Adriana's Pasta Pie

This is a modified recipe--Original recipe found at Food.com http://www.food.com/recipe/adrianas-pasta-pie-95239

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I used 95%lean and it was fine)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3 cups cooked tubetti (tiny tubes or baby shells)
• 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 lb provolone cheese, shredded
• 2 cups prepared tomato basil pasta sauce **
1. Read directions all the way through first********* Meat Crust: Mix ground beef, parsley, bread crumbs, onion, eggs, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl very gently.
2. Do not overmix.
3. Put mixture into lightly greased 10-inch pie plate or 11" x 7" casserole dish.
4. Shape crust so that it's about 1" thick.
5. Filling:.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Mix the filling (3 cups cooked pasta, 1/2 pound mozzarella, 1/2 pound provolone, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and 2 cups tomato basil sauce) in a bowl.
8. Scoop into meat crust.
To cook: Thaw. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 ½ hours until heated through. It is suggested to let cool at least 15 minutes before eating.
Note: The original recipe gives ingredients & cooking instructions for a homemade tomato basil pasta sauce, however, to save time, we will be using a store-bought sauce!

Taco Bake

6 flour tortillas
1 lb ground turkey (beef or chicken can be substituted)
1 small onion
1 16oz black beans
1 pck taco seasoning
8 oz sour cream
1 c. salsa
2 cups shredded cheese of choice (cheddar or co-jack work well)

Brown meat and small onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning packets and water according to package. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with non-stick spray. Layer tortillas with beans, meat, sour cream, salsa and cheese. Repeat layers with cheese being last layer on top. Cover and bake @ 350 until cheese is melted and heated through (about 20-30 min) Uncover and bake additional 10-15 min.

Hamburger Hash Brown Bake

4 c frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
3 T veggie oil
1/8 tsp pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 envelope brown gravy mix (or canned/jar gravy)
1 c water (if not using canned/jar gravy)
1 pck (10 oz) frozen mixed veggies, thawed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 c (4 oz) shred cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (2.8 oz) french-fried onions, divided

Combine hash browns, oil & pepper. Press onto bottom & 1 in up the sides of ungreased square baking pan. Bake uncovered @ 350 for 15 min. In skillet cook beef until no longer pink; drain. Stir in gravy mix & water. Add veggies garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover simmer for 5 min. Stir 1/2 cup cheese 1/2 onions. Bake uncovered @ 350 for 15 min. Sprinkle w/remaining cheese onion. Bake 5 min longer. Serves 4-6

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, pressed
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Oregano, to taste
Basil, to taste
1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes
2 packages frozen corn
6-8 potatoes, peeled, boiled, & seasoned as desired. (*Note, add one egg to the mashed potatoes so they do not get watery when thawed & baked)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese for topping, as much as desired

Cooking/Assembly:
1. Make mashed potatoes, seasoned as desired. *Don't forget to add an egg to keep the potatoes from getting watery after thawing!!! (Original recipe calls for 1 stick of butter for the 6-8 potatoes, but add or decrease as desired!)
2. Brown ground beef, onion, & garlic together. Add diced tomatoes, and then add salt, pepper, oregano, and basil to taste.
6. Put meat mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish (or 9x13 pan).
7. Corn is the next layer, then the mashed potatoes, and lastly the shredded cheese.
8. Cover & freeze.

To Bake:
Thaw and bake at 375 degrees until heated through. (If fully thawed, this should take approx. 45 minutes)

Cheeseburger Quiche

1 unbaked pie shell
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp dried minced onion

Preheat oven to 350. Brown and drain ground beef. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with milk, mayonnaise and corn starch. Arrange beef on the bottom of the pie shell; top with cheese and onions. Pour egg mixture into pie shell. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Allow quiche to cool before wrapping and freezing.

To reheat, thaw completely. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes.

You may also want to make this using the "quiche in a bag" method. Combine all ingredients except the pie shell and pour into a freezer bag. Freeze flat. To prepare, thaw bag enough to get all the ingredients out. Pour into a pie shell. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or longer if quiche was not totally thawed.

Taco Rice

1 pound ground meat of choice (beef, chicken or turkey)
onion (1/2 c fresh or 2 T dried flakes)
taco seasoning, 1 packet
16 oz petite diced canned tomatoes
2 cups cooked rice (prep ahead!)

Brown and drain meat (can be prepped ahead). Combine all ingredients in a large pan and simmer approximately half an hour, or until thickened.

When cooled, transfer to a labeled zippered freezer bag and freeze. To serve, thaw completely and reheat over medium heat.

Serve as a side dish or use as a filling for tacos, burritos, taco salads, or nachos.

