Meal Swap: Friday’s February 2013 Menu and Recipes

Friday’s February 2013 Menu

Seafood/Fish:

Lindsay L. – Jambalaya

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
1 pound frozen cooked shrimp, without tails
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1-2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Prep Day: dump everything but shrimp together and freeze.

Serve Day: In a slow cooker, stir together everything but the shrimp. Cover and cook 7 to 8 hours on low, or 3 to 4 hours on high. Stir in the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of cook time. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Poultry:

Heather G. – Chicken Pot

Cooked chicken shredded, 2 cups
2 good size Carrots medium, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1-2 stalks of celery, diced
10 ounce bag mixed frozen veggies or Chopped green beans or frozen peas
Chicken or veggie broth
Flour, 1/4-1/2 cup
2-3 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk or 1/2 & 1/2, or cup of each
Sage, thyme, rosemary,parsley, salt and pepper to taste
2 Pie shells

Prep Day Directions: Defrost the filling pour into pie crust, and top with pie crust. Bake per crust instructions. Cook onions, carrots and celery. Deglaze with stock. Make a roux with flour and butter once golden and smooth add to stock stirring. Add shredded chicken,milk, frozen veggies stir together.

Serve Day Directions: Place filling in pie. cover with the second crust, and cook in preheated oven 400 degrees.

Megan – Maple Dijon Glazed Chicken

3 pounds chicken breasts
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
fresh rosemary
couscous

Prep Day Directions: Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed.

Serve Day Directions: When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours). Sprinkle with fresh or dried rosemary for serving. Top over prepared couscous and take drippings from crockpot and drizzle over.

Beef:

Heather T. – Crockpot Italian Beef

3 lbs rump roast, trimmed of visible fat
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup water
1 (11 1/2 ounce) jar pepperoncini peppers, sliced (reserve 1/2 cup juice)
1 (2/3 ounce) package Italian salad dressing mix
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
6 hoagie rolls or 6 hoagie rolls, split
Shredded mozzarella
arugula, for serving (optional)
1 tomato, sliced, for serving (optional)

Prep Day Directions: Combine beef, sliced onions and garlic in ziplock,
Freeze along with the cheese, hoagie rolls and Italian dressing packet. (Do not freeze peppers. 🙂

Serve Day Directions: Place beef and onion and garlic mixture in a 3 1/2-quart or larger slow-cooker. Add 1/2 cup water and Italian dressing mix. Add 1/2 cup of pepper juice. (You can add the whole jar of peppers if you would like as well, a lot of the reviews said it was really good with them). Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or until beef is very tender. Season with salt/pepper to your liking. Thaw bread and mozzarella cheese. Brush cut sides of rolls with some of the cooking liquid. Transfer beef to cutting board; slice thinly or shred. You can sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and either broil them or microwave to melt the cheese. Serve on rolls with arugula, sliced tomatoes and peppers.

Ann – Mini Meat Loaves

Makes 12 mini-loaves, 2 in a serving

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided — you will supply your own
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Prep Day Directions: Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool. Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl. Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Cover with foil and freeze in pan.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw in fridge. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Serve as is or “frost” with mashed potatoes and chives

Your Choice or Meatless:

Lindsey M. – Sausage and Egg McMuffins

6 English Muffins
6 Eggs Sausage
6 precooked patties
6 slices Cheddar Cheese

Prep Day Directions: Scramble eggs and bake in greased muffin tins at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Cool, flash freeze, and place in freezer zip lock bag. Place sausage patties and cheese in seperate bags and place in freezer bag. Freezer English muffins.

Serve Day Directions: Thaw. Toast english muffins in toaster or in oven on a cookie sheet. Reheat Sausage patties and eggs in microwave or oven. (I usually do the sausages in the oven and eggs in the microwave.) Layer cheese, sausage and egg on english muffin. Enjoy!

Gretchen – Black Bean and Rice Cakes

2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large scallions, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup cooked brown rice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus leaves for serving
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Prep Day Directions: In a food processor, pulse half the beans with scallions, jalapeno, and cumin until a chunky paste forms. In a large bowl, combine bean puree with rice and remaining beans; season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture into eight 3-inch-wide patties. (To freeze, wrap individually in plastic and freeze up to 2 weeks; thaw before cooking.)

Serve Day Directions: Thaw patties. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil; place in oven to heat, 5 minutes. Carefully place patties on hot sheet; bake until bottoms are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let rest on sheet 5 minutes before removing. Serve patties topped with yogurt and cilantro if available.

Pork:

Sarah – Teriyaki Pork Chops

6 pork chops
16 oz bag of frozen stir fry veggies
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
3 Tablespoons orange marmalade

Prep Day: Place pork chops in freezer bag. Mix teriyaki sauce and marmalade in small bowl and pour into small freezer bag. Have one bag of frozen stir fry vegetables on hand.

Serve Day: Thaw all ingredients. Place pork chops in a 9×13 greased baking dish. Pour frozen veggies on top of chops, and then pour the teriyaki mixture over the veggies. Bake covered in 450 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until pork is cooked through. It took about 45 minutes in my oven, so check the meat at 35 mins. to not overcook. This recipe is great for leftovers.

Vanessa – Sassy Hot Ham and Cheese sliders

Serves 6 – 2 sandwich serving

1 (12 ct.) pkg. Hawaiian bread rolls
1/2 pound sliced deli Honey baked ham
8 slices Muenster Cheese
4oz. Chive & Onion Cream Cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

Prep Day: Cut all rolls in half. Place roll bottoms in 9×13-inch pan. Place equal amounts of ham on each roll bottom. Top with Muenster cheese. spread cream cheese over cheese. Return the tops to the bottoms making sandwiches. Top with plastic wrap. Put the butter, Worcestershire sauce, onion, brown sugar and Parmesan cheese in sauce pan. stir constantly till melted and thick. Once cooled place in a quart size freezer bag. Put sauce bag on top of sandwiches. Put on foil cover on and freeze.

Serve Day: Thaw all ingredients. Remove all plastic in pan. Pour sauce in small sauce pot and heat until melted. Stir along the way. When done pour over your sandwiches to your liking and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Place sandwiches, covered in foil, in a preheated 350 degrees F oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through. Enjoy!

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

Next swap is: Friday March 15th, 2013 @ 11:30am in the First Free Church Gym after MOPS.

Please submit your meal swap finished recipes to the blog and email me your 2 recipes that need to be voted on. I need those the Monday before swap! Thank you for your cooperation.