Spinach Lasagna Roll ups

These rollups are creamy and moist. A hit with the whole family. Even the kiddos liked the spinach. Yum!

1 lb. lasagna noodles

15 oz. ricotta (cottage cheese works well)

1 cup shredded mozzarella

¼ cup grated parmesan

1 egg

10 oz. frozen spinach

2½ cups marinara sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

 

Instructions

1. Boil noodles.
2. While the noodles are boiling, prepare the filling. Thaw the package of frozen spinach in the microwave and then squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Combine the spinach in a bowl with the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, freshly grated pepper and about ¼ tsp of salt. Mix until well combined.
3. When the noodles and filling are ready to go, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a glass casserole dish with non-stick spray.
4. On a clean surface, lay out a few noodles at a time. Place a few tablespoons of filling on each noodle and spread to cover from edge to edge. Filling doesn't need to be very thick. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the noodles.

 

 

For cooking today:

1. Roll the noodles up and place in the prepared casserole dish. Repeat until all of your filling is gone (there may be some noodles left over, these are “back ups” in case any of the others rip during assembly). Pour the marinara sauce over the rolled noodles making sure to cover all surfaces. The sauce will keep the noodles moist and soft while baking.
2. Cover the dish in foil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Freezing Instructions:

Roll the noodles up and place on a cookie sheet and flash freezer (place in the freezer for about 20 minutes to freeze just enough to bag into gallon sized Ziploc bag). When ready to cook, thaw overnight in the fridge and follow above cooking directions.

 

 

Beef Taco Lasagna

24 lasagna noodles

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 envelopes taco seasoning

4 egg whites

2 cartons (15 oz. each) ricotta cheese

8 c.  (2 lbs.) shredded cheddar cheese

2 jars (24 oz. each) chunky salsa

1.   Cook noodles till al dente. While noodles cook, in a large skillet, cook beef until no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning.   In a small bowl, combine egg whites and ricotta cheese. Drain noodles.

2.   Get 2- 9x13 inch pans and layer on the bottom 4 noodles, ¾ c. ricotta mixture, half of the beef mixture and 1 1/3 c. cheddar cheese. Top each with 4 noodles, ¾ c. ricotta mixture, 1 ½ c. salsa and 1 1/3 c. cheese. Repeat.

3.   Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake the other casserole, uncovered at 350 for 35 minutes or until heated through. Wait 10 minutes before cutting.

Freezing Instructions:

Thaw. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Lemon Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken (cut in strips)
1 Tbsp. oil
1 pkg. snow peas, trimmed
1 small red pepper, cut
1 pkg. (4 serving size) lemon Jell-O gelatin
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 c. chicken broth
2 Tbsp. Zesty Italian Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Heat oil in large skillet on med-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 4 minutes or until chicken is barely pink.
2. Add snow peas and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Mix dry gelatin and cornstarch in small bowl, then add broth, dressing and garlic. Stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Add to skillet.
4. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir frequently. Serve over rice.

To Freezer:
Cook as directed, then let cool and put into a gallon sized freezer bag. Freeze flat.

On Cooking Day:
Thaw. Reheat on stovetop. Serve over rice.

Shared by Amity Davies

Chicken Sausage and Pesto Pasta

This special sausage adds a lot of color to this dish. Serve with some steamed broccoli and melted cheddar.

12 oz. spinach chicken sausage, sliced
1 box farfalle pasta
1/2 c. basil pesto
2-4 oz. Parmesan cheese
opt. grated mozzarella

Prepare pasta as directed. In a large bowl combine pasta, pesto and cheese.

To freeze: Place mixture in a freezer pan. On cooking day thaw and bake as directed.

To Bake: Bake in baking dish covered with foil on 350 for about 20 minutes until heated through. If baking after it has been in the fridge thawing it will most likely take closer to 40 minutes to heat through. To made a little more sauce add a half cup of milk or half and half and extra mozzarella or Parmesan cheese.

April Meal Swap

This morning Amanda, Amity, Leah and I met at my house to swap our freezer meals. Everything looks so good!  We have a lot of chicken dishes this time which is no surprise since there were a lot of good sales for chicken these last few weeks. We discussed swapping again in mid May and are moving towards more crockpot and stovetop dishes for next time. We usually take a few months off in summer and then resume when kids go back to school.

