I posted a lot of information about my family and how we plan meals in this initial post. You’ll notice that my menu includes a lot of “freezer” recipes this week. In addition to participating in a freezer swap which I am loving more and more with weeks like this, I spent my spring break making and freezing a new recipe each day, so I’m starting out this week with SEVENTEEN freezer meals, which is super nice on busy weeks like this! I plan to post on my “freezerk cooking” experience soon.

Sunday – Lasagne – I use this recipe from Barilla – I love their “oven ready” lasagne noodles. It makes the whole process so simple!

Monday – Slow cooker creamy mushroom chicken – I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com several years ago.

Ingredients:
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
paprika to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine (I use chicken broth as a substitute)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Sprinkle chicken breasts lightly with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Place in slow cooker. In a mixing bowl, combine the wine (chicken broth), condensed soup, and mushrooms. In another bowl, mix together sour cream and flour. Stir sour cream mixture into the mushrooms and wine. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle with additional paprika, if desired. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Tuesday – Eat out or eat from freezer stash (too much going on tonight to cook!)

Wednesday – Chicken Tettrazini (freezer meal)

Thursday – Meatloaf (freezer meal)

Friday – Baked Spaghetti (freezer meal)

Saturday – Chicken enchiladas (freezer meal)

I posted a lot of information about my family and how we plan meals in this initial post.

You may have noticed that I didn’t post about my weekly shopping trip. I skipped out on grocery shopping completely this week. It was a crazy weekend, and I just didn’t have time and really there wasn’t anything we needed for meals this week other than milk, so my husband bought that the other night when he ran out to do the Target HSM3 deal for me. So, my total OOP for groceries last week was $1.99 for a gallon of milk.

Sunday – Pot Roast (freezer meal)

Monday – Baked chicken breasts – I got this recipe from Christy’s Once a Month Cooking – I am excited to try it because you can make it in the crockpot and freeze it. I’m going to make a double batch (we’ll eat half and freeze half)

Ingredients:
2 – 3 whole chicken breasts, halved (boneless, skinless)
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 can (10 1/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. orange or apple juice
1 tsp. leaf tarragon or rosemary
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry; place in crockpot. In saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and heat until smooth and hot. Pour over chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

Christy’s Note: When I prepared this, the chicken came out so tender, it was falling apart. So, I shredded it, and served it over rice. We also found that shredded, it makes a GREAT sandwich filler!

Cool, bag, lay flat to freeze.

To serve: Thaw chicken and reheat. Serve as half-breasts with sides, or shredded on rice, or shredded on sandwich rolls.

Tuesday – Easy Swedish meatballs – this is from Girlfriends on the Go: A Busy Mom’s Guide to Make Ahead Meals

Ingredients:
30 pre-cooked frozen meatballs
1 pkg country gravy mix
1 cup sour cream
1 12 pkg egg noodles

Prepare gravy according to package directions. In a large saucepan, mix prepared gravy with 1 cup of sour cream. Add frozen meatballs. Heat until meatballs are cooked through and the mixture is bubbly. Serve over prepared noodles.

(If freezing, mix prepared gravy with sour cream. Place meatballs in a freezer bag and pour sauce over the meatballs)

Wednesday – California combo – This is another yummy recipe from Marci’s blog

Thursday – Lemon chicken – this is from Girlfriends on the Go: A Busy Mom’s Guide to Make Ahead Meals

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tsp dried thyme
3 tsp salt
1 clove garlic
1 cup lemon juice

Mix spices and lemon juice in a bag. Add chicken breasts. Marinate for several hours or overnight. Place in slow cooker for 4-6 hours on low. You can also bake or grill instead.

If freezing, place in a frezer bag. The chicken will marinate while thawing.

*This recipe is a “double” recipe, so I will freeze half and cook the other half

Friday – Tator Tot casserole

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can French style green beans
1/2 (32 ounce) package tater tots
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef and drain fat. Stir in condensed cream of mushroom soup, water, garlic salt, cheese, and green beans. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish and layer with the tater tots. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until tater tots are browned and crispy.

Saturday – Lemon Herbed Tilapia (freezer meal) – this is another meal that I got from my freezer swap group and I’m excited to try it!

I posted a lot of information about my family and how we plan meals in this initial post.

Sunday – Creamy chicken noodle soup

Since I’ve been sick this weekend, this was the only thing that really sounded good. I make all (but the noodles) in the crockpot.

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
3 carrots (sliced)
3 celery stalks (sliced)
3 cans chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken soup
Seasonings (to taste): garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and parsley
noodles (I use “Country Style” ones that are just like homemade ones!)

Place chicken breasts, carrots, celery, broth, and cream of chicken soup in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5+ hours. Shred chicken breasts, and whisk everything together. Add seasonings. Cook noodles, drain, and add to the mixture. Let everything cook for 30 more minutes on low.

Monday – Easy Cheesy crockpot chicken

Tuesday – Salisbury steak (in the slow cooker)

Wednesday – Kielbasa and sauerkraut in the slow cooker

Thursday – Teriyaki chicken (I joined a freezer cooking group, and this is one of the meals that I got. Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe)

Here’s a teriyaki chicken once a month cooking recipe you can check out, though:
Teriyaki Chicken
1/2 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. sugar
1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar
2 t. veg. or sesame oil
1 sm. minced garlic clove
3/4 t. ground ginger.

Stir ingredients together and pour into a gallon sized ziploc bag with 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts. On serving day, thaw and pour into a baking dish. Bake in preheated at 350 for 35 min. Serve over rice. To stretch this out, I add a bag of frozen, stir fry style veggies in before baking.

Friday – Chicken Fried Steaks with Creamed Pan Gravy and Biscuits
(This recipe comes from the Rachael Ray Classic 30 minute meals The All Occasion Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds round steak (1/2 inch thick)
1 c. (plus 2 T) all purpose flour
1/3 c. cornmeal
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grund black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
2 T water
4 T vegetable oil
1 1/4 c beef broth or stock
1/4 c. half and half or cream
1 pkg bake-off biscuits (prepared to directions)

Preheat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Set steaks ona waxed-paper-lined work surface and cover with another piece of waxed paper. Pound steaks to a 1/4 inch thickness. Set steaks aside.

Line work surface with more waxed paper. Make a pile of 1/2 cup flour on both ends of work space. Add cornmeal, paprika, salt, and pepper to one pile of flour. Beat eggs and water in a pie plate or shallow dish.

Cut steaks into 4 portions and coat first in plain flour, then in egg, and then in the seasoned flour and cornmeal mixture.

Add 2 T oil to hot skillet and brown 2 steaks at a time. As they brown, remove from the pan and add more oil, as needed. When the last 2 portions are browned, add the first two back into the pan witht he others. Cover pan, lower heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, 15 minutes. Remove steaks to serving platter and pour off all but 2-3 T drippings. Add 2 T flour to the drippings and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and seasons with salt and pepper. Add half and half or cream and whisk into gravy. When gravy bubbles, remove from heat. Serve steaks and warm biscuits with gravy on top.

Saturday – Creamy chicken burritos

3 chicken breast halves cooked and cubed (I used canned chicken when I’m in a hurry)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup salsa
1 can red enchilada sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
Add cream cheese and salsa to large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and blended with salsa. Add garlic, beans and chicken. Mix well. Fill tortillas, roll up and place in baking dish. Mixture will be a runny so be careful not to burn yourself filling tortillas. Pour red sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle burritos with cheese cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, olives etc.

Get ideas for planning your menu here: