Lentil Joes

I realize that just seeing the the word "lentil" is going to turn some people off, and that would be a shame.  Admittedly, this dish is not a hit with everyone I have ever served it to, but I think it is delicious and the majority of people I have made it for have enjoyed it too.

I even featured a sample of this in a class I taught about inexpensive protein sources.  Over a year later I ran into a lady who had attended the class.  She brought up the class and the lentil joes enthusiastically and said she had been making them regularly ever since even though she had been skeptical initially.  So, I heartily recommend giving these a try even if you're not sure about them.  They freeze great and are very inexpensive at about $0.80 a serving.

SW Chicken Patties and Summer Freezer Meals

Summer is fast approaching and we have finally finished eating our hearty, winter meals.  The freezer is almost empty, and I have been cooking for summer this week.  Summer is tough for freezer meals.  Most of my initial ideas for freezer meals were thick soups, stews and heavy casseroles.  All of those things are perfect for the cold days of winter, but I prefer lighter fare in the summer.  I also avoid turning on the oven as much as possible.  I have come up with some summer freezer meals, so stay tuned.  I'll be posting those recipes in the weeks to come.

First up is Southwest Chicken Patties.  I used to make these fairly regularly, but they are a little labor intensive as there is a fair amount of chopping involved and then the forming of the patties.  They fell out of my regular rotation.  I happy to say that these are back in the rotation due to the fact that they freezer very well and can be cooked straight from the freezer, making them very convenient.

This meal was a major freezer meal win today!  Like I said I am doing the bulk of my freezer cooking this week and it is always a large undertaking.  I've also had other stuff going on, so today I didn't cook at all.  My kitchen was a complete disaster, so as dinner approached I really didn't feel like making anything.  I hadn't thawed anything either, and I was on the verge of packing up my kids and heading for a drive-thru.  As I was considering getting ready to leave, I decided that I really need to eat what we have on hand instead of paying for fast food and decided on these since they can be cooked straight from the freezer.  We had some spring mix on hand for a salad.  I am so glad I did.  These were so easy to cook up.  They just required one pan and a few minutes.  They were delicious, and they ended up being so much easier and cheaper than taking my kids out for fast food.  This is why I do the freezer meals.

Chicken Wings Two Ways

I felt a little silly making these as a freezer meal.  Both of these sauces are very easy to make, so tossing them with some wings and baking makes a pretty easy meal.  Why bother to freeze something that is so simple in the first place?  There are two reasons I decided to make this a freezer meal.  The first was to take advantage of sales my grocery store has on chicken wings.  I figured I could buy a bunch when they're on sale, prepare and freeze them and then have chicken wings regularly for less than the normal cost.  The second reason is that I figured no matter how simple these are to throw together it's easier still to simply empty a bag onto a pan and throw it in the oven.

I am so glad I decided to freeze these.  Yes, they are very simple, but that means a large batch is easy to make.  I underestimated how nice it would be to just put these in the oven for dinner with no gathering of ingredients or measuring anything.  I didn't have to wash anything except the pan that I cooked them in.  It turns out that something super simple still makes a great freezer meal.  It's easy to prep, which is nice when I have other more time consuming dishes to make and freeze, and it's easy, breezy for a delicious weeknight meal.  I highly recommend these.

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Occasionally someone asks me what my favorite thing to cook is and I generally tell them Indian food.  The process of making Indian food is very enjoyable as it requires a lot of ingredients with various and amazing smells.  Generally you start by cooking aromatics like onions, garlic, peppers and fresh ginger.  Then you add spices like cumin, garam masala, cinnamon, chili powder, tumeric, and on and on.  Each stage of the process introduces new aromas and they continue to change as the aromatics and the spices continue to cook.  Finally you add the ingredients that make up the bulk of sauce and simmer.  The scent continues to change.  All together it makes for a wonderful sensory experience.  Plus at the end I have delicious Indian food to eat, and that always makes me happy.

Unfortunately, making Indian food is a time consuming and labor intensive process.  All of those aromatics have to be peeled and minced.  The many spices must be found in the cupboard and measured.  Often the meat requires a marinade.  Plus the cooking process if generally fairly long.   Generally when I make Indian food I have had to set aside an entire afternoon to work on it.  It was a happy day when I realized that some of my favorite Indian dishes would freeze very well.

Chickpea Stew

I love this garlicky stew.  It's filling and delicious, and between the spinach and the chickpeas, it is packed with nutrition.  It is also inexpensive.  The only ingredient that is on the pricey side is the saffron.  However, a little saffron goes a long way, and  this recipe only uses a tiny amount, so after your initial investment you will be able to make this and other dishes containing saffron for a long time before you have to buy it again.

Technically this falls in the Simple Side category because you do have to add the spinach to it as it reheats before serving. It is so easy to add a bag of pre-washed baby spinach to it that it is almost like a Heat and Eat.

Cheese Blintzes

I love blintzes and yet I have had them less than five times in my life.  Few restaurants serve them, and I have only made them once.  They are labor intensive.  They require making the crepes and the filling.  Then all the crepes need to be filled, rolled and fried.  The one time I made them they were delicious, but they were too much work for a single breakfast for me to do again.  Until one happy day I realized that they would freeze well.  Making a huge batch of these is a project, but the fact that I can make a ton of these one afternoon and have enough for several breakfasts makes the work worth it for me.

A Collection of Pancakes

Pancakes are great for freezing, and it's easy to make a huge batch of them.  Plus, they heat well straight from the freezer, which is convenient if you're short on time and forgot to thaw something for breakfast.  We have pancakes at least once a week, so I make a triple or quadruple batch when I make them.

As I've stated before, I like a hearty breakfast.  My day is so much more enjoyable and productive if I start the day by eating something substantial.  Unfortunately, as delicious as traditional light and fluffy flapjacks are, I don't find that they stick with me and keep me going until lunch.  As such I am always on the hunt for more filling pancakes.  Below are a few pancake recipes I freeze that are filling as well as delicious.