Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Power Hour: Introducing Our "Four to Six Freezer Foods in an Hour" Program






Watch our blog (and FB page) for our new summer series, "Power Hour," in which we will share recipes (with varying amounts and numbers of servings) that you can make in an hour (or less with some young helpers!) and make four to six (or more if making for three or four people) freezer entrees.

If you have always wanted to try freezer cooking, but an entire program of one whole day (or week!) of cooking feels overwhelming to you, our "Power Hour" might be just the thing to get you over the fear of freezer cooking!

Think your family won't like the foods? I have been freezer cooking for twenty-three years this summer, and while I have definitely evolved as a freezer cook, I have hundreds of recipes that my family loves--and not just layered or bagged casseroles either! Some of our favorites that I will be sharing with you include potato casserole, braised beef cube mix, meatloaves, meatballs, sausage rice stir fry, parmesan chicken breasts, poor man's steak, spaghetti pie, meats for stir fries and fajitas, and much more. And you can do each one in under an hour!

We'll post our first one the week of June 9th, so stay "posted"! :) And share with your friends!

Monday, May 27, 2013

FAST 5-MINUTE FAMILY FIXES---(Fajita) Chicken Crisps






Here is another potential five-minute-prep meal that my family loves! This is a good family night treat in lieu of getting take out pizzas.




Pre-cooked/pre-made chicken*

Shredded cheese of your choice

Flour tortillas

Garlic flavored non stick cooking spray (or melted butter with garlic)

Optionals: Onions and peppers (sometimes I have these pre-cooked and frozen with my meat; sometimes I don't use them at all)


*I usually use fajita chicken I have in my freezer from freezer cooking---but any already-made chicken will work in a pinch, such as store bought fajita chicken strips, rotisserie chicken chunks, or even canned chicken {drained}. You can also stick a couple of boneless breasts or thighs in a half a cup of broth and cook in micro until done and use that meat. Of course, you could make Beef Crisps with roast beef or hamburger crisps with taco flavored ground beef. 




Unbaked Fajita Chicken Crisps---These broil REALLY fast, so watch them closely!


1. Lay flour torts out on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the tops of the torts and broil them under the broiler until tanned and somewhat crispy (twenty to sixty seconds---watch carefully!).

2. Remove torts from oven and sprinkle with chicken (and veggies, if desired) then shredded cheese.

3. Put pan back under broiler until cheese is bubbly (one minute or so--watch carefully!).

4. Cut in fourths and serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, black olives, etc.

Note: This is a good way to use up leftovers--and can be made lower carb than many other Mexican dishes because it only uses one tortilla each and you can really top it with a lot of protein and veggies. Also, for lower cards, use the Carb Balance tortilla shells.