The Beauty of the Bottle

The past few weeks have been insanely busy! Work, school, basketball games, sick kids and Christmas quickly approaching, what's a mom to do? Rest assured, my family is still being fed. Its not been pretty or gourmet, but its not drive thru!

I have not been able to get ahead with cooking on the weekends but we have been surviving the weeks with crockpot chicken cooked with whatever bottle of salad dressing I dumped over it. It has been a life saver! Italian salad dressing, poured over a crockpot full of boneless skinless chicken breast cooked until shred able. Delicious. The boys ate it on rolls , I ate it over rice.

"The Bottle" has also been a quick go to over frozen fish. We have had many nights of no plan for dinner, so this is a weekly standby. I buy flounder in 3 pound packages that is individually frozen so I have it on hand.

Place fish on a greased cookie sheet (still frozen) spoon salad dressing (your choice, Ranch and Greek have both been big winners here) over the fish just about a tablespoon, the fish will shrink. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until fish flakes. Its not fancy, but it tastes good and the kids will eat it! Ranch is their favorite and they like me to cook it until the fish gets 'crispy' around the edges, the salad dressing will brown it up.

Merry Christmas!

How 'bout some recipes?!

Peanut Chicken Casserole

This is a simple, very freezable, crowd pleaser. The original recipe came from my sister and used cashews. I have made a few changes due to allergies and to cut the cost (peanuts are cheaper than cashews).

Serves 4-6

1 C. thinly sliced celery

1 T. water

3 C cooked chicken breast, cubed

1/4 C chicken broth

1 (10 oz ) can cream of chicken soup

1/4 C. onion, chopped

1 1/4 C. frozen peas

1 C dry roasted peanuts, divided

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 C. Chow mien noodles

1. Saute celery and onion in water. ( I have been known to skip this step)

2. Add all but 1/2 cup of chow mien noodles and reserve 1/2 C of peanuts.

3. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish

4. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

5. Sprinkle with chow mien noodles and remaining peanuts

6. Bake 5 more minutes.

Serve with white or brown rice, soy sauce, and red pepper

Freezing instructions

Place your chow mien noodles and peanuts together in a sandwich bag and set aside.

Mix together all the remaining ingredients and put in a freezer bag, label and staple the sandwich bag with your topping to your casserole so it doesn't get lost in the freezer. (Try to staple bags together above the 'zipper' line so you don't break the integrity of your seal.

When ready to use:

Thaw.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes

Sprinkle with your reserved topping.

Bake for 5 minutes more.

Serve.

Taco Rice Bake

This recipe comes from my Mom (hi mom!) Its one that I break my own "don't freeze cooked rice" rule for.

1 pound ground beef

1 Large onion, chopped

1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix

1 can Rotel tomatoes with diced green chilies

1 1/2 C. raw rice cooked (equals 4 1/2 cups cooked)

1 T. Fresh cilantro or to taste (optional)

1 tsp. lime juice or to taste (optional)

8 ounces or more Mexican blend shredded cheese

Cook rice and set aside

Cook ground beef and onion together until beef is no longer pink. Stir in taco mix, rotel and rice. Add cilantro and lime juice. Mix well. Then either.....

1. Place in a 9x 13 baking dish, sprinkle with cheese, cover and freeze.
2. Place in a 9x13 baking dish, sprinkle with cheese, cover and bake at 350 until cheese melts.
3. Place in a freezer bag and freeze with cheese bagged and stapled to the outside. When ready to serve, thaw, then follow option 2. ( you can also microwave it, everything is already cooked it just needs to be warmed up)

Serve in flour tortillas, burrito style.

Slow cooking speeds things along!

You and Your Crock pot

On my cooking day, I almost always use my crock pot in some capacity. I start soups and chili's or make a large quantity of rice for use in my casseroles or (since I don't routinely freeze rice) for the meals that I will be serving in the next couple days that will need cooked rice added or served as a side. I know you might be saying, "duh, how hard is it to cook rice?" Well, I almost always burn it or under cook, so for me, the rice cooking impaired, this is a great option. I also have some great baked rice options.....but another day.

Crock Pot Rice

This is the ratio I use.

1 C. rice

2 C. Water

2 tsp. of chicken bouillon

My 5 quart crock pot will hold up to 4 C rice/ 8 C water. It makes a BUNCH!

Set to 'high' cook for 2 hours. If you happen to be around, give it a stir about half way thru, otherwise there may be some 'crunchy' grains on the side. If this happens, just stir it up and store, the moisture seems to redistribute this way and resolves the crunchies.

Chicken cooks very nicely in the crock pot, I have been known to pack my crock pot with boneless skinless chicken, and set it on low to cook overnight while we sleep. When you wake up your chicken will be be very tender and shreddable. Its ready for use in your recipes.

I do this with pork loin too, just add a bottle of BBQ sauce. After its all cooked, shredded and cooled, I can freeze it, or park it in the fridge for a very fast microwaveable dinner. Just add rolls or hamburger buns.

How to get started

Getting Started

When you first start ‘multi cooking’ (I just made that up!) you don’t want to get overwhelmed. Start with just 2 meals and work your way up. Use some common ingredients to make more of your time.

1. You can double a casserole you already like and freeze one and serve the other.
2. Put together a soup, while preparing another meal.
3. Cook down several pounds of ground beef/ chicken and divide it up for your meals.

You will need to be a little organized to pull this off. I make a list the meals I want to cook, and then break it down into a shopping list. If it looks like I am going to need lots of cooked chicken, for example I will 1. make sure I buy enough and 2. Plan to cook it right away so I have it ready for my ‘cooking day’.

Freezer Cooking

Freezer cooking, there are many different approaches. The way this works for me is simply preparing most of a meal and freezing it. Later, I thaw it for the night we want to eat it, and add the finishing touches. These are really just meal "starters" but they save a TON of time during the week.

I do not (at this time) own a large freezer. I use a standard freezer, the one that came with my refrigerator. I put my meal starters in Ziploc freezer bags and sometime casserole dishes. I have purchased foil pans too, for clean up convenince, they are nice but can take up a lot of space, so I use sparingly.

As a general rule I don't like to freeze cooked noodles or rice (usually). There are a few exceptions. I think the meal tastes fresher if I can add these items right before serving.

I do tend to prepare food in 'clumps'. If ground beef is a good price, I buy 5 or 6 pounds of it. That right there can be 3-5 meals. I use sale prices to guide my meal planning, This is not always possible but its great when it works out.

Here's the bottom line, there isn't anything special about my recipes. (I'll share them anyway) The secret is getting a handle on the time consuming prep work and maximising the effort in the kitchen.