Freezer Meals #10

It's starting to get hotter and I feel like living on salads until August. But in the meantime, here is the latest batch of meals.

Mississippi Pot Roast (for the crock pot) - find the recipe here.

Cafe Rio Chicken (for the crock pot) - this is a favorite and very easy.  Gonna use this for tacos.

Beefy Bean Burrito Filling
Brown 1 ground beef and drain.  Add 1/2 chopped onion, 2 T taco seasoning, 1/2 of water, 1 can refrieds.  Simmer on stove and serve in tortillas.

Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken is from Fabulously Frugal.
Combine in a big ziploc: 1/4 apple cider vinegar, 1/4 c brown sugar, 1 c. chicken stock, 1/2 c. honey mustard, 1/2 t. allspice (left that out), 1/2 t curry powder, 4 pieces chicken breasts, 4 chicken thighs, salt and pepper.  I'm going to cook this on low 8 hours from frozen.

Chicken Cacciatore - for this I combined the packets from the McCormick's Recipe Inspirations mix for chicken cacciatore and added a package of chicken thighs, a can of tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, and a sliced onion.  I will cook on low 8 hours from frozen.  

 Had to take a break from freezer prep and get some other things done.  

Here is your intermission picture:

Spicey Sloppy Joes
I browned 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, then drained it.  Added it to a large ziploc with 1/2 chopped onion, 1 c. spicy ketchup, 2 T or so brown sugar and worchestershire sauce, and a little prepared mustard.  I will thaw this one and simmer on the stove to serve in buns.

Southwest Flank Steak
In a large ziploc I put: 1 1/2 pounds flank steak, 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 t. Italian seasoning, 1 T taco seasoning, 1 ziploc of frozen black beans that I cooked in my crock pot, and a red and yellow bell pepper, chopped.  I will cook on low 8 hours from frozen and serve with rice.

While I was assembling the meals I also cooked two medium sized turkey breasts that came pre-seasoned.  They were marked down, so I felt pretty good about going the easy route!  I sliced some to make sammies and the rest went into a bag for use in salad or pasta, or wherever.  My schedule at work will be changing yet again, so freezer meals won't be as crucial.  I will probably do some now and again for busy times like holidays and back to school.  

Gina

Mealplan Monday#113 and Lemon Icebox Pie

Hubby likes to ask "Is there dessert?" then loudly exclaim "I like PIE!" after every meal.  It's gotten so that the boys try to beat him to it by shouting out the second part before he does. Ha!

 So last week I indulged the pie lover in all of us and made a very simple Lemon Icebox Pie with three ingredients: sweetened condensed milk, lemons, graham crust.*   That's it.

The recipe comes from this cookbook, which was a Christmas present from Hubby back in '06.  I can't believe I've never made it.

Monday - Potluck Beans, rolls or garlic toast
Tuesday - Don't know yet - freezer clean-out
Wednesday - Baked Fish Almondine, green beans, red potatoes
Thursday - Dad pick up pizza, mom at KLRU Pledge Drive!
Friday - Taco Salad Bowls, refried beans, etc.
Saturday - Dad grill - GRADUATION CELEBRATION!
Burgers and Dogs, Jalapeno Bacon Poppers, chips, BBQ Beans*, watermelon, sodas and tea, cake and ice cream
Sunday - (Freezer) BBQ Crock Pot Pork Chops, corn, mashed potatoes
Dessert this week is celebration cake I'm making for Scout's Graduation dinner

This pie bakes 15 minutes, then sits in the fridge at least two hours.  We topped ours with Cool-Whip and berries, but that's really just extra.  The beauty in this pie is the simplicity.  Cool, lemony, not too sweet.  And pretty much perfect for summer.

Luby's Lemon Icebox Pie 
Mix 2 cans sweetened condensed milk with 3/4 c. FRESH lemon juice and 1 t. grated lemon rind.  Pour into graham pie shell and bake 15 minutes at 350.  Cool, then chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Gina

Shared with:

The Guitar Man

A week ago we went to Scout's guitar concert at the high school.  It was fun to see all of the kids so seriously into making music.  Scout gave up marching band for guitar and he really loves it - and I am happy that he stills plays a musical instrument. 

 

One of the teachers is singing "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry.  It brought the house down!  They all seemed to be having a good time.

 Here they are playing their first number "Baby Blue" by Badfinger.  Now I can't get that tune out of my head!

 The audience clapped along like it was a rock concert - such fun!

 

 His group also played "More than a Feeling" and "Runnin' Down a Dream".  

 Scout did well on his final exams this week - once we get past Monday and Tuesday of next week, we are commencement-bound, and high school will be but a memory.

Gina

Beef Nacho Skillet

This recipe is by way of a Kraft recipe that I adjusted mainly so I wouldn't have to use the oven.  It's really tasty - don't leave out the salad dressing - it makes a BIG difference.

