21 Day Fix Burrito Bowls

A few months ago this video kept popping up on my Facebook feed. (It's safe to click, really, I'm not rick roll-ing you.) The recipe looked simple enough (click here for it); and it looked delicious and clean. I figured I'd give it a chance. 

It has now become my favorite lunch item. It is super easy to prep, and you can pre-prep and freeze extra peppers/onions mixture and the chicken. I used the portion control containers and measured it the first couple of times, but then learned that if I make the right amount of rice, it's easy to split it into four containers. I no longer use cheese and use avocado instead. 

Easy Lunch Burrito Bowls

Ingredients: 

• 1 medium or half large red onion
• 3 Bell Peppers (I prefer one red, one yellow, one orange)
• 16 ounces chicken breasts (for 4 Red containers. Double if you want 2 Reds at lunch)
• 1 can black bean
• 2 cups prepared brown rice
• 1/2-1 cup Salsa
• Taco Seasoning
• Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F/200˚C.
2. Line one 8x8 glass dish with foil & spray; and spray a 9x13 glass dish with nonstick spray. 
3. Cut the peppers and onions into strips and toss with 1 tbsp of oil and 2-3 tbsp of taco seasoning. 
4. Place the peppers and onions in the 9x13 glass pan. 
5. Place the chicken in the 8x8 glass dish and sprinkle taco seasoning over both sides of the chicken. Top  each chicken breast with a generous pour of salsa.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. 
7. Rest chicken for 10 minutes, before slicing into strips or dicing into cubes. 
8. Add a 1/2 cup of brown rice to 4 food storage containers. Add 1/2 cup black beans, cooked peppers and onions, and chicken. Garnish with fresh cilantro, cheese (optional), and a lime wedge. 
9. Store in the refrigerator (and enjoy any extras immediately). Can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days. Heat up the bowl, then serve with optional avocado. 

Notes: 

The video and instructions show everything being put on a baking sheet. I did that the first time and didn't like how it turned out. My peppers and onions stuck to the foil, the chicken seemed dry (maybe I overcooked it?) So the next time I used glass baking dishes. One for the veggies and a foil lined one for the chicken. This worked better. I could also monitor if one finished first and take that one out so I didn't overcook either ingredient.

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers - Revisited

This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've redone my Stuffed Pepper recipe. My version 11 months ago included ground beef and I had estimated the Portion Control. This time I measured every ingredient in order to have the proper container count. I actually double this recipe so I can have 5 sets of 4 peppers - I freeze them in groups of four to defrost and bake later. They are delicious, but a little time consuming to make. If I can make a big batch over a weekend than I have meals ready to go. 

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

Note - when making stuffed peppers - you *must* boil the peppers to soften them up. Otherwise the peppers don't cook thoroughly and still have a little crunch to them.

• 10 bell peppers of your color choice
• 20 ounces pound lean ground turkey or beef 
• 1 onion (about a 1 cup diced)
• 1/2 diced pepper
• 1.5 cups of brown rice, cooked just shy of done
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Black Beans, drained/rinsed
• 1-2 cups of Corn, drained/rinsed if canned, I prefer frozen
• 1 (15 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of tomato sauce 
• 1.5 cups of your favorite shredded cheese
• Spices - Chili Powder, Paprika, Cumin, Garlic, Salt, Pepper, ect.  

Directions

1. Cut the caps of the peppers and clean out. Pre-cook the peppers by placing in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Cook brown rice, or quinoa according to directions, just shy of done because the rice will continue cooking when the stuffed pepper is cooked. 
3. Brown ground meat and season with chili powder (1 tbsp), and 1 tsp each: paprika, cumin, and garlic. Set aside to cool.
4. Drain and rinse black beans. If using canned corn, drain and rinse also. Drain the tomatoes. 
5. Combine in large bowl: meat, tomatoes, corn, rice/quinoa, beans, sauce, and cheese. Season as needed. 
6. Stuff peppers with filling. (About 1-cup per pepper). 
7. Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes. 
8. If frozen - defrost 24 hours. 

Each Pepper counts as 1.5 Greens, 1/2 Red, 1 Yellow, and 1/2 Blue.

For lunch, this is perfect. For dinner it's a little light. However, we've been eating egg sandwiches before bed in order to get in extra Red & Yellows and fuel our body before sleep.

21 Day Fix Turkey Chili

Just in time for fall weather, chili!! I already have a great turkey chili recipe but decided to try the one listed in the FixAte cookbook, which is full of 21 Day Fix approved recipes. I love the recipes, they are all pretty basic and easy to make, and the container values are listed. I added a few extra things and doubled the recipe. This is one of my new favorite chili recipes! 

