Tag: Freezer

Taco Soup

This recipe made 4 quarts.  If I wasn’t making it for hunting season, I would only have made a half batch.  I did use pinto beans.  You can substitute black beans or do half black beans and half pinto.  I used a jar of salsa we made this summer, but you can use any type of salsa.

Pinto Beans Dry to soup ready.

I took 2 cups of dry beans and soaked in water overnight.  I drained them.  And then added to dutch oven and cooked on stove for a couple hours (or until they were squishy).  You can do this in a crockpot overnight.  When they were cooking I added salt and cumin, since I knew I was using them in taco soup.

2 pounds ground beef

2 cups corn

1 chopped onion

8-10 minced garlic cloves

1 jar salsa

3 cups pinto beans (OR 2 cans OR 1 can black beans and one can pinto beans)

8 cups beef broth

3 T. Cumin

3 T. Chili Powder

1 1/2 t. Paprika

1 1/2 t. Oregano

1/2 t. Red pepper flakes (if you don’t want spicy, skip these)

Salt and pepper to your taste

I have made this before and added ranch seasoning.  If you use ranch seasoning, add it before you add salt.

First, brown ground beef in dutch oven/soup pot.  After it is brown, I transferred to drain off the excess fat.  While it is draining add chopped onions to same pot.  I cooked for a couple minutes then added minced garlic.  After the onion looked translucent, I added ground beef back.  Then dump in the rest of ingredients.  I brought to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  If you want it to be a thicker chili like soup, simmer longer.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or whatever toppings you like.

A little of this and a little of that is how I add seasonings until I like the flavor.  I recommend adding the spices in small amounts until you get the flavor you like.  OR if you have taco seasoning already made, you can use it.  Or I’m sure you could use a packet.

You could make large batch and freeze leftovers for another night.

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Meatballs for Spaghetti

2 pounds ground beef
½ pound ground pork
2 cups bread crumbs
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
½ cup grated parmesan or any dry Italian cheese
4 garlic cloves minced or pressed
1 onion minced

Mix all the ingredients together.  Shape into balls.  We do 3-4T most of the time.  Saute in pan with a little olive oil to brown.  Transfer to foil lined baking sheet (for easy cleanup).

Bake 350 for 30 minutes (depends on size you make so adjust accordingly)

After they bake and we eat, I freeze the rest.  When freezing place on sheet pan separated.  After frozen, then transfer to freezer container.  They reheat quickly making a weeknight meal quick and less messy!!!
These paired with the marinara sauce has unlimited options.  You could serve over zoodles for lower carb.  You can make smaller and make meatball subs.  Just add to your favorite bun/bread and melt a little mozzarella cheese in broiler on them.  You could eat the classic over pasta noodles.  You can serve as appetizers with marinara dipping sauce.

We usually make a side salad with caesar dressing.

 

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Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter (frozen & shredded)
1 cup buttermilk

I recently started shredding frozen butter for scones and biscuits and think it makes them extra amazing. If you don’t want to shred, you can also do this recipe in a food processor.  OR you can kick it old school and use a pastry cutter.  OR a couple of forks.

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  Then cut in butter or mix in frozen butter. (I do this in a mixer.)  Add buttermilk to mix.  Once mixed drop the whole batch on a floured surface.  Pat it out into a large circle about ½ in thick.  Cut out biscuits.  Repeat and cut again.  The more you work biscuit dough the tougher it gets.  So work with it as little as possible.  Depending on cutter size you will get 8-12 biscuits.

If you don’t keep buttermilk, I have for millions of times (okay maybe not that many) made it with juice of half of a lemon and about ¾ cup milk.  I don’t think they fluff as well, but they are still great.

Another trick to get extra tall flaky biscuits is to “stack” pieces of the dough before you pat it out into the circle.  It’s a fine line though you can’t mess with it too much either or they get tough.  Also, use a SHARP biscuit cutter to keep the edges from sealing and keeping the biscuit from growing taller.

Bake 450 for 8-10 minutes

*I have frozen this recipe and baked later.  It works very well*

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Mexican Chicken Marinade

6 chicken breast sliced
3 limes juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6-10 garlic cloves minced or use a press or chopped
Mix it all together and let sit overnight or for several hours

Then you can grill or sauté and use for fajitas or make Mexican chicken taco salads or quinoa bowls. OR I plan to add some more jazz and make the chicken taquitos my kids LOVE.  Obviously, you can make half or a 1/3 easily with this recipe.  I just wanted to use the chicken for several things, so I did a bigger batch.  We will be having salad one night with it and I will make taquitos for the freezer with the rest of it.

Another IDEA I LOVE:


Mexican Chicken & Quinoa Salad
2-3 cups salad (romaine is typically what I use)
1/8 cup cooked black beans (I mash as cooking for better consistency)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Several chicken slices from recipe above
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 avocado sliced
Tomato and/or onion would be good toppings too
Use your favorite salsa as “dressing”

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Waffles

If you haven’t figure it out yet, I am in charge of breakfast around here.  And I am a procrastinator.  So anything I can make and have in the freezer to make morning time easier, is what I love.  We always double the waffle recipe and freeze on a sheet pan individually.  Then after frozen put in a freezer container.

Single Batch
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1 ½ cups milk
¼ cup butter melted

In bowl add flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt mix it together.  Then add egg yolks, milk and melted butter mix well.  In mixer bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold egg whites into other mixture.

Bake 3-5 minutes in waffle iron

 

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Chicken Taquitos

We make these for freezer and then warm up as a quick snack for after school.  Or the kids take in their lunch frozen and then warm up in microwave.  They dip them in sour cream, salsa, or just eat them plain.  I wing a lot of the seasonings.  So feel free to adjust to your liking.

 

2 cups chicken
2 Tablespoons Taco seasoning
1/3 cup cream cheese
¼ cup green salsa
1 Tablespoon lime juice
½ teaspoon cumin
1 cup grated cheese
½ an onion minced
3-5 cloves garlic minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Tortilla shells

Sprinkle taco seasoning on chicken then saute or grill chicken.  Transfer chicken to cutting board.  (After chicken cools shred or chop in into small pieces.)  Then while waiting for chicken to cool use your same pan add garlic, onion, lime juice, and little water to deglaze pan.  Shred/chop chicken.  Then add cream cheese, cumin, salsa, chicken to pan.  Once well combined turn off heat.  Add 1 Tablespoon and 2 Tablespoons of cheese into tortilla shell and tightly roll up.

Place on sheet pan. You can brush with butter for crispier shell.  It is not necessary.

Cook 425 for 10 mins

Freeze separated on sheet pan and then transfer to freezer bag or container for easy quick warm up.  If you put in container before you freeze, it will be one giant taquito as the shells will stick together.

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