Almost Homemade Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 bag Chicken Starter--defrosted
• 2 jars alfredo sauce
• fetuccini noodles

Directions

• Start cooking noodles
• In a heavy skillet combine parsely, wine, broth and chicken
• Simmer until the liquid reduces to half
• Stir in alfredo sauce and allow to heat
• Gently toss in rinsed, cooked fetuccini noodles
• Serve!

Tip

• If you don't have white wine, substitute with another cup of chicken broth

Time Saving Tips

Tip: Do it all at once!

• First, put two loaves of banana bread in the oven--great afternoon snacks for kids
• Next, start your Chicken Starter Kit simmering in the pot on the stove
• Then, put two roasts in the crockpot
• Fourth, get going on your Hamburger Starter Kit
• Between stirring hamburger, pound out chicken breasts to freeze in layers for fresh quick meals
• Have ingredients measured out for sloppy joes in a sauce pan and dedicated the first round of browned Hamburger Starter Kit to the sloppy joes...it can simmer while you keep on keepin' on
• Everything (except the crockpot) can be done in about 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes!

The key is to be organized. You've got to have your prep work done, an empty kitchen sink, and clear counters...but you can do it! This do-ahead work does NOT need to consume a whole afternoon. It sure doesn't.

Hamburger Hotdish

This is one of my 5 kids' unanimous favorites. It can't be easier for faster to make. There are two versions depending on your rice preference. My mom served it with hot buttered toast and honey, and it was our favorite, too.

Ingredients--White Rice Version

• Hamburger Starter Kit (see a previous post)
• 2 cups beef broth or one can is fine
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• Salt, pepper, and soy sause to taste

Directions

• Combine all ingredients except soy sauce in a large skillet that has a cover
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer covered 12 minutes, stirring occasionally
• When rice is cooked, add soy sauce until you've met your taste preference
• Serve

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Ingredients--Brown Rice Version

• Hamburger Starter Kit (see a previous post)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 packages Uncle Bens Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice
• Salt, pepper, and soy sause to taste

Directions

• Combine hamburger, broth, rice, salt and pepper in a skillet
• Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes to give time for the flavors to combine and everything to be hot
• Stir in soy sauce to taste

Variation

• Add a can of sliced mushrooms or a packaged of sliced mushrooms at the first step

Chicken-Broccoli-Peanut Stir Fry

This one I'm cheating on...I got the basic idea from a cooking show and slimmed it down to just 5 things you will be eating in your rice, stirred together, more or less.

Ingredients

• Peanut Oil
• Frozen broccoli flowerets, thawed
• 1 onion, chopped
• Dry roasted peanuts
• Chicken Starter Kit (see a previous post)
• Eggs
• Rice
• (Salt and pepper to taste, and of course soy sauce)

Instructions

• Heat enough peanut oil to lightly cover the bottom of a wok over high heat
• Stir fry the broccoli and onions until crisp tender, at the last minute throw in the peanuts to heat them up
• Remove broccoli, onions, and peanuts from the wok
• Add a little more peanut oil if needed and carefully toss the chicken until heated--the chicken will start to shred if you stir it too much
• When heated, remove from the wok
• Add more peanut oil, and pour in 2 well beaten eggs, allow them to cook on their own for a minute, and then stir fry the eggs until cooked
• Toss in all ingredients, including the still hot cooked rice, and carefully stir fry everything together for a moment
• Top with salt and pepper to your taste and soy sauce to your taste, carefully stir fry for another moment and...
• Serve

Measuring

• You know how you like your stir fry--a lot of rice, or a lot of vegis and less meat, etc. So you put in the volume of each main ingredient to your preference
• Make servings of about 3 and no more at a time; overloading the wok leads to mushy stir fry

Quickie Hamburger Stroganoff

The noodles take longer to cook than the actual stroganoff that will go over them, so be sure to start the noodles first. Beginning to end, it takes less than 10 minutes to cook this recipe,and there is no prep time. Every good Norwegian should have sour cream on hand, and every good Minnesotan has a cupboard full of cream of everything you can think of soup. This is a quick, easy, filling supper with lots of options to suit your own preferences.

Ingredients

• 3 T butter or margarine, (or three plops)
• 2 T flour, (or two plops)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can milk, (pour the milk into the empty soup can--that's your measuring can)
• 1 bag Hamburger Starter Kit, (see a previous post)
• salt and pepper to taste
• egg noodles

Instructions

• Melt butter in large skillet over medium high heat
• Quickly stir in flour, stir until butter and flour are smooth
• Quickly stir in cream of mushroom soup and milk until smooth and bubbling
• Stir in defrosted bag of Hamburger Starter
• Salt and pepper to taste--probably needs about a half teaspoon of salt and about 1/4 teaspoon of pepper round about
• Stir and cook about 3-5 minutes
• Stir in sour cream
• Serve immediately over hot cooked egg noodles

Yield

• Serves 6

Variations

• Add a clove's worth of garlic powder with the flour for an extra kick
• Add a drained can of mushrooms with the Hamburger Starter kit
• Add a cup of fresh sliced mushrooms with the Hamburger Starter kit
• Serve over rice instead of noodles
• Replace the sour cream with heavy cream, serve over toast as a breakfast item

Chicken Starter Kit

This is an easy way to prepare for future meals without alot of cost or effort.

