more OAMC recipes

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 boneless chicken breast
2--14 1/2 oz cans chicken broth
1 tb. cumin
1 -- 14 1/2 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 can drained corn
1 can rinsed black beans
1 jar salsa (I like black beans and corn salsa, newman's own has a good one and so does Walmart)

Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high

When done take out chicken and shred, return to pot

Eat with Tortilla chips

to serve: put shredded cheese on bottom of bowl and add soup.YUMMY!! (I did not do this step and it was still awesome)

http://onceamonthmom.com/chicken-parmigiana/

Spaghetti- (this makes A LOT- you can use some of it to go with calzones, manicotti, chicken parm, etc)

3lb italian sausage

3 small cans tomato paste

3 chopped onions

3 chopped bell peppers

salt, pepper, garlic (or powder)

garlic

brown ground beef, drain fat. add tomato paste, onion, pepper, seasonings, water. cook on low 1 hour, add water to thickness desired.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/herbed-tomatoes-chicken-rice-69217.aspx

with this one, the cilantro and tomato to put on top didn't freeze well, but it was good without it

KING RANCH CHICKEN CASSEROLE

1 cup Onions -- diced
1 cup Green Bell Peppers -- diced
1/2 pound Mushrooms
1/4 cup Butter or Margarine
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 pound Cheddar Cheese -- shredded
2 cups Chicken -- cooked and diced
1 can Tomatoes with Green Chilis
1 clove Garlic -- minced
2 tablespoon Chili Powder
1 tablespoon Chicken Broth
12 Corn Tortillas -- torn into quarters

In a large pan, saut� onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms in butter, Add soups, tomatoes & chilies, garlic, chili powder, and chicken broth. Line bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with pieces of tortillas. Spread half the chicken over the tortillas and top with half of the sauce, then half of the cheese. Cover with another layer of torn corn tortillas, and repeat the chicken, sauce and cheese layers. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 6

HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES

2 pounds Lean Ground turkey
1 medium Onion -- chopped
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Prepared Mustard
1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons Catsup

Brown ground beef & onion in a large skillet and drain. Add other ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve on buns or over broken bread.

I added more ketchup and mustard than this called for because it tasted too "bbqy" to me, so taste test as you go :)

Chicken Chili

1.5 Lbs chicken
4 (16oz)cans navy beans
4 (4.5oz)cans chopped green chiles
1 C chicken broth
1 envelope white chili seasoning
Toppings: cilantro, cheese, avocado, tomatoes

Cook chicken at med high heat.
Stir in beans, chiles, broth, seasoning. Cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 min.

http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/04/broccoli-and-cheese-stuffed-chicken.html this was really good, but next time I'll cook the broccoli a little bit before baking

http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/11/turkey-cutlets-with-parmesan-crust.html

http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/chicken-cordon-bleu.html

Taco soup-

2 lbs ground beef

2 cups chopped onion

2 15oz cans pink kidney beans

2 15oz cans corn, drained

1 14oz can Del Monte Mexican tomatoes

1 14oz can diced tomatoes

1 14oz can del monte tomatoes with chilies

2 14oz cans diced green chilies

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

1 1oz pkg ranch salad dressing mix

corn chips

sour cream

cheddar cheese

brown ground beef and onions in large skillet, drain fat. transfer to crockpot. add beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies, olives and seasoning. cook on low for 6-8 hours.- serve with corn chips, sour cream, and cheese

Brunswick stew- (don't drain anything)

2 large cans crushed tomatoes

1 can white creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn

1 container bbq beef

1 container bbq pork

2 large cans chicken- white breast in water

1 medium onion, chopped

all ingredients in crockpot, low heat 1 hour

Porkchop casserole-

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 porkchops

1 1/2 cups rice

1 (10oz) can french onion soup

2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup chopped green onions

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

1 tablespoon butter

preheat oven to 350. in skillet, heat oil and brown pork chops on both sides. set aside. layer rice in casserole dish. mix soup, broth, green onions, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. pour mixture over rice. place pork chops over rice and liquid mixture. dab pork chops with butter. cover with foil and bake 50 minutes.

Corn soup- (I wasn't a big fan of this one, but here's the recipe if it sounds like you'd like it!)

