Cooking Up Cottage

Category: Main Dishes

Freezer-Friendly Pork Chops and Cheesy Potatoes

This is one of the easiest, no fuss, most amazing pork chop recipes I have ever made. And they are freezer friendly. You can’t beat that! I found this recipe in a cookbook that I bought 4 years ago called Dinner is Ready. This book is full of freezer recipes. When I spotted this Pork Chops and Cheesy Potato recipe, I knew it would be the perfect a addition to the freezer meals I’m making for my sister (she is expecting her 3rd daughter in March and I want to fill up her freezer).

Her family loves the crunchy onions, creamy potatoes and meaty pork chops that make this the perfect comfort food. So let’s get started. Start by seasoning the pork chops with salt and pepper. Then brown them in a pan with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Combine 1 can of soup, 2/3 cup of evaporated milk, 1 cup of sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a bowl until smooth.

Add 2/3 of a cup of French fried onions.

Pour in 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Mix in 3 cups of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (do not thaw) and then pour it in the bottom of a greased foil baking pan. Arrange chops on top of potatoes and press them into the mixture.

Cover with foil then label and freeze.

When you are ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Then bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Then uncover and top with 1 cup of French fried onions and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Now you’re all set with a great dish for a busy night when you don’t have time to cook.

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February 28, 2015
Freezer-Friendly Meatballs and Sauce

This meatball and sauce recipe is delicious, filling, frugal, and so freezer-friendly; which makes it the perfect recipe to fit in with the freezer meals I’m featuring this February. So lets get out the onions and start chopping, because we need to fill the freezer up.

Start by chopping your onions up in small pieces and mixing them into the ground beef.

Then cut up the pieces of bread and mix them into the meat.

Then add in the milk.

Add in the egg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Next shape into 16-20 meatballs about 1 inch in diameter. Place the meatballs on baking sheets lined with foil.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until the meatballs reach 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Let the meatballs cool and mix them into a jar of your favorite sauce.

Pour the meatballs and sauce into a freezer bag and label.

Now you have an easy meal to add to your freezer meal collection. When you are ready to use this freezer meal, put the bag in the refrigerator to thaw the day before you want to make it. Then the day you cook it pour it into a skillet and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta.

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February 23, 2015
Chicken Enchiladas

Do you love to have meals ready to go in your freezer? Then this is the recipe for you. During this next month, I will concentrate on recipes that are great for freezing so I can help my sister, who is expecting her 3rd daughter next month, load her freezer with great meals. The first freezer friendly dish that I will focus on is Chicken Enchiladas. It’s easy to make and loaded with flavor. This recipe has a wonderful blend of delicious chicken, melted cheese, a savory sauce with green chiles, and corn tortillas. So let’s get started filling our freezers!

Start by cooking the chicken. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and then I baked it in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Your chicken might take less time since I used thick chicken breasts. Make sure your chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees before taking it out of the oven. Once it is cooked, shred the chicken and put it into a bowl that you will set aside.

Next you need to make the sauce. In a pan heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Remove the oil from the heat. Mix in the flour.

After the flour is mixed in, put it back on the heat.

Pour in the chicken stock.

Add the tomato paste.

Mix in the can of green chiles, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of oregano,1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then simmer for 20 minutes.

Now you can start making the filling. Chop the onion and brown it in a pan with some vegetable oil.

In a bowl mix the shredded chicken, onion, 2 cups of cheddar cheese and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Now that the filling is done you are ready to assemble the enchiladas.

Spread 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9″x13″ casserole dish.

Dip tortillas in the sauce.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of filling onto each tortilla.

Roll up and arrange, seam side down, in the 9″x13″ dish.

Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove foil and bake for 5 minutes. Let it cool, and there you have it! It’s ready to be served.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, olives, and any other taco fixings. Now you have a yummy enchilada meal for the whole family to enjoy. And don’t forget you can freeze them for later. To freeze, assemble enchiladas and then before you bake them wrap with foil and freeze. When you go to bake them later, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and cook 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven covered and then 5 minutes uncovered.

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February 16, 2015
Hamburger Quesadillas

Are you looking for a simple and delicious dinner? Then you have to try this Hamburger Quesadillas recipe. Imagine taking a bite of a delicious mix of ground beef, melting cheese, black beans, corn, green peppers, and onions. The simple flavors blend so well together! It’s hard to stop eating after taking one bite. One reason I like this recipe is it provides me with an opportunity to have some healthy corn and beans hidden in it so my daughter doesn’t notice as she is dipping them in salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. I usually have all of the ingredients for this recipe in my cupboard and freezer, and I’m guessing you may too. So let’s get started on this weeknight favorite.

First brown the hamburger.

Then chop up the onion and green pepper.

When the hamburger is brown, drain off the excess fat and add in the onion and green pepper.

Next add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder. Then drain the corn and add it to the ground beef.

Then drain and rinse the can of black beans and add them to the ground beef.

Now warm the mixture over medium heat until it is fully heated. Then get out a large pan and put your tortilla in it and cover it with shredded cheddar cheese.

Cover one half with the hamburger mixture.

Fold over and heat first side a couple of minutes until it is lightly browned. Then flip it over and brown the other side.

Now cut it into four triangles and serve with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream.

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January 6, 2015