Cheesy Ham & Potatoes

This one ended up making way more than our little family of 3 could handle.  Next time I will cut the recipe in half.

What you need:

1 pound frozen hash browns potatoes
2 cans cream of celery soup
1/2 cup onion (minced)
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups monterey cheese (shredded)
1 1/2 cups ham (cubed)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)

(c)Keytee 2014

*Soften cream cheese & cream together with soup. Stir in onions, ham, monterey cheese and pepper. Break apart hash browns. Gently fold into cheese mixture. Place in gallon freezer bag.
*Place in disposable 9x13 foil pan (or greased, 9x13 baking dish). Bake covered for 1 hour at 350. Uncover, top with cheddar cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

This turned out really good with one exception.  I originally posted these ingredients:


Beef Stew (Crock pot)
1 pound beef cubes
1 bay leaf
1 bag of frozen stew veggies
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz can tomato sauce


I bought groceries during our Polar Vortex and selection was slim as people were freaking out and stock piling produce (because heaven forbid you don't have 20 bundles of carrots to get your through a couple of days of snow.) Anywho,I ended up getting the bag of frozen stew veggies. We were less than impressed with how the carrots were. (couldn't even cut them with a sharp knife, they just bent in half!) 

Next time I will be using the following ingredients.1 pound beef cubes
1 bay leaf
4 carrots, sliced
4-6 baby red potatoes,  halved or quartered (depending on size)
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz can tomato sauce

*optional: celery, mushrooms, pearl onions, corn, peas.

(c)Keytee2 2014

Dump beef, veggies & bay leaf in gallon size bag and tossed in freezer.
Put contents of bag in crock pot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour on top of meat/veggies.
Cook low 6-10 hours

Crock pot Beef Sheperd's Pie

This was part of freezer spree I recently posted about.  First time we've made it and it was......GREAT!! The only part my wee 5 year old didn't eat was the mashed potatoes. (She's not a fan of taters unless in fry form)

What you need:

2 pounds ground beef browned
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
2 t. oregano
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 packages (24 oz each) mashed potatoes

(c) Keytee 2014

*Brown ground beef, chop onion, mince garlic.

Mix all ingredients together except mashed potatoes. Place in freezer safe bag, label, lay flat and freeze.
Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.
Mix up mashed potatoes. Put on top of everything else and cook for 30 minutes

Freezer spree

This  past weekend I spent about 2 hours in the kitchen with Doctor Who episodes running on my Kindle and doing freezer meal prep for the next two weeks.  Because Hubs is off in the afternoon, these are perfect and easy for him to cook in either crock-pot or oven before I get home later in the evening.

Don't forget to pull these out the night before and thaw in fridge!

Chicken & Stuffing (Crock pot)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts  ( I only use 3 for our little family)
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 oz  (1/2 cup) sour cream
6 oz box Stove Top stuffing ( I like the Traditional Sage)
1/4 cup milk

* Place chicken in bottom of crock pot, dump stuffing on top. Mix soup, sour cream & milk together and pour on top.  Cook LOW 4 hours.

Creamy Italian Chicken (Crock pot)

Meatloaf  (oven)

Beef Shepherd's Pie (Crockpot)

Creamy Beef & Noodles (Crock pot)
*I'm making the sauce more gravy like this time and serving it with mashed taters.

Beef Stew (Crock pot)

Cheesy Ham & Potatoes (oven)


Smothered Pork Chops (Crock pot)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp garlic pepper salt
2 T olive oil
4 boneless pork loin chops

1/2 cup flour
14 oz chicken broth (1 3/4 cup)

In large ziplock bag: combine 1/4 cup flour, mustard & garlic pepper salt.
Add chops one at a time, shake to coat.
Brown in skillet with olive oil on each side. Transfer to crock pot.  (I let them cool and put them in a new bag and freeze them for use later)
Whisky flour and broth until smooth, pour over chops.
Cook on low 3- 3 1/2 hours.

8 meals. We already had crock pot meatballs (a bag of meatballs, two jars of spaghetti sauce, cooked on low all day and served over spaghetti noodles) per my 5 year old's request. We'll also do 2 days of pizza, 2 days of hamburger helper, and one "fend for yourself" night (where we each decide what we feel like having that's quick & easy. Like spaghettios & meatballs, sandwich, can of soup, whatever.

Chicken Alfredo Tater Tot Casserole

This first time I had this was at a "Ladies Only" party at my friend Jen's.  After my initial, polite, helping size, I went back for more.  I whipped it together and tossed it into the freezer.  This is definitely one to thaw out before baking though.  Had to bake it twice as long at 40 degrees higher than if it had been thawed.
It doesn't look like much in the picture, but it is delicious!

What I used:
1 jar alfredo sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 large cans of chicken (found near the cans of tuna usually, I really like Swanson)
half bag of shredded mild cheddar cheese.
bacon bits (half a small bag, found in the salad dressing aisle - or make your own)
frozen tater tots (2/3 bag is all I used)

(c)Keytee 2013

1. Dump tater tots in 9 x 13  foil pan
2. Mix sauce, soup, and chicken together.  Pour over tater tots.
3. Sprinkle with bacon bits and top with cheese.

*If freezing, cover with foil and remove before baking. Tots also kind of lose their form and could just as easily be replaced with hashbrowns if you wanted to.

Bake at 350 degrees  for 25 mins.

Oven Baked Stew

Another good find via Pinterest from The Girl Who Everything.  An easy, throw together meal that you can do in the crock pot too.  Hubs and I enjoyed it.  The 5 year old did not approve of this one. Of course, she's also the one who told her friends mom that she was allergic to normal size carrots but not the baby ones.

What I used:

1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat (cut into bite size pieces.)
6-8 baby red potatoes, peeled and cut into fourths
1 small, sweet white onion.  Cut into 2" chunks
half of a small bag of baby carrots, cut in half
1 (14.5 oz) can cream of celery soup
1/2 C. ketchup

(c) Keytee 2013

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large zip lock bag combine onion soup mix, paprika, salt and stew meat.  Shake until well coated. Place seasoned meat in baking dish.
3.  Arrange potatoes, onions and carrots on top of meat.
4.  In small bowl, combine cream of celery soup and ketchup.  Pour mixture over meat and vegetables.
5.  Cover and bake for 2 hours.

Crock pot option:  Prepare as above, cook on low for 4-6 hours or until potatoes are tender.

Creamy Sausage and Tomato Pasta

So, the last couple of night I'd been trying to come up with a dish that I could use some italian sausage that my mom's boyfriend, Papa Joe, gave us.  I sifted through multiple site and recipes until I came upon The Girl Who Ate Everything and had a total "YES!" moment.  Go to the site to see the original recipe.  As I often do, I've tweaked it to suit our tastes and my cooking style.

What I used:
5  Italian sausage - casing removed.
3 shakes of minced, dried onion
2 shakes mince, dried garlic
2 C.  (16 oz) Italian style diced/chopped tomatoes
1 C. (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 C.  heavy cream
2/3 of 16 oz box Penne pasta

(c) Keytee2 2013

1. Cook pasta in salted water al dente, according to package.
2. While pasta is cooking, brown sausage (I used my deep sided 12" fry pan).
3.  Add onion and garlic, saute for a couple minutes.
4.  Pour in tomatoes & tomato sauce, heat through.
5.  Pour in cream and heat through. (Supposedly it'll thicken the longer it simmers, mine did not get very thick in the 3 minutes I let it simmer).
6.  Mix in pasta and serve.

This dish is Picky Five Year Old Approved.