Part of your seven day meal plan is pulling one (or more) meals from your freezer, the meal that you get to phone in. Below are six more recipes that come together quickly that you can pull from your freezer and literally toss into the over frozen solid. Two use up a bunch of chicken parts that can be purchased on special.
2 for 1: Enchiladas and Island Chicken
I usually make these two dishes at the same time or double up on one or the other.
Ingredients:
4-5 pounds chicken legs and thighs
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 large can enchilada sauce, red or green
1/2 cup Mexican cheese such as Queso Fresco
Flour or corn tortillas (dollar store)
Sour cream, about 1/2 cup
1/4 cup sliced black olives
2 cups rice, cooked (dollar store supplied)
2 cups black beans, cooked (dollar store supplied)
1/2 cup diced pineapple (dollar store canned is fine)
1/2 cup toasted coconut
Zest of two limes and juice
Ground cumin, cayenne and oregano and cilantro
Method: Poach the chicken parts in water until cooked. Cool and pull the meat off the bone, reserving the bones and skin for later. Pull the chicken apart into shreds. Divide into two equal piles.
Lay a tortilla on a flat surface and fill with a tablespoon or so of chicken and cheddar cheese. You may want to heat the tortillas up briefly to make them more pliable. Roll up each enchilada tightly and place in a freezer proof pan. Repeat until you have used up half the chicken. Top with enchilada sauce, Mexican cheese and olives. Cover tightly with foil and freeze until ready to use. To use: Bake straight from the freezer for 75 minutes in a pre-heated 350-deg F oven or thawed for 25 minutes in a 350-deg F oven. Top with sour cream that has been mixed with a bit of cayenne and sprinkle with cilantro.
For the Island Chicken: Mix the rice and beans with the remainder of the chicken. Mix in the pineapple, zest and juice of two limes, along with cumin and oregano to taste. Place in a freezer proof dish and top with toasted coconut. Freeze until ready to use. To bake: place frozen in a 350-deg F oven for one hour. Sprinkle with a bit of water if the rice seems dry. You can also thaw the dish and bake for 20 minutes at 350-deg F. You can top with more cilantro if you like.
You will note that I do not add salt and pepper to either of these dishes. You are free to do so though I find the beans and Mexican cheese salty enough.
Brittany’s Jelly Meat Roll
Before my daughter became seriously gluten intolerant, she would enjoy this simple but delicious dish with a green salad and vegetable on the side.
Phyllo sheets, at least a dozen
1 pound ground beef
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Method: Thaw the phyllo sheets and place them under a damp set of paper towels to keep them from drying out. Meanwhile, sauté the ground beef with salt and pepper to taste. Drain the fat and cool slightly. Working quickly, spread the phyllo sheets out on a flat surface and sprinkle the meat and cheese over the phyllo, carefully roll up jelly style with the seam facing down. At this point you can wrap tightly in foil. When ready to bake, thaw first and bake for 20 minutes in a 325-deg F oven.
Freezer Ribs
This recipe is almost a double phone in, near zero effort. You simply take sliced pork ribs and place them in a freezer zip bag with your favorite (dollar store) BBQ sauce. Toss in some sliced green onions, a bit of soy sauce (a tablespoon or two should do it) and some grated ginger root to amp up the flavor. Freeze. To cook, dump everything, frozen solid, into your slow cooker and cook on low for six to eight hours. Serve with buttered noodles (dollar store) and coleslaw.
Colorado Pork
This is another dump and go recipe that you can use canned tomatillo sauce or make mine if you have fresh tomatillos available. I buy a bag of them at my local discount grocery store for just a few dollars and it is worth the 15 minutes it takes to whip up the sauce.
Ingredients
3 large or 4 medium thick cut pork chops
One large can of tomatillo sauce or 2 pounds fresh tomatillos, one large onion, five large dried Mexican chilis, six cloves of garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken stock.
To make the sauce you will need to roast everything but the chicken stock and seasonings. You can most easily do this in a screaming hot 450-deg F oven on a cookie sheet until the tomatillos are blistered. Once the tomatillos are blistered, remove the sheet pan and let everything cool. Place everything plus the chicken stock and seasonings in a blender and process until smooth. Dice the pork chops into bite-sized pieces and place in a freezer zip bag along with the sauce. Freeze. When you are ready to eat the dish, simply dump it all frozen into a slow cooker and cook on low for six to eight hours.
thefrugallife 