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.

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.

Turkey & Artichoke Stuffed Shells

1 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells (recommended: Barilla)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 (8 to 10-ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

for final cooking day:
sauce of choice
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and partially cook until tender but still very firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the ground turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is slightly golden and cooked through. Add the artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the cooled turkey mixture with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, and the remaining salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Take a shell in the palm of your hand and stuff it with a large spoonful of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons. Place the stuffed shell in the baking dish. Continue filling the shells until the baking dish is full, about 24 shells. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for up to 1 month.

To bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the shells with pasta sauce of your choice. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake until the shells are warmed through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 60 minutes (20 minutes if shells are unfrozen).

This recipe makes a huge batch and unless you are cooking for a dinner party you'll want to freeze a portion of the recipe. We usually divide one full recipe between two families and then split each of those portions into two meals, so about 1/4 recipe feeds a (two adult, 2 kid) family if other sides are served.



The original recipe plus the sauce recipe can be found here.

2 Weight Watchers points per shell with sauce and cheese.

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.

(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