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This recipe was given to me by my friend, Lisa. She has brought it several times to gatherings with a mutual group of friends. Whenever she brings it, I can't stop eating it.
There are only 4 ingredients:
apples (I use about 6 small apples, or 4-5 larger apples), cut into pieces
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 box Jello instant pudding, butterscotch flavor, sugar free/fat free, 4 serving size
1 small container cool-whip
Mix the pineapple with the butterscotch pudding. Stir in the cool-whip, then stir in chopped apples. Enjoy.
I think this would also be good with chopped pecans or pecan halves, but I haven't tried it that way because my kids won't eat pecans. Lisa says this is a weight watcher's recipe. It's light and fluffy, and perfect for Fall.
This cake (Triple Chocolate Bliss Cake from the Kraft Food and Family Magazine, Holiday 2006 edition) is to die for. And it is super easy to make. It is my "go to" cake when I want something chocolaty, delicious, and elegant. I make it for baby and bridal showers, Christmas parties, Graduation parties, and any other occasion in between. A friend of mine refers to it as "THE cake". It is heavy and moist and tastes like a rich, chocolate pound cake. It requires about 10 minutes of actual work time to make it. That's because you start with a chocolate cake mix, the usual ingredients to make a box cake, and only 2 additional ingredients: sour cream and a box of chocolate instant pudding. The frosting takes an additional 2 ingredients (cool whip and chocolate) and about 3 minutes. You just put the cool whip and chocolate in the microwave and heat until the cool whip is liquid and the chocolate is melted, then stir. I have made it using semi-sweet chocolate chips as well as with milk chocolate. It turns out great either way, so just pick whichever chocolate you prefer. The recipe in the magazine says to use fresh raspberries, but I prefer strawberries. I tried to make the little white star shapes in the frosting (shown in the cover photo of their mag) when I made it the first time. That part did not turn out very well, so I gave up and I have never attempted the white stars again.
One of these days, I am going to try a lemon variation using a lemon cake mix, lemon or vanilla pudding, and white chocolate chips for the frosting. I'll let you know if that one is as good as the chocolate version.
Kraft Food and Family Magazine is a wonderful little magazine that is published 5 times a year. It used to be free, but now if you want it, you have to pay. But it is still free in the online version, which is exactly the same as the paper version. I have been getting this for about 3 years (for free), and I love it! I usually find 4 or 5 new things that I want to try. Go check out their archives.
Ok, now that you're thinking about putting some yummy meals in your freezer, you need some freezer labels. Martha's website has some free printable labels for you. All you have to do is print them out on sticky label paper and cut them to size.
This recipe came about after I tasted a similar dish in a local restaurant, except theirs was not a casserole, but actually rolled into enchiladas. I was also influenced greatly by a friend's recipe for spinach dip. And a different recipe I have for chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce. I sort of combined the spinach dip with some chicken for filling and used the sour cream sauce from the other recipe. And I layered it like lasagna to save time instead of rolling it up, but you can always roll it up into enchiladas if your prefer.
Spinach Chicken Enchilada Casserole
1 pkg corn tortillas
6 or 7 cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded
10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach
2 cans rotel (I use mild)
16 oz cream cheese (I use Philadelphia, reduced fat), softened
2 Tb canola oil
2 small cloves garlic, pressed or diced, or garlic powder (1 tsp for each clove of fresh garlic)
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin
3 Tb flour
16 oz sour cream (I buy reduced fat or fat free)
14-16 oz chicken stock
4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Mexican blend cheese
Filling: Thaw spinach in glass dish in microwave. Drain any liquid. Set aside.
Chop, dice, or shred chicken to desired consistency. Set aside.
Puree 2 cans rotel tomatoes. Mix rotel, chicken, spinach, and cream cheese. Add salt, a little garlic powder or diced fresh garlic, and a little cumin to taste. Mix well. Set aside.
Sauce: In a stock pot, heat oil. Saute fresh garlic. Add 1/2 tsp cumin and flour. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Flour should be mixed well with oil and mixture should be bubbly. Add chicken stock. Continue to simmer and stir until mixture starts to thicken. Add sour cream and stir until well mixed. Remove from heat.
Layer as follows:
*for corn tortilla layer, I cut tortillas in half or in strips and overlap a little to completely cover a layer. I also dip tortillas in sauce just before layering.
**for each layer of sauce, I use 1/3 - 1/2 cup for a 6x9 size casserole or 2/3-1 cup for a 9x13 size.
corn tortillas
chicken/spinach filling
sauce
cheese
corn tortillas
chicken/spinach filling
sauce
corn tortillas
sauce
cheese
Yield: two 9x13 casseroles or four 6x9 casseroles. Sauce can be estimated by adding up the ounces of ingredients to get an idea of yield of sauce. 8 ounces = 1 cup, so the above makes about 4 cups of sauce. I use about 2 cups of sauce for a 9x13 casserole and 1 cup for a 6x9.
I usually bake one immediately and then freeze the rest. For freshly made casseroles, bake for 30 minutes, covered by a tent of aluminum foil, then 10 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees. For frozen, bake for 1 hour, covered by at tent of aluminum foil, then 10-15 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees. You may need to add 15-20 minutes to the frozen bake time for 9x13 sized casseroles.
I usually bake most casseroles at 350 degrees for the times listed above. If I have someplace to go, I sometimes reduce the temperature to 275 or 300 and extend the baking time so it won't overbake while I am gone. With the foil on top to hold moisture in, the baking time is a bit more flexible at lower temperatures, meaning that you can bake it for longer than necessary without burning it.