21 Day Fix Turkey Chili
Ingredients & Directions (because it's Chili, it's *not* that hard)

• 2-3 lb cooked 93% lean ground turkey breast (or lean grass-fed ground beef)
• (I add chili powder, cumin, and paprika to my turkey while it's cooking.) 

Saute the following ingredients ~10 minutes: 

• 2 tsp extra virgin organic coconut oil, melted
• 1 large or 2 small onion, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed

Then add:

• 4 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans (or pinto beans) drained, rinsed
• 4 can (15 oz) fire roasted tomatoes, no salt added if available
• 2 cups red wine (I choose red cooking wine)
• 1 Tbsp ground chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground paprika
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (or Himalayan salt)
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• Cooked ground turkey

Bring it to a boil and let simmer around 30 minutes on low.
2 cups of this chili counts as 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow.


It is very filling, and my version is very spicy. If you can't handle the spice, cut out the jalapeno and cut back on the cumin.

My favorite is to serve it over 1/2 a baked potato.
My son loves to eat the pinto beans with cheese and elbow macaroni.

The FixAte cookbook has been one of my favorite new tools to help me sustain the 21 Day Fix lifestyle. Autumn Calabrese has created some amazing recipes that you will actually want to make! Just like the rest of the 21 Day Fix plan, preparation is the number one key to succeeding with this plan. 

Autumn gives us her 4 ingredients to maintaining a healthy lifestyle:

1. Enjoy the foods you eat, 
2. Have a fitness routing you can commit to, 
3. Eat foods that are highly nutritious, and
4. Know how much of it to eat. 

These four easy steps is how I've managed to lose the weight I have. And it's why I keep making some of the same recipes over and over again, I love the foods I love.

Banana-Strawberry "Ice Cream" (21 Day Fix Approved)

Have I mentioned yet this week how much I love my food processor? If I had more counter space it would be a permanent fixture. I use it for so much! Everyone should get one. Getting married? Put it on the registry. Having a baby? Put it on the registry (you'll use it to make baby food, so it's a need.) Birthday coming up? Ask for this. I have the 14-cup Cuisinart. My mom and grandma gave it to me at my Bridal Shower. (I remember things like that.) 

4 Ingredient "Ice Cream"

Ingredients

• 2 bananas, cut into 1-inch slices(frozen)
• ½ cup frozen strawberries, sliced
• 2 Tbsp Almond Milk
• ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Place banana slices on a plate, separating each slice. Place slices in freezer for 2 hours (overnight is best!).

2. Remove strawberries and bananas from freezer and place in food processor, blend until they are the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

3. Add almond milk(more or less for desired texture)and vanilla and blend until smooth and well-mixed.

4. Transfer ice cream to a freezer container and freeze until solid. (You don't have to wait if fruit is frozen, it is like soft serve ice cream)

5. Scoop with ice cream scoop and serve.

One CUP of this counts as a purple container on the 21 Day Fix! 

You can really use any frozen fruit to make this. I might add some cocoa powder next time and peanut butter to make Chocolate PB. And brownie pieces. (Just kidding!) My husband doesn't like bananas, but I bet I could get him to eat some of this ice cream. 

Greek Turkey Burgers

This is one of my favorite recipes. I haven't made them recently and I plan to make them again soon! I served them up on Pita bread with the homemade Tzatziki sauce. They are delicious!!!

Greek Turkey Burgers
Ingredients

• 1 package (.7 oz.) Italian dressing mix
• 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (93% lean)
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg , lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

• Pita Bread
• Optional Topping: Dice up 2 Roma Tomatoes and 1/2 a cucumber, more feta cheese

Directions

1. Mix the burger ingredients together. Measure out 1/2 cup portions and form into patties (should form 5 patties.
2. Grill up the hamburgers 
3. Shove in a pita (I had to cut them in half!) with Tzatziki sauce and the tom/cuc mixture. ENJOY!

If you're counting this on the 21 Day Fix, I'd count it as 1 Red, 1/2 Yellow, and 1/2 Blue (if you add more cheese.) 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas - 21 Day Fix

I found this recipe somewhere -- and it's not a difficult recipe to follow. Unless you're doubling it. And you double it, and you get to the end of the recipe and it says "Divide among 2 bags.". UGH! I doubled an already doubled recipe? Crud. So lots of leftovers.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients

1.5 – 2 lbs. Chicken Breasts, boneless and skinless 

1/2 medium – large white onion, sliced vertically 

3-4 Bell Peppers, any color, sliced into strips 

2 cans (10 oz.) Rotel diced tomatoes, undrained (I used “Mild”) 

2 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

2 tsp. chili powder 

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. paprika

*Divide all ingredients into 2 large freezer bags

Directions
Cut things up. Put in crockpot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

Dish out 1 cup of veggies and 3/4 cup of chicken for 1 green and 1 red.
Add some whole grain torillas (yellow), and lettuce and homemade salsa (green).