1 large onion, chopped

1lb ham

1 link pork sausage

2 cans whole sweet corn

1 can cream corn

1 can stewed tomatoes in rotel

1 small can tomato sauce

1-1 1/2 cans water

2 large potatoes

brown onions with meat, cook 30-45 min. add corns, tomatoes, and cook 20 min. then add potatoes, 1 1/2 can water and cook 30 min. more

Gumbo

2 frozen cajun/creole seasoning mix

2 cartons chicken broth

1 whole chicken- deboned and cut up

1 lb sausage link

serve over rice

Manicotti-

1 8oz pkg manicotti

1 T veg oil

1 15 oz. carton ricotta cheese

1 16oz carton cottage cheese

1 cup mozz. cheese

1/3 grated parm. cheese

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 T fresh parsley

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

boil manicotti, adding oil to water so they don't stick. meanwhile, mix ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, mozz, parm, salt, pepper, parsley and eggs. drain manicotti, run cold water over it. stuff each manicotti with cheese mixture. pour sauce around, cover and freeze. to serve- bake at 350 covered for 45 min. uncover and bake 15 min.

French bread pizza-

1 loaf unsliced french bread pizza (not sour dough)

3 cups spaghetti sauce

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

1 cup grated mozz. cheese

3oz pepperoni slices (1/2 package)

assemble on day it's served- put sauce in container, cheese in container, pepperoni in bag. wrap bread in foil. freeze together. thaw bread, sauce, cheese and pepp. slice bread in 1/2 length wise. layer sauce, parm. cheese, pepp. and mozz. cheese on each 1/2. set over to broil and/or 550. place bread on baking sheet and put in oven. broil until cheese is melted.

Red beans-

6 cans dark red kidney beans

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1/2 lb sliced picnic ham

1 T garlic salt

1lb smoked sausage

white rice

mix well ingredients together in a large boiler. add 3 cups water. cook on low for 2 hours. add water if needed. stir often while cooking. add sausage that has been cut into bite sizes. cook for 30 minutes. stir often. serve over cooked rice.

Chili Hamburgers

1lb ground beef

2 T finely chopped green bell pepper

1 T mincled onion

1 T chili powder

1 T chili sauce

1/4 t black pepper

1/2 t salt

4 hamburger buns

thoroughly mix all ingredients except buns. shape into 4 patties. freeze with wax paper between patties. thaw patties and buns, grill and serve on buns with shredded cheese (monterey jack)

chili verde-

8oz. dry pinto beans (1 1/4 cup)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 4oz can chopped green chilies

1 tsp. ground cumin

3/4 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup monterey jack cheese

1 dozen corn tortillas

1 11 1/2 oz. jar salsa

rinse pinto beans, soak in cold water overnight, then drain. cut chicken into 1" cubes, cook until no longer pink in small amount of water. combine with chilies and seasoning. refrigerate until needed. at same time, combine beans, water, bouillon cubes, garlic, salt and onion in large pot. bring to boil. reduce heat, simmer until beans are soft, about 1 hour. add more water if needed.

combine chicken and spices w/ beans. simmer 10 minutes. cool and freeze. to serve- thaw chili, simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

after defrosting/reheating- top w/ salsa and cheese, serve on tortilla w/ sour cream.

Chicken pot pie-

1 rotesserie chicken- deboned

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cans veg all

club crackers

combine first 4 together, put crackers on top & butter. bake at 350 for 15 minutes until crackers are brown. (when freezing, add crackers/butter just before reheating)

mexican lasagna-

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

2/3 cup water

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 15oz can black beans

1 can mexican rotel

6 flour tortillas

1 can refried beans

3 cups mexican cheese blend

cook beef, pepper and onion in skillet, drain. add water & taco seasoning, bring to boil. reduce, simmer (uncovered) 2 minutes. stir in black beans and rotel. simmer uncovered 10 minutes, place 2 tortillas in greased 13x9 dish. spread with 1/2 of refried beans and meat mixture. sprinkle w/. 1 cup cheese. repeat layers. top with remaining tortillas and cheese. cover and bake @350 for 25-30 min.

when freezing, just make the meat mixture- add the tortillas, refried beans and cheese after defrosting

Big Ideas

Over the past couples weeks I started thinking a lot about ways to save money and that lead me to think of some hobbies/activities that I really want to start doing.

One thing that I've been doing for a couple weeks is couponing. I'd like to get really good at it and be able to save hundreds of dollars in one trip, but I think I'm a ways away from that still. I've saved a good bit of money on my last couple trips and got a couple really great deals (free stuff, etc).

