Freezer Friday (Blueberry Muffins)

I am trying to use up items out of my freezer. I came across a bag of frozen blueberries Stephanie gave me before she moved so I decided to whip up a batch of blueberry muffins. They are great for breakfast now that the girls are out of school for the summer. These could be made and frozen also.
Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries ( or you can use frozen)

Preheat oven to 350. Place paper liners in muffin tin. Sift flour with the sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add the melted butter, milk, eggs and vanilla. Stir just enough to moisten flour mixture. Gently fold in blueberries.
Spoon batter into muffin tin. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Freezer Friday (Marvelous Italian Mini Meatloaves)

I have a index box full of recipes that I have copied from various places ( books, magazines etc). Every once in awhile I go through it to find something new to make. I came across this recipe and decided to try it. I am not a big meatloaf fan at all so it was kind of surprising that I made it. I am glad I did though because we all loved it! It was easy to make and you can freeze them with no problem!

1 pd ground beef
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix
1 cup water
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375. mix meat, stuffing mix, 1 cup water and 1 tsp Italian seasoning until well blended

Press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray; make an indentation in the center of each with a spoon.

Spoon spaghetti sauce into center of each meatloaf.

Bake 30 minutes.
Top with cheese, bake 5 minutes

Freezer Friday ( Chicken Tater Bake)

It has been a busy week at my house. My daughter has been sick and we just found out that she is going to have to have her tonsils out. The last couple of weeks have been filled with craft shows and working on stuff  for that. I am still healing from my hysterectomy so it has just been a little crazy. Luckily I had made a bunch of meals and froze them before my surgery. The one I am getting ready to post is really good. It reminds me of a chicken pot pie. I hope you try it and like it.

Chicken Tater Bake

2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup butter, cubed

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 package (16 ounces) frozen peas and carrots, thawed

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 package (32 ounces) frozen Tater Tots

• In a large saucepan, combine the soup, milk and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in the chicken, peas and carrots, and 1 cup cheese. 
• Transfer to two greased 8-in. square baking dishes. Top with Tater Tots; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
•  
• Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through.
• To use frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Cover and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each).

Next week we will be posting some Halloween stuff. A friend of mine and I are going to be hosting a Halloween party for about 70 Girl Scouts tomorrow so I will have games and stuff to post ( if I survive it lol)
Have a great weekend!
Mindy

Freezer Friday ( Steak Sauce Sloppy Joes)

On October 1st I am going in to have a hysterectomy. To prepare I have been making up some meals and freezing them. This way no matter how bad I feel I know my family will have a hot meal on the table. I know the recovery is pretty long for this so Stephanie will be doing way more blogging than me for those couple of weeks. I am 33 years old and they are doing a full hysterectomy. I am really worried about being thrown into menopause like this but I know that somehow I will get through it. Hopefully I won't get to grumpy and make everyone mad lol.If you have ever  frozen quite a few meals to prepare for something like this I would love some recipes. You can post int he comment section or e-mail me at twocraftingmoms@gmail.com. I love to try new recipes as most of you know. I am looking for meals that I don't have to freeze in foil pans because of freezer space.
On to the recipe. I was looking for something new and came across this recipe from Taste of Home. I love their recipes. If you aren't familiar with then make sure to check them out at www.tasteofhome.com. I am not a big sloppy joe person but this one has a wonderful flavor.

Steak Sauce Sloppy Joes

3 pounds ground beef
4 medium onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup A.1. steak sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
15 hamburger buns, split

Directions

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onions, celery over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain.
Stir in the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, chili powder, paprika and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until thickened and heated through. Serve on buns. Yield: 15 servings.

 

 

Freezer Friday ( Johnnie Marzetti)

Johnnie Marzetti

1 tbsp oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 pd ground beef
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 pkg egg noodles. cooked
1 cup cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375. Heat oil in skillet. Add celery, onion, and green pepper. Stir until tender. Remove veggies and set aside. Add meat, cook until done. Return veggies. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, bay leaf, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Place noodles in baking dish. Spoon meat mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake for 15-20 min.

