August 2012 Supper Swap

Baked Chicken Dijon - Dana

Pizza Burgers - Jeni M

Ritz Chicken - Jen R

Roasted Garlic and Herb Pork Chops - Natalie

Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips - Sara D

Lasagna Roll Ups - Sarah  B

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna Roll Ups

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (I'd recommend Contadina Brand)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 Tbsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese

1 large egg

1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley (aka Italian Parsley, its about 1 small handful), chopped

2 1/4 cups freshly grated Mozzarella Cheese, divided

3/4 cup freshly, finely grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1/3 cup freshly, finely grated Romano Cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Directions:

Drizzle one tablespoon olive oil into a large non-stick fry pan.  Heat over medium high heat, crumble ground beef over oil, add chopped onions and cook mixture stirring occasionally and breaking up meat, until browned.  Drain fat from beef.  Pour beef mixture into a food processor and pulse for about 5 seconds until it is ground into fine pieces.  Pour beef mixture back into fry pan and add crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, oregano and 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir.  Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste then cover with a lid and simmer over low heat while preparing pasta and cheese mixture.

Cook lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water along with 1 tsp salt and 2 tablespoon olive oil to al dente according to directions listed on package.  Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately line noodles in a single layer on waxed paper or cookie sheets.  

Prepare cheese mixture (I do this while pasta is cooking) by stirring together Ricotta cheese, egg, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper with a fork in a large mixing bowl until well combine.  Stir in chopped fresh parsley.  Add in 1 3/4 cups grated Mozzarella Cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese and 1/3 cup Romano Cheese, stir mixture until well combine.

Spread 1/4 cup cheese mixture evenly onto each cooked lasagna noodle, then spread 1 heaping tablespoon meat sauce along the top of cheese covered noodle.  Roll noodles up jellyroll style and arrange seam side down in baking dish. Flash freeze in freezer.

Place the remaining meat sauce, mozzarella and parmesan in individual baggies for serving.

Serving Day:

Thaw in fridge.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread 1/3 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.   Place roll ups on the sauce, then put the remaining sauce over them.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese evenly over roll ups. Tent lasagna roll ups with foil (don't allow foil to rest on cheese or it will stick you just want to loosely tent to prevent the cheese from browning) and bake for 35 minutes in preheated oven.  Serve warm garnished with additional chopped fresh parsley.

Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips

Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips

1/2 cup Honey
1/3 cup Orange juice
3 T. Soy sauce
2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp of cornstarch
2-1/2 lbs.Boneless, skinless, chicken breast; cut in strips
1.5 cups rice

Assembly Directions:
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Add honey, juice, soy sauce and mix well.

Freezing Directions:
Place the chicken strips in a freezer bag. Pour marinade over chicken in bag. Seal. Place inside another freezer bag so that the chicken is double-bagged. 

Serving Directions:
Thaw chicken and thread on skewers through each chicken strip. Broil 4 inches from heat, or grill over medium coals 8-10 minutes or until cooked through, turning frequently. You can also cook the chicken in a non-stick skillet on the stovetop.

Serving Directions for rice:
Combine packet of rice, 3 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan. Stir. Bring to a rolling boil, then lower heat to simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Do not lift lid while cooking. After cooking, set pan off the heat for an additional 5 minutes, again DO NOT LIFT THE LID.

Roasted Garlic and Herb Pork Chops

Roasted Garlic and Herb Pork Chops

 

3 lbs pork chops
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup vinegar
3 Tbsp McCormick Grill Mate Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning Mix

Combine marinade ingredients. Pour over pork chops in a freezer bag. Seal label and freeze flat.

Serving day:
Thaw completely. Grill or bake until chops are no longer pink.

Ritz Chicken

Ritz Chicken

2 1/2 pounds chicken, cooked and cubed (4+ cups)
1 c. Sour Cream
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 tube Ritz Crackers, crushed
1 stick Butter, melted
1 T. Poppy Seeds

Cooking Day: Mix chicken, sour cream and soup together. Then in another bowl mix Ritz, butter and poppy seeds together. Freeze Chicken mixture in one freezer bag and Ritz mixture in another.

Serving Day: Pour chicken mixture into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle Ritz mixture over top. Bake at 350 until bubbly, 30-40 minutes.

Pizza Burgers

Pizza Burgers

1 pkg English Muffins
1 stick Butter, softened
Cheez Whiz or American Cheese slices
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 Tbsp. dry minced onion (or grated raw onion)
1 cup pizza sauce
1 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded


Brown English Muffin halves under broiler. Then butter them. Next spread with Cheez Whiz or place a slice of America Cheese on top.

Filling(prepare while browning muffins):Brown ground beef with onion and garlic salt. Add the pizza sauce. Put filling on muffins after the cheese. Next, top with shredded mozzarella. Put under broiler until cheese melts. Serve immediately or flash freeze and then package in freezer bags.

To serve after freezing, DO NOT THAW. Put on cookie sheet in oven at 400F for 15-25 minutes. It’s great to keep these in the freezer at all times—for those times you don’t have time to prepare dinner. Freezer to oven is great.

***Additional note added after this meal was made: I substituted shredded cheddar (8 cups) for the cheeze whiz. I wasn’t able to find the Contadina pizza sauce so we used a generic kind – tasted fine to me. I used 4 14oz jars. I used about 8 cups of moz cheese too.

Baked Chicken Dijon

Baked Chicken Dijon

6 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

2 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 cup butter

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T. Fresh parsley, minced

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cups Panko* bread crumbs

Assembly and Baking Directions:

Melt butter in a skillet or pan on stove. Add the garlic and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Blend in mustard, stirring well. Remove from heat and let it cool enough to touch, but not solidify. While the mixture cools, mix the parsley, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. When the butter is cooled, whip it vigorously with a whisk or spoon until the mixture thickens. Dip each chicken breast in the butter mixture, coating all surfaces. Place each butter coated breast in the crumb mixture, covering all sides of the chicken. Place breaded chicken pieces on a cookie sheet to freeze. After frozen, put in freezer bag. Remove excess air and freeze.

Serving Day Directions:

Thaw chicken pieces. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, checking regularly. The chicken should be lightly browned and moist on the inside. Top with finely shredded Parmesan cheese and Dijon Mayonnaise (1 part Dijon mustard to 2 parts mayonnaise).  **This does bake up better in an aluminum pan.

*Panko bread crumbs are found in the Oriental section of a supermarket or asian market. Panko bread crumbs are coarser than regular style bread crumbs and give a really good crunch. If Panko bread crumbs are not available, you can substitute with plain packaged stuffing bread. Crush these hard bread cubes by placing them in a freezer bag and rolling it with a rolling pin until coarse crumbs are formed. You can also use plain bread crumbs, but you will have a softer coating.