Meatballs and Gravy

I think of meatballs, gravy  and mashed potatoes as basic American, comfort food.  There's nothing fancy about this dish, but it is delicious.  It is also fairly inexpensive, especially if you can find the meat on sale, and it freezes well.  It doesn't have to be served with just mashed potatoes though.  We had it with mashed cauliflower which was just as tasty.

Mashed Cauliflower

Mashed cauliflower is a delicious alternative to mashed potatoes and it freezes well.

Adapted from: Food Network
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Simple Side
Recipe Column: CP

Green Chile Chicken (or Turkey)

We stayed home by ourselves last year for Thanksgiving.  Our family consists of me, my husband and our two small children.  I bought the smallest turkey I could find, but at 14 pounds it was still way too much turkey for our small family.  Having too much turkey after Thanksgiving is a common problem and generally people still have plenty of turkey left even after all the sides are gone.  It makes sense instead of trying re-purpose turkey for days after Thanksgiving until everyone is sick of it to instead turn your carefully prepared, leftover turkey into freezer meals that will save you time and work in the months to come.

I'm sure there are many freezer meals that could be made from leftover turkey, like soups, stews and pot pies.  You could even freeze shredded turkey by itself and use it in a similar manner as I do my pre-cooked, shredded chicken.  I came up with this recipe last Thanksgiving and it provided six dinners for my family in the months following.  I don't just like this meal because it uses up the leftover turkey and is delicious.  It is is also incredibly fast and easy.  I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like cooking any more right after Thanksgiving.  Once the turkey is cooked and shredded, all this dish requires is opening some cans and jars, mixing everything together and dividing it up for freezing. No more cooking or chopping!  I have also made this when I don't have leftover turkey to use up.  I smoke a couple chickens (or you could roast them), shred them and make it the same.  Either way, it's delicious, easy and inexpensive.

Using the Macro: Holiday Meal Planning

Whew! It's been a very busy month and a half here. I also haven't had a lot of new material as we have been mainly eating through stuff I've already posted, and I haven't been adding a lot to the freezer recently.  However, I just finished cooking for a week and a half, so I'll soon have some new recipes to add.  Posting will probably continue to be sporadic through the end of the year, but I should get back to a more regular schedule with the new year.

I did want to take a chance to talk about using the macro to plan holiday meals.  After all, I designed the macro as a planning tool for buying and cooking large quantities of food and multiple dishes, which describes holiday cooking perfectly.  I uploaded an updated spreadsheet with my holiday recipes.  You can download it here.

Freezing and Holiday Meals
First though let's talk about using your freezer with your holiday cooking.  Generally speaking the freezer is not going to be super useful in making holiday meals.  After all cooking and holidays go together, and most things you have at your holiday meals probably are not going to freeze well.  There are some things that can be made in advance and frozen.  The main issue the freezer causes is that is make things mushy.  Water expands as it freezes and as it expands it breaks down the structure of the food, creating mush.  So, things that are already mushy can generally frozen without issue, like mashed potatoes.  I made a large batch of mashed potatoes a few weeks before Thanksgiving last year and they turned out great.  Since it was just me cooking for my immediate family that year, having the mashed potatoes already made was when I was doing the rest of my Thanksgiving cooking.

Pumpkin Pasta

This pasta casserole is full of delicious fall flavors.  It has been part of my freezer repertoire for many years and led to my purchase of the titular very large bowl of this blog.  I was trying to make a large batch of this and while it all technically fit in my largest bowl at the time, the bowl was so full that I couldn't stir effectively.  It took forever to mix that batch and made a large mess. Afterwards I got online and purchased my 30 quart bowl that I use for my freezer cooking now.

Adapted from: Veganomicon
Difficulty: Moderate
Category: Heat and Eat
Recipe Column: AM

Three Bean Chili

This is my family's favorite chili, and I have been making variations of it for years.  This is a vegetarian bean chili, but I have made this with beef before and less beans.  This most recent rendition also has pumpkin in it.  I had heard about adding pumpkin puree to chili to add more vegetables and decided to give it a try.  It sounds unusual but the chili is still delicious and doesn't have a particularly pumpkin flavor.  I'm always glad to find ways to incorporate more vegetables into my freezer meals.  It could probably take a whole can of pumpkin.  That's what I had planned on and bought a whole can for the chili, but I really needed pumpkin pancakes before I got around to making the chili. Some of the pumpkin had to be sacrificed for that cause.  Your favorite chili will most likely freeze well too.

Difficulty: Moderate
Category: Heat and eat
Recipe Column: CK

Falafel

These tasty falafels are very easy if you have a large enough food processor.  They are also inexpensive and they are very convenient as they can go straight from the freezer to the pan.

Difficulty: Easy
Category: Freezer to Pan
Recipe Column: AA

Get the recipe here. Form the falafels, but do not cook them.

To freeze:
Freeze the uncooked falafels on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.  You can do up to two layers of falafel on the same pan.  Separate the layers with parchment paper.  Once the falafels are frozen, transfer them to a bag or container for storage.

To serve:
Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large frying pan.  When the oil is hot, add the frozen falafels in a single layer.  Do not overcrowd the pan.  Cook until brown on both sides.  You may cover the pan at the beginning to help the falafels heat through.  Remove the lid towards the end of cooking to give the falafel a chance to crisp before serving.  Serve with tzatziki or other sauce and a salad.

Tzatziki Sauce
1/2 cucumber
1 cup Greek yogurt
pinch of garlic powder (optional)
dash of lemon juice
sprinkle of dry dill

1. Coarsely grate the cucumber.  Gather up the grated cucumber and gently squeeze excess moisture out of the cucumber before transferring it to a small mixing bowl.
2. Combine all the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.