When my daughter was small, I survived the dinner hour and those early days of motherhood by stocking my freezer and refrigerator with ingredients that could be thrown into our slow cooker in the morning, and forgotten about until the dinner hour rolled around. Our One Month of Slow Cooking article is the product of that time in my life, and was my best survival tactic for keeping us on budget and having dinner on the table each night.

Freezer cooking can also be a wonderful dinner hour survival tactic to keep your family supplied with meals and keep you out of the pick-up window at your local fast food joint. Today I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite recipes for creating freezer-worthy fare that your whole family will love. These dishes are always a hit in our house, and can easily be personalized to your family’s tastes. Double or triple these recipes to reap the benefits of your cooking day all month long!

Make sure that your freezer is running efficiently with these quick tips for energy-efficiency and easy freezer cooking guidelines!

Recipe:

Country Ham & Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb country ham slices or regular smoked ham in one piece (I use turkey ham)
• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (8 oz)
• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 can reduced sodium cream of chicken soup (or homemade using this recipe)
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs or 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• Fresh parsley (handful), chopped

Directions:

Make Ahead: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring 4 quarts water and ham to boiling in large pot. Once water begins to boil, remove ham to a plate. Add macaroni to pot. Return water to boiling; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Coarsely chop ham, discarding any fat.
Drain macaroni and return to pot. Add ham, cheese, sour cream, soup, and fresh parsley. Scrape into a 13x9x2 baking dish for freezing, or in two 8×8″ pans (for a smaller family), or freeze the casserole in a freezer bag.

To Prepare: Allow the casserole to thaw overnight. Pour the casserole into your baking dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and drizzle (optional) with two tablespoon of butter for a crunchy topping. Bake the casserole at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Yield: 8 Servings
Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Recipe:

Chicken Italiano

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh or a can of diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup Italian Dressing

Directions:

Make Ahead: Throw all of the ingredients in a freezer bag and label with cooking directions. To prepare, just thaw and follow directions for cooking.

To Prepare: Allow the chicken to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. For a slow cooker version, just place all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for six hours. Serve over spaghetti or rice with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. To prepare this in the oven,  bake at 375 for 1 hour (or longer if they are large chicken breasts).

Yield: 4 Servings

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Recipe:

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (1.5 pounds)
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)
• 2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (I make this homemade version)
• 1-2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chiles, drained
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 12 (6-inch) soft corn or flour tortillas

Directions:

Make Ahead: Combine the chicken, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, the chiles and cilantro. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Stack the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high until warm & pliable (approximately 1 minute). Spread the warm tortillas out over a clean counter. Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. Tightly roll the tortilla around the filling, then lay seam-side down in a 9×13″ baking dish lightly coated with vegetable oil spray. Spray the tops of the enchiladas lightly with cooking spray to help keep them moist. Cover your baking dish tightly and label for the freezer. Freeze the remaining  sauce in a small container, and freeze your cup of cheese for topping later.

To Prepare: Allow the enchiladas to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1 cup of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheddar down the center of the enchiladas. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheddar browns, about five minutes longer. Serve, passing the remaining 1 cup of sauce.

Yield: 6 Servings

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Looking for more great recipes to throw in the freezer? Try my Italian Meatloaf, Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs, Pulled Pork (double batched), Chicken Barbecue (double batched),  Pot Roast Italiano (double batched), or Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Soup for some other easy and delicious freezer additions.

Feel free to share your own freezer recipes and ideas for freezer cooking on a budget!

Pasta is the ultimate indulgence food for me and I happened to be in charge of hosting my Bunco group this month. My theme was Guilty Pleasures and nothing says guilty pleasures to me like a big bowl of creamy pasta, decadent dessert treats, and stretchy yoga pants. My girlfriends didn’t seem to mind indulging in my theme this year and I had a blast planning this evening.

This Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce was an amazingly easy and delicious dish that would be perfect for entertaining or just a midweek luxury meal for a cheap date night at home.  Almost as easy as just opening a jar of sauce and a fraction of the jarred vodka sauces on the shelves, it is a recipe that is a surefire winner. It is creamy, hits you with a little hint of heat from a little red pepper flake, and a sauce that really does a great job hugging the noodles perfectly.

In a large pot, heat a little olive oil and then brown half a pound of  Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage. If you purchase the sausage in the links, you will just want to pull the meat out of the sausage casings and then use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart. If you like your dish spicier, feel free to substitute with the hot sausage variety. We like it mild in our house!

To your browned sausage, add four cloves of minced garlic and a 1/4 teaspoon of red hot pepper flake to your sausage and let it cook for one minute. I love to add a little red hot pepper flake into almost all of my sauces. You can find it at the dollar store or very inexpensively at the supermarket over in the spice aisle. If you like a lot of heat, increase this to 1/2 teaspoon to give the sauce more of a kick.

Add a can of crushed tomatoes to the pot and stir to incorporate. Season to taste. Bring your sauce to a boil and then turn the heat down to a low simmer and let it cook for fifteen minutes.

To your sauce add 3/4 of a cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup vodka to the sauce. I bought the least expensive vodka that they had at the supermarket and it worked perfectly.  Mix these two ingredients into your sauce and bring it to a boil.

Turn off the heat and add a handful of freshly chopped parsley to the sauce.  Toss this sauce with your favorite pasta noodle.  Simple and delicious!

Serve with an elegant Strawberry Salad and a platter of  Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Brownies, for a guilty pleasures night of your own!

Enjoy!