Here's what mine looked like. They were SUPER filling. It counted as 1 Red, 2 Green, 2 Yellow, and 1 Blue (Cheese). I can't wait to eat them again!!!

Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup - 21 Day Fix

I made this last week and it doesn't even feel like a "diet". You can add cheese and greek yogurt to it. Eat it with a salad for a very filling dinner or by itself as a nice lunch. If you're not on a diet, indulge with some tortilla chips! 

Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (or broth)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
• greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours (can we say Super Bowl!).
2. Once it's done cooking, pull out the chicken and shred. I used the Mix 'n Chop to do it. Add the shredded chicken back to the crockpot and let cook another 15-minutes. 
3. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of greek yogurt (or sour cream), and crushed tortilla chips, if desired. 

Approx 6-7 1-cup servings. 

Measure 1.5 cups and count as  1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Yellow 

Make sure if you add greek yogurt and cheese you count those in addition! 

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers

I love Stuffed Peppers. Jason LOVES LOVES stuffed peppers. It's what he brought to the relationship, actually. I tried to make them healthier with ground turkey. He didn't care for the change. Because I love him, I went back to beef. 

I had to change up this recipe a bit from the 21-Day Fix SUPER friendly one I found online. We don't have lean beef in our house. We have a quarter of a grass fed, non-hormone raised cow. So while not the leanest meat, it can still be healthier than store bought beef. 

She also premade a lot of things and then measured. I'm all about "throw in a whole can of corn and see how it turns out." Turns out I made 10 peppers, so I'm not completely sure on the containers. I have probably overestimated the containers. However, I kept this recipe as if the mixture divides nicely into 6 containers. It would also depend on the size of peppers you are able to find. 

I cooked six and froze four for later. I prepped these the night before so they just had to be put in the oven. It is not an easy prep process!  

Note - when making stuffed peppers - you *must* boil the peppers to soften them up. Otherwise the peppers don't cook thoroughly and still have a little crunch to them. 

Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients

• 6 Sweet bell peppers of your color choice
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, seasoned with 21 Day Fix Southwestern Seasoning 
• 1/2 Cup Dry/1.5 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa, cooked just shy of done
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Black Beans, drained/rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Corn, drained/rinsed
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, seasoned with 21 Day Fix Southwestern Seasoning 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of tomato sauce 
• 1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese

Directions

1. Cut the caps of the peppers and clean out. Pre-cook the peppers by placing in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Cook brown rice, or quinoa according to directions 
3. Brown ground meat and season with Southwest seasoning (See 21 Day Fix book). Set aside to cool.
4. Drain and rinse black beans and corn.  
5. Combine in large bowl meat, tomatoes, corn, rice/quinoa, beans, and sauce.
6. Stuff peppers with filling.
7. Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes. 

I counted it as 1 Red, 2 Yellow, 2 Green, 1/2 Blue. As mentioned above, that's per 6 peppers. It's probably less since I split the filling into 10 containers. 

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers

Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Stuffed Chicken - 21 Day Fix Friendly

Now that we are into Week 3 of doing the 21 Day Fix, I've been trying to branch out and find some new recipes. I found this recipe on pinterest but it was slightly different. I like my version better -- I was better able to incorporate the cheese without worrying about it melting out. 

I didn't do a great job pounding out the chicken breasts so mine didn't roll as well as it should. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 - 6 ounce chicken breasts
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 Roasted Red Pepper (or a 7-8 ounce jar.)
• 2/3 cups mozzarella cheese
• 2 gloves garlic
• 3 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Panko Bread Crumbs
• 3 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Filet the chicken breast and pound it flat
2. Dice/Chop/Use magic shears* to cut up the spinach, Dice the Roasted Red Pepper, Crush/Dice the garlic
3. Mix the Spinach, Pepper, Garlic, and Mozzarella cheese together. Add some pepper. 
4. Place 1/4 of the mixture on each pounded chicken breast. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Place in a 9x9 glass dish. 
5. Mix together the Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and place a heaping tablespoon on top of each rolled chicken breast. 
6. Back at 375 for 40 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degree. 

Counts as 1.5 Red/Protein, 1/2 Green (Veggie), and 1/2 Blue (Healthy Fat)

Magic Shears - I *love* these herb scissors I got from Crate & Barrel. They are great to have in the kitchen to avoid the tediousness of chopping up any herbs. Cilantro, Parsley, Chives, Spinach -- I use them for lots of things! 

