These recipes are easy and fast and help you avoid those expensive
store-bought frozen meals and those nights when you didn't have anything
ready (we all know how expensive those "take-out" nights are!)
FRENCH
BREAD PIZZA:
Spread jarred spaghetti sauce/tomato sauce on french bread. Top with
cheese/toppings. Wrap and freeze. To bake. Bake frozen at 400/425 for
20-30 minutes.
EASY STIR FRY:
Divide a large bag of mixed frozen veggies among freezer bags. Among
those freezer bags, divide a bag of frozen shrimp or cooked chicken
breast. Freeze. Just throw in a wok in the frozen state and add soy
sauce or stir fry sauce while it cooks.
PASTA SALAD:
Boil pasta, drain. Add a bottle of salad dressing, jar of olives, can of
artichokes, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Optional : add cooked diced ham or
chicken. Bag and freeze. Just thaw and eat.
CHICKEN MANICOTTI:
Uncooked manicotti, uncooked chicken breast (sliced into strips). Stuff
a piece of chicken into the uncooked manicotti shell. Continue until all
are filled. Place 1/3 sauce in freezable baking pan. Place stuffed
manicotti in pan, top with the rest of the sauce mixed with 1 cup water.
Top with cheese. Wrap and freeze. Bake from the freezer at 350 for 1 - 1
1/2 hours. Watch the pasta after a while if it looks dry add a little
more water to the baking dish.
TACO RICE: (this has minimal cooking)
1 lb cooked ground beef or turkey, 1 chopped onion, 1 taco seasoning
packet (or homemade), 1 can diced tomatoes, 2 cups cooked rice. Mix all
ingredients together in a pan. Bring to simmer, simmer for 20 minutes
until thick. Bag and freeze. Makes a good taco, taco salad, burritos or
on top of tortilla chips for nachos. Can be doubled/tripled.
QUICK TURKEY ROLL UPS
1lb deli turkey meat ( I always seem to find turkey end slices in the
markdowns at the deli)
3 cups prepared stuffing (either homemade or boxed)
1 can cream of chicken soup mixed with 3/4 cup water or about 2 cups
homemade chicken flavored white sauce
Place a spoonful of stuffing on the end of one turkey slice. Roll up.
Continue to fill and roll until all the turkey is used. Place rolls in a
foil baking pan or freezable baking dish. Pour white sauce or cream soup
over the top of the turkey rolls. Top with cheese if desired. Cover
dish, freeze. Either thaw and bake or bake from the frozen state.
QUICHE IN A BAG
1 cup cooked sausage or diced ham (Optional)
10 oz. frozen package chopped spinach or broccoli, thawed a little and
broken up.
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 small onion chopped
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Mix eggs, milk, flour and baking powder with a wisk or mixer until well
incorporated. Add meat, veggies, cheese and onion. Pour into a freezer
bag. Freeze. To cook, thaw bag, squish the bag well a few times to
incorporate the ingredients. Pour into a pie plate sprayed with non
stick spray. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until set.
I vary the meat and veggies all the time. Right now in my freezer I have
a few asparagus and mushroom quiches and a few sausage and spinach ones.
They're great to have on hand for Sunday breakfast. But we also eat for
dinner with a salad and rolls. Great way to use eggs on sale.
CROCKPOT REFRIED BEANS
I don't really have a recipe. This is what I do. Soak some dried pinto
beans in water overnight. In the morning dump in the crockpot with more
water to cover. Add a chopped onion and garlic. Let cook all day. If you
need to, drain some of the liquid when they are done cooking. To the
cooked beans, add cumin, corriander, salt and pepper to taste. Then mash
with a potato masher. I like to leave mine a little chunky. Then just
cool, bag and freeze. They freeze very well.
FRUIT CRISP MIXTURE
6 cups oats
3 cups nuts (optional)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine , melted
2 tsp cinnamon
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Divide among 6 freezer bags. Store
in freezer. To make fruit crisp, place fresh, frozen or canned fruit in
bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle fruit crisp mixture on top. Bake at 375
for about 25-30 minutes.
20 PIE CRUSTS FOR THE FREEZER (This recipe is great! Dough will last up
to 1 year in the freezer)
3 lb can shortening
5 lb bag flour
3 cups ice water
2 Tbsp salt
In a large bowl, dump flour and salt. With your hands, cut in the
shortening adding ice water to form a dough. Shape into 20 disks. Wrap
individually in Saran Wrap then place in freezer bags. Freeze. Thaw in
fridge or on counter for 30 minutes when needed.
This article was contributed by Gallo, a busy mom and part of the
Frugal Families team. This and other great frugal recipes are
available in our Recipe Section.
