Dinner's ready!

About a year and a half ago I started getting together with my friends Bex and Kathy to make freezer meals. At first, it was a little overwhelming. Have you ever cleaned, chopped and cooked 15 pounds of chicken at once? Let me tell you, it can make you not want to eat chicken for a while....

When we first started, we used the cook book Cooking Among Friends for inspiration. We primarily made meals that were completely cooked and just had to be heated. This method is fine for a lot of dishes; chicken pot pie, shepherd’s pie, most soups and lasagna all reheat very well. However, there were some disappointments. While all of the recipes we tried were tasty, meat tends to get a little tough after being cooked, frozen and then reheated.

In November, a group of my friends went to one of those meal assembly places, like Dream Dinners, but not. After spending close to $200, I went home with six different dishes, divided into 12 meals. It was a lot of fun. All the prep work was done and we didn’t have to clean. We drank wine and laughed while dumping ingredients into freezer bags. However, I can’t say that I have been overly impressed with my meals. Don’t get me wrong, nothing has been bad, it's just been very basic. For $200, I expected a lot more. We did learn a valuable lesson though…leaving the meat raw not only saves a tremendous amount of prep time, but also guarantees that it will be tender and juicy when you are ready to prepare it.

This weekend Bex, Kathy and I got together and cooked. We each chose two recipes from Dream Dinners and purchased ingredients to make six batches of each. From start to finish, it took 3.5 hours to prepare, package and clean up after making six different recipes and a total of 36 meals. It was just as much fun as the pricey meal assembly place and really not much more work. I now have twelve delicious meals in my freezer and best of all, it only cost $80. Works for me!

Here are the recipes for the two meals that I made:

Chicken Cordon Bleu (1 meal)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 slices of ham, thinly sliced
6 slices Swiss cheese
½ c canned cream of chicken soup
¼ c white wine
¼ c sour cream
1 T Dijon mustard
1 c mushrooms, sliced
1 t minced garlic
¼ t ground nutmeg
1 t kosher salt
½ t black pepper
2 scallions, chopped

Place each chicken breast on a cutting board. Arrange a slice of ham and Swiss cheese on top of each one. Roll each chicken breast tightly and secure with a toothpick. Place in baking dish.

In a bowl combine everything but the scallions. Mix thoroughly. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with scallions.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes at 375.

To freeze, cover with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw in refrigerator before cooking as directed above.

Slow-Cooked Barbecued Beef (1 meal)

2 lbs beef chuck roast
1 c yellow onions, diced
1 t minced garlic
2 c ketchup
¼ c balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
¼ c packed brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper

Place roast in crockpot. In a bowl, combine other ingredients and mix well. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours, until the meat falls apart easily. Shred the meat with a fork and serve over hamburger buns or potatoes.

To freeze, place the roast in a freezer bag and pour sauce in. Thaw in refrigerator and cook as directed above.

I’ve already tried them both and they were delicious!