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes - Baby Food

I made Bisquick pancakes a few weeks ago and made Liam a few. He liked them, but I wasn't fond of the crap in them. I've been searching for an easier and healthier recipe for Liam. I finally found an easy Banana Oatmeal Pancake recipe. These are dairy free which is what I've been really looking for. They can be gluten free and all those other things free if you need them to be.

I doubled the recipe and froze some. I heat one pancake up for about 30 seconds, cut it into small pieces and serve with apple sauce. Liam loves this for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 large or 3 small bananas, mashed 
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup oat flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp sea salt 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground 

Directions

1. Mash bananas and mix the melted butter, lemon juice, and sugar together. 
2. Add the eggs and mix. 
3. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. 
4. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. (This allows the oatmeal to absorb some liquid.) 
5. Make pancakes on griddle like normal. These take a little bit longer to cook, they are thicker. Keep the skillet/griddle on a lower heat. 

Notes:
I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to these to enhance the flavor.
To make Oat Flour - I used my Ninja chopper to grind up (non-instant) oatmeal into a flour.

Homemade SpaghettiOs

I admit I love the taste of SpaghettiOs. The sweet sugary sauce, those mini noodles... but I know it's full of crap. The sugar, the sodium, the preservatives. When I stumbled across a homemade recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. I originally made these about a year ago, but never blogged about it. (That I can find.) 

The great thing about these is you can control everything that goes into them. If you need gluten free pasta, or want to use a whole grain. You can use skim milk or low fat cheese, and can make it as spicy as you want! I added meatballs this time. It's also a fairly quick recipe, taking about 20-25 minutes from start to finish. 

This recipe is very forgiving too. You can add extra milk (on accident or on purpose), you could use a different small noodle, add more cheese, less cheese, more butter, no pepper, extra pepper, ect. Whatever you think will work. 

Homemade SpaghettiO’s

Ingredients

• 8 oz ditalini pasta (or other small pasta)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Cook the pasta, to al dente (about 10 minutes).
2. Heat the olive oil in a  large saute' pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
3. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt, pepper, sugar and butter. Heat, while stirring, until the butter is melted. 
4. Slowly stir in the milk, then turn the heat to low. Simmer at low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Stir the shredded cheese into the soup until melted. 
6. Drain the pasta and add it to the soup. OR, you can transfer it to a serving bowl and add the "soup" to the pasta. Stir to combine. 

Notes:

I added meatballs to mine. The Sam's Club meatballs are delicious and I had some leftover and needed to use them up. 

I messed up and added 1 cup of milk instead of 1/4 cup. My finished product is a little runny, but the meatballs helped absorb some of that extra fluid. 

I added 3 pinches of red pepper flakes to make it a little more spicy. It goes a long way so don't add too much!
I had leftover crushed tomatoes in my fridge to use up, so I used that instead of Tomato Sauce. Not really a huge difference.
This freezes well. You can make a double batch and freeze for later.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

My friend Lisa brought me and my husband (and newborn baby Liam) a Twice Baked Potato Casserole. It was delicious. Super rich, loaded with cheesey potato goodness. The 9x13 dish must have weighed 3 pounds. It was amazing.

I wasn't able to find a decent recipe that mimicked what she gave us, so I thought I'd just wing it. 

Initial Notes:

Bake the potatoes the night (or two) before hand. Let them set back up in the fridge and get cold. They are easier to cut and won't fall apart in your hands. 

Cut everything before putting them together. 

Put the kiddo down for a nap - it takes a bit to assemble. Seriously, make sure he's napping. 

When cleaning up, don't drop all the pots and pans in the sink while you are washing them. No, really. It might be better to just leave the dishes for your husband. 

This recipe is not healthy. Don't eat it too often. It's loaded with CHEESE. And more CHEESE. 

If you don't like cheese, this is not for you. I'm not sure this blog is for you if you don't like cheese. We can't be friends, sorry. 

This makes two deep 9x13s. I recently purchased these foil pans (and lids) from Sam's Club. My Gladware bakeware is no longer available in 8x8s, so I went with the cheaper method of foil pans. They take up a bit more room in the freezer, require larger portions, leave more leftovers, but the cost savings is the best overall deal. 

So my recipe. 