Italian Meatballs

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
3/4 c. oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned will do)
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 t Italian Seasoning
1/2 t. salt
3 T. dried onion flakes
3-4 T. prepared spaghetti sauce

Mix thoroughly and roll into tablespoon size meatballs. Freeze in a single layer in quart size freezer bags. (They may freeze together a bit, but knock them on the counter top when frozen and they will break apart)

*To cook: Thaw and put in baking dish in single layer. Add one jar of spaghetti sauce over top. Bake, covered, at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until cooked through. (These would probably cook from frozen as well, provided you bake longer.)

Easy, Delicious Porcupine Meatballs

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked instant rice (white or brown will do)
1 egg, beaten
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
Palmful of dry parsley

Mix thoroughly and roll into tablespoon size meatballs. Freeze in single layer in quart size bags. (They may freeze together a little, but knock them on the counter when frozen & they will break apart).

*To cook: Put meatballs in a baking dish in a single layer and cover with condensed cream of mushroom soup. (Use your judgement on how many cans, depepnding on how many meatballs you are making). Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through. (These would probably cook from frozen as well, provided you bake longer.)

**Serve with pasta, or make it into meatball sandwiches!

Basic Meatballs (or Meat Loaf)

1 1/2 pounds ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, chicken or combo)
2/3 cup dry oats (or cooked brown rice)
2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 eggs
2/3 cup ketchup (or tomato sauce)

Mix all ingredients well, until combined.

For meatballs:
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray. Using a small cookie scoop, form about 60 meatballs. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Sacrifice one meatball to make sure they are no longer pink in the center.

Cool completely (or flash freeze) before transferring meatballs to a freezer bag or container for storage.

Place frozen or thawed meatballs in desired sauce and reheat over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally.

For meat loaf:
Meat loaf may be baked before or after freezing. If freezing raw meat loaf, it must have been fresh when you made it and thawed completely before baking.

Place mixture into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.



Nutritional info (based on ground beef, oats, and ketchup options) for 6 meatballs: 270 calories, 19.4 g fat, .6 g fiber, 13.4 g protein.

Creamy Baked Pasta

2 pounds ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (15 oz. each) spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper
4 cups macaroni or other small pasta
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese


In a large skillet, combine beef and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until browned. Drain fat.

Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Cook pasta and drain. Spread in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole. Top with the meat sauce.

In a medium bowl mix the cream cheese and sour cream or yogurt. Blend until smooth. Stir in green onions. Layer over the meat sauce. Top all with the Cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes, until casserole is heated through. Makes 8 servings.

from Now....You're Cooking

Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

1 bacon strip, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
1/3 Cup butter crackers crushed
5 Tablespoons shredded Swiss cheese
4 ½ teaspoons chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ lb. Ground beef

In bowl combine egg, crackers, 4 Tablespoons shredded cheese, chopped onion, garlic, bacon, salt and pepper. Add beef into mixture and combine. Shape into loaf and freeze wrapped in tin foil or in a ziploc bag. When ready to cook take out of the freezer and place in a loaf pan. Top with more bacon pieces if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes- 1 hour. Test with a meat thermometer.

*The first time we made this, we doubled the recipe for each family and we're glad we did! Half a pound of ground beef would have made a tiny loaf. One full pound made a decent size loaf for a family meal.

Dr. Pepper Spaghetti

from MomsBudget.com

2 pounds ground beef- brown and drain
1 package (16 oz) spaghetti- cook and drain
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can Dr. Pepper
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce

Stir onions and seasonings into meat, browning in skillet. Add Dr. Pepper, tomato sauce, and Worcestershire sauce into meat mixture and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Cook spaghetti noodles while doing above, cooking until al dente. Drain and stir in 1 1/2 cups mozzarella. Combine all ingredients into 13x9 casserole dish.

Cooking day: Place in refrigerator in the morning to thaw. At suppertime, preheat oven 350 degrees, then bake for 50 minutes. Serve! Makes great leftovers for lunch.

Smaller portions? Make four smaller casseroles, and reduce baking time.



MealsMadeAhead notes: We can buy the beef when it's on sale and freeze until needed since we'll be cooking before freezing. The beef can be browned and the noodles can be boiled before cooking day to save time. Prep ahead!

Edited to add notes now that actually cooked it: We were able to split this recipe into two meals for each family. The entire sauce was prepared the night before cooking day, (not just browning the beef) and it worked well.

Stuffed Cabbage

A link to a flavorful stuffed cabbage. This savoy cabbage turned sweet when cooked; however any type of cabbage works. The savoy has larger leaves. Beef can be substituted to ground meat of your choice, I used pork sausage once. Recommend only freezing the meat mixture and make the rest fresh on the day of cooking.

:::::
Instructions from May cooking day can be found here.