A couple more things that I'd really love to start doing soon-

• gardening: I'm planning on starting one soon... have to wait on some extra monetary funds to get this started.
• baking: I'm a big fan of baking in general and saw a couple yummy looking recipes for homemade bread. I'd love to start having more "from scratch" things in my house.
• sewing: I have a sewing machine and I've sewed a couple things, but nothing that required too much work or skill. I really would like to learn how to do it though, I'd love to be able to make cute dresses for the girls. Great money saver too!

Right now I'm working on keeping my house clean. With a 21 month old and a 7 month old, my life stays pretty busy, but it's starting to settle down some and I'm regaining control over my house!

I'm working with the flylady system. I'm on day 5 now and my house is looking pretty good :) Our bedroom is the last room to be cleaned, and that's on the agenda for this week.

Cooking Extravaganza!

This post is mainly just pictures, and explanations of the pictures :) To the left is my stocked freezer, full of all of these delicious meals. This time I made a list of all the meals I made, that way I can cross it off when we eat it and when I ask Andrew what he wants for dinner, and he says "what do we have?" I don't have to dig through the freezer to see what's left! I'm so smart... I know ;)












This is my chicken curry. We haven't eaten it yet, but I did a couple taste tests as I was putting the servings in freezer bags- pretty tasty! I was a little worried because mine does NOT look like the pictures from the blog I got the recipe from. I don't really know why. I think I might've burnt the flour/onion/apple mixture just a little bit, but I can't taste it at all, so I don't really know why it would've made SUCH a big color difference. Oh well. I'm looking forward to trying this one.... I'm always a fan of trying new things, and in this recipe I used several ingredients that I had never used before.








This is all of the ingredients for quesadillas. I've had 2 of these- they're GOOD! These and the calzones are my go to meals when Andrew's at work and I don't feel like making myself something. These you take out of the freezer, put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and they're ready to eat. Not much thought required.







This is what's inbetween the layers of tortillas. It's chicken, cheese, tomatoes, green pepper, onion and a few different spices. I eat it with sour cream. Alexis even likes them, and for the most part eats the chicken and onions/peppers without even knowing that's what she just ate ;)














Chicken Tetrizini- this looks so good... another one I'm really excited about trying. I did a lot of recipes this month that had pasta in them. I didn't think that pastas froze well for the most part, but I got the recipes off of freezer meal blogs and the like, so I went with it. I'll report back :)







This is the cheese sauce for the mac and cheese... yum :) Alexis taste tested the mac and cheese before I put it in the bag. She seemed to like it- not a big surprise though, she would live off of mac and cheese if I would let her. Well, maybe mac and cheese and bananas....








Andrew was in charge of the girls for the day. After Alexis woke up from her nap, I heard lots of laughing coming from her room... so I went to see what was so funny. Osc (that's what Alexis calls our dog Oscar- Osc) and baby were going night night! Very funny stuff ;)








This is my stash of supplies as the cooking was first getting underway. I apologize for the unorganized order of the pictures in this post. I barely have the time to post this at all, so you'll just have to bare with me on this one :)









Meatloaf- in a crockpot! It was very tasty. However, I would either not cook it quite all the way. Or make sure it's 100% defrosted before reheating. I didn't have time to defrost it all the way, so I had to heat it longer in the oven and it was just a *little* dry. I dip my meatloaf in ketchup when I'm eating it, so I didn't really mind it- but if you make it, I suggest doing one of the above things to prevent it from being too dry.





Yummy calzones- canned pizza dough, cut into 4ths, add cheese and toppings- close and freeze (I wrap it in wax paper and then stick it in a freezer bag). Then I bake it straight from the freezer at 400 for about 30 minutes. Super easy for lunch or dinner when Andrew's at work :)
I also keep a jar of spaghetti/pizza sauce on hand in the pantry for dipping.






Stroganoff on the right and pizza pasta on the left. They both get things added to them after they're defrosted, but the hard work has been done and now they're sitting in my freezer.

It's gonna be a good month and a half of eating in my house! :)

Once a Month Cooking part 3

I didn't blog about part two, but this is the 3rd time I've done cooking for a month. I cooked in the beginning of January, again toward the end of February and tomorrow I'll cook again. It's nice that this "once a month" cooking is lasting longer than a month!

