Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 2

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for part 1) 

CHEESY CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs, breasts, or combo)
- 2 (10.5oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 (10.5oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder


Cook time: 8  to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: over rice or noodles.

Optional variety: add a little spice or frozen broccoli...can garnish with shredded cheese.







SAUSAGE LENTIL SOUP

Brown:
- 12 to 14 oz sliced kielbasa sausage
- 1 onion diced
-  3 garlic cloves minced (can use more or less to taste.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I just use garlic powder)

Add browned meat mixture to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 2 cups lentils
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes

Season with favorite Italian spices (I use parsley, oregano, and basil)

Day of cooking: add 2 quarts of water to crock pot.  (can use less if you want it less soupy)

Cook time: 4 to 5 hours HIGH or 8 to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: fresh bread or rice

Serves: 6


SAUSAGE AND BEAN SUPPER

Brown:
- 1lb sausage (can use ground turkey and season)
- 1 onion diced

Drain meat and add to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1.5 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 can rotel
- 1 can butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: shredded cheese over rice

Serves: 4 to 6

Corn Dog Muffins

Was looking for some recipes that would freeze well and would give some options for lunch boxes besides sandwiches.  Found this one and it is a hit!  And so fun!

Makes 42 to 63 muffins (I like lots to freeze, but you could easily cut the recipe in half...another fun option would be to use mini muffin tins for fun finger food for a party)

Ingredients:
4 (8.5 oz) boxes of cornbread mix
4 T brown sugar
4 eggs
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages of hot dogs cut into pieces (interestingly the cheaper the hot dog the better the muffins!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Lightly grease muffin tins

In a large bowl, stir together cornbread mix and brown sugar.  Add cheese and mix.  In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Combine egg/milk mixture with dry ingredients and gently stir until moist.  Fold in cut up hot dogs.  Spoon mixture into muffin tins (~2/3 full).

Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve or let them cool and package them up for the freezer.  I usually wrap them in foil in packages of two.

Crock Pot Steak Fajitas

I found this recipe here.
I, of course, didn't cook it to the exact recipe instructions.

Here's what I did ...

500g round steak or beef flank steak
2 medium onions, cut into strips
1 large jar of medium salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 2 fresh limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
A pinch of ground chillis
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small green bell peppers, cut into strips
2 small red bell peppers, cut into strips

For serving: chopped avocado, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, chopped spring onion, sour cream and flour tortillas, warmed

Cut steak crosswise into thin strips; place in slow cooker. Combine onion, 1 cup salsa, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

The original recipe said to ...add bell peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. BUT we didn't. We sauteed them in a cast iron skillet instead.

I first posted this recipe in 2009 but tonight I added something new to these tonight so thought I'd repost it with the addition ...

Garlic ... as much as you's like, diced

Jalapenos and assorted red chillies out of my garden, also diced

Fry these two in olive oil til garlic is browned.  

Remove from oil to paper towel and set aside.  Pop this into the fajita when serving.  So tasty!

Black bean chili

1/4 c. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, diced (the original recipe calls for red and green. I usually get at least two colors.)
1.5 tbs minced garlic
2tbs paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 tsp salt
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, very finely chopped
1 tbs cumin seed
1 tbs dried leaf oregano
2 cups cooked black beans
1.5 cups canned chopped tomatoes in puree

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic, paprika, cayenne, salt, and jalapeno peppers. Saute until onions are soft.
Add cumin, oregano, beans, and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook slowly for an hour.

We eat this over rice with cheddar cheese, sour cream and sometimes avocados.
I usually use 2 cans of beans to one can of tomatoes, and I don't think I get them in puree. I think they're just chopped, and if I have the option, I will buy the ones with mexican spices, or chilis or whatever already in them, but not always. If it's cheaper to buy beans fresh cook them yourself.. that's a good option too.

The girl who gave us the recipe puts hers in the blender and purees it, but we like the texture of the chili instead of soup.

Plus, it freezes great!

Ham, Cheese and Pickle Quesadillas

I love ham, melted cheese and dill pickles.  I love quesadillas.  I thought I might try the two together.  I'm glad I did.  This was a quick, easy and tasty throw together lunch. 

I used ham, provolone, thinly sliced dill pickles and a bit of mayo on two flour tortillas ... toasted in our sandwich press.

Cheats Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese

These were simple and delicious and the whole family liked them.

 I found this recipe through pinterest.  I mostly followed the recipe ...

I doubled their recipe to make 4 sandwiches but we ended up being able to make more than that.

