Freezer Meal Cooking Day 1

I finally got a friend talked into doing a cooking day with me!!  And it is was quite successful.  We started off small with 4 recipes: Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Pot Pie, Manicotti and Banana Bread (because I had to get rid of all those frozen, overripe bananas to make room for my freezer meals).

(Not the best pic, my 5 yr. old took it, but we are very proud of ourselves!)

I did the shopping this time, minus the pantry basics, we split the bill then with kiddos in tow my friend, Kelly and I started our morning at 10.  We were a little overwhelmed at first getting the 4 kiddos settled, trying to figure out the best approach, getting our caffeine ready for this cooking frenzy!  After the first hour we looked at the clock and what we had accomplished and thought we might have bitten off more than we could chew, fed the kiddos lunch then barreled through - we had to get done before naptime!  Because neither of us were giving that up.

Here are the steps we took for these recipes:
1. I started the bread, it was the only thing we had to put in the oven.
2. Kelly got the chicken breasts in the pot.
3. While Kelly waited for the chicken, she mixed up the manicotti cheese mixture.
4. Chicken done and cooling then shredded.
5. Once done with the bread, I mixed up the chicken enchilada mixture.
6.  Bread done, started wrapping enchiladas.
7.  Kelly boiled monicotti and peeled carrots for Chicken Pot Pie.
(At this point we realized that the pie crusts for the Pot Pie were not going to happen, that we would just make the cream sauce and when we get ready to use it we could purchase pie crusts or make a crust or biscuits)
8.  Kelly and I started stuffing manicotti....probably the most time consuming part but they are yummy!
9.  Packaged everything up to freeze and split our goods!

With the servings we made and how much the grocery bill was, I figured it is roughly .86 cents per serving, this did not include the bread and I did buy the pantry staples.  I still think that is awesome!

At 1:00 Kelly was out the door!

Here is our haul!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingrediants:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast
8 oz. sour cream
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cream of (I have used chicken or celery)
large flour tortillas

Boil chicken, once cooked shred or cubed chicken breasts. While chicken is cooking mix in the four remaining ingredients. Once chicken is cut up add to the mixture and spoon into tortillas. Sometimes I don't fill all of the tortillas and put some of the filling on top while it cooks other times I want more enchiladas so I will use all the filling and top them with shredded cheese and salsa, they are also good without topping. These are perfect to put in a freezer safe container and freeze, for easy lunches (they just need warmed up since everything is cooked) or line them up in a 9x13 or 8x8 (depending on how many you are cooking at a time) and bake until warm through at 350 degrees, about 30-40 minutes.

Hope my directions make sense, ENJOY!

Chicken Tetrazzini

2 cups cooked, diced chicken
8 oz. thin spaghetti
4 tbsp butter, divided
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half
1 cup Parmesan cheese divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms

1. Cook pasta
2. As pasta cooks, heat 3 Tbsp. of butter in a saucepan. Add flour. cook, stirring for two minutes. Add pepper and salt. Slowly stir in broth.
3. Bring to a boil. Simmer until slightly thickend. Stir in half and half, chicken, and 3/4 cups of Parmesan.
4. In a skillet, heat lemon juice and 1 tbsp. butter. Add mushrooms. Saute until juice cooks off, about 5 minutes.
5. Drain Pasta. Combine with cream mixture. Put half in a 9x13 Pyrex dish. (I like to make two smaller dishes, one to eat and one to freeze.) Spread mushrooms over pasta and reserve some for later. Add last half of pasta. Sprinkle with remainig cheese and mushrooms.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

** submitted by Lorri D.

Chicken Fajitas

1/2 cup lime juice 2 chicken breasts, chopped
1/3 cup vegetable oil 3/4 green bell pepper, sliced/cut
1/4 tsp crushed cumin 1/3 onion, sliced/cut
2 cloves minced garlic Toppings as desired:
1/4 tsp salt -cheddar cheese, bl. olives, lettuce, s.cream, etc.
1/8 tsp pepper Tortilla shells

Combine lime juice, oil, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper in bowl; mix well. Add chicken; stir and marinate for at least 30 minutes (the longer it marinates, the better the flavor). Saute chicken on high for 5 min. or until light brown. Stir in pepper/onion - saute approx. 2-5 mins. longer. Enjoy!

**We really like flavor of the meat, so we don't put salsa or taco sauce on as a topping, but that is, of course, an option for added flavor!

-- submitted by Kristina P.

Parmesan/Pine Nut Chicken

Ingrediants:
thawed chicken breast
grated parmesan cheese
roughly crushed pine nuts
italian seasoning
salt and pepper
olive oil

In a plate prepare all the dry ingrediants. For two chicken breast this all amounts to about 1/2 cup, you will have to judge. Roll thawed chicken breast in the mixture coating both sides. Place chicken in skillet of hot oil, browning both sides. Preheat oven to 250 and place browned chicken breasts in pan or pyrex dishes and cook until cooked through in the oven.