Beef Nacho Skillet
1 pound lean ground beef
1 12 oz jar salsa, your choice
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 c. salad dressing
2 T taco seasoning (I make my own)
chopped onion and cilantro to equal about 3/4 c.
2 c crushed tortilla chips
2 c grated cheddar - I used a mix of white and yellow cheddar. 

Brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of butter or olive oil. Stir in the onion and cilantro and cook 3 min.    

Add the frozen corn and taco seasoning, then salsa.  

Turn heat to low and cover the skillet while you grate the cheese. (maybe 5 minutes or so) 

 Stir in the salad dressing.  Then dump the crushed chips in and gently incorporate them. 

Top with the grated cheese and cover the skillet, turning off the heat. 

Let rest 5 minutes then serve.  My peeps like to add sour cream and guacamole on top of theirs, but that's optional!

Mealtime conversation not guaranteed.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #112 and Scout's school pics

When the Girl graduated from high school, I put together a collage of school pics as a keepsake for her.  I wanted to do it for Scout, too.

 My dining table was the scene for a trip down memory lane while the washer repair guy did his thing.

 I keep all of the "extras" from portrait packages, and always a wallet or two for myself, so it was easy to get a representative pic from all of his years in school.  

 

This project had me crying into my lunch.  That face!  I could just eat him up.

Monday - Dad's off - maybe he will grill again?
Tuesday - Healthier Tater Tot Casserole
Wednesday - Whole wheat spaghetti with meatsauce, salad
Thursday - Bourbon Street Chicken, brown rice, carrots
Friday - Lazy Daisy Meatballs, peas, masheds (leftover, in freezer)
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Parmesan Garlic Chicken, rolls, salad
Dessert this week will be Lemon Ice Box Pie (Luby's recipe)

I'm proud of the awesome young man he's becoming and I know that he loves us as much as we love and treasure him.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Sugar, recycles, apples, blooms, Bubbie

My kitty got sick.  I have no idea what she could have gotten into.  We don't have real indoor plants, I feed her old lady cat food, we don't let her outside.  She puked spit so much it was tinged green.  She pooped in the hall.  She was listless and not eating or drinking.  She never does these things.

I moved her to a towel in the bathroom.  She didn't even scream to be let out. She got better, but I have no idea what that was all about.

The recycle bin overflowing to the brim is a good thing.  I'm thankful that Austin has such a great recycle program.  Our street dumpster is full to the brim every two weeks.

Wrinkly almost-too-old apples are fabulous in apple cake with walnuts.  At least they don't go to waste. They are also great in oatmeal and you don't notice that they aren't as crisp.

Not everything you buy at Dollar Tree is worth a buck, but faux stems are fairly reasonable! 

Bubbie earned First Class, Second Class, Honor Scout, and Order of the Arrow at the last Court of Honor.  Next stop: Star Scout.  He's growing like a weed and doing well in school.  And he got his braces off this week - hallelujah!

Gina

Visit to Brenham

I went to Brenham last week to see my mother for a late Mother's Day.  I helped with a couple of projects around her house and took her to lunch.  During the course of the day she "zingered" me a few times.  But I tried to look past all of that so we could have a nice visit.  And for the most part, we did.

 We spent a lot of time outside.  She had to show me her new chickens, her garden, and a nest of birds in one of her oleander bushes.

 I tried to zoom in to get a picture of them, but all I ended up with was fuzz.  They stopped bobbing around for food when they realized we were not their mama!

 We went to a couple of plant places searching for petunias to put in the planter boxes hanging on the chicken house.  These are called Wave Petunias - they will trail down the sides of the planter boxes and make the chicken house look sweet.

 And admired the pretty cacti - there were so many to choose from!

 She bought a couple of them for a cute terra cotta pot that sits on her deck.

 I cleaned up some empty pots she had and added some lantana.  I pulled weeds around this row of bricks, swept them, then spaced the pots out.

  Swept the deck, watered everything, pulled errant weeds and grass from between the boards.

 She didn't want to plant these in the yard but she had the empty pots, and lantana is drought resistant.  I expect these plants will do well since they get full sun and are easily watered.  I also pulled weeds from her rose bush and watered it, too.

 She made a terrarium of sorts out of an old fish tank and added ferns and a few rocks, with styrofoam peanuts on the bottom layer for drainage, with a few rocks here and there.  I also re-purposed an old red wicker basket to hold all her tennies and gardening shoes.  Though you can barely see it, it sits between the terrarium and the back door.

It was nice, helping her spiff things up a little. Sometimes it's discouraging that she blurts negative things about myself and family.  I try to make an allowance for the fact that she is elderly, and really, that she's always been the way she is.  Sometimes you have to  accept the flaws to appreciate the beauty, you know?  I was glad to spend the time with her, and I think she enjoyed it, too.

Gina