It's dinner time!

So, for the past two weeks, I have been cooking dinner for the upcoming week and freezing it. Let me just say, this is the best decision I've made in a long time! This past week, as you know, school started. I knew with going back to work and all the other stuff we normally do, I wouldn't feel like cooking. Not to mention, it's like 110 here and who wants to stand over a hot oven when it's like an oven outside. So, what I decided to do was buy some of those aluminum pans with the lids and put my meals in them. Then this week, I found this...

I found them at Kroger. $4.99 for two. I'll let you know how I like them.

Here are some of the things I made this week.

Cheeseburger Casserole (not my favorite but the kids loved it!)
2 cans cheddar cheese soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 pound burger meat
1 bag frozen french fries

Cook the burger meat and add the soups. Pour into your baking dish and top with the french fries. Cover and freeze. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then cook on 400 until the fries are golden.

****I doubled this and made two extras because I had some ladies I needed to take dinner too. You could double and make two or if you are a smaller family, you could make one and put it in smaller dishes.

Bacon Chicken
6 chicken breasts thawed and cut in half long ways
1 pkg cream cheese
12 strips of bacon
seasoning of your choice (I used a garlic/wine powder)

Cut the chicken long ways to make it thin or you can pound it out flat. You will mix your cream cheese with your seasoning (the recipe called for onions and chives but I knew the kids wouldn't like that)Spoon a small amount of the cheese onto the chicken and roll up. Wrap with bacon and place in dish seam side down. Wrap up and freeze. You will want to thaw over night in the fridge. Cook on 350 for 30-45 minutes until the chicken is done. Then put the oven on broil for about 6 minutes to let the bacon get crispy.

**I cooked with fresh veggies from the farmer's market and the kids (including tony) loved this one!

Mexican Taco Pasta
1 bag of egg noodles
1 pound burger meat
1 pkg taco seasoning
1/2 cup taco sauce
1/2 cup chunky salsa
1 can of corn (drained) (I used frozen)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

Cook the egg noodles and mix together all of the other ingredients. Put in dish, cover and place in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge over night. Cook on 350 or until the middle is not cold. You can add cheese if you'd like either before or after you freeze.

This week, I made lasagna, spaghetti sauce, "dump" chicken. I'll post those recipes in another blog.

Cooking all of this on a Saturday night took me about 3 hours because I bought 5 lbs of burger meat and just divided it out for each meal. I think it's a great trade off not to have to cook anything this next week!

Happy cooking and freezing. Let me know how this turns out for you. And if you have any recipes you want to share, please feel free to post them on my comments and I will blog them sometime too!