Chicken Tortilla Soup

I can't believe that this is the last week in February! I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to spring. We had some beautiful weather the end of last week and we spent hours playing at the park soaking up the sun. Here is another freezer meal recipe for all of you. It is super easy and so yummy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 can refried beans
2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans corn with juice
2 cans chicken broth
Mix in pot. Bring to a boil and add:
4 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped
2 cups salsa
Tomato, spice mixture:
In a blender, combine and add to soup:
28 oz. diced tomatoes
3 tomatillos
1 jalapeno - seeds out
1/2 white onion
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 bunch cilantro

Cool & place in 3 freezer bags. Thaw and heat through. Top with cheese, sour cream & tortilla chips.

To answer a couple questions about the Symphony Pie, yes, you can use 2 of the smaller Symphony bars. If you use Resees, you can really use how ever many you want. It depends on how peanut buttery you want it. My sister used 8 of the big cups for hers. If you have any other questions regarding any of our recipes, feel free to leave us a comment and we will try to respond quickly!

Sweet & Sour Meatballs & Rolo Cookies

Here is another excellent freezer meal! My boys devoured it. I got this recipe from a good friend who does freezer meals with her sister. They've been great to share their recipes with me. Thanks Alicia & Tori.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs
1 bag frozen meatballs (you can make your own).
1/2 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp corstarch
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c vinegar
1/4 c ketchup
1/2 c chunked onion
1 cup chunked red & green bell pepper

Mix brown sugar & cornstarch. Add water, salt, vinegar, and ketchup and heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cook & stir until thick. Add meatballs & simmer 15 minutes. Add onion & peppers. Remove from heat and let cool. When cooled, place in freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw, heat in crockpot and serve over rice.

On to dessert....

These cookies are a family favorite. I made them last weekend to take to a neighborhood cookie bake off. We took 2nd, but I think that was because they weren't warm. The warm caramel in the middle gives these cookies a nice surprise. A big thanks to Kristy who shared this recipe with our family.

Rolo Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
Rolo candy pieces

Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa & baking soda. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix well. Wrap rolo in a spoonful of dough. Roll in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie & Sweet Onion Pork Chops Freezer Meals

This week is a busy one! We're getting ready for the BIG Halloween party at my sister Sara's house! This party is huge! They give out awards for costumes, so everyone goes all out on making theirs look the best. And, we all try to keep what we're going to be a secret from everyone else. I will be spending a lot of time this week getting ours ready. I will give you a sneak peak at the bottom of this post. After the party I will show our full costumes. We're very excited. My freezer meals are coming in very handy this week. We've had 3 and I will share two with you in this post.

First, I love chicken pot pie. I should say, I love Marie Calendars' chicken pot pie. I never make it because it seems like a lot of work, but I found this recipe in Girlfriends on the Go (see my freezer meal post from 10/15). It's so easy and I couldn''t believe how good it was. My husband couldn't stop eating it and left a small sliver for me for tomorrow.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1(16 oz.) bag of frozen mixed vegetables or 2 cups various veggies of you choice

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk or cream

1(double) ready-to-bake pie crust

seasonings to taste (I used oregano)

Mix together soup and milk until smooth. Stir in veggies. Add chicken and mix. If freezing, pour into a freezer bag. When ready to cook, thaw (mine was still a little frozen). Place one pie crust in a glass baking dish. Pour in veggie mixture. Cover with second pie crust. Cut 3-6 slices in top of crust. Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes. Top crust should be golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

This next recipe is amazing! I was a little leary about it, but it was fantastic. I will definitely be making this one every month! The combination of the onions, French dressing, BBQ sauce and honey are perfect.

Sweet Onion Pork Chops

8 boneless pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick)

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup chooped sweet onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup French salad dressing

1/2 cup honey

Heat oil in large skillet and brown pork chops on both sides. In a small bowl combine sugar, onion, ketchup, BBQ sauce, dressing and honey. Stir well. Pour sauce over pork chops, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover skillet and simmer for 12-14 minutes, or until meat is cooked through and tender. If freezing: cool completely. Place in freezer bags. Thaw in refrigerator over night. Heat skillet and add pork chops and sauce. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 5-8 minutes, or until portk chops are heated through.

I was able to split this into two meals. It was so yummy. I served it with mashed potatoes and spaghetti squash. The sauce from the pork chops was great on the potatoes.

Here's your sneak peak at our costumes. My next post will be a scary halloween treat! Something you can take to a spooky halloween party!

Freezer Meals

Girlfriends on the Go! by Suzie Roberts

First of all, I've been going on a freezer meal marathon. I bought this cookbook last year and have made several make ahead meals from it and wanted to share a few of these recipes with you! This is a great book. It gives a lot of tips on freezing foods and helps you to organize your own make ahead meal group. These recipes will feed 6 adults (I will usually split a meal into two. I will use 8 x 8 pans instead of the 9 x 13). Last weekend, I put together about 8 of these meals and I have the ingredients to make at least 8 more. I have found that putting these meals together gives me a little more time to be with my kids in the afternoon, during the time that I would be preparing dinner. It's a lot of work. I think it will also help me to stay within my food budget (something, I'm not so good at). Just before pay day, I'm always going through my cupboards trying to find something to throw together, I now have plenty of healthy meals already prepared. Well, here is the first of my freezer meal recipes. I will continue to post these meals and they will be kept under freezer meals for future reference. If any of you out there have any great make ahead meal recipes, please leave me a comment, I would love to get more recipes to try out.

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. chopped broccoli
1 cup mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. curry powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. melted butter

Cook broccoli as directed on package. Drain. Mix all ingredients except cheese, bread crumbs and melted butter. Place in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover with cheese. Mix the bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.

If freezing: slightly undercook broccoli. Place in disposable aluminum pan and cover tightly with foil. Include cheese and bread crumbs with this meal. Mix melted butter and bread crumbs and place on top before baking.