Freezer Friday ( Favorite Creamy Chicken Casserole)

Favorite Creamy Chicken Casserole ( Makes 2 casseroles)

4 cups uncooked egg noodles
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg frozen peas and carrots

2 cups milk
2 cans cream of celery soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt and pepper, each

Cook noodles. Meanwhile in a large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Drain noodles and add to chicken mixture. Transfer to two greased 8 inch square baking dishes. Cover one an freeze up to 3 months. Cover and bake remaining casserole at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 min longer.
To use frozen casserole: Thaw overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Microwave on high 10-12 minutes, stirring twice.

I used leftover turkey when I made it and it was really good. I hope you enjoy!

Freezer Friday ( Spaghetti Sauce)

 I am still working on tomatoes. I have more to make tomorrow. I have moved on from the diced tomatoes to spaghetti sauce. It tastes so much better than the jar stuff and is so simple to make. I can't wait to pull it out this winter and have a little taste of summer in my food!

 

Homemade spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 1 large onion, finely chopped

* 3/4 cup celery, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 16-ounce can tomato sauce
* 4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
* 1 tablespoon oregano
* 1/2 tablespoon basil
* 1 tablespoon parsley
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 6-ounce can tomato paste
* 1 medium carrot, grated

Directions:
1. In a large pot, saute garlic, onion and celery over medium heat.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for three hours. Serve over pasta.

This sauce can also be cooled and frozen in freezer bags.

Freezer Friday ( Sloppy Joes )

 Crockpot Sloppy Joes

• 1 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon mustard 
• To taste, chopped onion
• To taste, chopped celery

In a skillet, cook the meat til done, breaking apart into small clumps as it cooks. Meanwhile, collect all the remaining ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir in the cooked meat, cover and cook on high, stirring occasionally if possible, for 4 – 5 hours, longer is fine too.

freezer friday left over chili

 I made chili the other day and since it is just me and Scott here now I knew we would never eat it all before it went bad.  So I decided to freeze some.  I didn't want to throw it in a bag to freeze it since I like to vacuum seal everything that I freeze.  Then I remembered that I had seen pictures on pinterest of people freezing soup in muffin pans to get individual servings.  Well I happen to have a silicone muffin pan and I thought that it would be great for the chili.   So here is what I did. 

first put the chili in a muffin pan.  then place in the freezer on a level surface

when it is frozen about 2 or 3 hours later get it out.

then simple pop them out of the pan it was really easy to do with the silicone muffin pan since it turns inside out.

 I took six at a time and vacuum sealed them.  If you don't have a vacuum sealer just get most of the air out to avoid freezer burn.  I now have 3 meals ready for nights when I don't feel like cooking.
hope everyone has a great weekend
Stephanie

Freezer Friday ( Meatloaf with String Cheese)

This recipe is so easy!! I am not going to post a meatloaf recipe because everyone does it their own way. All you need to do is make up a batch of meatlaof. Spray a muffin pan well and put meatloaf in each tin.
In the middle of each meatloaf add a small piece of string cheese and then cover with meatloaf.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
It was really good and my kids even ate it. I didn't get a chance to take a picture afterwards because someone showed up at my door but I think you would really enjoy it.

Freezer Friday ( Diced Tomatoes)

If you planted a garden by now you may be looking for something to do with all of those tomatoes that have turned red. We use a lot of diced tomatoes in out house so I thought to myself why don't I make some to freeze. I am glad I did! They turned out great and they taste wonderful. The best part is the took no time at all to prepare.
First you need tomatoes. I had 7 of them.

Get a big pot and boil some water.

After the water is boiling add your tomatoes. Boil for 2 minutes.

Take tomatoes out and put in a big bowl of ice water.

Leave tomatoes in the ice water for 1 minute. Take them out and peel the skin off.

Dice your tomatoes up. I got about 3 cups from the 7 tomatoes I cut up.

Dump your tomatoes in a small crockpot. Then add a chopped green pepper ,Italian seasoning, onion flakes, and 2 bay leaves. I didn't measure the Italian Seasoning and onion flakes, I just dumped a good amount it in.

Cook on high for 5 hours. Remove bay leaf. I ended up getting about 2 cups of diced tomatoes from this.

So easy and so tasty!!

Freezer Friday

Here is a  great chart to help you learn what you can and can't freeze from your garden and how to freeze it the proper way!
http://www.finecooking.com/pdf/freeze-chart.pdf

Have a great weekend!

Freezer Friday ( Souper Spaghetti)

Souper Spaghetti

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small green sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-1/2 cups water
2 14-1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 13- to 15-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Dash crushed red pepper
2 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces


Directions
1.
In large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook meat, onion, sweet pepper, celery, carrot, and garlic over medium heat until vegetables are tender and meat is no longer pink. Drain off excess fat.
2.
Add water, undrained tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, sugar, and seasonings. Bring mixture to boiling. Add broken spaghetti. Return to boiling. Reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until spaghetti is tender. Serve immediately.

 

 

freezer friday frozen smores

Frozen smores

 

 

 

to make this frozen dessert you will need 

graham crackers 

cool whip thawed

and chocolate syrup.

 

take one graham cracker and break it in half 

then add spoon cool whip on to one of the halves of the graham cracker

add a little chocolate syrup.  

 then place another graham cracker on top and place on a lined cookie sheet.  place cookie sheet in freezer for a couple of hours.  Remove and serve frozen.  We made these today and the kids really loved them very much.

 

freezer friday breakfast burritos

Hello everyone today is freezer Friday and we are making breakfast burritos.

These are so simple to make and a great breakfast for my husband and son to take for breakfast in the morning.

This is what you need :

about 16 flour tortillas
1 lb sausage
1 dozen eggs
2 cups of cheese
This recipe made about 16 burritos.    
Brown sausage and drain set aside.  Scramble eggs.  Add sausage and cheese to  scrambled eggs.

  Place about half a cup of the egg mixture on a tortilla.  You can add more or less but this amount seemed to work best for me.

Then fold up the sides of them.  Next fold the ends over.  Like this

I next placed them folded side down on a backing sheet

Then place the backing pans in the burritos in the freezer for a couple of hours.   Then place your burritos in freezer bags or like I did in vacuum seal bags.

Then you can take them out of the freezer and heat in the microwave for a minute or two till warm.  Eat and enjoy.

BBQ Pork and Penne Skillet

I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! It seems that this month has went by so quick! I hope you enjoy these special days with your family. Remember Christmas is more than food and gifts. The most important part is to spend time with your loved ones. I know for a fact my kids are growing up way to quick and I want to cherish every moment I have left with them!

I have one last recipe to share with you. I made this the last night for my mom's birthday. I hope you enjoy it as much as she did!

 

Barbecues Pork and Penne Skillet

1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
3/4 cup chopped onion1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 carton (18 ounces) refrigerated fully cooked barbecued shredded pork ( I make my own)
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute red pepper and onion in butter and oil until tender. Add garlic; saute 1 minute longer. Stir in the pork, tomatoes, broth, cumin, pepper and salt; heat through.
Drain pasta. Add pasta and cheese to pork mixture. Sprinkle with green onions. Yield: 8 servings.

 

 

Freezer Friday ( Stuffed Pepper Casserole)

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

2 medium green peppers cut into 1 inch chunks
30 oz can of tomato sauce
2 pouches of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice-whole grain brown
2 tsp Worcesterchire sauce
2 ½ tsp dried basil
¼ cup dried onions
1 pd ground beef
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 large Roma tomatoes-diced

Preheat oven to 350. Brown the ground beef with onion. Drain. Boil pepper chunks for 2 minutes. Remove from water and place on paper towels to remove excess water. Combine all but cheese in a 9x12 glass baking dish. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven. Bake uncovered for 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Freezer Friday ( Alfredo lasagna Roll-Ups)

Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups

lasagna noodles
chicken
italian seasoning
any cheese of your choice
alfredo sauce

Boil noodles and cool. Once cool cut in half

Cook chicken and shred it. Mix with your choice of cheese and Italian seasoning. I used mozzarella and Parmesan.

Place a small amount of alfredo sauce on each noodle

Top with chicken and cheese mixture.

Spread a small layer of alfredo sauce in the bottom of a pan and roll up noodles and place seam side down in pan.

Top with more cheese of your choice. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Eat or freeze for a rainy day!