Mrs. Meals: June 2013

MOMS Club Meal Exchange

We all spend too much of something (whether it be time, money, or calories) on providing delicious meals for our families. This became all too apparent to me when I went from being full time at the office to being full time as Mommy. It started with the 18 days of meals my freezer was stocked with by family and friends after our little girl arrived. These 18 days made me a believer as I saw our restaurant budget with an excess for the first time in years, experienced several relaxing dinners with the hubby, and even stopped dreading my daily weigh in quite so much.

I started out by stocking my freezer with some of our favorites - homemade pizza dough, gumbo, and meatball sliders. But I was immediately excited when introduced to the concept of a "Supper Club". After a year of this prior to our move to PA, I'm excited to continue this with new friends as part of the MOMS Club of Derry Township.

1) Each member will choose 1 meal to make and will email their recipe to the Chair Mom or post it to the blog prior to our Meetup. This will help other moms to find the directions for preheating, make the meal later if it's one they really enjoyed, and create a database of meals to choose from.

2) Each member will prepare their selected recipe for 6 families (with a generous 4 servings each). One of these you will keep for your own family and you will bring 4 others to exchange.

3) Please freeze for at least 24 hours. Write all cooking instructions on the meal packaging. If there are pantry staples (i.e. rice, noodles, buns) needed to complete the meal, please provide these as well.

4) The meals will be exchanged each month via a brief play date. Kids are welcome! If you'd like to participate and can't attend, feel free to still RSVP and arrange to bring your meals to the Chair Mom before the date of exchange. I can store your meals until you are able to come pick them up from me.

5) Provide feedback on the meals! You can do that via email to the Chair Mom or on the blog. Everyone has different preferences and we want to build a "bank" of recipes that all of our little families enjoy!

You can also post any recipe ideas you want to share with the group to the blog at anytime to help generate ideas.

Only 2 restrictions for our group:

- Use healthy substitutes when possible (i.e. fat free dairy products, half and half instead of whipping cream, lean ground beef).

- No major dietary preferences or restrictions for your family (i.e. No onions is a fair request; Gluten free is not).

Monday, June 24, 2013

June Meals- Italian Meatballs

Ingredients:

½ cup breadcrumbs, divided (I like panko)
¼ cup milk
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried basil

To Prepare:
To make the meatballs, combine ¼ cup of the breadcrumbs with the milk in a medium mixing bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Add the remaining breadcrumbs, ground beef, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and basil to the bowl. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Form into meatballs, about 1¼ inches in diameter. Freeze.

To Cook & Serve:
Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce. Cover and let simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, 20-30 minutes.

June Meals - Creamy Chicken Casserole

4 c. uncooked egg noodles
4 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen peas and carrots
2 c. milk
2 cans (10-3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
2 cans (10-3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 c. chopped onion
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Drain noodles; add to chicken mixture. Transfer to two greased 8-inch square baking dishes. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake remaining casserole at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer until heated through.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before. Bake casserole at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer until heated through.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

June Meals - Cheesy Meatball Casserole

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta
1 bag italian style meatballs (frozen kind)
1 small tub ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 jar 24 oz spaghetti sauce (any kind you like)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook pasta as directed. Drain and mix in the spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Then add the bag of meatballs (you can add as few or as many as you like) pour into a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes if thawed, 60 minutes if frozen.