Freezer Meal #1 – Update

Yesterday I made the first of five slow cooker freezer meals I prepped last weekend. Thanks to Kelly from New Leaf Wellness for the recipes & grocery list!  My kids and I are big soup lovers, so I started with the Vegetable beef soup.  Although I make a good Chicken Noodle soup & Golden Potato soup, I have never made beef soup.  EVER!  I have been wanting to try is since we always have beef & venison in the freezer.  The recipe, instructions and grocery list were all laid out in Kelly’s post, so I thought this would be a great place to start.

There were several things that surprised me about this recipe.  First was the addition of chicken broth when adding ingredients to the slow cooker.  Chicken broth in beef soup?  The second was adding the beef to the slow cooker raw.  Well, I made the recipe exactly as written and I must say, we were all VERY pleased.  The soup was GOOD!  Hurray!  This one is definitely going in the recipe binder!

Next time I will only change two things:  I will probably add two more cups of chicken broth and I will make it on a day when I can be home to make bread bowls!  Yum!

Thanks again, New Leaf Wellness!

Supper Menu Plan 11/3 – 11/8

Monday – Meatloaf in crock, Mashed Potatoes & carrots

Tuesday – Burgers, Fries & Salad

Wednesday – Fettuccine Alfredo, green beans

Thursday – Pork chops, applesauce, corn, & Crescent rolls

Friday – Bubble Pizza & salad

Saturday – Kids cook (spaghetti & meatballs)

Supper Menu plan 10/20-10/26

Monday – Chicken Noodle Soup (in slow cooker) & homemade bread

Tuesday – burritos & squash

Wednesday –  Sloppy Joes & fries

Thursday – fettuccine Alfredo & corn

Friday – Pizza after bb game

Saturday – Kids cook

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

The other day I heard a recipe for Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese on Listen to the Mrs. It’s not one of the healthier recipes I’ve posted, but it is a comfort food. If you like Cream of Mushroom Soup and cheese you will probably like this recipe. Two of my kids and I loved it. One disliked it and my DH said it was okay. It’s called 3-3-2-1 Mac & Cheese.

3-3-2-1 Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

3 Cups milk
3 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 Bricks (8 oz each) Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 box uncooked pasta (16 oz)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker (I use a slow cooker liner for easy clean up). Cook for 4 hours on low or 2 hours on high.

We tried this for the first time yesterday. I used whole grain Penne pasta which worked great. It took 2 hours on high. You can definitely taste the cream of mushroom soup, but it was very creamy. I will probably make it again. It was very easy to put together for an easy meal. I added a side of fresh asparagus & we had a great meal. There was enough left over to send with two of the kids for lunch today. Definitely a winner at our house!

Pasta Alfredo in the Slow Cooker

Last week I tried a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese in the slow cooker. It was very easy to put together.  All the ingredients were simply placed in the slow cooker, including uncooked pasta.  This got me to thinking about the alfredo my kids love.  If mac and cheese can be made in the slow cooker with uncooked pasta, maybe pasta alfredo could be as well.  I often use penne or spiral pasta with alfredo sauce anyway; it is easier for the kids to eat. I tried making it today using extra cream cheese and extra milk.  The pasta was cooked all the way, but the sauce was VERY thick (there was almost no sauce left at all).  If I make it this way again, I will try adding more liquid so the pasta does not absorb all the sauce.  It still tasted great so the recipe just needs to be tweaked a little. I will update the post the when I have adjusted the recipe to our satisfaction.

Pasta Alfredo in the Crock Pot

2/3 cup margarine or butter
2 pkg cream cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
4 cups milk
6 oz grated parmesan cheese
dash of pepper

I heated the margarine and cream cheese in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. I stirred with a whisk until it was smooth. Heat it a little longer in the microwave if necessary.

I added the garlic powder and milk. Again stirring until there were no lumps.

Next, I added the parmesan cheese and dash of pepper.

Last I added the pasta and sauce to the slow cooker. I cooked it for 4 hours on low.

Coleslaw Dressing

I usually make my cole slaw dressing without using a recipe – just make it to taste. But a friend asked me for my recipe so I wrote this one down one day. It is sweet and tangy and my kids love my broccoli slaw! I put this on the menu when we need a quick supper. Today we had brats, broccoli slaw and green peppers. It took us about 5 minutes to prepare! Gotta love that when we get home from volleyball practice at supper time!

Slaw Dressing

3/4 c. Miracle whip (I use Aldi brand)
1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar (Balsamic works well, also)
1/4 c. sugar
2 TBS milk
Celery seed (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients and stir until smooth. Add shredded cabbage or broccoli. Sprinkle some celery seed on if desired.