1. http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/cheesyrotini.html

2. stroganoff (no "recipe" for this that I have written down. this is how my mom made it and she taught me without a recipe, but the jist is- 1lb ground beef, browned. add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 3/4 can milk, and 2-3 heaping spoonfuls sour cream. freeze w/ just ground beef and soup- when you defrost add the milk and sour cream. serve over egg noodles)

3. Brunswick stew

2 large cans crushed tomatoes

1 can white creamed corn

1 can whole kernal corn

1 container bbq beef

1 container bbq pork

2 large cans of chicken- white breast in water

1 medium onion

cook in crockpot 1 hour

4. pizza- mushroom and olives w/ cheese (I'm not freezing anything for this, just have the crust, mushroom, olives and jar of sauce in the pantry)

5. http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/chickenquesadillas.html

6. http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/seafoodpasta.html

7. manicotti (cooking this again from part 1)

8. http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-cheeseburger-meatloaf-115338.aspx

9.http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/lowfatpizzapasta.html

10. calzones (also from part 1)

11.http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/06/chicken-curry-over-rice.html

12.Chicken Tetrazzini
-3 c of cooked, cubed chicken
-½ c of flour
-2 c of milk
-½ c butter
-Can of cream of celery soup
-Small onion chopped
-1/2 c chopped bell pepper
-8oz can of mushrooms
-1 tbps basil
-1 c of chicken broth
-6oz of spaghetti
-1 sleeve of ritz crackers, crushed
-1/4 lb of shredded cheese
(You can personalize it and leave the onions/pepper/mushrooms out depending on your taste)
DIRECTIONS
1. Make white sauce of butter, flour, milk. Add celery soup and mushrooms, onion, bell pepper. Cook until tender.
2. Cook spaghetti in salted water until done.
3. Combine cooked spaghetti, white sauce and cooked chicken. Add basil and chicken broth. Put in 9 X 13 pan and top with crushed ritz and shredded cheese. 4. Cook at 350F until cheese is melted.

This meal makes a lot. We always get two meals out of it so you can actually put it in two 8 X 8’s or 9 X 9’s and freeze one. If you are freezing it, wait to put the crackers and cheese until you go to bake it to keep them from getting soggy.

(I, Sara, have not made this- the notes you see up there come from the person I got the recipe from :) )

13. mexican lasagna (from part 1)

15.http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/freezer-oven-mac-and-cheese/
16. kraft meatballs http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/jumbo-meatballs-95056.aspxhttp://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/jumbo-meatballs-95056.aspx
17. chicken tacos- cook chicken w/ salsa in crockpot- serve shredded w/ tacos (we actually went ahead and did this tonight, yum!)

I'll take pictures tomorrow and post an update after I'm done. My last endeavor took FOREVER. I had a lot of chicken recipes and wasn't very organized. So this time I have more ground beef, and I have a "battle plan" going in. Hoping it doesn't take too long because I have playgroup tomorrow in the morning and small group tomorrow night! And I need to make potato skins for small group tomorrow...

I stink at this

I can barely remember to brush my teeth... no wonder I forget about this blog!

My once a month cooking venture has been going great. I'm 4 months into the year and I've had to do it 2 times. I love it. I've already planned the menu for the 3rd cooking day, but I'm always looking for new meals that freeze well, so if you have any- please share! I'm also looking for cheaper meals to make too. This past month I made some yummy things, but I used a lot of chicken, which is expensive!

My focus the past few days has been on finances. We're cutting back a lot, out of necesity. I'd love to hear unique tips on saving money... in any area of life really!

Duty calls- my goal was to post a quick update and then head to bed, but Kaitlyn is awake, so I must feed her, and then get myself to bed.

Farewell!

Once a month cooking

Yesterday I spent all day at my friend's (Brooke) house cooking! She's been doing once a month cooking for about a year now, and I wanted to see exactly how she did it. So I loaded up all my groceries, cookware, 3 crockpots (I borrowed 2 from other friends), and my girls (and all their stuff!) and headed over to Brooke's house first thing in the morning. I got there at 9am and didn't leave until after 9pm! It was a long day, but I think in the end it will be worth it.
Brooke also promised me that in your own house when you're doing it by yourself it doesn't take nearly as long. She said she's normally done by 3-4pm when she starts at 8am. I had to stop several times to deal with the girls (bottle feedings, lunch, naps, snack, complete screaming fits from Kaitlyn that lasted a good 30 minutes), so I do think it wouldn't take as long if Andrew was home to watch Alexis and Kaitlyn.

