Meal Swap: Wednesday Group’s Feb. 2013 Menu and Recipes

Feb. 2013 Menu for Wednesday Night Meal Swap…

All recipes serve 6 unless otherwise specified.

Choice:

Heather – Apricot Chicken

3 pounds chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup Russian dressing
1 package dry onion soup mix

Prep Day Directions: Cut chicken into pieces, place in Ziploc. Mix together apricot jam, Russian dressing and dry onion soup mix – pour over chicken breasts as marinade. Freeze.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw bag of chicken and marinade. Put thawed chicken and marinade into 9×13 pan. Bake at 300 degrees until chicken is cooked – approximately 1 hour. Good served with rice and veggies!

North American/European:

Bridget – Chicken Pot Pie

1-10.5 oz can cream of chicken Soup
1-10.5 oz can cream of Potato Soup
2 C Diced Chicken Breast
2 Cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables
Pinch of Salt/Pepper/Garlic Powder
2 Frozen Pie crusts

Prep Day Directions: Mix all Ingredients except for Pie crust together and put in freezer bag.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw Ingredients in the freezer bag in the refrigerator overnight. Keep Pie Crust Frozen for easier assembly. Once ingredients thawed, pour into one pie shell and top with the other. Vent pie shell. Bake at 375 for 50minutes.

Italian/Mediterranean:

Kirsten – Lasagna Roll Ups

1 Box Lasagna noodles
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1 jar Spaghetti sauce
1 c. Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
16 oz. cottage cheese

Prep Day Directions: Cook noodles according to package (al dente). Meanwhile, brown beef with garlic and onion, then drain. Mix in Italian Seasonings and half the jar of sauce. Spread each noodle with meat mixture and top with some cottage cheese then roll up and place in baking panf. Pour remaining sauce over the top of roll-ups and then sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top. Freeze.

Serve Day Directions: ****Don’t forget to take the plastic wrap off!!!*** Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until bubbly. *I’m sure you could bake straight from the freezer if you double the time, maybe keep covered for the first hour.

Asian/Indian:

Ashley – Asian Peanut Butter Pork

2lbs pork tenderloin 1 onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons water
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

You provide: 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (garnish; optional) 1 lime, cut in wedges (garnish; optional)

Prep Day Directions: Cut onions into rings. Freeze. Put pork into a separate bag and freeze. Combine all other ingredients and freeze.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw all 3 bags. Place onions on bottom of crockpot. Place pork on top of onions. Cover with sauce. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. The pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving, flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the peanutbuttery goodness. Garnish with chopped peanuts, and serve with lime wedges.

Southwestern/Latin American:

Kristine – Mexican Lasagna with Chorizo Sausage

1 package cream cheese
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 medium onion (about 2/3 cups chopped)
1 can enchilada sauce
12-6 inch corn tortillas
1 pound Mexican chorizo
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained

Prep Day Directions: Cook beef, chorizo, onion and seasonings until cooked through. Place cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high 30-45 seconds or until very soft. To assemble lasagna, spread a little enchilada sauce over bottom of baking dish. Then dip four tortillas into enchilada sauce in mixing bowl and arrange over sauce in baker, overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese over the tortillas and spread out. Sprinkle with a third of the shredded cheese. Top with a third of the meat mixture. Repeat layers one more time: dipped tortillas, second half of cream cheese, 1/3 of shredded cheese, 1/3 of meat. Dip remaining four four tortillas into sauce and arrange on top. Top with remaining meat mixture. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining 1/3 of shredded cheese. Cover with foil and freeze.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw or cook from frozen. Meat is already cooked so it just needs to be baked until heated through and cheese is melted.

Kellie – Southwestern Pork Burritos

3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 boneless pork shoulder roast (2 1/2 lb), trimmed of fat
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
6 tortillas

You Provide: Assorted toppings – Cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes

Prep Day Directions: Put Pork in labeled bag. Put tomato paste, honey, salt, garlic, chili powder, and diced tomatoes with green chilies in a food processor for 10 seconds. Put tomato mix in a quart sized bag and freeze with pork. Bag 6 tortillas and label.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw pork and tomato mix. Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray and put in pork. Pour tomato mix on top of pork and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Enjoy with tortillas and your own additional fixings.

Soups/Stews:

Emily – Chicken Wild Rice Soup

1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup flour
6 T butter
2 cups milk
5 cups chicken broth
3 cups diced cooked chicken meat
1.5 cups cooked wild rice
3 T sherry
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Prep Day Directions: Add olive oil or some of your broth to a frying pan and saute the veggies. You want the onion fully cooked and some bite left in the carrot.

Cook wild rice according to directions.

In Dutch oven, melt the butter with a med-high heat. Add the flour and whisk it well, it will combine easily. Keep whisking and add about a quarter of the broth, when that thickens add the rest of the broth. Whisking still, add the milk and let this come to a boil to thicken. You want it to coat a spoon but not get too thick. When it’s thick enough remove it from the heat and let cool.

Place veggies, chicken and broth in bag and freeze using freezer bag method.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw completely. Re-Heat on stove top.

Erin – Chihuahua Chili

Serves 8

1/4 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup enchilada sauce
12 oz. chicken broth
2- 29 oz. cans pinto beans, drained
2- 15 oz. cans black beans, drained
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin

You provide toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro

Prep Day Directions: Brown and drain beef. Set aside In large pot, heat oil. Saute onion until translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes, enchilada sauce, broth, beans, cumin and chili powder. Mix well. Pour into labeled freezer bags.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw. Bring to boil and simmer, partially covered, until slightly thickened and flavors have mingled, about 1 hour on the stovetop. Or cook all day in the crockpot.

Note: please don’t forget to give each other feedback in the comments area about this months menu.

Next Meal Swap: Wednesday 3/13/13 @ 8:30pm will be at Erin’s. Please do not forgot to submit your finished recipe to the blog on the Monday before swap. Thanks for your cooperation!

April 2013 Menu Assignments:

Your Choice – Kristine and Kellie
North American/European – Erin and Emily
Italian/Mediterranean – Heather S.
Asian/Indian – Bridget and Andi
Southwestern/Latin American – Kirsten and Lisa
Soups/Stews – Nicole and Ashley