Ingredients

• 3 pound bag of Russets potatoes (baked)
• 1 pound of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 1.5 pounds of Cubed velvetta cheese (is it cheese? eh..) 
• 1-2 sticks of butter - sliced very thin
• 2 bricks of cream cheese
• 16-ounce container sour cream
• Shredded cheese - pick any flavor
• green onions

Directions

1. Bake the potatoes - I clean mine really well, prick with a fork, and coat with olive oil and salt. Then bake an hour or so at 400 degrees F. I did let mine cool in the fridge (for two days). They were much easier to dice up. 
2. Cook the bacon to crispy. I prefer to cut the bacon up and then cook it.
3. Dice the baked potatoes. (While you're cooking the bacon.) 
4. Use a mixer to mix together the sour cream and cream cheese. Mix in additional spices if you want - dill dressing packet, garlic, chili powder, ect. Whatever flavor you want to go for. 
5. This is a layering dish - Put a layer of potatoes, a few pieces of butter, around 1/4 of a stick, then spread some cubed velvetta cheese and spoon fulls of the sour cream/cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle a little bacon, shredded cheese, and green onions on top. Then repeat the layer. 
6. Bake the dish at 375 degrees F for around 30-40 minutes. 

I froze the other dish, defrosted for a day, and then baked. The longer you bake, the softer the potatoes become. If you want to cheat, you can skip the potatoes and purchase the Ore Ida diced potatoes instead. Or has brown potatoes. You'll want to make sure your velvetta is diced smaller than the potatoes, you want the cheese to melt around it. 

This was a delicious dish, but I won't be making it again anytime soon. The velvetta is expensive, the dish is time consuming, and it's very high in calories. You can probably use some different ingredients to make it lower cal, but it's more so just so addicting to eat. 

Time for Dinner

My neighbor Facebook checked-in to this place a few weeks ago. I looked at their website and while not the most cost effective (for me), decided to check it out. I managed to sucker my friend Dee and my mom (with my sister as her chef) into going with me. :) 

Time for Dinner is where you can make your own freezer meals without the hassle of planning, shopping, chopping, portioning, and clean up. Each month they have a different menu with around a dozen different dishes and a dessert. The best deal is to choose 6 dishes to make for $125 (plus tax.) Each dish is 6-portions so you're getting 36 portions for around $3.50 a portion. I can cook cheaper by doing it all myself, but I also wouldn't branch out and make some of the meals they offer. It's nice to have other dishes besides Tater Tot Casseroles, Enchiladas, Stuffed Shells, Spaghetti Sauce, and red meat in the freezer. It also is a lot less time consuming, which is one of their main selling points. When I do my bulk cooking, I spend probably 4-5 hours doing 6 dishes from scratch. 

One of the moms we encountered on Saturday said her family wouldn't eat if it wasn't for this place. Time for Dinner has been open for 10 years! I was surprised since it was the first time I had been there, and only recently heard of it. They had this type of place in Richmond, Virginia that I never got a chance to check out. One of my Richmond friends said the place has since closed. 

It's really easy. You choose the date you want to attend, and then "order" the meals you plan to make. For April, I chose Crab Cakes, two Chicken Parmigiana, Jumbo Stuffed Shells, Pollo Queso Fundido, and Sunset Pork Tenderloin. I avoided choosing red meat dishes since I still have over 100 pounds of red meat in my freezer. I chose my order before making Stuffed Shells myself. For April they had a special where if you ordered 6 meals, you got a free half dish of Butterscotch Brownies. Which, you have to "cream" the butter and sugar by hand. I'm taking a hand mixer next time. May's special is you get $10 off. And they have a loyalty program - if you go 6 times/6 meals each, you get 20% off the 7th time. I was looking at their Facebook page and it looks like in June-July-August they run some of the best deals. Which makes sense because no one wants to fire up their oven in the summer months! 

When we showed up, we checked in and paid, and they gave us a quick tour. My sister and I started at the Crab Cake station. All the ingredients are laid out in front of you, and the instructions are printed (in large font) and easy to follow. They even include the obvious instructions like when to put on latex gloves or which utensil (spatula versus whisk) to use. Except for the meat, you can add extra veggies or leave out the cheese if you want. 

You make your dishes in two oblong aluminum pans, they are 12.5 inches by 6.5 inches. I like that they are already broke into two dishes, this makes it easier for one or two people to eat, instead of making a large dish. TFD has stickers to place on the pans, one in front for easy "freezer view", and another larger one on top with instructions. The sticker on front is an excellent idea - I need to do this in my own deep freeze! You can see below what my freezer looks like. I know the three large pans are stuffed shells, mostly because my two tater tot casseroles are in the other freezer. 

It took us around two hours to make our 6.5 dishes. My sister and I jumped on the Brownie station early because we figured most people would wait until last to make theirs. We were right, Dee had to wait a few extra minutes. We weren't the last to leave either, but I think one mom made around 20 dishes. I saw her making like 10 pretzel chickens. :) 

Some additional notes - 

Some of the spices are included in the dish, but don't be afraid to ask for more! I was making the Chicken Parmigiana and realized I was missing garlic and pepper. I asked and I received. 