Olive oil

1 green bell pepper (capsicum)

1 small onion

Bread, 8 slices

Roast Beef from the deli, 450g

Cheese, I used tasty (white cheddar) and mozzarella

Thinly slice pepper and onion.  Sautee in a bit of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat. 

Pre-heat sandwich press (or frying pan if doing the old fashioned way!) 

They buttered the bread, I never do when making sandwiches in the the sandwich press.  You can do what you like. 

Chop up the roast beef into long thin strips. 

Layer sandwich like this ... bread, cheese, pepper/onions/ roast beef, cheese, bread. 

Toast until cheese is melted.

Block vs. Grated Cheese

A few years ago we tried to go totally unprocessed.  We did really well for about 5 months, then I had to go back to the States for a funeral.  I was gone ten days and when I got home, I just couldn't get back into it!!  It was so much work!

Looking back, because I want to start again, I think part of the problem was that I tried to tackle EVERY SINGLE additive & preservative at the same time.  As well as cutting out all the white stuff ... you know, flour, sugar, rice etc .....

It was too much at once.

But, there are things I still do regularly that I learned back then.  Like ... making my own mayo - so easy!  (watch this video!)   And grating cheese. 

I'll admit, I don't do these things exclusively but I'm going to head that way.  I'm going to try to replace one processed product in my pantry/fridge with an unprocessed version each week.  I'm hoping that trying to tackle this on a smaller, more gradual scale will be easier. 

I'll share what I find.  

So, what's with the grating cheese thing?  I need to find where I read it and come back and reference it, but apparently, grated cheese contains an anti-caking agent and block cheese doesn't.  Grating your own cheese is an easy way to eliminate one preservative from your diet!

It's easy.  And you can freeze it. 

Start with a block ...

Pop it in your food processor.  Or grate with whatever you use to grate.  Do the whole block!

 

Into the freezer and ready for when you need it!

So quick.

So easy.

Five Cheese Pasta

This was a throw together meal that Rory came up with after looking through the fridge and seeing that we had a few different kinds of cheese leftover from various other meals.   It was delicious.  It's basically just white sauce with cheese in it!  Don't be freaked out though ... white sauce is EASY to make.  I'm going to teach you how!

You will need:

Pasta, whatever kind you like.  We had vermicelli in the house and used that.
1/4 cup (50g) butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1 small red onion, finely sliced 

A couple cloves of garlic, crushed

white wine (optional) It was the bottom of the bottle.  My guess would be about 1 or 2 Tablespoons
salt and pepper

We didn't measure the cheese ... we just had a bunch of bits and pieces left over so chopped them up and threw them in.  You could grate it if you wanted but it's not necessary.  You can use whatever cheese you want ...we used: 

Gruyere
Provolone

Tasty (white cheddar)

Parmesan (fresh)

Jarslberg (like swiss)

Cook your pasta.  While that's happening, make the sauce.

The trick with white sauce is to have everything ready and beside your cooking area because once you start stirring, you can't stop.  So ... once you've go everything ready, throw the onions, garlic and the butter in a pan, over medium heat and cook til onion is soft.  Add the flour and stir until it's completely mixed into the butter.  It will be kind of like a paste.  That's good.  That is how you want it.  Now, start adding the milk.  Just a little bit at a time.  Stir so that the milk mixes into the paste.  Add a bit more.  Stir.  Keep it up til you've added all the milk.  Your paste will not be so much like a paste anymore but more like a sauce.  If you are adding wine, do that too.  Cook, continuing to stir, til the sauce thickens a bit.  Add the cheese.  Stir til melted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Taste.  Adjust seasoning. 

Serve over cooked pasta and eat immediately. 

Sopa de Queso

Ok, this is going to be the worst recipe ever for a really good soup. For one thing, if you don't live in Nicaragua, you're going to have to do some serious substituting. For another, I took measurements of no things while I was learning how to make this or making it myself. So everything in here is my best guestimate. I'm hoping someone (Bonnie) will make this and tell me how they tweaked it!

For the Arepas:

2 cups maseca (instant corn flour)
Water
1 cup shredded cheese*
Salt
1/2 tomato, minced finely
1/2 chiltoma (small green pepper can be substituted), minced finely
1/4 med onion, minced finely

Mix flour and water to make a soft dough. Kneed until smooth. Incorporate the cheese and veg. Adjust seasoning until it tastes good. You can use chicken flavored bouillon instead of, or in addition to, the salt. Divide and make into 2.5" diameter coasters. Fry in hot oil until nicely golden. It took longer than I thought to fry them because you have to let the corn cook all the way through.


