Freezer Cooking with Friends

I love to cook, but find weeknight cooking tedious.  Having to come up with what we are going to eat after a long day is annoying.  I like having time to cook and being creative with it.  After realizing this about myself I experimented with once a week cooking using Rachel Ray's recipes and it was awesome, but time consuming.  I lost a whole day 4x a month and just didn't have the time to do it that often.  Then I found Once a Month Mom's website that had monthly menu options depending on your diet needs and I knew that I had to try it.  We are trying to follow a whole foods diet and that was one of the options, so it was perfect!  The first time I did it I did 4 of the dinners and it was awesome.  Then I did it again with my sisters and it went well.  This last cooking day I did it with 2 friends, 6 meals, 8 hrs, and $110 investment for each of us.  Here are the tips that I have for freezer cooking with friends:

1.  Meet together ahead of time to pick the menu, come up with the grocery list, split the list, and choose your date/time frame. Customize the menus to your diet needs.  We didn't like mushrooms, so we omitted them from one recipe.  Another recipe called for Orzo, but we decided to use a low carb spaghetti instead. The stuffed zucchini recipe called for no meat, we added some.

2.  Split up the grocery list by stores/friends.  One of us went to Costco and bought the bulk items, one went to the grocery store, and the third has a young baby and got to sit out the shopping :)  Plan on having ziploc bags and aluminum pans.

3.  Chop everything FIRST! This will save you time and help keep things clean and organized.

48 cups of chopped tomatoes were needed for our day. 

Your food processor is your friend, use it!

All of our ingredients chopped

4.  Finish one recipe before you start another.  With three or more people in the kitchen things can keep crazy and you might try and get ahead by having one person work on one recipe while another does a different one, but I promise things will get left out or missed.  It is much better to focus on one at a time.

5.  Label every dish with not only the name, but cooking directions too.

6.  Pick simple recipes that have a limited number of ingredients.

7.  Have each person bring a cooler to store their food in until they head home.  We were lucking enough that the house we cooked at had an extra freezer and we were able to put our dinners in the freezer and then take them home.

8.  Use some convenience items.  We used prechopped garlic because we needed such a HUGE amount.  If you aren't a fan of prechopped then buy the cloves already peeled and chop them in the food processor.

This one day will be tough.  Your back will hurt and you will exhausted.  However, the laughter and memories made are totally worth it.  Not to mention knowing that after a tough day all you have to do is come home and put something in the oven is totally worth all of the effort.

Menu 

Cheesy Artichoke Chicken
Shrimp and Feta Bake
Asian Meatballs
Peachy BBQ Pork
Stuffed Zucchini
Citrus grilled chicken

Click on each of these recipes to see the complete ingredients/directions.

If you decided to do a freezer cooking with friends day, please come back and let me know how it went!

Low Carb Shrimp with Feta Pasta Bake

I love Mediterranean flavors because they are usually light and delicious.  This recipe definitely falls into both categories.  The original recipe can be found here and uses orzo.  I am trying to do the lower-carb thing so we decided to use broken Dreamfield's spaghetti instead.  You can find this pasta at Winco, Ralphs, and Von's grocery stores.  I have also ordered it on Amazon.com! We did switch up the recipe a little because our cooking group likes a little spice and we had extra basil.

Assembled and ready to go into the freezer.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup cooked pasta 
  
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium onion, chopped
• 12 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup white wine
• 4 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 Tbsp chopped green onion
• 1.5 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 8 ounces feta cheese
• 4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Cook the pastaaccording to the directions on the package.  Drain.  Heat olive oil in a large pan.  Cook onion for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook 30 seconds.  Add wine, tomatoes, chives and oregano.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, cooking for five minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.   Combine shrimp, cooked orzo and tomato mixture.  Divide among baking dishes.  Sprinkle feta and lemon juice over top.  Proceed to freezing directions or bake immediately at 425 for 15-20 minutes until shrimp are thoroughly cooked.   

Freezing Directions:

Prepare baking dishes as listed above and freeze.  To serve, thaw and bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until shrimp are thoroughly cooked.

