meal for you family. Place bag in freezer.

On the day you’d like to eat this meal, place the frozen meatballs and sauce in a greased slow cooker. Cook on high for 1-2 hours or low for 3-4 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, stir in the sour cream. Since this recipe uses about half as much sour cream as most stroganoff recipes, I stick to full fat sour cream.

Our family likes to eat this over egg noodles with roasted carrots and green beans on the side.

Sweet and Tangy Meatballs from Six Sisters Stuff 

1- 12 oz. jar chili sauce
1- 16 oz. jar grape jelly
2 lbs. frozen meatballs

Combine the chili sauce and grape jelly in a large mixing bowl. Add meatballs and stir to coat. Portion the meatballs into gallon-sized Ziploc bags. One bag should be enough for one meal for you family. Place bag in freezer.

On the day you’d like to eat this meal, place the frozen saucy meatballs in a greased slow cooker. Cook on high for 1-2 hours or low for 3-4 hours.

Our family likes to eat this over rice with broccoli on the side.

Meatball Subs adapted from Rick on the Rocks 

3 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
1- 28 oz. can Hunt’s crushed tomatoes with basil
1- 4 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of salt (more to taste)
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper (more to taste)
2 cups shredded mozzarella
6 kaiser rolls

Combine paste, crushed tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic. (I usually just use a jar of spaghetti sauce, but Rick’s sauce recipe is yummy too.) Add the meatballs and stir to coat. Portion the meatballs into gallon-sized Ziploc bags. One bag should be enough for one meal for you family. Place bag in freezer.

On the day you’d like to eat this meal, place the frozen meatballs in a greased slow cooker. Cook on high for 1-2 hours or low for 3-4 hours.

Open the rolls and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Toast them under the broiler until golden. Top with roll with scoops of meatballs. Add a handful of cheese to each sub. Broil again for about 3 minutes until cheese is completely melted. (Keep a close eye on the subs it only takes second the burn the edges of your bread.)

Be sure to have lots of napkins on hands. These meatball subs are a {delicious} gooey mess!

So, watch the grocery store ads. Frozen meatballs go on sale about every three months. When they’re sale, stock up and prep a few of these meatball recipes. You’ll be saving money and time!

Exchange Report: October 2015

I always anxiously look forward to our group’s freezer meal exchange and count the days down until the big day. We typically do an exchange every two months, so it’s a big deal to me. I get to spend time chatting away with some of my dearest friends and I end up with a gloriously stocked freezer. The exchanges feed my soul and belly. 

For our most recent exchange we opted to stick with a fall theme. Everyone prepared two meals: a soup and a comfort food. 

Here’s the line-up:

Megan C.:  Tortellini Soup and Sloppy Joes

Hillary: Turkey Meatball Soup and Classic Meatloaf

Amy : Chili and Zesty BBQ Chicken

Megan D.: Pear and Bacon Butternut Squash Soup and Burrito Pie

Kathy: Cilantro-Lime Soup and Balsamic Chicken

Miken: Baked Potato Soup and Chile Con “Barney”

This is what my dining room table looks like right before everyone takes one of each meal to put in their own freezer. 

This is my garage freezer and it's great for freezer meals.  In the two bottom drawers,
I stand up our frozen meals to create something like a file cabinet of deliciousness. 

Which of our October freezer meals would you like to learn more about?

Dinner for one or six? Lasagna Roll-Ups

Lasagna has been one of my favorite foods since childhood. My mom had a rotating menu for when we had the LDS missionaries over to eat: Chinese Sundaes (AKA Hawaiian Haystacks), a creamy chicken casserole, and a classic meat lasagna. Lasagna is definitely a comfort food for me. That’s why this recipe, Spinach and Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups, is also a new favorite.

These scrumptious little roll-ups make for an easy and versatile meal. The ricotta cheese filling has a neutral taste that pairs well with all sorts of ingredients. You could add sun dried tomatoes, browned Italian sausage, zucchini, roasted butternut squash or broccoli to the filling. You can also play around with the topping sauces: a classic marinara, alfredo sauce, basil pesto, or even a combination of a few of them. Really, the sky’s the limit... and what you have in your pantry.

Recipe:  Spinach and Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups

1- 16 oz. box of lasagna noodles
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBS olive oil
8 oz. fresh spinach
15 oz. ricotta
1 egg
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 TBS dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper
1 jar pasta sauce (tomato, alfredo, pesto- your choice)

Cook lasagna noodles until flexible enough to roll up, just before they are al dente. Using tongs, remove the noodles from the pot and lay on a sheet of parchment or wax paper to cool and dry.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 30-60 seconds, until your kitchen is filled with the smell of garlic. Add the spinach to the saute pan. Cook until wilted and completely coated in the garlic oil. Turn of the heat and set this aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, mix the following ingredients together: ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked spinach and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Place a heaping ¼ cup of ricotta filling on each lasagna noodle. Use the back of your spoon to spread the cheese out across the whole noodle. Roll the noodle up and place seam side down in a baking dish (if eating right away) or on a baking sheet (if preparing as a freezer meal). Continue until all the filling is used.

