Chicken Fajitas (Freezer Meal)

First off, I am sorry for the lack of picture!! What a horrible food blogger I am!! I will be sure to get a picture of these the next time I make them. Second, this is a meal from my freezer meal swap and it was super good. Thanks R.!! My kids ate it up and didn't even seem to notice the peppers and onions lurking on the inside of their "chicken tacos".

Chicken Fajitas (Freezer Meal)

Fajitas:
1 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 packet fajita seasoning mix (can make own with recipe below)
14 oz pkg. frozen fajita vegetable blend
1/2 tablespoon freeze-dried chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons
flour tortillas

Toppings for serving:
shredded cheese
salsa
guacamole
sour cream

Homemade Fajita Seasoning:
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Assembly:
Combine chicken, olive oil, and fajita seasoning mix in a bowl and pour into a freezer bag. Put the fajita vegetables into a separate freezer bag and pour in the lime juice and freeze-dried cilantro. Tortillas go into another freezer bag.  (You can also freeze the shredded cheese and guacamole.) Place all of these bags into a large ziplock and freeze with heating instructions.

Heating Instructions:
Thaw chicken bag, tortillas (and shredded cheese and guacamole if you froze these toppings) overnight in refrigerator. Keep the fajita vegetables bag frozen.

Saute thawed chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat until almost cooked through. Add contents of frozen fajita vegetables bag and cook until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through. Serve in heated tortillas with shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream and guacamole or toppings of your choice.

Raised Doughnuts

This was the first time I've made homemade doughnuts. I was worried about the whole hot oil thing, but it turned out fine. (Man those suckers are hot when they come out of that oil though - watch out!) And the doughnuts turned out great!! I got the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen. I think I still have some adjusting to do with the frosting/glaze recipe, I think a chocolate glaze would be wonderful. Will I make these all the time? Probably not. They are a little labor intensive. But they were good and once a year around Halloween time sounds like a fun tradition. Other times when we want doughnuts I think I'll hit Krispie Kreme.:)

Raised Doughnuts

5 cups flour (plus 1/4 cup for high altitude)
1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast (2 packets or SAF)
1 3/4 cups very warm milk (I microwaved cold milk for 1 minute)
1/3 cup shortening (softened a little in microwave)
2 eggs
vegetable oil

In a stand mixer with a dough hook combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Mix a little to combine. Add milk, shortening, and eggs. Beat on low for 1 minute. Scrap down sides of bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, scrap bowl frequently. Grease a large bowl. Turn dough into the greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for 1 hour. (Dough will be ready when an indentation remains when touched).

Generously flour a large surface, turn out dough onto floured surface and roll around lightly to coat with flour. Flatten dough with hands or with a rolling pin into a 1/2" thickness. Cut floured dough with a 3" doughnut cutter (I used a glass that was 3" across and cut out holes with an empty and capless salt shaker - you can improvise with anything). Push together scraps and gently knead 2-3 times. Flatten dough again and cut with doughnut cutter. Repeat until all dough is used. Place cut out dough onto greased cookie sheets and cover loosely with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap or a damp cloth. Allow to rise for 30-40 minutes or until doubled.

Heat 1 1/2 - 2 inches of oil in a dutch oven to 350 degrees. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with a wide spatula. Fry about 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Remove carefully from oil; drain on paper towels. Roll dough nuts in sugar, cinnamon sugar, or dip the tops in glaze (recipe below).

White Doughnut Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons cream (more or less)

Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl with a fork. If the glaze is too thin add more powdered sugar. If the glaze is too thick, stir in a little milk or cream.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

I just keep on making pumpkin treats! Oh how I love Fall. This one is from Eat at Home and it was so yummy. I took the cheater way out and used a tub of cream cheese frosting, but next time I'll try the homemade frosting suggested.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

15 oz can pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour (+ 1/4 cup for high altitude)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Add eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture, beating until well blended. Pour into a greased 10x15 jelly roll pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool cake completely and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
5 tablespoons butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk

Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and blend till smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix well. Add the milk a little bit at a time until you get it to a nice spreadable consistency. Spread on cooled cake.

