Chicken A La King

Comfort food. Tastes delicious over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or biscuits. 

8-10 lbs. whole chickens (usually one two-pack)
1 cup butter
1lb. fresh white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups half-and-half (or light cream)
3 cups water
2 Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp black pepper
4 green bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 one-gallon freezer bags, labeled

Clean and cook both chickens
Cool and pull meat from bones. Discard skin and bones. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. (A whole chicken will yield about 1 cup of meat per pound.) Divide chicken evenly among freezer bags.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring, until soft. Add flour; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Mixture will be lumpy. Gradually add cream, then water, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Whisk to make a smooth sauce. Stir in bouillon and black pepper. Cool sauce.

Divid cooled sauce evenly over the chicken. Divide bell peppers evenly among the bags of chicken.

Seal and freeze.

To Cook One Entree:
Completely thaw one entree in fridge. Simmer the chicken and sauce in a large skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Do not boil.

Salisbury Meatballs

This recipe makes 6 main dishes. What I like about it is that it doesn't use condensed soup as the base for the sauce. The sauce is made from scratch and is well worth the effort.

6 lbs. lean ground beef
3 cups dry bread crumbs
2/3 cup milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced onion
2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 18 cloves)
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

SAUCE:
1 cup butter
1-1/2 lbs fresh white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups water
4 cups half and half or light cream
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp beef bouillon granules
1-1/2 tsp black pepper

6 one-gallon freezer bags, labeled

Preheat the oven to 500*. Using your hands, thoroughly combine beef, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into 1- to 1-1/2-inch meatballs, placing them close together on lightly greased broiler pans or rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball reads 160*F. Cool meatballs.

While the meatballs are baking and cooling, melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in flour. Mixture will be lumpy. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in water and cream; cook, stirring, until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Whisk to make a smooth sauce. Add Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, and pepper; stir. Cool sauce. (If the sauce seems thin before freezing it, resist the temptation to thicken it with more flour. When the entree comes out of the freezer and is reheated, the sauce will be considerably thicker than it was before freezing.)

Divide cooled meatballs and sauce evenly among the freezer bags. Seal and freeze.

To Cook One Entree:
Completely thaw one entree in the fridge. Prepare on the stove or in the oven.

Stove Top:
Bring meatballs and sauce to a simmer in a large skillet over medium heat until meatballs are heated through. Do not boil.

Oven:
Preheat the oven to 350*. Pour meatballs and sauce into an ungreased baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until meatballs are heated through.

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles.

Basic Red Sauce

This is an all-purpose tomato sauce that you can use for pasta, pizza, and various other dishes that require a tomato base (anywhere a red sauce is needed). The great thing is you don't have to cook it, and you can freeze it in small portions. I like to freeze mine in large ziploc bags in portions of about 6-8 cups, as well as in 2-cup size reusable plastic containers.

4 12-oz. cans tomato paste
8 cups hot water
1/2 cup dried parsley
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced garlic (about 36 cloves
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
4 28oz. cans tomato sauce
4 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes

Mix tomato paste and hot water in a large stockpot until smooth. Stir in parsley, onion, garlic, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, and thyme.

Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes; mix well. Do not cook.

Measure sauce into appropriate portions for immediate use. Divide remaining sauce evenly among freezer bags and/or containers for later use.

Seal and label each bag/container with amount of sauce inside. Freeze.

Ginger Beef

This recipe can easily be decreased to make enough for only one meal, but I like to use the full recipe because it cannot get any easier to get two or three main dishes into the freezer. It's so quick and simple, but it is jam-packed with delicious flavor. Not only that, but it's also effortless to cook and serve! I like to serve this over plain rice.

6 lbs. sirloin tip beef or other beef suitable for slow cooking
3 cups water
9 scallions, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
3.4 cup soy sauce
6 tsp beef bouillon granules
6 tsp minced ginger
6 tsp minced garlic
3 one-gallon freezer bags

Rinse and trim beef as desired. Cut into thick strips, about 2 by 5 inches. (The beef should not be in bite-sized pieces.) Divide beef evenly among the 1-gallon freezer bags.

Into each bag of beef measure 1 cup water, 1/2 cup scallions, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tsp beef bouillon, 2 tsp ginger, and 2 tsp garlic.

Seal and freeze.

To cook one entree:
Thaw one entree in the fridge or cook it straight from the freezer. Put beef and broth into slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until beef is fork tender.