Ingredients

• Family packs of boneless & skinnless chicken breasts
• 1 stalk celery
• 6 sprigs of parsely
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• water

Instructions

• Rinse chicken breasts and put in bottom of a large pot
• Add celery, parsely, peeled onion, and carrot whole on top of chicken breasts
• Add water until everything is covered by about an inch
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done...depending on how vigorous your simmer is, this can be anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes
• Remove chicken from water and allow to cool about 5 minutes
• Slice into strips or cut into cubes
• Freeze in bags for future use, mark with date

Suggestions

• I buy very large all-natural chicken breasts. There usually aren't any more than 6 in the family pack because they are so big. So I usually freeze two breasts per bag (sliced or cubed), and that helps me cut costs and measure pretty evenly between the bags.
• When I cube the chicken, I measure cupfuls so Iknow for a cubed-chicken recipe how many bags I would need to defrost. I typicallly freeze in 4 cup bags, but I think I am going to switch to bags that hold 2 cups.
• Buy quality freezer bags, and take time to wash them and reuse them. Turn a cup upside down and put the wet bag over the cup to dry.
• Make sure you are squeezing all the air out of the bags before you seal them.
• I like to add a cup or so of the broth that is in the pot to the bags. The flavor is really good later on.
• Strain out the vegetables and herbs, and freeze the broth for a chicken soup later on down the road. The first time you do this you may want to immediately make chicken soup, but probably not every time.

Roast Beef Egg Bake and Toast

This is a great dinner for eating that has to happen on the run! Prep time & cook time are quick. This is a filling meal!
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Photo Instructions

Ingredients

• 1 Roast Starter Kit (see previous post)
• Dash of olive oil
• Half red pepper, chopped
• Half green bell pepper, chopped
• Half onion, chopped
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded, (sharp is best)
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Instructions

• Prep your Roast Starter Kit--defrosted already, pull into large chunks with a fork, put in a large skillet and heat with 1/4 cup water on medium high heat. While the roast is heating....
• Prep your ingredients--chop the red and green peppers, chop the onion, and deseed/dice your tomato, shred your cheese if you buy bricks
• Beat the eggs well in a bowl separate from the other incredients and set aside
• Remove the roast from the skillet when heated and set aside
• Put a dash of olive oil in the skillet and saute red and green peppers and onions on medium high heat until they are crisp-tender
• Stir in heated roast
• Sprinkle cheese over the roast mix
• Pour eggs over the cheese and roast mix
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Top with the diced tomatoes
• Cover and cook over medium low heat until eggs are set--approximately 5 minutes
• While it cooks, make the toast and set up plates
• Serve Roast Beef Egg Bake immediately

Yield

• Serves 6

Time Savers

• chop vegetables the night before and store in fridge
• buy cheese that is already shredded...or shred it the night before

Garnish Ideas--if you've got the time!

• Salsa
• Sour Cream
• A small amount of the vegetables

Roast Beef Starter Kit

Cooking two roasts in a crockpot at the same time will help you have one meal ready for tonight, and one meal for the future...maybe more, depending on the size of your family!

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Ingredients

• 2 uncooked roasts


• 1 onion


• lawry's seasoning salt


• pepper


• water

Instructions--Starting Out

• Put the smaller roast on top of the bigger roast in the crock pot


• Put about 2 cups of water in the crock pot--the water shouldn't be up to the top roast


• Sprinkle generously with seasoning salt


• Peel and cut one onion in half and put one in the water and one on top of the roast


• Cover and cook 8 hours or as directed by your crock pot

Instructions--After the Roasts Are Cooked

• Remove both from the crock pot


• Serve one for dinner


• Trim fat from the second roast and freeze for future use...remember to write the date on the bag with a pen

Sloppy Joes

While your 2nd batch of Hamburger Starter Kit is on the stove, you can start a 2-meal batch of sloppy joes. Half can be for supper tonight and the other half can be frozen for the future.

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Ingredients

• 4 cans Mexican diced tomatoes, (diced tomatoes with green pepper and onions)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 4 t worshestershire sauce
• 1 t chipolte chili power OR plain chili powder
• 2 cloves minced garlic OR substitute 2 clove's worth of garlic powder (read the label)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 6 cups Hamburger Starter --(see previous post)

Other Stuff You'll Need

• hamburger buns
• 1 freezer bag and pen

Instructions

• Drain the liquid from two of the diced tomato cans
• Puree all 4 cans of tomatoes in a food processor or blender
• Place tomatoes and all ingredients through Hamburger Starter in a sauce pan
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer half hour
• Serve half, cool and freeze the other half for the future

Yield

• Two meals for 6 people

Hamburger Starter Kit

Hamburger Starter Kit Photo Instructions:













Ingredients

• 5 lb family pack of hamburger
• 1/2 head of celery
• 3-4 onions

Equipment

• Blender or food processor
• Heavy large skillet
• Wooden spoon
• Large strainer
• Container for under strainer to catch greese
• Large bowl
• 1 cup measuring cup
• 4 freezer bags and pen

Instructions

• Puree and put in bowl 4 onions
• Puree and put in bowl 1 head of celery
• Crumble 1/2 of the hamburger family pack into skillet
• Put 1/2 of onions and celery into skillet
• Cook and stir on medium to high heat until all meat is brown
• Put in strainer with container under to catch greese
• Put remaining half of hamburger, onion, and celery into skillet and repeat cooking
• While 2nd half is cooking, move hamburger in the strainer to the cooling bowl
• When 2nd half is done, put in strainer
• When 1st batch of hamburger is cooled, place in freezer bags and label with date
• When 2nd batch of hamburger is strained and cooled, continue to place in freezer bags in 4 cup amounts and label bags.
• Freeze for future use!
  

Freezing Options

• Most recipes call for 4 cups of hamburger starter--so this is a good amount to measure into each bag
• Some recipes call for 3 cups of hamburger starter--so you may want to put away one or two 3-cup bags
• Dning for 2? When making freezer decisions, cut everything in half, baby!

Yield:

• Usually about 3 bags, depending on how lean or fatty the hamburger, and how much you measure into each bag