My New Favorite Sugar Cookie

I thought my sugar cookies were awesome, well these are better! They are moist, soft, thick and have just a hint of nutmeg. I love them. And the dough was so easy to work with - a definite bonus. I think I'll make them from now on. I think it's that little bit of nutmeg that sealed the deal for me. Thank you thank you to Whitney at My Favorite Recipes : Tried and True for this winner!

My New Favorite Sugar Cookie

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 1/4 cups flour (+ 1/4 cup for high altitude)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and beat. Add vanilla and sour cream and beat. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Add to wet ingredients and mix until well combined.

Roll out dough on a floured surface to about a 1/4" thickness (I think I probably rolled it out a bit thicker because I like thick and soft cookies) and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. You do not want them to brown at all so they stay nice and soft. Let cool for a minute on cookie sheets then transfer to cooling racks. Once cookies are cool frost and decorate with sprinkles, candy, etc. Makes 20-24 cookies depending on size of cookie cutters. (I got 21 cookies with a standard size pumpkin cookie cutter.)

Salsa Chili

I love my go-to chili recipe, but when I saw this one at allrecipes I was intrigued by the salsa in it. Honestly, you really can't taste the salsa all that much, but it turned out to be a really good chili that my whole family enjoyed. I think I still prefer my regular chili recipe, but this one was good too. Oh and this makes a lot - we had it 2 days in a row, so you could always freeze half to have another day.

Crockpot Salsa Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 cups chopped onion
2, 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes in tomato sauce
1, 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup Pace Picante sauce or other salsa
1, 15 oz can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1, 15 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1, 15 oz can chili beans
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 packets McCormick lower-sodium chili seasoning mix


Brown ground beef with onion, drain off fat. Put browned beef and onion in crockpot. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, light red kidney beans, dark red kidney beans, chili beans, pepper, garlic powder, and chili seasoning packets. Stir well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

* I served it with hot dogs, shredded cheese, and corn bread. It was a yummy fall dinner.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's another week of what I'm cooking for dinner:

Monday - Chili and Cornbread with Caramel Apples for FHE treat
Tuesday - Leftover Chili and Cornbread
Wednesday - Spaghetti and Salad
Thursday - Stove Top Chicken Casserole and Mixed Vegetables
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Ham and Cheese Braid (freezer meal) and Peaches
Sunday - Crockpot Italian Chicken, Vermicelli and Green Beans

Stuffed Shells (Freezer Meal)

We love this freezer meal! It has very simple ingredients but really tastes great and is an awesome freezer meal that reheats so well. I think I originally got this recipe from my friend Stacey. We've been in 2  freezer meal swaps together in 2 different states! I make these stuffed shells often because it's a great standby meal, you can cook the shells from frozen if you need to, and well it's just yummy.

Stuffed Shells Freezer Meal - makes 2 meals

Ingredients  for stuffed shells:
2, 12 oz  packages jumbo shell pasta
3 lbs 4% small curd cottage cheese (about 4 1/2 cups)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan
2 eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or freeze dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or freeze dried)
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Ingredients needed for time of cooking:
2, 26 - 28 oz jars marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Freezer Meal Prep:
Cook jumbo shells according to package directions to al dente. Drain and cool in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Once you pick out all the broken ones you should have at least 60 shells. You will use 30 prepared shells for each meal.

Combine cheeses, eggs, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. To fill the shells I've found the easiest way is to use a standard size cookie scoop and place one scoop in each shell. Lay stuffed shells back on wax paper covered cookie sheets and freeze. Once shells are frozen divide shells evenly into 2 ziplock bags (each bag will have around 30 shells). Put 2 cups of mozzarella cheese into 2 quart size bags with 1 cup in each bag. Freeze each bag of shells with 1 bag of cheese. Store marinara sauce in your pantry until cooking time.

Cooking Instructions (for 1 meal):
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of the dish. Arrange frozen stuffed shells on top of sauce and pour remaining sauce evenly over the shells. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; return to oven for a few minutes until cheese melts and shells are hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to stand for about 5 minutes before serving.