Freezer Meals: Part I

So since today's our anniversary, I've actually written this out a little ahead of time. But let's just pretend, shall we?

You may remember me posting this on Saturday. Our friend Anna graciously decided to give up the better part of her Saturday to help me meal prep for #babyentzel. And like I had hoped, we got all seven of those meals prepped! Seven! That's so much cooking!

So, here's the thing. I could just rehash the entire day for you, but I'll spare you the gory boring details.

Instead, I'll share two recipes at a time with you. Only two because that gets to be obnoxious...really. And I don't want you thinking I'm obnoxious.

The first two meals I'm going to share with you are two of our absolute favorites.

First, mac and cheese. 
Okay, okay. I know you're thinking..."wow, she really just made a few boxes of Kraft and threw 'em in the freezer...". But that's not the case at all! This mac and cheese is delicious and I found it in one of our Taste of Home cookbooks that we got from our wedding.

I've modified the original recipe, because even though we love cream and butter in the Entzel house, we don't need that much cream or butter.

Ingredients:

•1 package (16 oz) pasta (elbow, mini shells, spirals, it's really your choice)
•16 oz 4% cottage cheese
•1/2 c butter, cubed (You don't have to cube it...it just melts faster)
•1/2 c all-purpose flour
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 tsp white pepper (yes, you do need white pepper...the flavor is so much better!)
•1/4 tsp garlic powder
•2 c half and half
•2 c milk (I use 1% because it doesn't make me feel like my arteries are clogging quite as fast)
•4 c shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package, or until al dente.
2. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large sauce pan. (If doubling the recipe, make the roux in a stockpot/dutch oven) Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until smooth. Gradually add milk and cream. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
3. Add 3-3 1/2 c cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and white sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 9x13 pan.
4. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs (if desired).
5. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 20-25 min or until bubbly.

And that's it for the mac n cheese. It's a pretty simple recipe, but if you've not made a roux before, it might take a little practice.

I doubled this recipe and we ended up with

three 9x13 disposable pans!

 

 

Second, chicken tetrazzini.

This is another favorite in the Entzel house. It seems to have quite a few steps, but when two of us were working on a double batch together, we had it done in no time!

This is also taken from a cookbook from our wedding...it's a local church cookbook, so you know it'll be good.

Ingredients:

 

•1/2 pkg thin spaghetti/angel hair

•1/4 c butter

•1 med onion, chopped

• 1/2 med green pepper, chopped

•2 1/2 c cooked, diced chicken

•1 can cream of chicken soup

•1/2 c milk

•1 c sour cream

•1 tsp basil

•1 carton mushrooms, diced

•1 c shredded cheddar cheese

•Parmesan cheese

 

Directions: 

1. Break spaghetti into 1 inch pieces, cook according to package instructions & drain
2. Saute onion, green pepper, & mushrooms in butter
3. Mix all ingredients together (except cheese)
4. Place in buttered 2 qt casserole dish
5. Sprinkle cheddar and Parmesan over top
6. Bake at 300 degrees F for 30 min or until hot and bubbly

For our freezer meals, I made 2 whole packages of angel hair pasta, 1 1/2 onions, 1 med green pepper, 1 large can of cream of chicken soup, approx 2 1/2 c milk, and 1 1/2-2 c sour cream.

Here's what we got:

Three pans for this one too!

 

Overall, these two recipes went pretty quickly. They're definitely doable for an evening meal when you get home from work too. Once you've got the steps down, it's much easier to get these meals made quickly. 

As always, if you try a recipe and you love it or modify it, please let me know! And I suppose you can tell me if you hate it too. Maybe just give me some suggestions on how to modify it?

Anyway, we're celebrating our anniversary today by babysitting in the morning, working on some school things, going to the doctor, and hopefully going on a date.

See you tomorrow with our plan for day 2 of meal prep!

Happy Wednesday!