Freezer Cooking with Slow Cooker Recipes

I ran across the blog Mama and Baby Love where a post about Freezer Cooking with Slow Cooker Recipes was shared. Awesome! I have my shopping list ready to give this a try! =)

I recommend her blog! Check it out! =)

Thanksgiving Recipe ~ Baked Corn

Baked Corn is a Thanksgiving Favorite for our family as well as throughout the year. I always make it for our Christmas Dinner too. It's prepared with ingredients you may keep around in your pantry, freezer and refrigerator.

BAKED CORN

4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 cups corn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs and milk together. Stir in flour until well blended. Add sugar, salt, pepper and melted butter. Add corn and stir gently. Pour into 9x13 baking dish that has been greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until knife inserted into center of casserole comes out clean. All ovens bake differently, so you may need to bake it a bit longer than 45 minutes.

Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions & Recipes

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I thought it would be fun if we shared our Traditions & Recipes for the day.

I'll start =)

We are blessed to live nearby my inlaws and they host Thanksgiving giving us the opportunity to spend time with the members of our BIG family. My husband has 4 sisters, so between all of us and the many daughters, nieces... we have a great meal. Of course we always have the traditional foods of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, bread/rolls, pies, but many other delicious foods show up as well to round out the meal.

I usually volunteer to make a number of things and one of them is often homemade bread or rolls. Here is my go-to recipe for Homemade Bread from a previous blog post http://inkelleyskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/08/bread-baking-binge.html

What is your favorite Thanksgiving Recipe?

Chicken Casserole Recipe ~ Comfort Meal from the Pantry

This is one of those super simple recipes that you can easily adjust to the amount of people you are feeding. It's from almost all pantry ingredients.

Chicken Casserole

Potato Layer:
3 cups instant potato flakes
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 T. butter
1 cup milk

Boil 3 cups water, add salt & butter, stir in potato flakes & then add milk, mixing until potatoes are fluffy. Spread into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Stuffing Layer:
1 box instant stuffing mix, prepared according to instructions on box
Spread over potato layer.

Chicken Layer:
1 9.75oz can chicken breast
Drain and put over stuffing layer, breaking chicken chunks apart if necessary.

Corn Layer:
1 can corn
Drain & put over chicken layer

Gravy Layer:
1 jar chicken gravy
Pour over top

Sprinkle top of casserole with dried parsely.

Bake at 350 until heated through or may be heated through in the microwave.

Veteran's Day

I ran across this Veteran's Day Tribute & wanted to share. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfBUUZNbFM&fe

“Thank You, Soldiers" was written by music teacher Michael Souders and his wife, Angela, was recorded by the 3rd graders at Tussing Elementary School, in Colonial Heights, Virginia, and subsequently uploaded with a picture video to Youtube. The song was intended to be a heart-felt ‘thank you’ to veterans and current serving soldiers.

Party Potatoes / Hashbrown Casserole (Recipe)

With the Holidays coming up, I thought I would pull out this tried and true recipe to share again.

Cooking for a Crowd-Potatoes for a Party
(This is my version of Party Potatoes/Hashbrown Casserole. I make it often when entertaining or cooking for a crowd. My family "has to have it" at Holiday Dinners! Enjoy!)

Party Potatoes
Ingredients:
2 - 32 oz. bags frozen hash browns (cubes)
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
16 oz. sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celerycream of chicken)
Salt & pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried parsley
Topping:
2 c. frosted flakes
4 T. butter, melted

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, onions, sour cream, soup, salt, pepper, basil & parsley. Stir in shredded cheese and then mix with potatoes. Pour into 1/2 size aluminum deep foil pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle frosted flakes evenly over potatoes flakes and drizzled melted butter over top. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

For my daughter's wedding reception, I made batches of these ahead a few at a time (a total of 8 pans) as time permitted, covered well with heavy duty foil, and froze them (uncooked) until the day before the party. I thawed them in our spare refrigerator and then baked them on party day. 2 of these half pans fit in my roaster side by side for serving - I kept extra pans warm in the oven to refill serving area as needed. This recipe may also be made in 2 - 9 x 11 pans for use where you're not using a roaster or warming pan.

Recipe for Blueberry Bread

I baked Blueberry Bread on Sunday afternoon and wanted to share the recipe. It makes 2 loaves, so you could freeze one for later. My husband is enjoying it for breakfast & supper, so I may not get one in the freezer. lol =)

BLUEBERRY BREAD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.
Ingredients:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups milk
6 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 T. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix the the eggs and sugar together. Stir in the milk & oil. Add the flour, salt, & baking powder, stirring until blended. Add vanilla. (Be sure not to over mix.) Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (Check the loaves for doneness when there is about 10 minutes time remaining because all ovens are different. Bake until golden and a toothpick come out clean when you check.) Enjoy!

Repost of a money-saving recipe - Kelley's Cheddar Beer Bread

I often have people ask me for this recipe, so I thought I would share it again. =)

Kelley's Cheddar Beer Bread

Ingredients:
9 cups self-rising flour
(If you don't have self-rising flour, you can easily make your own. ---For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt & mix to combine.---)
1 cup sugar
36 oz. beer
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 loaf pans. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix in shredded cheese. Add beer and stir until mixed. Pour batter evenly distributed between the 3 loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on wire rack. I usually wrap, label & freeze 2 loaves for later use and wrap 1 loaf to enjoy right away.

Uh-Oh the Power is Out!

An unusually early snowstorm that brought heavy, wet snow to the East Coast knocked out power to more than 2.3 million homes and businesses in late October. Many were without power for days. This reminds me of a few years ago when we had an ice storm in our area that caused widespread power outages. Ice build up snapped tree limbs (& whole trees) bringing down power lines & surfaces including roads were covered with a thick coating of ice. We were without power for 2-1/2 days, but some were without power for many days as crews worked to repair lines with the help of out of state workers.

Regardless of the time of year or your geographic location, power outages happen for various reasons.

This brings me to a question for you regarding preparing meals for your family during a power outage. (For the purpose of this question, we'll assume you are safe and have means to keep warm if you are in a cold climate.)

During a power outage, what is your plan to prepare meals...do you have food on hand for a number of days...how will you prepare it...what are your go-to meals for this situation?

I'm looking forward to your comments. I'll be sharing some ideas for you too in a follow-up post. =)

Back from hiatus!

After my hiatus from my blog, I am so excited to get back at it.

The early snowstorm on the east coast made me start thinking:
The power's out? How will you come up with meals for your family?
How have you prepared for events such as bad weather, power outages, etc?

Do you keep things in your pantry to cook and bake if you can't get out due to the weather?

Here's a recipe to make for your family and/or guests. It's made with things I try to keep on hand.

Fruit Crunch
Combine 3 cups frozen blueberries or raspberries and 1/4 cup water in a square baking pan.
Combine the following and sprinkle over the berries:
3/4 c. quick oats
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 c. melted butter
Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.