April 22, 2010
I must confess: I don’t always have the time or the energy to start cooking supper when I get home after a long day. I often prefer to have a light supper when I’m that busy/tired but my husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. So I decided to let him choose his 4 favorite recipes (that froze well) and made them all one Saturday morning. As you can see above, it made quite a few meals that were easy to freeze, and reheat in the microwave. My husband was very happy with these as they made great grab and go lunches too.
Another great advantage of this kind of make ahead cooking is that very little food goes to waste. You buy only what you need to make the recipes, and you use everything up! We could have used re-usable containers but the rinse and recycle containers pictured above were great for even more time saving cleanup. I purchased these disposable (yet recyclable) containers at Provigo Warehouse and they were about 26$ for 50 containers with lids.
These were the meals that I made and froze:
Cheesy Shrimp and Rice
Turkey Chilli Con Carne
Basic Meat Lasagna
Shepherds Pie
Posted in Pasta, Meat, Miscellaneous 
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July 11, 2009
This Frankenstein dish is a mish-mash between our beloved lasagna and my husband’s pasta sauce - which for the record neither have been combined before this day. His style of pasta sauce combines meat, and lots of vegetables that I don’t usually include in my own family’s sauce recipe. However mixed together they create and hearty and healthy casserole supper. Serve with a side salad for a nice whole meal. For those who are new to using Pantacce noodles they are like mini lasagna noodles (see below). Our favorite brand to use is the President’s Choice which usually can be found at either Loblaws or Maxi.
From: MontrealFoodies
Prep/Cook Time: 30 mins
Serves: 8-10 good portions
Ingredients:
1/2 box PC brand Pantacce noodles
1 bottle pasta sauce
2 tsp. olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic diced
4 sticks of celery chopped
1 onion chopped 
2 carrots shredded
1 bell pepper (colour of your choice)
1 container ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 package “Pizza” Mozzarella
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Boil pantacce noodles until cooked, drain. Meanwhile add olive oil to skillet heated to medium-high heat and cook vegetables until onions are translucent. Remove vegetables when done and set aside. Brown ground beef then combine with sauce, vegetables and noodles. In a bowl combine salt, pepper, ricotta and eggs. In a large casserole dish spoon in half of vegetable/meat/pasta mixture and spread all of ricotta mixture, followed by half of mozzarella, then top with remaining vegetables/meat/pasta. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over top and bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
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July 9, 2009
This is a great mid-week supper. Easy to prepare with some minor tweaks to the original recipe such as substituting frozen vegetables and using minute rice instead of orzo. However you make it, the true Thai flavours do come through thanks to the coconut milk, curry paste and lime making this a sweet and savory meal.
From: Better Homes & Gardens “New Cook Book”
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups dried orzo (8 oz.)
12 oz. pork tenderloin or lean boneless pork
2 tbsp. cooking oil
8 oz. green beans, bias-sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces (2 cups)
1 red sweet pepper, cut into thin bite size strips
2 green onions, bias sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 14 oz. can reduced-fat unsweetened coconut milk
4 tsp. bottled curry paste
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. lime juice
Directions:
Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain and keep warm. Thinly slice pork into bite-size strips.
Pour 1 tbsp. of the oil into a large non-stick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add pork, cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until no pink remains. Remove from skillet.
Add the remaining 1 tbsp. oil to skillet. Add green beans; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add sweet pepper and green onions, cook and stir about 2 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add coconut milk, curry paste, and sugar. Reduce heat to low, stirring until combined. Stir in cooked pork and lime juice; heat through. Serve over hot orzo.
Posted in Vegetables & Fruit, Meat 2 Comments »
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