Using My Freezer Stash

-
 

This last week I have been using my freezer stash and have loved the convenience!!  Here is what I have done so far with the food I cooked up and froze.. 


Chicken Noodle Soup
1 bag of cooked chicken and 2 bags of chicken broth.  I heated it up, added noodles and some chopped up carrots.  Served it with a big green salad and whole wheat crackers. 


Chicken & Rice Alfredo
I made my chicken alfredo sauce from this recipe: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/chickenalfredo.htm   and added a bag of rice (instead of pasta) and a bag of chicken.  Served it with a salad  


Hamburger, Bean and Pasta (I really don’t have a name for this as I just threw it together)
I had extra people to feed and wanted something for the crockpot.  So I put 2 bags of cooked hamburger and 1 bag of cooked beans in the crockpot.  I added 6 cups of beef broth (from the freezer) and 2 cans diced tomatoes.  I added some Italian seasonings and a little chili powder.  I let this cook on high for about one hour, until everything had defrosted and added about 2 cups of whole wheat elbow noodles.  I turned it on low and let cook for a couple more hours until the pasta was done.   


Beef & Rice
I took one bag of cooked rice and sautéed that in a little olive oil.  I added one bag of the beef (it was already defrosted) and heated this up.  I added some sour cream and some cheddar cheese.  I was only feeding Tobin and a couple of the kids so this was a smaller meal. If I was feeding everyone I would have added more rice (one or two bags depending on how many people I was feeding).  I served this with homemade sauerkraut and a salad.   


I will probably be making more to refill my freezer stock as I run out.  This has just been so nice to have meal starters in the freezer, I highly recommend it.   I have been spending more time out in the sun, enjoying the summer, working on my garden and swimming with the kids..   


Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 21, 2009 at 8:02 PM

    i love your blog and i love the idea of meal starters in the freezer i was going to do once s month cooking but i don't have the space so meal starters would be perfect for me. my question is Is the rice fully cooked before you put in the bag and in the freezer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. dana0313July 22, 2009 at 12:36 AM

    Glad your freezer cooking sesion worked out so well for you and your family!!!


    I am hoping to something very similar, closer to the time the baby is due to arrive, I'll be recovering from a c-section and dh and I discussed getting things like this ahead so that he can put dinner togetherfor us with little effort.


    Right now my thoughts are on canning some hm beef veg soup, hm chili and hm chicken soup as well as chicken stock so that all he has to do open the jars and heat it up and in the case of the chicken soup open it all up and add some noodles to cook.


    I have also thought of making ahead some small pans of lasagne and casseroles too!!


    As always I enjoy your blog, website and forums, so much I have learned from you and all the wonderful ladies there!!


    Blessings!!

    Dana (lovnmyboys)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine to
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my
Read more