One of my dishes was a pork tenderloin with a rub. You made the rub in a ziplock bag. I helped my sister with hers and the rub wasn't mixing well. Instead of making my rub "wet", I just wrote what I needed to add at home (water and hot sauce) to finish it out. I figure I could wisk it better than I could mix it in a ziplock bag. 

If you have kids that can help, bring them. A few moms did have their kids with them, some were helpful, some were bored. I think it's a helpful way for children to learn how to put a dish together. I know my mom started me young. I plan to start Liam young too, he needs to learn to cook! 

I look forward to doing this again. We are on a strict budget though and I need to figure out how to work it it, at least every two months or so.

I'm already thinking ahead to Florida vacation at the end of June and think I'll be taking a few frozen meals with us. That way I won't have to buy a ton of ingredients and worry about cooking a few nights. I know our Florida vacation is going to be very busy already.  

I took the time to make a list of our freezer stash to put on our upstairs fridge for meal planning purposes. Since sometimes I meal plan in bed, using my iPad, I'm including the list here for my laziness. 

5	cups of Chili	2	Mozzarella Cheese - 1 lb each
13	cups of Black Bean Soup	2	Eggos - 8 packs
3	Stuffed Shells	2	Butter Braids
2	Tater Tot Casseroles	1	Bertolli Chicken Florentine & Farfalle
1	Lasagna	7	Hamburger Buns
1	Sloppy Joe	3	Hot Dog Buns
3	Chicken Huts	1	Pork Butt
4	Spaghetti Sauce	1	Loaf of banana/blueberry bread
14	Twice Baked Potatoes	15	Chicken Sausages
4	Carmel Apple Tartlets	5	Hot Dogs
1	Garlic Bread (8 count)		Toasted Ravioli
3	Small French Loafs		Mozzarella Sticks
1	frozen DiGiorno pizza		French Fries
1	lbs of Bacon		Tater Tots
1	loafs of Bread		Meatballs
1	Tortellini
Chicken
	2lb & 5 oz package of Chicken Breasts
Time for Dinner Dishes
1	Butterscotch Brownies	2	Sunset Pork Tenderloin
4	Chicken Parmigiana	1	Pretzel Chicken
2	Crab Cakes	1	Carmel Apple French Toast
2	Jumbo Stuffed Shells	1	Venetian Mac & Cheese
2	Pollo Queso Fundido	1	Garlic & Herb Pasta - Side Dish
Red Meat
37	1-pound ground beef	5	Stew Meat - 1 lb each
15	Hamburger Patties	3	Sirloin Tip Steaks (2 packs)
3	Flat Iron Steak	2	Sirloin Steak
7	Rib Eye Steak (3-2-2 packs)	1	Beef Brisket
2	Porterhouse Steak (2 packs)	4	Chuck Steaks
5	T-Bone Steak (2-2-1 packs)	3	London Broil
1	Round Steak (3 packs)	3	Cube Steaks (3 packs)
1	Rump Roast

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

These past few days I have concentrated more on meal planning, and thinking a week ahead for dinners. This helps in using what we have in the deep freeze, especially as I make more freezer meals and fill it up!

When I make crock-pot meals, I usually don't start cooking them until around noon. I try to prep the crock-pot ingredients (chopping) the night before. It makes it easier to throw together. 

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes (I only found this in large cans.) 
• 1 7-ounce can tomatillo salsa verde
• 3 TBSP tomato paste
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 small corn tortillas, torn or cut into small pieces 
• 2 small onions (approx 2 cups)
• 2 jalapenos (seeds and veins removed)
• 1 large bell pepper
• juice of a fresh lime
• 2-4 TBSP fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste
• shredded Mexican cheese blend
• crunchy tortilla chips

Directions

1. Get out the big crock-pot. 
2. Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, salsa verde, tomato paste, pepper and spices to the crock pot and mix together. 
3. Add the chicken, onions, peppers, and tortilla pieces. 
4. The soup will cook either 6 hours on high or 10 hours on Low. During the last hour or two, add the lime juice and cilantro. 
5. Dish into bowls and add cheese, crushed up tortilla chips, avocado, anything else you want! Serve with Sweet Corn Cakes.

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I love Italian food. Just love it. Thanks to my mom! I add garlic to everything. Except breakfast items.

So I have been wanting to do some more bulk cooking. And I figured I'd give Stuffed Shells a try. They are time consuming so I wanted to do a bulk. Liam has been cooperating with his napping so I've been able to get more things done while he's napping.