If eating right away: cover the lasagna with pasta sauce and top with cheese. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.

If freezing: cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. After a few hours, remove the rolls from the freezer and place in freezer Zip Loc bags. On the day of eating, place the frozen rolls directly in a baking dish. Cover the lasagna rolls with pasta sauce and cheese. Bake at 375° for about 30-45 minutes, depending on how many rolls you’re preparing.

Step by Step Picture Directions: 

Start out by boiling your lasagna noodles. You’ll want to stir these noodles around a bit, because if the noodles stick together you won’t be able to easily roll up the little bundles of goodness. Drain the noodles when they are just flexible enough to roll. When you’re preparing a freezer meal with pasta, you always want to under cook you pasta. I like to drain the pasta 1-3 minutes less than the box directions, before they become al dente. The pasta will continue to absorb moisture from the rest of the dish as they sit in the freezer.



While you noodles are cooking away, sauté two cloves of garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic just long enough that the aroma of garlic fills your kitchen. We’re just trying to flavor the olive oil at this step.


Next, toss in about 8 ounces of fresh spinach. It looks like a lot, doesn’t it? It will cook down SO much. I’m always skeptical when I first see how much spinach goes in the pan. But, I can assure you, the spinach will cook down and be the appropriate portion for this dish. Trust.

BEFORE

AFTER

Turn off the heat and set the garlic/spinach mixture aside (we want it to cool down a bit), it’s time to mix up the cheese filling. Dump 15 ounces of ricotta cheese (I used part skim), ½ cup of grated Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 egg, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir these all together.


Add the cooled spinach and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Doesn’t that look like delightful? This mixture is like the cookie dough of the Italian world for me. I love taking a little swipe from the side of the bowl.


By now, your pasta is probably ready. Take out the noodles with tongs and lay them on parchment or wax paper. This what my mom always does, and so this is how I always do it too. Let the noodles dry for a few minutes. You don’t want to try to spread ricotta filling on wet noodles. The ricotta will just frustratingly slide back and forth.


Scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup of the filling onto a noodle. Use the back of your spoon to spread the filling out. You’ll want one end of noodle to have a little bit of a thicker layer and the other end with a fairly thin layer of filling. I like to put a scoop on every noodle, then spread out the cheese. Seems to be a little faster than alternating back and forth.






Time to roll! Take the end of the noodle with the thicker layer of filling and begin rolling. Place the roll seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. (Foil makes cleaning up so much faster! Can I get an amen?!)



If you want to eat these right away, skip the baking sheet and just place them in a baking dish. I spread a little sauce on the bottom of the dish first, then nestle the lasagna rolls down. Cover the tops of the rolls with more sauce and top with the remaining cup of cheese. Bake at 375° for about 25-30 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese begins to golden.

If these babies are going in the freezer for another day, cover the whole baking sheet in plastic wrap and place in the freezer. We want these little bundles to freeze individually, so that we have the option of cooking one at a time or all of them together. I told you this was a versatile meal.


After a few hours, you can package the lasagna rolls in freezer friendly materials. My preference are the Zip Loc gallon size freezer bags. It’s worth it to spend a little more on the name brand. It’s so sad to go through all the trouble of prepping a freezer meal just to find that it has succumb to freezer burn. So sad. Do yourself a favor and use the best packaging.

Don’t forget to label the bag! Add some pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese in and you have a handy freezer meal kit.


On the day you want to eat the lasagna rolls, put a layer of pasta sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place those little frozen bundles on top of the pasta sauce. A 9” x 9” dish is the right size for 9 lasagna rolls. Cover the tops of the rolls with a generous amount of pasta sauce. Then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. The cooking time will depend on how many rolls you are cooking, but it will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes on 375° to cook this through and golden the mozzarella cheese.


How 'bout that vintage Pyrex baking dish? Just the right size for a lunch-sized lasagna bake.


Now, that’s my kind of comfort food, taking me right back to my childhood.


Delicious. 

One Recipe, Four 10-minute (or less) Meals: BBQ Pork

In college my roommates said they loved my signature BBQ chicken quesadillas. One of my roommates had a George Foreman grill and it made some bang-a-rang quesadillas. The thing I loved about those quesadillas was the combination of the sweet, smoky BBQ sauce and the fresh zing of chopped cilantro. I revived this winning combo with my BBQ pork quesadilla recipe.

