Day 2 of my operation was a LOT more cooking. I had a few muscle spasms resulting in a few melt downs. This was a lot of food preparation for anyone to take on, especially someone who is 37 weeks pregnant. My loving husband helped as much as I'd let him, but I had a system and it got really crowded in the kitchen even with the 2 (and a 1/2) of us. So he spent most of the day working on the yard. Another way to do this is to make one of these recipes for dinner, but double it and place the second pan in the freezer. That way you slowly stock up your freezer instead of making 30 meals in a weekend. This will save us money in the long run - not ordering take out when we don't feel like cooking, dining out too often, etc. Plus, each of these meals will involve leftovers for lunch and possibly even a second dinner! It took me about 6-8 hours to make these 10 dishes.
Layered Enchilada Casserole:
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 block cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar
3 flour tortillas
Mix the chicken, tomatoes, beans and cream cheese well. Layer on bottom of foil pan and top w/ flour tortilla. Top tortilla with chicken mixture then sprinkle cheese. Repeat. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.
Quesadilla Casserole:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tbs taco seasoning (mine is homemade)
16 oz tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can (4.5 oz) green chilies, undrained
6 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar
Brown beef and onion in a large skillet on medium heat. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and chilies. Mix well and stir in the spices. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low for 5 minutes. Spread mixture to coat bottom of foil pan. Top with tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer 1/2 the remaining beef micture and top with cheese. Repeat. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until heated through. Top with sour cream and guac for added deliciousness.
Chicken and Wild Rice:
1 box/bag of wild rice w/ seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water
2 cups sliced mushrooms
6 boneless, skinnless chicken breasts, uncooked
Mix rice packet, both cans of soup, water and mushrooms. Pour half mixture into foil baking dish. Lay chicken cutlets evely across the pan. Cover with remaining rice mixture. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.
Goulash:
1 lb ground beef
2 cans tomato sauce/soup
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 tbs Italian seasoning
1 can whole corn, drained
1 tsp each garlic and onion powder
2 cups shredded cheese
Brown beef with onion and garlic powder. Drain. Cook noodles and drain. Combine all ingredients, except cheese, in a large bowl. Pour into foil pan. Top with cheese. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until heated through.
Potato Soup:
30 oz. bag of shredded hashbrowns
32 oz. chicken stock
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of potato
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
8 oz. cream cheese
Combine all ingredients except the cream cheese in a freezer bag. (I dumped mine back in the spaghetti sauce jugs I emptied and cleaned while making lasagna. But gallon ziplocks are just as good). Label and date them. Thaw soup and reheat in crock pot or large sauce pan. 1 hour before serving, add the block of cream cheese. Stir thoroughly and serve.
Lemon Dill Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup white cooking wine
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic minced
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
3 tbs fresh chopped dill
salt and pepper to taste
3 fresh lemons
Sautee onion and garlic in white wine on medium heat. Meanwhile, eggwash and flour chicken breasts. I salt and pepper my flour mixture, as well as added 1 tbs dill. This gives the chicken a nice tasty coat. Cut one lemon in half and squeeze juice into white wine sautee. Add dill to the sauce and simmer until it thickens and bubbles. Slice the other two lemons and layer on the bottom of foil pan. Place floured chicken cutlets in pan and pour sauce on top. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve over pasta of your choice. (We do angel hair)
Mushroom Parmesean Alfredo:
3 cups mushroom, sliced
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1.5 cups grated parm cheese
1/2 white cooking wine
4 boneless chicken breasts
Sautee onion, garlic and mushroom in white wine. Turn to low and add cream and grated parmesean. Simmer and allow to thicken. Pour some mixture in foil pan to coat bottom. Layer chicken breasts in pan. Cover with remaining parmasean alfredo sauce. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve over pasta of your choice. (We do angel hair). **This will remain a soupy mixture so be careful not to spill it when you wrap it and put it in the freezer.
White Cheese and Chicken Lasagna:
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup flour (all purpose)
1 tsp salt2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups shredded mozarella
1 cup grated parm cheese
1 tsp basil and oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
Cook lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour and salt, simmer and stir continuously. Mix in broth and milk and bring to a boil stirring constantly for 1 min. Stir in 2 cups mozarella and 1/2 cup parm cheese. Season with basil, oregano and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine ricotta, spinach and chicken. Pour 1/3 cheese mixture on bottom of foil pan. Layer noddles, then spinach chicken mixture. Repeat twice. Top with shredded mozarella. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Casserole:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans broccoli cheese soup
2 eggs
1 head broccoli florets
3 cups shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste
Dice chicken (raw). Dump chicken, soup, eggs, broccoli and 2 cups cheese in large bowl. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Pour into foil baking pan. Top with remaining shredded cheese.
Lasagna:
9 lasagna noodles
6 cups spaghetti meat sauce
32 oz ricotta
4 cups shredded mozarella
1 tbs garlic powder
Combine ricotta, 3 cups mozarella and garlic powder. Cover bottom of foil pan with red meat sauce. Layer noddles. Layer cheese mixture. Repeat twice. Cover in heavy duty tin foil, label, double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Thaw and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
In the last year, the farthest we've been from home was Georgia and the baby went with us. We've had some really sweet and fun little family vacations like St. Pete Beach. But now that Grady is almost a year old and I am no longer his primary food source, we are itching to get away. So where to? Europe!! Some of our very dear friends are stationed in England serving in the Air Force. They will be there until May 2015 so we decided to visit them in March 2015. Why March? To snag a good rate before the spring season prices are jacked up AND in March, you catch the very tail of winter and early spring so the weather is not too bad. (It is England so rain boots and a trench coat will still be on my packing list!) Europe's "off season" is October - April. For awesome tips on saving money while traveling to/in Europe go here and more tips here. 