Penne With Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce

1 pound uncooked penne pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vodka

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 pound  sweet Italian sausage

Side Note: When reheating this dish, rewarm in a skillet and add a little milk to the sauce to restore the creamy consistency of it.

Recipe Source: Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Salmon is a fish that our entire family can agree upon as being delicious, but I will admit that the small frozen fillets can be tricky to cook. I have a hard time achieving a delicious piece of fish without overcooking it or drying the meat out. Despite those cooking challenges,  I am always trying new things with our fish dishes and I think I have finally found a winner with this delicious salmon with a honey pepper sauce. The fish is moist and flavorful and the sauce has the sweet and hot flavors in it that making a boring piece of fish taste rich and flavorful. The bonus is that the glaze is created from ingredients I always have in my fridge and pantry, but mixed together, it creates something that is just out of this world in flavor.

Not a single bit of this fish was left on a single plate. In fact, the kids asked for more when they are done. This may turn into a more expensive dinner than I had anticipated since I will have to buy two pieces for each family member. I can’t rave about this enough- it really was that delicious! It is an Applebee’s knockoff, but just like the Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenders, I don’t eat there so I have no idea if it tastes like an Applebee’s dish or not. I do know, it is restaurant-worthy and tastes just like something I would love to order at a restaurant. I am guessing that is all that matters!

In a pot, just whisk together all of the ingredients until they are incorporated. Put the pot on the stove and then bring it to a boil.

Once you have brought your pot to a boil, turn the heat down and allow the sauce to simmer for fifteen minutes or until it has thickened and looks syrupy.

On a baking sheet, drizzle your salmon portions with a little olive oil and then sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. You can bake these at 375 degrees for twelve minutes (this is what I did) or you can grill your salmon if you prefer. To grill, cook on preheated grill until fish is opaque in the center and flakes easily with a fork, about 3-4 minutes per side. Please note, the cooking time may need to be adjusted depending on the thickness of your fillet. Once your salmon is cooked,  remove the salmon from the grill or pull from the oven, and brush each fillet with the honey pepper sauce. Serve the fish with small ramekins of additional sauce for extra dipping.

I recommend baked brown rice as an accompaniment (with the sauce drizzled on top) and our oven roasted asparagus or a pile of wilted greens as your side dishes to this amazing fish!

Applebees Honey Grilled Salmon (Courtesy of Food.com)

3/4 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1 lemon, juice of (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I reduced this to 1/4 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

4 salmon fillets

Looking for another fun way to enjoy salmon? Be sure to try our Balsamic & Rosemary Grilled Salmon, Slammin’ Salmon Marinade,  Baked Salmon with Lemony Rice Pilaf, or Salmon Patties with Perfectly Baked Potatoes.

It was a long winter in Indiana and we got our first taste of Spring with warm weather this weekend. Of course, nothing says Spring to me like grilling outdoors again and one of our favorite things to cook in the summer just happens to be grilled kabobs! Kabobs are a fantastic way to create a dish for each individual family member that incorporates each of their favorite meats and vegetables. It also happens to allow for individual personalization without the inconvenience of being a short-order chef.

Today I wanted to share three easy grilled kabob recipes that are sure to be a hit with your family and when entertaining. These recipes deserved their constant rotation in your menu planner because they are easy to prepare and the leftovers can be recreated into delicious salads and wraps. Unfortunately, no matter how much I prepare, these kabobs go unbelievably quick in our house. I hope you will have more leftovers to enjoy than we do!

Without further adieu, here are three fun recipes for grilled kabobs to try on your grill!

The rosemary and ranch add such a wonderful depth of flavor to the chicken and these come off the grill so juicy! If you actually have any meat leftover (which is debatable in our house), I love to put these on top of a salad the next day. The chicken is still surprisingly juicy even after being zapped in the microwave and it has been a wonderful way to spice up my daily salads for lunch!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs (Courtesy of AllRecipes)

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (If you haven’t planted rosemary yet like me, 1 teaspoon of the dried stuff works great!)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes

In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

This shrimp tastes exactly like something you would eat at a fancy restaurant and it is bursting with flavor. It is unbelievable how these simple pantry ingredients can make the shrimp taste so good, but I doubt I will ever make another shrimp recipe again! It is the perfect dish to entertain with since it can be served hot or cold. The marinade adds so much flavor that there is no need for any special sauce accompaniment. You have to love anything that only requires four or five minutes on the grill and is still wildly impressive to your dinner guests!

Marinated Grilled Shrimp (Adapted from AllRecipes)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4  cup olive oil
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (I omitted because we did not have any on hand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
Skewers

In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, stirring once or twice. Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.

This marinade can be prepared up to a day before and makes a deliciously sweet (but not too sweet) meat. The flavors remind me a little bit of those port-a-pit chickens that are sold for fundraisers… just as messy, but not half as greasy.

Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs (Adapted from AllRecipes)

Quick Grilling Tip:

I have become a huge fan of those disposable containers for marinating foods because they are so easy to transport out to our grill and are easy to stack, especially if you are headed out for a picnic. It may also be because I have had  a few too many leaky bags in my fridge so I find these to be a great option for me!  These freezer containers plus our handy dandy meat thermometer have made grilling out practically foolproof and have streamlined our grilling effortlessly.

I love to stick these, marinade and all, in the freezer and prep a few different marinades in one afternoon. Most marinades have similar base ingredients (dressings, olive oil, vinegars, salt, pepper, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, etc..) and it is so much easier to do this all at once rather than getting them out each time. What a time saver!