Monday, June 11, 2007
I am the Freezer Fairy!
I've been trying literally for weeks to think of some clever way of introducing myself. I'm a mom, like you, and I dread the question:What's for Dinner?
It's not that I hate cooking. I just hate having to cook Every.Single.Night.
So I don't. I cook a couple nights a week and then once a month or so, I spend the whole day cooking and freezing copies of meals. My Dinner Fairy lives in my freezer. And I love her. She always has an answer to the question.
I've posted a few recipes I had laying around, some freezable dinners and some other things. Look for the label below: freezer fairy and see what I'm up to!
One important note: My family is only 5, so the recipes are about half the size of those by Real, the original dinner fairy. Check the authorship notes (I appear as Edge) and make sure you know what you're getting!
Labels: freezer fairy
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:48 PM
0 comments
Parmesan Chicken
2 T. Dijon mustard1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 t. dried parsley
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 lbs of chicken breasts (about 4)
1/2 c. bread crumbs (seasoned, or add some basil and parsley)
1/4 c. panko or crushed Ritz crackers
Mix mustard, mayonnaise, cheese, parsley and garlic in a gallon bag. Squish it. Then add the chicken breasts. In a separate bag (only need a quart size for this), mix the bread crumbs and Panko. Panko is japanese breadcrumbs. It's...kind of coarser. I don't know how to explain it. More like cracker crumbs. My grocery store has it in the Asian foods section. If you can't find it, use crushed Ritz crackers. That's it. You freeze those bags together.
On serving day, dredge the sauced chicken in the bread crumb mix, and then bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so. You know, until it's done. It depends on what thickness of chicken breasts you use, I guess. You can serve it with noodles and red sauce or whatever.
Labels: chicken, dinner, freezer fairy
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:47 PM
0 comments
Orange Glazed Chicken
1.5 lbs of chicken breasts, cut into stir fry bite pieces(You can also just take pre-frozen chicken breasts or tenders, and cut them when you serve.)
1/2 bag (about a lb.) of frozen stir fry veggie mix
sauce:
1/4 c. honey
2 T. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
Real simple. Put the chicken in a bag. Put the veggies in a bag. Put the sauce ingredients in a bag and seal and squish. If you want, add a cup or two of rice in a bag and put all 4 bags (chicken, veggies, sauce and rice) in one big bag.
On serving day, cook the rice, stir fry the veggies, then the chicken until all browned. Add the sauce and cook to thicken. Serve over rice. Takes about 25 min start to finish.
Labels: chicken, dinner, freezer fairy
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:46 PM
0 comments
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
1 large can pineapple chunks1/2 c. soy sauce
1 T. molasses
2 T. brown sugar
1/4 oil
3 T. cider vinegar
1 t. garlic powder
6 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
1 bell pepper
Drain the pineapple chunks, saving the juice, and set the chunks aside. Mix the juice with everything but the chicken and bell pepper. Marinate the chicken breasts in the refrigerator (I use a freezer bag for the whole thing--works great) for 6-8 hours, or overnight.
Drain the marinade and (make the blond hunk) grill the chicken. Slice the chicken and the bell pepper in to strips and serve with the pineapple over rice. This got 5 stars from our picky band of future food critics.
This recipe from the book: Lion House Entertaining (see link below). If you aren't from Utah, the Lion House is where ritzy wedding receptions get held in Salt Lake City. Something especially romantic about being married in Brigham Young's house? I don't know. But they are famous for their fabulous food.
Labels: chicken, dinner, freezer fairy
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:43 PM
0 comments
Chicken Rolls
12 rhodes bake'n'serve rolls, thawed but not risen(you can make fresh rolls for this, too, but I only do that when I'm stocking the freezer--just let the dough rise, then break them into roll-sized bits for the next step, before they rise again)
8-10 oz of cooked, chunked chicken (you can use the canned stuff from costco)
1/4 c. sour cream
salt, pepper, thyme, dried onion
1 beaten egg
bread crumbs
So, you mix the chicken, the sour cream and your seasonings together. It makes like, a chicken salad kind of thing. Yummy.
Then you take a roll. Mash it. Real flat. Ya, so it makes a 3" circle or so. Put a spoonful (not too big) of the chicken mixture in the middle and wrap it up, sealing the edges as best you can. They leak anyway, sometimes. Nothing for it. Do that 11 more times.
Once you have your cute little wrapped up rolls, brush them with beaten egg and sprinkle them with bread crumbs. Or whatever. You can roll them in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs, but that just gets my hands and counters dirty.
Then you can freeze them (flash on a plan and then into a ziploc), or put them in a greased pan (13x9" works nicely) and bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. They rise a bit in the oven and as you're making them, so they end up about 4" in diameter. Serving sizes are about 1 for kids, 2-3 for adults. Teenage boys--6 each. Easy-shmeasy.
They are quite hot inside when they come out, so you may want to break open those meant for little people that lack the sense to test temperature before stuffing entire chicken-stuffed rolls in their face. A gift of my experience, to you with love.
Labels: chicken, dinner, freezer fairy
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:42 PM
0 comments
Shepherd's pie
for each serving to feed 4-5 people, you need:1 lb ground beef
1 c. of frozen mixed veggies
1 can of tomato sauce (the little cans)
1 T. worchestire sauce
salt and pepper, herbs and spices (I like garlic, and basil or thyme, but you can be creative!)
1/4 c. fresh chopped onion or 2 T. dried chopped onion or 1/2 t. onion powder
2 c. of mashed potatos (I use instant)
maybe some cheese for the top
So you do a little math, and it's not exact--for 3 family-sized servings, I used 4 lbs of ground beef, and 2 cups of veggies, and 1 large can of tomato sauce...
First, brown all the ground beef and split it between your containers. 1.5 qt. casserole dishes work best for this--you can use gladware type, like I do, or the foil disposable kind, like my sis. So you brown the ground beef, then put it in your containers. Add the veggies, tomato sauce, onions, worchestire sauce, salt, pepper, herbs, etc. Mix it all up. You should still have some room at the top for the potatoes. Slap the potatoes on top, sprinkle it with cheese if you like, and cover it. Then mark and freeze. When you don't feel like cooking, pull it out (hopefully in the next month or so) and pop it in the microwave or oven for an hour or so. Don't bake plastic containers.
Labels: dinner, freezer fairy, ground beef
link | posted by Sarah Jean at 8:37 PM
0 comments
