Steak Pies

This is a meal that can go strait from the freezer to the oven.  These little steak pies are very filling and can be ready when you forget to thaw dinner, or just came back from out of town.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil          
1 1/2 lbs steak (whatever is on sale,                 8.76
    I used chuck steak)
1 small onion--chopped                                        .30
1 clove garlic--minced                                          .05
1 C frozen peas                                                      .50
2/3 cup shredded carrot                                      .45
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 C beef broth                                                 .35
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
Steak seasoning to taste
2 boxes ready made pie crust                            4.34
1 egg, beaten                                                           .15

Directions:

Heat oil over med-high heat in a large pan.  Slice the steak thinly across the grain.  This will help make a cheap cut of meat taste more tender.  Add steak slices and steak seasoning to hot pan.  Brown on both sides, remove steak and place on paper towels to drain off excess fat.  Add onion, garlic and carrots to pan and saute 3 min until beginning to soften.  Add flour to pan and mix well to form a roux.  Slowly stir in beef broth.  Once all beef broth has been added, stir in peas and steak and turn off heat.  Allow meat mixture to cool before next step. 

Once the mixture is cool.  Open the pie crusts, roll them out and cut in half. 

Flour your counter top and beat one egg in a small bowl.   Put one large spoonful of steak mixture on half a pie crust moon.  Brush egg on the edges.  

Fold the pie crust over the meat mixture and use a fork to seal the edges.  Brush more egg on the top of your steak pie to help it brown in the oven.

Place a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and place your steak pies on the wax paper careful not to let them touch each other.  Then place the sheet in the freezer for 1-2 hours.

Once frozen you can peel up the pies and place them in a gallon zip lock bag or in a large Tupperware container.  When ready to eat, place one pie per person on a cookie sheet and bake 400 degrees for 20-24 min until edges are brown.

If you have any extra steak filling put it in a Tupperware container and freeze it too.  You can eat it over rice for an easy lunch, or you can serve it along side the steak pies to eat with the edges that don't have any filling.  I made 8 pies for $1.86 each, or 4 meals for $3.73 a meal. 

These make a great last minute dinner or Saturday lunch because you do NOT have to thaw them before baking.  Try them as an alternative to TV dinners because you know all the ingredients that went into them.  No surprise additives or fillers! 

Christie aka Keeza

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Although I don't know how much these cookies cost to make, I do know how the dough holds up in the freezer.  Great!  The cookies can bake strait from frozen and the only difference is a little color bleed from the m&m candies.  This creates a halo effect around the candies which does not effect the taste.  Check out this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter flavored Crisco
(my mother in law always uses these in her cookies.  They help the cookies set up and not spread out flat)
1 C creamy peanut butter
1 C sugar
1 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 medium bag regular M&Ms

Directions:

Mix Crisco, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with a hand mixer.   Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually.  Mix well with hand mixer.  Set mixer aside and add chocolate chips.  Stir by hand. 

To Freeze:  Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Top each cookie with three M&Ms.   I like to make sure that each cookie has 3 different colored M&Ms. 

Look how cute they are!  Place the pan in the freezer for one hour.  Then you can peel up each cookie and place it in a zip lock bag. 

Put these back into the freezer until needed.  Then when you are expecting a few guests, or want to treat the kids when they get home from school place cookie dough back onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 11 min.  When edges just start to brown take cookies out of the oven and let cool on the cookie sheets for 5-10 min so they can finish cooking through.  This will ensure they are cooked, but still soft. 

If you look closely you can see the halos around the M&Ms.  This only happens to the cookies that get frozen before baking.  If you bake immediately there will be no halos. 

I hope you like these cookies as much as we do.  If you don't want to freeze any of the dough you can bake all the cookies for 350 degrees at 11 min. 

Christie aka Keeza

Tortellini Soup

This is our Sunday Soup.  I love to make this soup after church and the whole house smells fantastic.  The leftovers were not as good as the original because the tortellini get bigger and soggier.  So I divided the soup into 3 meals before I added the tortellini and froze 2/3 of the uncooked tortellini in a zip lock bag to be added to the frozen soups when reheating, just before eating.  So check out this recipe and maybe you can whip up a batch to warm you up on a cool fall Sunday afternoon.

Ingredients:

2 packages artichoke and mozzarella chicken sausage                  7.96
(I pick whichever flavor that is lowest in fat)
1 bunch green onions, chopped                                                    .58
2 cloves garlic, minced                                                                 .05
3 carrots, peeled and shredded                                                    .30
8 C chicken broth (I used homemade plus 1 boxed broth)           1.08
1 Tbsp hot sauce
3 C baby spinach leaves                                                             1.00
5 springs cilantro, chopped                                                           .15
9 oz package cheese tortellini                                                     3.48

Directions:

Slice the chicken sausage into 1/4 inch wide slices and brown in a large saucepan.  Remove and drain off any fat.  Saute green onion, garlic and carrot in 1 tsp olive oil for 3 min.  Add chicken broth and hot sauce and warm through.  Add chicken sausage, cilantro and spinach leaves. 

 Divide into thirds.  I put two containers in the freezer.  Bring the soup to a boil and add 1/3 package of tortellini.  Place the other 2/3 of the uncooked tortellini in a zip lock bag and freeze.   Cover the saucepan and boil soup for 7-9 min to cook tortellini.  This is how our soup looked right before we dug in!

This soup has so much flavor.  It does not need any added salt or pepper because of the hot sauce and the chicken sausage.  Yum!  Yum! Yum!  We also had a salad and it was a great meal.  Now we have two ready in the freezer for a week night treat.  When reheating you need to bring the soup to a boil, add 1/2 the remaining tortellini, cover and boil 7-9 min.  Then serve.  This meal cost me $4.87 each.  (not including the salad)  Enjoy!
Christie aka Keeza