Cheesy Artichoke Chicken

This is probably my favorite recipe from our Freezer Cooking with Friends menu.  It was DELICIOUS.  The original recipe can be found here.  My friend Heather cooked her's first so she gave us the tip that it needed to be served with pasta to catch the yummy sauce.  I used a low-carb spaghetti from Dreamfields that I tossed with butter, parmesan, and parsley.  I am still thinking about this and know that I will have to make it soon!  Word of caution, the freezer recipe has you put the cheese topping in a bag and then freeze it on top of the casserole.  Make sure you remove the baggy of cheese before you put the casserole in the oven.  This was learned the hard way by one of our group ;)

Ingredients: (makes 2 freezer meals, of 4 portions each)

• 8 cups diced roma tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons minced garlic
• 30 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 4 cups chopped baby spinach
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Serving day:  Cooked pasta of your choice 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, artichoke, basil, spinach, olive oil, flour, salt, and pepper to taste. Divide mixture evenly among 8 x 8 baking pan or pour all into one 13 x 9 pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and Italian seasoning. Place on top of vegetable mixture. (If freezing, proceed to freezing directions at this point.) Bake chicken and vegetables at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until almost done. Top with cheese and place under the broiler for 1-3 minutes (watch closely) until cheese and veggies are just browned. Remove and sprinkle hot dish with fresh basil. Serve alone or over pasta if desired.

Freezer Directions 

Layer vegetables in the bottom of an 8x8 pan.  Top with chicken, sprinkled with seasonings.  Place parchment paper over the top.  Mix cheeses and put into a quart sized ziploc bag.  Place ziploc bag on top of the parchment, cover with foil and freeze. 

Lower Carb Mexi-Mac and Cheese

Whenever the weather gets cold I crave two things, soup and macaroni and cheese.  When I first started cutting processed carbs out I thought pasta was a "no no" good, but then I found Dreamfields Healthy Carb Living pasta with only 5 net carbs per serving! It tastes just like regular pasta, but is made from some type of special wheat that keeps blood sugar from spiking.  Pretty great stuff, but still  high in calories, so it can't be a weekly treat.  I wanted to be able to have a nice portion with this and up the veggies, so I included chopped cauliflower in with the pasta while it boiled.

If you aren't into the low-carb thing then just use regular pasta.  I did this and made my mac and cheese and then a pan for my hubby with no cauliflower and with regular pasta.  You could also make it vegetarian by using vegetable broth.

Hope you enjoy!
Kate

It shows the same amount of carbs, but your body only processes 5 grams with each serving.  Just make sure you cook it al dente!

Pesto Tilapia with Bruschetta Topping

The hubby's portion

I made a commitment in the summer the try more fish.  Tilapia is the 4th one I have tried and the mildest by far.  I am glad I went with a strong sauce otherwise the fish would have pretty bland.  If you want to make your own pesto, go for it.  I happened to have a fabulous mother with a gorgeous garden who makes outstanding pesto.  I keep it in baggies in the freezer.  My mom's tomatoes are also the star in the bruschetta topping.  I used Tastefully Simple's Dried Tomato Pesto Mix because I didn't have a fresh garlic on hand or feel like wrestling with an onion (lazy day, what can I say?).  If you happen to have all of the ingredients to make the bruschetta without it then rock on my friend.

This dish got a hubby rating of two servings and a fish hating wife rating of, "I was able to eat almost 3/4 of my piece (the most fish I have ever eaten)".  Our poochieroo also enjoyed my leftovers.

A lesson learned, Low Carb Pancakes

Earlier this week I decided I wanted breakfast for dinner, so I researched low carb pancake recipes.  I was looking for simple recipes that didn't use crazy ingredients and had good reviews.  I found a recipe using Pinterest (of course) at Skinny Momma's Blog.  All it required was almond flour, sweetener of your choice, eggs, and oil.  I bought the almond flour awhile ago, on a whim, and stored it in my freezer, so I was happy to find a recipe that used it.  I followed the recipe, tweaking it just a bit.  The recipe was incredibly simple and came out really good.  After dinner I decided to enter the recipe into a calorie calculator and that is where I was shocked, three small pancakes equaled almost 700 calories!  I still had to add in my scrambled eggs, bacon, and jam... this took my dinner to well over 1,000 calories.

