Greek Chicken

This is a great meal that is full of flavor.  You can serve it with rice, but I prefer angel hair pasta.  I don't care for olives, but they would go great in this sauce if you have a taste for them.   Green peppers can be kinda slimy when you freeze them and reheat them, so I buy frozen chopped green peppers and they hold up a little better.  I love feta cheese and I like to top mine liberally.  My husband prefers mozzarella, so he gets his own version. 

Ingredients:

4 lbs chicken, cooked and cubed             3.86
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper          1.50
1 bunch green onions, sliced                      .60
4 cans Italian diced tomatoes                  2.52
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce                        .52
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp light brown sugar               
pepper to taste
2 boxes angel hair pasta                                2.00
8 oz feta cheese                                            3.56

Directions:

Pour tomatoes and sauce into large saucepan on medium heat.  Add onions, brown sugar, chicken and pepper.  Let simmer 5 min so flavors can combine.  Turn off heat and let cool.  Stir in green peppers.

Divide into three 4 cup containers and freeze.  When ready to eat thaw in fridge overnight.  Heat sauce on medium heat until warmed through.  Cook half a box of angel hair pasta according to box directions.  Toss with sauce and serve with feta.  I was able to make three meals for $4.85 each.  Here is what it looks like with the pasta and topped with cheese. 

This is awesome!  I hope you try it.  See if you can beat my price.  =)

Take care,
Christie aka Keeza

White Chicken Chili

I have been searching for years for a white chili recipe.  I have a red chili recipe that's full of veggies that I just love!  But I have found white chili to be bland and boring.  After much searching I found this recipe on the Rachel Ray Show and I have adapted it to my taste and I think we have a winner.  I'm sure it will need a little tweaking in the future, but for now it is petty fabulous.  I froze it, thawed it, and we heated it up for dinner last night and it held up great.  Please give it a try! 

Ingredients:

4 C cooked chicken, cubed                             4.10
4 C chicken broth (mine is homemade)         .30
2 cans navy beans-undrained                       1.74
1 container fresh salsa medium heat            3.48
3 tsp cumin                                                         .20
1 clove garlic-minced                                        .05
pepper to taste                                          
8oz pepper jack cheese-shredded                 2.00
3/4 C crushed corn chips (blenderize!)        1.00
1/2 fresh cilantro                                               .30

Directions:

Combine chicken broth, chicken, undrained beans, salsa, cumin, garlic, and pepper in a large sauce pan on medium heat.  Bring to a boil then simmer 5 minutes to let flavors combine.  Slowly stir in cheese and crushed corn chips until heated through.  Turn off heat and stir in cilantro. 

 Divide into 4 C containers.  This soup is ready to eat or freeze.  I was able to make this chili into 3 dinners that cost me $4.39 each!  I like how colorful this chili turned out, and it smells absolutely delicious.   

To reheat, thaw a container in the fridge overnight.  Pour into a medium saucepan and heat on medium until warmed through.  We garnished our chili with green onions, sour cream and left over corn chips.

It was creamy, flavorful and the green onions and corn chips added a great crunch.  If you have a good chicken chili recipe please share it with me at Keezasfreezermeals@yahoo.com. 

Take care,
Christie aka Keeza

Stuffed Shells

Hey!  This is a recipe I adapted from my mother in law.  My husband prefers to have a little meat with his pasta...so we add veggies and Italian sausage to the marinara sauce and the meal is much more hearty.  If you are not a big meat eater you can omit the sausage and it is still tasty!  Spinach, zucchini and summer squash would all be great additions to the chunky marinara. 

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese, softened      2.08
15 oz ricotta cheese                 1.83
3/4 C sour cream                     1.00
12 oz shredded mozzarella         2.20
6 oz shredded Swiss                 1.96
1 bunch green onions, diced       .50
pepper to taste
3 jars/cans marinara sauce        3.00
1 lb Italian sausage                   3.00
3 carrots, peeled and diced         .25
3 stalks celery, diced                   .25
1 green pepper, diced                 .50
1 box large pasta shells             1.12

Directions:

Boil a large pot of water and cook shells according to box directions.  Drain and cool.

Meanwhile brown the sausage in a medium sauce pan.  Drain off the grease.  Saute green pepper, carrots and celery in the sauce pan for 3-4 min.  (add as many veggies as you like!)  Add sausage back to pan.  Pour a small amount of marinara sauce from jar/can into the bottom of three 8x8 pans or two 9x13 inch pans.  This will keep the shells from sticking.

Pour the remaining sauce into the saucepan with the sausage and veggies.  Turn burner to low and gently simmer until needed. 

In a bowl combine cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sour cream, shredded Swiss, shredded mozzarella and onion.  Season with pepper.

To assemble.  Take a large cooled shell, fill with a spoonful of cheese mixture and arrange in pan.  I was able to make 30 large shells and I divided them into three pans.  Once all the shells are filled, pour chunky marinara sauce over top.  Cover with foil and label.

These are ready to go into the oven, or into the freezer.  Once frozen make sure to thaw in the fridge before cooking.  Then bake 350 degrees for 40 min.  I was able to make 3 pans for $5.90 each not including the aluminum.  I hope you enjoy this meal as much as James and I do.

Take Care!  Christie aka Keeza