Tortellini Soup

Modified from Skinny Italian. (Amounts are approximate ; ) Sorry I'm always tweaking!

24 oz (3 cups) chicken broth (if this isn't enough use water)

1 jar (large size) marinara/spaghetti sauce

1 TSBP Italian seasoning

1 tsp pepper

1 bag frozen tortellini. I used the cheese or the beef and cheese HyVee brand. I think it was a 19 oz bag. It was the standard size in the freezer section, but a little bigger than what's sold in the refrigerated section. (Refrigerated tortellini would work in this recipe too).

To improve the nutritional value of this recipe add a cup or two of frozen chopped spinach. Just add from frozen when you add the tortellini. (You could use other veggies if your prefer).

To make this a little more tasty, saute a diced onion in olive oil and add to the broth/tomato sauce.

If there MUST be meat at your house, throw in small meatballs.

**********************

To prepare to eat immediately

Heat the chicken broth, marinara and italian seasoning to boiling. Add tortellini (still frozen) (and spinach or meatballs too if you want). Cook tortellini until tender -- about 10 minutes. Serve with parmesean cheese.

***************

To freeze -- just mix the broth/sauce/seasonings and freeze flat. (No need to cook in advance). Buy frozen tortellini and frozen spinach and keep frozen until ready to use. You might want to rubber band the bags together so you remember!

To prepare from frozen -- thaw the liquid ingredients in the fridge OR submerge plastic bag in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove bag. Heat liquid ingredients to boiling. Add tortellini (still frozen) (and spinach/meatball too if you want). Cook until tortellini until tender -- about 10 minutes.

Lipton Burgers

From Freezer Friendz: http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2009/08/lipton-onion-burgers.html


Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup water
1 envelope onion soup mix

Assembly:
Combine all of the above ingredients and mix well. Shape into 8 patties. You may freeze the patties at this point, or cook them.

Serving Day:
Thaw the burgers completely. Grill or broil until done. Enjoy!

Cookies & Cream Pie (modified from Taste of Home)

Modified from: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cookies--n--Cream-Pie

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix**
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (about 11 cookies)
1 chocolate crumb crust (9 inches)**

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk cream and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand
for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping and
cookies.
Spoon into crust. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours or overnight. May
be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes
before serving. Yield: 6-8 servings.


**I used sugar-free french vanilla pudding mix (1 box per recipe) and did not make a crumb crust since I put it in individual servings. It made 8-12 muffin size servings from each recipe.

Corn and Bacon Soup

Corn Soup from "Best of Friends, Too!" Cookbook

4-6 slices bacon, diced

1 large sweet onion, chopped (I used frozen chopped onions)

4 medium potatoes, chopped (I used frozen chopped potatoes)

1 17-oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 12-oz can creamed corn

1 12-oz can evaporated milk (I used 2% and I'd probably give fat free a try next time)

Salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste.

In a soup kettle, saute the onions and bacon until glossy. Add the potatoes, stirring in enough water to cover all. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add corn, and milk. Heat and serve.

******

Instructions for reheating from what I gave you.

• Keep everything frozen until you're ready to make dinner... don't worry about thawing.
• In a soup pot, heat up the contents of the bag of bacon and onions for a few minutes, so the bacon will be a bit crispy again. Spices are in there too.
• Put frozen potatoes in the pot. Cover with water... about 2 cups... cook on medium high.
• When potatoes are no longer frozen, (about 5 minutes), add other ingredients. (Drain whole kernel corn)
• Heat thoroughly and serve. Season as needed.

Mexican Chicken & Black Bean Filling

Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Filling by Amy (from Freezer Friendz Website)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken (3-4 chicken breasts)
3 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 jar (32 oz) of salsa

Optional Ingredients:
1 bag of shredded cheese
1 bag of tortilla chips

Steps:
1. Make a "rub" with the 4 spices and rub on the chicken breasts - place in a crock pot.
2. Add the other ingredients (except chips and cheese) and mix.
3. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken during the last hour of cooking to give the meat more flavor.

If you want to freeze:
1. Cool chicken mixture.
2. Pour into Ziploc freezer bag.
3. Freeze.

Serving day:
1. Thaw overnight.
2. Heat mixture and serve over rice with shredded cheese on top or just eat with tortilla chips.

More ideas for the chicken filling:
1. Mexican pizza topping.
2. Tacos
3. Taco salad
4. Breakfast burrito

Mini chocolate pies

Yikes! I originally improvised part of this recipe, but I lost my inspiration... so here's my best memory

1 small pkg instant chocolate pudding (I tested with sugar-free and regular. Both were good.)

1 cup milk

Mix together - it will be more pasty-texture than regular pudding

Fold in small container of cool whip. (I think the recipe called for slightly less, but I added it all!)

Place 1 Oreo Fudge Creme cookie in the bottom of a cupcake wrapper, placed in a muffin tin. Fill with the pie filling above. Should make about a dozen

Freeze!

Chocolaty Banana Pops

Chocolaty Banana Pops

4 servings

1 cup 1% chocolate milk (I used plain milk and hershey's syrup)

1 ripe banana

Combine, blend, freeze ; )

From Meal Makeover Moms - www.mealmakeovermoms.com