We have made these. Mixed reviews. No problem with the recipe as far as we can tell. The families who will eat cabbage in another form liked these. Those who don't like cabbage no matter what, did not! No surprise there.

Lisa: Mine was a household that did not like the cabbage. I successfully used my left over filling as meatballs to pair with spaghetti and sauce.

Taco Tartlets

Taco Tartlets:
1 pound ground beef (uncooked)
2 Tablespoons taco seasoning mix
2 Tablespoons ice water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla Chip filling:
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons taco sauce
2 ounces chopped black olives
3/4 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

Mix beef, seasoning and ice water. Press into bottom and sides of mini-muffin pan. Prepare Tortilla Chip filling in a different bowl. Place a spoonful of filling into each shell, mounding slightly. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over tops. Bake 7-8 minutes. Remove tartlets from pan with tip of knife. Serve immediately or freeze. (No directions how to reheat.)



Last December, Jodi and I got together to make appetizers we could have on hand in the freezer for the Holiday season. The original recipe gave no directions for reheating so I put the frozen tartlets on a cookie sheet and reheated them in the oven until hot. It worked fine. My family loved them! Note: They were a bit time consuming and fussy to make.

Magic Meat Sauce

This recipe is also from Freezer Chicks, one of our favorite sources for freezer recipes. This one is kind of neat because it's a basic sauce that can be used several different ways to make different meals throughout the month. And it makes a LOT so you can try all three recipes.

We tried this once with our freezer co-op, but accidentally used half of the diced tomatoes called for (the cans we bought were too small). It turned out fine and was still plenty tomato-y. However, not all our families enjoyed the recipe. Not sure if we'll ever repeat it.

But, I do like the concept of one basic recipe being used in different ways and I hope we'll be able to find some more recipes like that.

Low Fat Pizza Pasta Cassarole

Another of our favorites! To reduce fat even more, we substituted the regular pepperoni with turkey pepperoni. Recipe adapted from momsbudget.com .

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey or a mixture totaling one pound
• 2 Tablespoons onion, chopped
• 1 jar (28 ounces) spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 a box (about 8 ounces) whole wheat or multi-grain pasta, cooked for freezing
• 1 1/2 cups skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni

In a large skillet, cook ground meat with onion until meat is no longer pink. Drain grease. Add spaghetti sauce and noodles and mix well. Transfer mixture to a 9"x13" pan. Arrange pepperoni on top and then sprinkle with cheese.*

To freeze, cover the pan with its lid or aluminum foil. Add a label with the cooking instructions.

Cooking instructions: thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

*The original recipe calls for the cheese first and the pepperoni on top. We have found the turkey pepperoni gets a bit too crispy this way. If you like your pepperoni extra crispy, feel free to put it on top of the cheese.

Simple Salisbury Steak

This Simple Salsibury Steak (originally found on FreezerChicks.blogspot.com) recipe has been made a couple of times by our Freezer Co-op with with rave reviews. Both of my picky children (and my picky hubby) eat this up with no complaints. Every one I have passed this recipe on to has praised it as well, so it is a real winner!

• 1 can of reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion or equivalent in dried onion
• 1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of the soup, beef, bread crumbs, egg, and onion. Shape firmly into 6 patties. (If you are using raw meat, you can freeze it now and brown the mushrooms and freeze them too, or you can freeze everything after cooking)

In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties, a few at a time, until browned on both sides, spoon off fat, set aside.

Stir in remaining soup and mushrooms, return the patties to the skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until done, turning patties occasionally.

Allow to cool and place patties and sauce into freezer bag. Lay flat to freeze.

To cook: Allow to thaw. Reheat and eat!


View recipe at plantoeat.com

(Jodi's) Busy Day Individual Meatloaves

Meatloaf:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 2/3 cup crushed crackers
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons dried minced onion

(I typically double this recipe and use 1 lb beef and 1 lb turkey)

In a large bowl crumble meat. Cover with crackers/ Pour milk over crackers and allow to sit for a minute or so. Mix together. Add beaten egg, salt and onion. Mix. Add seasonings and mix very well. Make into 1/4 pound individual meatloaves. (You can freeze them individually or make one large meatloaf per 1 lb of meat). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (appx 45 minutes if making a large loaf)

Sauce:

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard

Mix well and pour over meatloaf before baking. The sauce is the best part. When we make this for freezing, we put everything except the ketchup and soy sauce in a snack sized zipper bag with instructions to add them, mix, and top the meatloaf.

We have made this recipe as individual meatloaves and as 1 family loaf. This is one of our favorites and we've made it at least twice together and I've made it several times on my own for freezing. This is my default meatloaf recipe now!

View recipe at plantoeat.com