I looked on pinterest for recipes and using some of the basics I found, here's mine.

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

Filling/Stuffing

• 1 15-oz. container ricotta
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (OR, 2 ounces of fresh spinach leaves chopped, and sauteed with garlic.) 
• Garlic
• Salt & Pepper

You'll also need

• A large box of jumbo pasta shells
• Additional shredded mozzarella
• Around 4 cups (20-26 ounces) of Pasta Sauce (I made my meat sauce, without the meat.) 

Instructions

1. Cook pasta shells to al dente, you want them firm enough to handle. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. While pasta cooks, in a large bowl, stir together ricotta, mozzarella, egg, spinach, and S&P, garlic to taste.
3. Preheat oven to 375ºF. (You can do this first, but my oven preheats quickly and I'm slow at stuffing shells.)
4. Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Stuff shells with cheese mixture and place in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over shells and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
5. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer, until bubbly and cheese begins to brown.

I made these in bulk. I did the filling times four and slowly boiled shells and stuffed them. I used two full boxes of jumbo shells. It resulted in 86 shells. I made a set of 20 in a 9x13 which we ate for dinner. Then I made four foil pans full, a 20-count, two 15-counts, and a 16 count. 

 Spinach & garlic, mixed into the ricotta cheese mixture.

Stuffing shells & adding more pasta sauce

Chicken Huts

One our favorite recipes are chicken huts. They are simple to make and very delicious. We recently had them given to us during a "Potluck Exchange" and they included a can of Cream of Chicken Soup. Which made them EVEN BETTER!!! 

They freeze well so I decided to make them in bulk. 

Chicken Huts
Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• (2) 10 oz. cans of  cooked chicken (in the grocery store by  the canned tuna)
• salt & pepper to taste
• (2) 8 oz. cans crescent rolls
• 2 T melted butter
• 2 T sesame seeds  (or bread crumbs)
• green onions (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
3. Open and drain canned chicken well. 
4. Blend cream cheese, salt & pepper, chicken and green onions (optional) and mix well. 
5. Separate each can of crescent rolls into 4 rectangles (pat severed part together). Cut each rectangular in half. (Tip - Use a pizza cutter.)
6. Put a large spoonful of chicken mixture into each or rectangle of dough. 
7. Pull 4 corners of dough to top of center of chicken mixture. Press corners together. 
8. Brush top with melted butter, sprinkle with sesame seeds (or bread crumbs). 
9. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brown and toasted on top.
10. (Optional)  Heat up a can of cream of chicken soup (do not add milk/water.) Spoon over huts. 

Notes:

Mixing together the ingredients

The originally recipe did not call for cutting the crescent rectangular into two. The picture posted shows the difference in size. The larger ones are very filling, almost too big, which is weird since you can eat two of the smaller ones. 

You don't have to use the soup. It's optional. I like it. 

To make them in bulk, I used:

Sam's Club Canned Chicken - It is a 5-pack of 13-ounce cans. 

One Schnucks brand Canned Chicken - 10 ounces

4 - 8-ounce Cream Cheese

5 Cans of 8-count Crescent rolls

Small bunch of green onions. 

I made four large ones (for dinner and leftovers tonight) and 48 small ones. Then I ate four of them. Yea, I did. I am freezing in groups of 8.

The crescent roll - cut into two. Add the chicken mixture, then pinch together the corners. 

Add caption

Unbaked and Baked comparison. They really puff up.

Here's the four "large ones". I didn't cut the crescent rolls into two squares.
This is a 9x13 pan, so you can imagine how larger they are.
We had asparagus and salad as a side. 

Meat Sauce

Another recipe from The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network. 

Here's what I did. It was DELICIOUS. I actually hope to make it again soon to keep a healthy stock in the freezer. 

Ingredients

3 pounds ground beef (I will use 2 pounds next time)

2 pounds sausage

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large yellow onions, diced (about 1.5 pounds)

3-4 bell peppers, seeded and diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white wine or stock (your choice)

Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes

Two 24-ounce jar good store-bought marinara sauce (or a 44-ounce jar)

Two 15-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes, drained

One 6-ounce can tomato paste

"Spice Mixture"

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

4 bay leaves

3 tablespoons parsley flakes

Directions

In a large pot over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and sausage until totally browned. I added some Italian seasoning and garlic. Pour meat & liquid into strainer. Set meat aside.

Discard any grease in the pot, but do not clean the pot. (You can skip this step as I did below.) Drizzle in the olive oil. When it is heated, throw in the garlic, onions, and bell peppers. Stir and cook for ~5 minutes. Add the wine or stock and allow to boil/bubble and let reduce, another ~5 minutes. 