We started the morning by chopping onions and green peppers. A good amount of the recipes called for either onions or peppers to be cooked with the meat. Then we started on the recipes, we started one meal in a crockpot, and one meal on the stove. Then we browned ground beef for another recipe. After a meat was cooked, we could start another crockpot going... we had a lot of crockpots! Brooke borrowed some from ladies at work, and her husband borrowed some from people at his work too.

most of our crockpots (we had 3 others that didn't make it into the picture)

I actually still have a couple things to do- our spaghetti sauce wasn't enough for all the things we were going to use it for, so instead of cutting out 2 of the meals, I'm going to buy 2 more cans of tomato paste and mix that (and some water) in. And my corn soup wasn't cooked by 9pm, so I just brought the crockpot home and let it cook on low the rest of the night.
I also need to put my calzones together, but that shouldn't take long at all, I just forgot my mozzarella at home, so I couldn't do it yesterday.

Here is what's on the menu for meals in the Gentry house for the next month---
taco soup
Brunswick stew
porkchop casserole
corn soup
gumbo (I won't attempt this one on my own- Brooke is from Louisiana ;) )
spaghetti
manicotti
individual pizzas (pepperoni)
red beans (this has red beans, sausage and ham... you make rice the day of to serve it over)
calzones
chili verde
chili hamburgers (these look good! they have green peppers, chili powder and chili sauce mixed it, I'm going to shred Monterrey jack cheese on top when we make them)
chicken pot pie
mexican lasagna (this is kind of a mexican casserole- tortillas instead of noodles layered in the dish)

it's going to be a yummy month!


this is what my freezer looks like now- I actually still have room for Alexis's breakfast stuff, some veggies, etc. And another pic a little bit closer up on the frozen meals. There are bags of veggies in the baskets too that you can't really see, but those make the baskets a lot fuller.

The night before I have to decide what we want to eat the next day and put it in the fridge to defrost. Depending on the meal, before serving I either put it in a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes (give or take), or put it in a pot and stir for 15-20 minutes. Some of the meals I have to cook rice to go with it, or put it together (like the pizza). But these are much fancier meals than I would do on a normal night because they take too long! I'll report back in a month and let you know if it was worth it!

Back on the wagon

I'm jumping back on the blogging band wagon for 2010! I love being able to look back and see what has happened in my (and my family's) life over the past few months, and I feel like this is a great outlet to do that.

Since today is the first day of the new year I thought I would post about my goals for the year. I hate to use the term "New Year's Resolutions" because I feel like the definition of a new year's resolution is just something that you say for funsies and don't really mean! So, I'm saying that these are goals... not resolutions.

1. Run/jog a 5K- I need to be more active, and this is a great way to do it. I am going to start "training" on Monday. I'm looking forward to it (talk to me again Monday night and we'll see how I'm feeling!). I need to update my ipod with my new CDs I got for Christmas (yes, I got CDs. I still listen to music on CDs)

2. Start once a month cooking- I have a friend that does this and she's hosting a "how to" at her house next Friday. I'm really excited about this one. I feel like at the end of the day I'm drained from taking care of a newborn (is she still a newborn? she's 3 months old already! *tear*) and a toddler. I don't feel like cooking, and I definitely don't feel like cleaning up afterward! This way I can cook once a month, freeze what I cook and have precooked meals ready to go each day!

3. Limit my fast food intake to once a week- fast food is bad for you, we all know that. But I think it's unrealistic of me to say that I'll never have it again. There are some weeks that I don't have fast food at all, but then there are some weeks that things are so crazy I end up in the drive through several times. My goal this year is to not let that happen. Hopefully the once a month cooking will help with that.

4. Photo 365 I got this idea from my online mommy friend Jaimie. I love her blog, her blog inspired me to start blogging again. I'm going to take one picture every day in 2010. Not to say that many days I'll take more. If you follow me on facebook you know that I take lots of pictures! But there are days that I don't bring out the camera. This will also make me more intentional about the photos I take. I take tons of pictures of the girls, but hardly any of myself, or anything else for that matter! I'm excited about this one too.

So, there are my goals for 2010. I'm looking forward to see what 2010 has in store for me and my family.