(click on menu item to be taken to recipe)
CHICKEN
Lemon Chicken
Sunshine Chicken
Catalina Chicken
Chicken Sausage and Pesto Pasta
Cranberry Dijon Chicken
Chicken and Rice Wraps
Angel Hair Chicken Pasta
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

BEEF
Mostociolli
Slush Hamburgers
Swedish Meatballs

OTHER
Honey and Spiced Glazed Pork Chops
Turkey Taco Lasagna
Ham and Cheese Braid

Beef Meatball Sub Filling by Maggie and Turkey Meatball variation by Amanda

BY MAGGIE
Serves: 2 families of 6 (4 meatballs per person) or
4 families of 2-4 (3-6 meatballs per person)
2 jars Classico spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 can of crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
meatballs (about 48)
Puree tomatoes then add everything else except for the meatballs to a pot and simmer about 20 minutes or heat on low in a crockpot for about an hour. Add meatballs and simmer another 10 minutes. Serve on buns, french loaf or even on top of spaghetti with melted mozzarella or provolone cheese.

VARIATION BY AMANDA:
Serves:  2 families
2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 can of crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper
Frozen meatballs- I used turkey (30 per bag)
6 sub sandwich rolls per family

1. Puree tomatoes in blender for about 2 seconds.
2. Dump in to a large bowl.  Pour in 2 cans of spaghetti sauce, garlic, seasonings and mix well. 
3. Label freezer bags with directions (see cooking directions).
4. Place frozen meatballs in a bag then pour half the sauce into each bag (measures to be approx 3 1/2 cup sauce). Freeze flat.

Cooking directions: Thaw in fridge overnight.  Reheat on stove top and serve on buns, french loaf or even on top of spaghetti with melted mozzarella or provolone cheese. Broil if desired to toast the cheese on top!

BBQ Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole by Amity

For the homemade barbecue sauce:
    1 1/2 c. ketchup
    1/2 c. brown sugar
    1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
    2 T. honey
    2 t. salt
    1 t. cumin
    1 t. chili powder
    1/2 t. allspice
    1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
    1/2 t. pepper

Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

For the beef and bean combination:

    1/2 lb. dried beans (any kind, I usually use pinto or kidney)
    1/2 – 1 lb. ground beef
    1 onion, diced
    salt and pepper to taste
    optional: 1/2 diced green pepper, 1 diced celery stalk, 1 shredded carrot
    2 c. barbecue sauce (homemade or from a bottle)

1. Soak beans overnight and cook until done.
2. Brown ground beef with onions and any optional ingredients, and salt and pepper to taste. Drain. Combine beans and beef. Add reserved BBQ sauce and stir to coat all. Pour into a 13×9 casserole dish.

For the cornbread:
    3/4 c. corn meal
    1 1/4 c. flour
    1/4 c. sugar
    2 t. baking powder
    1/2 t. salt
    1 c. milk
    1 egg, beaten
    1/2 c. vegetable oil, melted butter, or meat drippings
1. Combine all dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients until moist.
2. Spoon over beef and bean filling.
3 cover & freeze
4 cooking day: Thaw Bake @400* for 30-15 min.

Cheesy Potatoes with Ham by Amanda

my inspiration: http://freezermealsforus.blogspot.com/2011/01/funeral-potatoes-by-maggie.html

 but I updated/ changed recipe to this:

 

Ingredients:

½ C chopped onion
1 pint sour cream (1 pint = 2 Cups)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 C shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

2 Cups of chopped ham (think Easter ham leftovers!)
salt + pepper to taste
optional: 3/4 sleeve Ritz crackers and 2 tbs melted butter
for a crunchy topping (don't freeze these)

Assembly:

Let hash browns thaw in fridge just enough that they can be poured (not frozen chunks) in with the other ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine onion, sour cream, soup, cheese, salt and pepper, hash browns and ham pieces. Mix well. Label freezer bag with cooking instructions. Freeze bag.

Ready to eat:
When ready to prepare, thaw potato mixture in fridge over night. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Pour potato mixture into 9x 13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. (May be longer depending on how frozen the meal is before cooking.

To make this even yummier you can add a topping during the last 15 minutes. Top with 2 C. crushed potato chips or Ritz crackers combined with ½ C melted butter. Sprinkle potato chips on top, then drizzle with butter.