I ended up feeling bamboozled, but then I realized that it was my fault.  Focusing on carb counts is great, but I need to make sure to see the WHOLE picture and consider the calorie count of the ingredients I use.   I guess I am bound to make mistakes on this journey, but I kept thinking, "I could have had a cheeseburger for less calories!" The lesson has been learned... for pancakes at least!  I am still sharing the recipe because it was quite good and if you are just doing a plain old low carb diet it could become part of your repertoire or if you are gluten free, this is a great recipe!

BBQ Chicken under a Bacon Mat

Getting my husband to eat chicken is like getting a picky two year old to eat broccoli.  I have to "invent" ways to get him to give it a go.  This is one of ways I like to hide chicken, under a Mat O' Bacon.  He will never know, right?  I learned about the Mat O' Bacon from this blog  Bacon Mats .  BTW, these make the most delicious BLT sandwiches because there is bacon in EVERY BITE!  For those of you who are not pork lovers, I guess you could try turkey bacon.  If you do, let me know how it goes.  

The BBQ sauce is a quick and easy sauce that is based off of bottled sauce.  Feel free to whip up your own! 

Prep time:  30 min.  Cook time:  35 min. 

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 

(mine were 6 oz each, but I recommend doing 4 oz and that is what the calorie count is based on.)

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce 

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar 

1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce 

1 tbsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning 

1tsp. dried chile flakes 

small dash of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

1.  Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.  Set aside. 

I do not eat applesauce regularly, so I guy the little kid cups and
 keep them in my pantry.
I used the same cup to measure my BBQ sauce.  

Finished sauce 

2.  Cut the 12 strips of bacon in half, so that you have 24 half strips.  You will use 6 half strips per breast. 

3.  Make the bacon mats by laying out 3 strips across and weaving 3 down.  Sprinkle with the Montreal Steak Seasoning. 

Hmmm.. it's bacon and I know it!

4.  Place one chicken breast down on the Mat O' Bacon.  Sprinkle the other side of the chicken breast with the seasoning.  Tuck the bacon around the chicken breast (you can use toothpicks to secure, but I was out). Do the same thing with the rest of the breasts. 

Don't tell him there is chicken under there.  

5.  In an oven proof skillet lay the breasts bacon side down and cook over medium high heat until the bacon is light brown and starting to crisp (5-7 min.)  

6.  Using tongs or a spatula, flip the breasts over to brown on the other side.  

7.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Top the breasts with the BBQ sauce mixture. If the bottom of the pan seems dry then you can splash some water or a white wine to loosen it up.

8.   Place the pan in the preheated oven, bake for 25 min.  or until the breasts are cooked through (if you use larger breasts, then you will need to cook them longer). 

Serve with a veggie and/or brown rice.  We did garlic broccoli with red peppers and brown rice. 

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 71 Calories 234
% Daily Values*
Total Fat 7.94g		12%
	Saturated Fat 2.167g	11%
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.98g
	Monounsaturated Fat 3.037g
Cholesterol 72mg		24%
Sodium 1112mg		46%
Potassium 192mg
Total Carbohydrate 9.57g		3%
	Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
	Sugars 3.72g
Protein 28.2g
Vitamin A 6% Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 3% Iron 8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Nutrition Values are based on USDA Nutrient Database SR18

 **Remember this is for a 4 oz chicken breast.  The sodium count is high because of the Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Omit this from the recipe to reduce the amount of sodium. 

I wanted Enchiladas Suizas, but my body said, "Nooo, nooo, no!"

TaDa!  My first recipe blog post, be kind peeps!  I recently started removing processed carbohydrates from my diet and trying to eat a more balanced diet.  Amazingly my sugar and salt cravings have disappeared, crazy!  Anyways, I was sitting at work thinking about how I wanted chicken enchiladas and then was heading toward a pout because I can't have them.  Right before I stomped my foot I thought, "ahhhh.. I can make this work".  So that is where this idea came from.  It is not low fat, but it is low carb and balanced.  Each serving (2 zucchini halves) has 256 calories, 10.87 fat grams, 15 carb grams, and 25 grams of protein.  You can make this lower fat by cutting the amount of cream cheese or using a low fat shredded cheese blend.  Hope you enjoy them!