*Notes on cheese. Nicaraguan cheese is semi-hard and very salty. I asked what it was called so I could look for it in an international store in the States. It's called cheese, they said to me. Oh, thanks guys. In any case, the closest substitution I can think of is to maybe mix cheddar and parmesan. Or really just use whatever cheese you fancy. 

For the Soup:

3-4 cups water
2 packets sopa Maggi (instant soup mix, chicken flavored)
1/2 tomato, minced finely
1/2 chiltoma, minced finely
1/4 med onion, minced finely (so cut up one whole tomato, etc. and use half for the cheesy things and half for the soup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch cilanto or mint, minced
2 chayote, peeled, seed removed, and diced (Google tells me this is a kind of squash. If you do find it, rub a little oil on your hands before you peel it or they will be brown all day)
1 ripe plantain, wash, remove the ends and cut into chunks but not peeled
1/3 cup maseca
Ayote (this is a red colorant), Optional
1/2 cup cream or milk

Put the water on to boil in a stock pot. Add the soup mix and minced veg mixture. Chuck in the chayote and plantains (the original soup doesn't have veggies but I prefer to add them, so you can feel free to substitute or omit altogether). When veggies are nearly done, mix the corn flour with a little water and ayote until smooth and add to the soup along with the cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste. Before serving, stir in the cream.

To serve:

Put one or two fried cheesy things in a bowl, top with soup. Bask in the glow of compliments as your family scarfs down this deliciousness.

Spaghetti Carbonara (ala Mama S.)

Spaghetti Carbonara (ala Mama S.)

1lb of Pasta (any long spaghetti pasta of your preference)
3/4lb of Bacon
½ cup of Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons Butter (melted)
4 Eggs
1 cup of Parmesan Cheese (the type that comes in a plastic
can in the pasta aisle)

Start pasta water boiling, but don’t add the pasta yet.

Chop bacon into half inch pieces and fry it till it is very crispy. Drain the grease off a couple
times during the cooking process so that the bacon fries and does not simmer. You need to have approximately 2 tablespoons of the grease left in the pan when the bacon is crispy. Add cream to the pan with the bacon and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cream cooks down to just a coating over the bacon.

Melt butter and set aside.

Beat the eggs well. Stir parmesan cheese into the beaten eggs. Let it set for a few minutes to allow the cheese to soak into the eggs. If there is liquid (eggs) remaining after the cheese has been allowed to soak for a bit, stir in more cheese and repeat the process until the mixture resembles cooked cream of wheat.

When all of the above steps are completed, cook the pasta according to package directions (make sure it stays al dente).

The next steps need to happen quickly, so BE READY!

Drain pasta. Don’t rinse! Return pasta to the hot pasta pot. Stir butter into pasta. Pour egg mixture onto hot pasta and quickly stir until all of the pasta is coated with the egg mixture. (Eggs will cook from the heat of the pasta) Stir in bacon mixture.

Serve.

Eat.

Enjoy!

(serves approximately 4 people)

It is good as it, but some people enjoy topping their carbonara with red pepper flakes and/or garlic powder.

Potato Bake

I'd never had potato bake before coming to Australia. I love it.
But don't make it very often, usually only when other people
come over so we don't eat the whole thing by ourselves !!

Here's what you need :

Potatoes, I have no idea how many, I just cut as I go
Grated Cheese, I use a mixture of Mozzarella and Tasty (Cheddar)
Minced Garlic
Cream
Onion, sliced
French Onion Soup Mix

Ok ... get ready, this is a very technical recipe. With very specific measurements !

Mix the french onion soup and cream with a blop of minced garlic.



Slice your onion and potatoes. Like I said, I just slice the potatoes as I go. (I use a mandolin slicer to get them thin and uniform) And as you can see, I don't bother peeling the potatoes.



Do layers of cream, potato, onion, cheese, cream, potato, onion, cheese, etc .... til you get to the top of your baking dish.



Make your last layer cheese.

Cover and bake in a 180C/360F oven for about an hour. (or until potato is tender) Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes or so to brown the cheese on top.

Burrito Bowl

This is such an easy meal ... I love it.

We just throw everything on the table, or on the kitchen counter, and everyone

makes their own bowl to their own liking.

Here's what we have in ours, but you can do whatever you like, that' s the beauty of the burrito bowl !

Brown Basmati Rice, cooked and mixed with lime juice and fresh coriander (cilantro)
Black Beans
Grated Cheese
Spring Onions, Sliced
Black Olives
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Salsa (optional)
Jalapenos (optional)

That's it ... then just fill your bowl with whatever combination takes your fancy ...