Add the crushed tomatoes, marinara sauce and tomato paste. Stir to combine, and then add the "Spice Mixture". Stir, and then add the cooked meat. Mix well. Place the lid on the pot and allow to simmer for 1 hour+, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaves before serving.

Notes: 

• Add a little water or some low-sodium broth if it needs more liquid.
• I was impatient on waiting for the meat to cook. Cooking five pounds of meat can take a while. The Pioneer Woman fools you during her half hour show and spending 10 minutes on the sauce. So while I started the meat I also started the rest of it in another pot. You could precook the meat the day before or hours before. 
• Prep everything before hand! I cut all the onions and peppers, and then mixed together the "Spice Mixture" in a little bowl. I had all the cans ready to go, and a paper bag ready to put the cans for recycling. 
• I like the Pioneer Woman because she does use shortcuts. I don't want to cook and crush my own tomatoes. Adding an extra jar of sauce is helpful, and cost effective!

COST

I want to take into account the cost to make this. The Pioneer Woman says she gets 12 servings from it. I got approximately 15 servings. We used some for dinner tonight, I put some in a Tupperware for dinner later this week, and then filled 3 one-gallon freezer bags full (around 3 servings each) for freezing and use later. 

The meat came from my Crooked Creek Cow and I bought some extra pork from Williams Brothers. You can get pork for around $2-4/pound. It just depends on what you purchase. I estimated the meat to be $15. I prefer name brand canned goods, you could make this cheaper by using off brands. 

The other ingredients (minus the staples you should have, like EVEO, garlic, and the Spice Mixture), total almost $15. So $30 for 15 servings, or around $6/meal. Which is pretty good. I got worried at one point with the meat and all the canned goods this would add up and not be reasonable. I think it is reasonable, and can be made cheaper. Next time I'm going to use 2 pounds of ground beef instead of 3 pounds. The sauce was almost too meaty for me. My dad would love it. He likes a little sauce with his meat.

Use what have (AKA, The Freezer Cleanout)

The next quarter of a cow from Crooked Creek Beef is ready.

Big thanks to whoever is also using them! I earned a referral bonus on my quarter and got $35 off. Since I blog about it and FB, I'm not sure who it is, but thanks!

So Saturday we pick up like 150 pounds of meat. And um.... I'm not exactly sure where it's going!

Remember, we have *two* deep freezes! In the beginning of September our stand up freezer looked like this.

<----

And four months later it looks like this ---->

We really need to have two cleaned off shelves for the meat we will receive. 

We still have a ways to go! But not really. Our (Andy's) 5 cu ft freezer is around half full. It was also full before having the baby. 

(NOTE - The rest of the post is mostly for me..... I'm going to keep an online list of what is in my freezer.) 

Our current stash includes: 

2 Tater Tot Casseroles

2 Mom's Lasagnas

2 Red Enchiladas

1 Green Enchiladas

Turkey Chili and Black Bean Soup (Those are the small containers in the door, and filling up the top drawer.)

2 lbs Bacon

5 lbs of Ground Turkey

6 lbs chicken (2-2 lbs cut for crockpot fajitas, 2 lbs cut for grilling)

Brats & Hot Dogs, Hamburger patties, and a few pounds of Ground Beef

T-Bone Steaks

Sirloin Steaks

NY Strip Steaks

Cube Steaks

Rump Roast

Shoulder Roast (defrosting actually, just had Beef Stroganoff and I want it again!)

London Broil

Chuck Steak

And a plastic container full of frozen bags of breast milk. 

In the 5-cu ft deep freeze.

2 Frozen Pizzas

2 Loafs of Bread

4-ounce salmon packs (Bag from Sams' Club)

Mozzarella Cheese & Pepperoni

Various Shredded Cheeses

Eggos

Toasted Ravioli

Fresh Ravioli (from Sam's Club)

Bertolli Meal - I dress it up with more veggies and chicken when I make it. 

5-lb bag of frozen mixed veggies (to make more Tater Tot casseroles)

16 Twice Baked Potatoes

8 Potatoes Au Gratin

Homemade Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche

Our upstairs fridge-freezer has Tater Tots, Eggos, Pizza Rolls, Meatballs, Tortillas, Egg Rolls & General Tso's Chicken;  you know, the important things! 

And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. Seriously. We won't be eating out for awhile!

I hope to make this Spaghetti Meat Sauce and get a bunch frozen. We would have had ravioli recently, but I have no sauce in the house! I was surprised too! 

Menu for this week includes:

Beef Stroganoff

Chinese food

Ravioli

We'll start there.