Cooking Day

In an effort to start 2018 off right, my friend Candice and teamed up to cook for the month.  Years ago I tried once a month cooking.  Hannah was 3, Sarah was 2, and Will was almost 1, and I was a stay at home mom.  Although I was home every afternoon to cook, once a month cooking was the fad among my Sunday School circle, so I decided to give it a try.  Handy meals were nice, but the long day of work (made more complicated with little children) was not worth it to me AT THAT TIME. 

Boy, have times changed.  Now, those little kids have grown up into BUSY teenagers, and I am no longer a stay at home mom.  As a working mother with a busy schedule, I am often not home from teaching and practice until 5:30 pm or later.  This makes cooking dinner, one aspect of adulthood that has never brought me great joy, a difficulty. 

Candice and I decided that quantity was more important than variety, so we made 6 batches of 8 different dishes. We split the meals, so both families had 24 meals in the freezer.  This kept the prep rather simple, and it seemed to work well.  Cooking day was still an all day affair, but it was more fun with a friend, and I think the team work definitely shortened the prep time due to the principle of divide and conquer. 
We will be cooking again, and I think next time we will also add on some breakfast foods such as muffins and breakfast burritos to freeze individually.  These will make healthier "on the go" breakfasts for everyone as we are running out the door in the mornings.


SOUTHWESTERN QUINOA (8 Weight Watchers points WITH cheese)
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 can black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp garlic
1 cup onion
1 cup water
1 Tbsp cumin
1 can enchilada sauce
1 pound cooked ground turkey (or chicken- meat is optional)
Optional Toppings: cilantro, cheese, sour cream

Mix all the ingredients except the toppings into a crock pot and cook on low for about 4 hours.


TACO SOUP
1# ground meat
1 onion
1 can ranch style beans
1 can kidney beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 can rotel
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 packet taco season
1 packet ranch season
5-8 cups water

Place in ziploc bag (without the added water).  To cook, place in crock pot or on stove top and cook until beans are soft.  Serve with tortilla chips


SWEET POTATO SHEPHERD'S PIE
4 sweet potatoes
2Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp paprika
Sea salt 

2tsp olive oil
1 onion
1 lb ground turkey
2c frozen veggies
2 tsp worsteshire
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 c chicken stock
salt and pepper

Cook sweet potatoes, mash with oil, paprika, and sea salt. 

Prepare filling: Add olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, stir, and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add turkey and chop into small bites using wooden spoon.  Season with salt and pepper, cook until turkey is ALMOST done. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook until turkey is done.   Place in bottom of a 9x13 freezable baking dish.  Spread sweet potatoes over the top.  Cover with foil, and freeze.  Thaw, bake at 400 for 30 minutes. 

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
10 large tortillas (burrito size)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 onion
1 Tbsp garlic
1 can chopped green chilis
1 can black beans
1 cup sour cream
1 cup frozen corn

2 cups shredded cheese for filling
1 large can enchilada sauce

Saute onion and garlic in a little butter or olive oil.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Spoon into tortillas and add a serving of the shredded cheese.  Fold tortilla into a burrito shape and place in pan.  When all enchiladas are folded and in pan, pour the can of enchilada sauce over the top.  Cover with foil and freeze.  To bake, 350 for 30-45 minutes.


SAUSAGE and PEPPERS
1 pound beef sausage, sliced
1 onion sliced
3 bell peppers (different colors) sliced
2 cans diced tomatoes, fire roasted- NOT drained
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cajun season

mix all ingredients in a freezer ziploc.  To cook, place in crockpot for 5-6 hours or cook on stovetop until peppers are soft and sausage is done. Serve over brown rice or in tortillas.


CILANTRO LIME CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/3 cup cilantro, loosely packed

Place everything into ziploc bag. To cook, thaw and bake 350 for 35 minutes.  Grill until no longer pink inside.  Or cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.


MEATLOAF MUFFINS (2 WW points)
1.25 pound package turkey meat (we used deer meat)
1 /2 cup bread crumbs
1 cup finely diced onions
1 egg
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Mix all ingredients EXCEPT BBQ sauce and form 9 balls.  Flash freeze on cookie sheet and then place in ziploc bag.  To bake, remove meatballs and place in muffin tins or on a broiler sheet.  Top with BBQ sauce and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes


LEMON-GARLIC CHICKEN
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4-6 chicken breasts

Dump everything into a freezer ziploc.  To cook, thaw and bake 350 for 35 minutes.  Grill until no longer pink inside.  Or cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Along with all of the meals, we went ahead and made several batches of brown rice to bag and freeze.