My bowl.



Rory's bowl.

**

yum

Pizza Poppers

I saw this recipe and had to immediately try it !

pizza dough ... your favorite kind will do.
16 bite size pieces of mozarella
sliced pepperoni, olives, mushrooms .... whatever you want to go on the inside !
2 tsp italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400C/200F

Super easy ... I rolled out a small ball of pizza dough. Cut into 16 pieces. Put a piece of cheese and a bit of something else (i did all pepperoni last night) into one piece. Fold over and place 'seam' side down in a oiled pie dish. Repeat. Mix oil and herbs. Pour on top of pizza poppers. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Watch them though ... the cheese explodes if you leave them in too long.

Serve with marinara or ranch ....

Macaroni and Cheese for Cousins

Alia, our 7 year old, loves mac and cheese.
She found this recipe in a kids cookbook and wanted to try it.

She loved it so much she wrote out the recipe and took it to school for show and tell.
Our 8 year old, Jono, also loved it. He reckons it is the best macaroni and cheese EVER.



I loved her little write up so posted it on facebook.
Her cousins in the States, Aidan and Jack, liked the look of it too ...



This photo appeared on my sister, Ellie's facebook a few days later !

LOVE IT !!!!

The Lumberjack

Cheese and Buger Society ~ #10 ~ The Lumberjack

This burger is HUMONGOUS ... but so worth eating. I couldn't finish mine but I loved every bite I got in !!

Here's what's on it ...
Three pieces of white bread ... buttered and pressed in sandwich press
Iceberg lettuce
2 beef patties
1 piece swiss (we used jarlsburg) cheese
1 piece cheddar cheese
dill pickle slices
ketchup, mustard and mayo
diced onion

Just watch out ... you have to hold onto it with two hands ... otherwise this happens ...

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels w/ Cheese Sauce

When I found this recipe for whole wheat soft pretzels, I was pretty excited ! I love soft pretzels. These are pretty good. For sure they are much heavier than normal soft pretzels but that is to be expected with the whole wheat flour. They are best eaten straight away but Jono was also happy to eat them in his lunch the next day ...

I didn't change anything so I'll just copy and paste from Delicious Wisdom to whom all credit for this recipe is given !

Prep Time: About 2 Hours (mostly inactive)

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Yield: About 12 Pretzels


Ingredients:

1 Cup Warm Water

2 tsp of Dry Active Yeast

1 ½ Cups + 1 ¼ Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

3/4 Tsp Sea Salt

3 Cups Water

2 Tbsp Baking Soda

Course Sea Salt

In a large bowl, stir yeast into warm water and set aside to dissolve for ten minutes. Stir in olive oil, sea salt and 1 ½ cups of flour. Once well combined, add remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes. Place into a dry bowl, lightly cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls. Roll each ball into a long snake-y piece and form into pretzel shapes. (see below) Let them rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Bring water and baking soda to a simmer in a deep pan. Simmer pretzels in simmering water for about one minute, flipping halfway through. Place pretzels on a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, (you’re almost done now) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Eat many of them warm because that's when they taste the best.

She serves her with mustard. I made cheese sauce ...

Cheese sauce is so easy to make ... You just make a white sauce and add cheese. Don't know how to make white sauce ? For one cup of white sauce ~ start with 2 TBLS butter. Melt. Slowly add 2 TBLS flour (I use whole wheat). Mix. Very slowly add 1 cup of milk. Mix til desired consistency. (you want it to thicken) Add salt and pepper. Mix. Add cheese. I used Havarti for this one. Probably 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Mix til cheese is melted. VOILA !

Apple Sanga

A few weeks ago we tried this Maple Apple Cheddar Melt but I feel that's too hard to remember and since I live in the land of abbreviations, I decided to call ours Apple Sangas. Don't try to figure it out. I don't know why but Sanga is short for Sandwich is this land down under.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this recipe came from Closet Cooking ... possibly my favorite cooking blog of all time. I want to eat everything he posts !! EVERYTHING !!

Apple Sanga ~ adapted from Healthy Food For Living who adapted it from Closet Cooking !!

Ingredients:

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, & sliced thin ~ I used Granny Smith, I think.
Olive Oil
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
ground cinnamon
2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
sliced tasty cheese (cheddar)

Directions:

Heat oil in nonstick pan over medium heat. Add apple slices and maple syrup. Cookuntil the apples are soft, about 5 minutes. Make sure you keep stirring, you don't want the apples to burn. Stir in the ground cinnamon. Lay cheese slices on one piece of bread. Spoon apples over cheese and top with remaining piece of bread. Put in sandwich press. Press til bread is browned and cheese is melted.