Spaghizza!

I came across this recipe today from Money Saving Mom and decided it was perfect for our supper tonight. I had to change it up a bit because I realized after the spaghetti was cooking that I don’t have an egg in the house! I used ground flaxseed in water as a substitute. Below is the original recipe.

Spaghizza

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti noodles
3 eggs
¼ cup milk
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 ½ cups spaghetti sauce (one 23.5 ounce jar)
8-12 ounces (2-3 cups) shredded cheese (all mozzarella, or a mixture of your favorite pizza-friendly cheeses)
3.5 ounce package sliced pepperoni or any of your favorite pizza toppings

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Rinse immediately in cold water until cool and drain well.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Add parmesan cheese and seasonings.

Toss in spaghetti noodles and transfer to a greased 9×13 pan (you can also use 2 8×8 pans, if you want to freeze one for later).

Pour the spaghetti sauce on top of noodles. Top with approximately half of the pepperoni. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the pepperoni and top with remaining pepperoni. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

This recipe is very versatile. I used whole wheat pizza. My kids don’t like pepperoni, so I use ham and mushrooms (their favorite pizza toppings. Also, I put all the ham and mushrooms on before the cheese, just like I do when I make pizza. This was a BIG hit with my kids. They said they like it as well as fettuccini alfredo which is one of their favorite meals. After cooking the spaghetti I realized I had cooked a whole box of spaghetti (13.5 oz), so I doubled everything else, wrapped it up good and put it in the freezer for another meal. It was almost as easy to make as bubble pizza. We will definitely make again!

Smoothies

Meijer has strawberries on sale this week. It’s bananas on sale at Aldi. I stopped at both places and stocked up. Now we have lots of great stuff in the freezer to make smoothies.

I washed and hulled strawberries and froze in quart sized bags. After the bananas had fully ripened, I peeled the and broke them into chunks. Then froze them also. Now it is all ready to make smoothies (no ice necessary).

Today I grabbed out some frozen bananas, a package of frozen strawberries and one of frozen blueberries from last August. I place it all in my ninja, added some milk & a splash of honey. Delicious smoothies were ready in no time. The kids are going to love me when they get off the bus in a few minutes!

Hawaiian Wraps

These wraps have become a favorite at our house. And they’re packed with great stuff: Broccoli slaw, pineapple, spinach, chicken, sunflower seeds. They’re a nice change from ordinary sandwiches. They also make a great cool meal on those hot summer days still to come.

Here’s how I made them:

1 package broccoli slaw (12 oz)
1 can crushed pineapple – drained well
3-4 cups diced chicken breasts
1 cup chopped spinach
poppy-seed dressing
sunflower seeds
whole wheat tortilla shells

I mix the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add as much poppy-seed dressing as you like. I add 1/2 – 1 cup. I like to make it the day before & refrigerate overnight. I sprinkle some sunflower seeds on as I load the shells – they stay crunchy this way. Fold wraps and enjoy. My kids & I love these!

Note: Slivered almonds are great in these as well. Also, I don’t always have spinach on hand, so sometimes I just leave it out.

Raspberry Tea

When I was growing up, my mom always had Kool-Aid in the house for us to drink. Sometimes we even got tang! Very rarely, however, did we drink pop. We are attempting to go healthier here. I don’t like my kids to drink pop and I always felt they didn’t need the sugar in Kool-Aid. We are also trying to stay away from food dyes. My husband drinks Mountain Dew like water. When he isn’t drinking that its red Kool-Aid. The kids are always asking me for Kool-Aid so I have been trying to come up with a healthier alternative. I found an alternative that we are all happy with: raspberry tea! I use sugar to sweeten it because we found out that aspartame was causing my 10-year-old son to have a tic. I haven’t tried Stevia with him yet but I will this summer. Then I can observe him to make sure the Stevia won’t contribute to any tics. At least this tea has half the sugar of Kool-Aid and no food dyes. I have made it using honey as well.

Here’s how I make it:

I run water though my 4 cup coffee maker. Then I let 4 raspberry tea bags steep for a few minutes.

I add 1/2 cup of sugar and enough water to make 1/2 gallon of tea . Stir and enjoy.

While I encourage my kids to drink water every day this is a nice treat for them. It has no preservatives and no food dyes. I make this or some lemonade about once a week (usually on the weekends). We like trying different kinds of tea. Black cherry is one the kids enjoy, also. There is a pomegranate pizzazz that I can’t wait to try! Blueberry is another we would like to try!