This is a quickie entrée. A little slow cooker BBQ pork, a tortilla, some cheese, and a sprinkle of cilantro come together to make a flavorful dish.

BBQ Pork Recipe

3-4 lbs. pork roast
1- 12 oz. beef broth
2 cups BBQ sauce

Place the roast and beef broth in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Remove the pork and shred. Place the pork in a baking dish or large pot. Add the sauce and stir to coat the pork. Heat the BBQ pork in oven on 350 for 30 minutes, or on stovetop on low for 30 minutes.

Freezer meal preparation: place pork and beef broth in a gallon-size Zip Loc bag. Freeze. On the day of cooking, you can place the roast in the slow cooker frozen, just extend the cooking time by about an hour or a little more. Prepare as recipe above describes.

As you can see BBQ pork recipe calls for a 3-4 pound roast. That’s a lot of pork- much more pork than you need for quesadillas. What do you do with extra shredded BBQ pork?

Here are some of my family’s favorites…

Classic BBQ Pork Sandwiches

I love adding a little crunch with a lightly dressed coleslaw on the sandwich too. Bummer, we didn’t have any coleslaw on hand last Monday night for this sandwich.

Loaded Baked Potatoes

This is low prep meal. Seriously, I probably spent five minutes getting this meal ready, and it was scrumptious. Doesn’t get much better than that!

BBQ Ranch Chopped Salad

My husband loves this type of salad. I think about 50% of the times we go to a sit-down restaurant for dinner, Mikey orders a salad super similar to this one. So, it just makes sense to use some our leftover pork and make him feel like we’re out to eat. We’re fancy ‘round these parts.

We also love classic creamy ranch dressing at our house, but on special occasions I spiff up our dressing a bit, making a lime-cilantro ranch. Remember, how I loved my BBQ sauce/cilantro combo. This dressing plays right into that flavor profile. Get that recipe here.

Recipes:

BBQ Pork Quesadilla

(recipe for one quesadilla)

Tortilla + ¼ cup cheese + ¼ cup BBQ pork + ½ TBS chopped cilantro
Cook in butter coated skillet on medium heat
Loaded BBQ Pork Baked Potato

Loaded BBQ Pork Baked Potato 

(recipe for one potato)

1 large baked potato + ½ cup BBQ pork + 2 TBS shredded cheese + 1 TBS chopped green onion + a dollop of sour cream

Split your potato in half. I like use a fork to fluff the potato insides a bit and add a sprinkle of salt. Load up with all your toppings.

BBQ Ranch Chopped Salad

(serves 4)

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 batch of lime-cilantro ranch dressing, recipe from Our Best Bites
1 cup of Texas Caviar, recipe from AllRecipes.com
2 cups shredded BBQ pork
½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Optional: tortilla strips, BBQ sauce drizzle

Toss the lettuce in the dressing. Top with the veggies, pork, and cheese. You can add some tortilla strips or a light drizzle of BBQ sauce over the top of the salad.

All these meals started with one easy, slow cooker BBQ pork recipe. Who knew BBQ pork could be so versatile?! Which of these variations do you think will be your family’s favorite?

Sometimes You Have to be a Supper Hero

As wives and mommies, we have a lot to do, care for, play with, drive to and from, clean, work, and the list goes on and on! It often seems impossible to get a tasty, homemade meal on the table by dinner time, if at all! We are just like you - your every day busy wives and mommies, with a taste for yummy, homemade food.

More than two years ago, the six of us were all working, as well as full time wives and mommies. We each wanted to provide nutritious, home cooked food for our families, but knew we needed to get creative. We decided to try freezer meals. It's now been more than two years since we started and we love it! We don't have to settle for fast food on busy nights, and the stress of what to make for dinner has been eliminated!

There are six of us Supper Hero Moms: Amy, Hillary, Kathy, Megan C., Megan D., and Miken. When we first started, we did everything via group text or Facebook messages. Since then, we have created a private Facebook page that we use to communicate - we choose the date of our next exchange, what foods to prepare to prevent overlap, reviews on what we've tried so far, etc. After we choose a date (usually once every two to three months), we each pick two meals that we will prepare and swap.

The group has a budget of $5-7 per meal, and each meal must feed at least four people. On our own, we prepare the meals, write instructions, and then freeze them at home. We get together at Megan D.'s house to do the exchange. We each walk away with 12 prepared freezer meals, ready to be thawed, cooked, and enjoyed!

The spread at our October exchange.

We hope as you join us on our adventures in freezer cooking, you will find ways to make your life easier! Please join us in our mission to save dinner, one freezer meal at a time!

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~Hillary