Delicious ! We all liked these !!

I served them with Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli ...

Homemade Mac and Cheese - Unprocessed

This one is the baked one ... won't do that the same way again. It dried it out too much.

We love the homemade mac and cheese that I grew up on. The only problem turning it into an unprocessed meal was the cream of mushroom soup ! After talking to my Mom ... I decided to try making a white sauce with itty bitty mushrooms in it, to replace the c.o.m.soup ... IT WORKED !! It's a tiny bit more effort than throwing in a can of cream of mushrooms soup but it's unprocessed !! Hooray !!

So ... here's what I did.

Chop up a red onion, caramelize in olive oil. This takes a while ... 20 ? 30 minutes. Add 3 finely diced mushrooms. Add 6 TBLS butter. Melt. Slowly add 6 TBLS whole wheat flour. Mix. Very slowly add 3 cups of milk. Mix til desired consistency. Add salt and pepper. Mix. Add cheese. I probably did 1.5 cups cheddar and .5 cup mozarella. Too much. Will change amounts next time. Mix cheese in and keep on heat til melted. Add cooked (whole wheat) pasta to sauce. Stir. Done.

This one is not baked ... it was much better but too cheesy.

Rory was saying we should
try adding some spices ... and then I found
THIS recipe ...
which we will try next time,
and also add cardamon (Rory's suggestion).
Will let you know how that turns out !

Any other suggestions are very welcome !!! This is a work in progress !!

How to Make {Cheese}

In this case, the cheese in question is Paneer. This is an Indian cheese that's pretty simple and easy to make, and is suitable for a vegetarian (although not vegan, 'cause let's face it...it's cheese) diet. The cheese itself is fairly tasteless (so don't throw in your lasagna), but when added to curries and things like saag paneer or fried in butter with a little garlic, it sings!

The original website I used seems to not exist anymore, so if this doesn't work, it's only because my memory is bad! Also, I may add in some pictures later, but I don't have time just presently.

What you will need:
4 cups of whole cow's milk
3-4 Tablespoons lemon juice (you can also use lime juice or leftover whey from your last batch)
Cheesecloth
Thermometer
A sieve
A saucepan

Heat the milk to 80 Celsius, or just before the boiling point. Add in the acid, 1 teaspoon at a time, making sure to give it a good stir. Keep adding the acid until the curds separate from the greenish whey (and while you're stiring, be sure to note that Little Miss Muffit was dumb-tuffit, 'cause would you really eat that??? Even without the impeding visit of a spider??? No, you would not).

Pour the mixture through a sieve lined with a couple layers of cheesecloth (If you want to, you can let the mixture cool for 30 minutes before this step, but I found it easier just to rinse it with lukewarm water until it was cool enough to handle). Rinse with fresh water. Squeeze the water out of the cheese with your hands. Then, sit your cheese under something heavy and let it self-squeeze for a while. The more moisture you remove, the firmer your cheese will be.

Optional: soak your cheese in cold water for 1-3 hours (I threw mine, cheesecloth and all, into a ziplock with some cold water and left it in the car while I grocery shopped. So mine soaked for however long that took, maybe an hour and a half). This will improve the color and texture of your cheese.

Note: this recipe does not yield a whole lot of cheese, so maybe plan to make two or even three batches.

Cheesy Crackers - Take One

I found this recipe for Cheese Crackers and decided to give it a go. I changed it a bit. I wasn't 100% happy with them but I'll try them again with a few modifications and I think they will be better ! Having said that I wasn't happy ... we are all still eating them !

125 gr. flour - I used 1/2 wholemeal spelt and 1/2 wholemeal millet.
Next time I'll go 100 % plain old wholemeal.
½ teaspoon paprika
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
80 gr. butter
125 gr. gouda cheese - I used tasty cheese. Next time I'm going to try Parmesan.
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons lemon juice.


Preheat oven to 410F/210C.

I'm pretty much cutting and pasting these directions ... Put all the above ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Pulse a little bit longer; mixture should come together into a ball. (I did it too long, I think and it got too sticky. I'll be more careful next time.) Let it rest in refrigerator for 20min. (I think I let it rest longer and it probably wasn't good.) Roll the dough out thinly about 1/8" thick using generous amounts of dusting flour. Use fork to poke holes in the dough. (oops, just realized I forgot to poke holes !) Bake until the crackers start to get just golden on the edges. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a cooling rack.