My 5 yr old and 22 month old will both eat this. My husband loves it too. I hope your family enjoys it.
Written by Ree Drumond, The Pioneer Woman is one of the most interesting blogs I've found. The section about cooking has tons of wonderful recipes, many of which would be great for freezing. She also writes about life on a working cattle ranch, photography, home and garden, and homeschooling. She has many chapters of a romance novel in progress on her site. The novel is the actual story of how she met her husband, whom she refers to as Marlboro Man (he isn't actually a smoker, though). I have tried her lasagna recipe, and it was very good. It also freezes well. There are two of them in my freezer right now. If you haven't discovered it before, go check it out. Odds are, you'll be instantly hooked.
This is a recipe that I found on the 30 Day Gormet website . The first time I made it, I followed it to the letter to see what the original tasted like.It was very rich. It has quite a bit of saturated fat from all the butter and half & half. The next time I made it, I altered the recipe to decrease the fat content and to substitute healthier fat for some of the saturated fat.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
8 cups chopped chicken breast (about 4 lbs of chicken)
6 cups chopped ham (about 2.5 lbs of ham, I try to buy the lowest fat, cooked ham I can find)
3 lbs grated mozzerella cheese (I use this because it is lower in fat than other cheeses)
4 cups chicken broth (I use home-made broth left over from crock pot cooking chicken)
10 cups 1 or 2% milk
2 cups canola oil
1.5 cups flour
3 boxes lasagna noodles (I use Barilla no-boil, oven ready. They are shorter than other noodles and fit the 6x9 casserole dishes perfectly.)
In large stock pot, mix canola oil with flour. Heat until bubbly. Cook a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add milk and chicken broth. Cook stirring over low-medium heat until sauce thickens. You are making a basic white sauce with a mixture of chicken broth and milk. (The original recipe used some milk, some half & half, and a lot of butter for this.)
Because my youngest has just recently cut his baby molars, I have been using my food processor to finely chop the chicken and ham so that he can easily eat this without having to chew the meat. You may process your chicken and ham so that they are chopped, diced, shredded or whatever to the consistency that you prefer.
I like to set up my ingredients assembly line style so that I have a row of casserole dishes, then I have the stock pot of sauce, large bowls of chicken and ham (which may be mixed together if you wish), boxes of noodles, and a large bag of grated mozzerella cheese. I also set out a bowl of cold water. I soak the noodles in the water for 2-3 minutes just to make sure they are wet when they go in the casserole. For each layer, I use 1/2 cup sauce for 6x9 sized dishes and 2/3-1 cup sauce for 9x13 sized dishes. I use enough ham and chicken to make a layer about 3/8 inch thick or so.
Then I assemble as follows:
Sauce
Noodles
Ham
Chicken
Cheese
Sauce
Noodles
Ham
Chicken
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Cheese
I double checked the list. I do leave cheese out of the second layer and put it on top instead. I like to make sure that there is plenty of sauce on the noodles because they are uncooked and will absorb liquid from the sauce during baking. If your sauce is thinner than you think it should be, it is probably okay, as it will thicken during baking when the noodles absorb liquid.
When I have used up all of the ingredients, I put a layer of saran wrap over each casserole. Then I go over to the sink and run a little water on the saran wrap to make a layer of water on top. Then I put on the plastic lid. Sometimes a little water leaks out. When this freezes, it makes a layer of ice on top of the dish that helps keep the saran wrap in contact with the food and prevent air from getting to it. Less air means less freezer burn. Is this really necessary? Probably not. I do it because I want my food to taste as fresh as possible. You can skip the water step and just put your casseroles right into the freezer if you wish.
Chicken Cordon Bleu normally uses Swiss cheese. I don't like the strong taste of Swiss cheese (although my husband does), so that is another reason for my switch to mozzerella. If you would like to use swiss cheese, feel free to substitute. You can just lay on slices instead of trying to grate it. If you buy sliced ham, you can also put this in your layers as slices instead of chopping it. Whatever makes it faster and easier is the way to go. I have also added in 2 layers (right above the chicken/ham layer) of fresh spinach leaves. It turned out well. Feel free to experiment and add things to make it to the tastes of your family.
If you bake one right away without freezing, you'll need to cover with aluminum foil (to hold in as much moisture as possible) and bake for 45 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes or so. If baking from frozen, bake for 1 hr-1 hr an 15 minutes, covered with foil, then remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes. Either way, oven temp is 350 degrees. If you have some errands to run and need to bake it slower and it's frozen, I have baked at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes and then removed the foil for 10 more minutes with success.
Yield: The above quantities will yield about 4 casseroles in the 9x13 size dishes. If you use smaller dishes, you will get 8 or 9 casseroles. Another time when I made only 2 large (9x13) casseroles, I used the following quantities of ingredients: 1 cup oil, 3/4 cup flour, 6 cups milk, 2 cups broth for sauce.
I keep a cooking journal. I don't know about you, but I think my brain worked a lot better before I had kids. I could remember everything. Now I feel like I can remember nothing. So, every time I experiment in the kitchen, I write down exactly what I did. I add notes about how it turned out, how much it made, what I would do differently next time, and I get family members to rate it. I used to ask for a rating on a scale of 1-10, but my husband would never rate anything lower than a 6, Then if I made it again, he would finally confess that he really didn't care for it the first time. So now I just use a scale of 1-5. And I ask him to be completely honest unless he wishes to eat things he doesn't like. I try to remain objective and not get my feelings hurt. He's not being mean when he doesn't like something. He just doesn't like it.
There are only 4 ingredients:
