I'm still here and cooking.

I'm still here. I'm getting ready for spring. I've completely gotten the bug to clean out things and organize. 

I started with my kitchen so I would have more time to organize this month and not have to think about dinner.

Last week I got my pantry cleaned up and organized again and made 10 freezer dinners and have the supplies to make the other ten. So these next few weeks I only need to go to the grocery store for fresh fruits, veggies, and milk. For those that are

interested I'm going to list some of my meals.

My favorite friend in the kitchen is my crockpot. I put the meal together while the kids are finishing up breakfast. Well I'm not much of a morning person and have forgotten to put my meal together until later in the afternoon and then there's not enough time for it to cook. I found some great recipes that helped me out.

  Last week I assembled ten dinners in 2 1/2 hrs. in the evening after the kids are in bed and I'm wide awake.  I assemble the crockpot meals in 1 gallon freezer bags, lable the bags, get all the air out and pop the dinners in the freezer. The night before I pull a dinner from the freezer that I want for dinner the next night and set the gallon bag in the fridge. By morning I just empty the bag into the crockpot and turn it on and make sure I have a veggie and bread to go with it for dinner.

Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breast

(from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 8

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. mustard

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. rosemary

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

8 boneless chicken breasts

Put chicken in 1 gallon freezer bag. Mix all other ingredents together and pour over chicken. Get all the air you can out, lable and freeze.

(I label the bags first while its empty with a Sharpie. I write what it is, the date, the thawing and cooking directions on the bag so I don't have to go find the cook book for that info.)

Serving Day: You thaw chicken, discard marinade. (The meat is marinading while it thaws.) Grill until chicken is done. I grilled these on my George Forman Grill.

We had this one last week for the first time and we all liked it.

Chicken Cacciatore

( from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 6-8

2 med. onions, sliced thin (my family wont eat onions so I use 2 Tb. of onion powder instead)

2 cloves garlic, minced ( I use 2 tsp. of garlic powder most of the time)

1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1-8 oz. can tomatoe sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup white wine ( I use water)

6 chicken breasts

Pasta or Rice for serving day

Mix all ingredents togther except chicken. Label bag, put chicken in bag, pour mixture over chicken.Close up and freeze.

Serving Day: Pull dinner out the night before and place in fridge. Morning of serving day place meal in crockpot on low for 6-8 hrs. or high 2 1/2-4 hours. Serve over pasta or rice.

We eat this two or three times a month and I always have left overs for a few lunches.

Hawaiian Chicken

(from Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer)

Serves 6-8

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-16 oz. cans pineapple slices, drained

2-15 oz. cans manadarin oranges, drained

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. pepper

Serving Day:

Steamed Rice

Label bag. Place chicken in 1 gallon freezer bag. Mix all other ingredents and pour over chicken. Seal bag and freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw over night in fridge. Place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hrs. or high for 2-3 hrs. Add green pepper chopped one hour before serving (opional). Spoon over rice.

We had this one tonight for the first time and everyone loved it.

There are more recipes and I will share them if you like. Just let me know. Of these 3 recipes I made 2 of each. I made 6 homemade freezer dinners in no time.

We are also have Enchiladas, Shepherd's Pie, and Chicken Pot Pie. I have made all three of  these in tripple batches on a Saturday and froze them all. But what works best for me is to double them the night I'm cooking them and then we eat one that night and I freeze the other for another night.