November - Taco Pasta Bake

Here is the recipe - I've quadrupled the recipe for sharing with the group!

Ingredients

1/2 – 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like ziti
approx. 1lb of ground beef
1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning
1C water
1/2 pkg of cream cheese
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (I used colby jack)

Prep Directions

1. Boil pasta until just cooked, drain, run cold water over it.

2. Brown ground beef.

3. Mix together taco seasoning and 1C of water. Pour over cooked beef and let simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced.

4. Add the 1/2 pkg of cream cheese to the beef mixture, stir until melted and combined, remove from heat

5. Put pasta in your casserole dish. Mix in 1C of the shredded cheese

6. Top pasta and cheese with beef mixture. Gently mix until the pasta is coated.

7. Cover with foil and freeze. 

Cooking Directions

1. Thaw for 24 hours. 

2. Bake at 350 uncovered for approximately 30 minutes.

3. If desired, top with additional shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or crushed tortilla chips.

October Meals

Be sure to post your reviews after you try the October meals! I know my learning was to try the meal myself before sharing with the rest of the group. The Citrus Chicken I selected left me and the hubby quite hungry. I've doubled what I gave some of you and gave an extra freezer meal to others. Enjoy :)

October - Pasta Fagioli

Serves 8
Cooks: 2h Prep Time:  1.5 h

Ingredients 

- 1 lb dry great northern or navy beans  - 28 1/8 oz whole tomatoes crushed by hand  - 8 oz tomato sauce  - 2 md carrots chopped  - 1/2 c onion chopped  - 2 1/2 c celery chopped

- 1 1/2 tsp salt  - 2 1/4 tsp pepper  - 2 Tbsp olive oil  - 1 lb elbow macaroni(can sub different small noodle)  - extra virgin olive oil for garnish  - parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions

1. In a large pan soak beans overnight in 8 cups water or combine beans with 8 cups water bring to a boil: simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.

2. Add water (to cover beans with about 2 inches of water) bring to a boil lower heat and simmer for 1 hour. Drain and reserve 3 cups of liquid.(add water to make up 3 cups of liquid)

3. Combine beans reserve liquid , onion, celery, garlic, pepper ,salt and olive oil in large pan. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or till beans are cooked. Check for seasoning.

4. Cook pasta according to directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and then drain pasta. Place pasta in bowl and ladle beans over pasta finish with good quality extra virgin olive oil and cheese.

5. Note I like to have the beans break down to form a thicker sauce. When serving use the pasta water to thin out the beans if to thick. This actually will taste better if left to rest for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This sauce will thicken in the refrigerator so make sure you save enough pasta water to thin it out when reheating it.

October - Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
• 24 ounces Buffalo wing sauce
• 2 ounce dry Ranch dressing mix

Directions:

Place chicken, Buffalo sauce, and Ranch mix in a slow cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 5-6 hours or until meat easily shreds with two forks (time will depend on how many servings you are making.). Shred and serve shredded meat in toasted deli rolls, on nachos, over hot cooked noodles or rice, etc.

*You may want to add a touch more Buffalo sauce to the cooked meat when you serve, to taste.

Freezing Directions:

Prepare meat as above and allow to cool after shredding. Portion into freezer bags, seal, label, and freeze. To serve: Reheat in microwave, stovetop, or slow cooker until warm and serve in toasted deli rolls, on nachos, over hot cooked noodles or rice, etc. Alternative: place chicken, sauce, and dressing mix in freezer bags. Seal, label, and freeze. To prepare: Thaw. Place contents of bag in slow cooker and cook on low 6-7 hours or until meat easily shreds with two forks. Serve as indicated.

Servings: 16

October - Citrus Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:
5 cups pineapple juice
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
10 pounds chicken breast tenderloins cut in 1 inch bites

Prep Instructions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Remove from heat just before the mixture comes to a boil. Cool the mixture completely in the refrigerator.
2. Divide chicken bites evenly into 5 separate freezer bags. Cover with the pineapple marinade. Freeze flat.

Cooking Instructions:
1. Move the frozen meal from the freezer to refrigerator for at least 24 hours to thaw. If you forget, run under cold water in the sink until thawed.
2. Pour mixture into crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or place chicken on skewers or on a grill pan and grill until heated through (add pineapple chunks if you'd like).
3. Serve over rice (Boil in a Bag rice included which takes just 5 minutes).

Let me know if you like it!

October Meals

Please send me your recipes via email this week and I can post or you can post yourself if your have a GMail account. Can't wait to see the delicious meals you come up with!