Pasta Primavera

This is one of our family'e favorite pasta dishes. It is quick to throw together and easy to double the batch. I use fresh carrots if I have them. When using fresh carrots, you need to simmer the sauce until the carrots are tender instead of turning off the heat and allowing it to just sit and re-hydrate the veggies. I also trade up the noodles sometimes using spaghetti noodles and sometimes fettuccine. 

This dish freezes well so I always double it and put the extra in a freezer bag. To use the frozen pasta dish, just thaw and microwave in a covered, glass dish until heated through, stirring occasionally. It makes for a quick and easy dinner with garlic bread and lettuce salad served on the side.

Pasta Primavera
Everything can be done in the time it takes the pasta to cook for a quick dinner any night.
1 can cream of mushroom soup	¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¾ cup reconstituted powdered milk	½ tsp dried, minced garlic
¼ cup dehydrated carrots	⅛ tsp pepper
2 cups frozen broccoli florets	3 cups cooked spaghetti
Combine everything but the spaghetti in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and turn the heat off. Allow to sit for 15–20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir in pasta and heat through. Source: All Things Provident by Tamara Price

Freezer to Crockpot Cranberry Lemon Pork Roast

Freezer to Crockpot Cranberry Lemon Pork Roast

2-3 lb pork roast

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1-2 tsp minced garlic

1 16oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp cornstach (added later)

Place all ingredients into a gallon ziplock freezer bag except for the cornstarch. Label bag with instructions to add 2 Tbsp cornstarch just before cooking. Thaw before cooking. Dump everything into the crockpot. Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and add to crockpot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

Freezer to Crockpot Mexican Sweet Pork with Beans

It is difficult to photograph the filling in a tortilla - that said, this is so tasty! I cooked up a large pork roast and shredded it as the recipe below describes. I wanted to stretch it and use it for a few meals so I decided to throw some beans in the mix. I am so glad I did. The beans added a nice texture and everyone loved it. 

To prepare this for the freezer, place the pulled pork in a ziplock freezer bag. You need about 4 cups of pork. Add the salsa and brown sugar. Throw in 2 cans of kidney, pinto, or white beans, drained. (You could also cook dry beans and use them. You need about 3 cups.) Label and freeze. To eat, thaw and heat through in the crockpot or microwave. Wrap in a tortilla and add cheese and lettuce. (You can see some purple cabbage and a carrot in the photo because we just used a lettuce salad mix to make it easy.) This recipe was enough for two meals. You can choose to divide it into additional freezer bags before freezing or just know you'll have leftovers or enough to share with company.

Mexican Sweet Pork
This becomes a speedy dinner if you already have pulled pork cooked and frozen in the freezer.
1 pork picnic roast	1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup medium salsa	½ cup chicken broth, optional
Place pork roast in a crockpot and cook on low for 12–15 hours. I usually put the roast in just before going to bed. Test the pork by stabbing it with a fork and twisting. If the meat shreds easily, it is ready. Remove from the crockpot and place on a baking sheet. Using two forks, pull the pork apart and separate out all the visible fat and bone pieces. It pulls apart more easily when it is still warm. Combine 4 cups of the shredded pork with the salsa, and brown sugar. Add a small amount of pork juices or chicken broth if the mixture seems too dry. Return this all to the crockpot. Heat through and serve wrapped in tortillas or top a taco salad with it.

Storable Dinner - Scalloped Potatoes

This recipe relies on my white sauce mix that speeds up the preparation of many meals.  They are my Sarah's favorite potatoes! Fresh potatoes can store for many months so can easily be part of your 3 month menu plan. Just put them in a box out in your garage during the cold winter months. Keep them away from light as much as possible and if you can store the box up off the cement floor, your potatoes will last longer. Whisk sauce ingredients together in a pan. Stir and heat until thick. Layer sliced potatoes, dried, minced onions and chopped ham (optional) in 9x13 pan. Pour sauce over the top. Make sure potatoes are evenly coated. Cover with foil. Bake at 325° for about 2 hours or until potatoes are tender. Remove foil and serve. We cooked up some frozen veggies to serve on the side. Scalloped Potatoes
Creamy and delicious—great as a side dish or add some chopped ham to make it a meal.
7–8 large potatoes, peeled and sliced	3 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ cup dried, minced onion	1 tsp salt
¾ cup white sauce mix	¼ tsp pepper
3 cups hot water	Paprika, optional
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon	Cooked ham, optional
Layer potatoes and onions in a greased 9x13-inch pan. You can use dehydrated potato slices that you have soaked in boiling water for 15–20 minutes. You can also add precooked ham pieces if you'd like. Whisk white sauce mix, water, bouillon, and mayonnaise together in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Stir in salt and pepper. Pour sauce over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Cover and bake at 325° F for 2 hours or until potatoes are tender. I also cook this in the microwave. It always cooks faster on the edges so you have to stir it a few times when you use the microwave. You can also do it in the crockpot. Cook on high for 3–4 hours or on low for 6–8 hours. Recipe source: All Things Provident by Tamara Price

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Making Hamburger Buns is quick and easy once you have figured out making bread dough. You'll find one of our favorite recipes here. Really, any basic bread dough will work, you can even use frozen dough if that is how you do things in your kitchen.

When I make bread, I always fill my big mixer so it gives me enough for 3 loaves. This picture shows me dividing the dough into 3 equal portions.

Flatten one portion out to be the height of a wide mouth canning ring.

Use the canning ring as a cookie cutter to cut out the hamburger buns.

Place buns on a greased baking sheet. I always shape the remaining dough into a bun the best I can. You'll notice the "odd" looking one squished in the middle there. Allow enough room between buns for them to rise without touching.

Spray the tops of the buns with Pam and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you want to. I don't usually bother with this step, but I wanted you to see the true result. Let the buns rise until about double in size.

Bake at 350° F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. You can see the "odd" bun quite well here. Oh well, my husband isn't picky. He'll love the little bit bigger bun. Cool on a wire rack. Slice and use for hamburgers, sloppy joes, pulled pork, chicken salad, etc. These freeze very well so don't hesitate to make a large batch one day and be set for quite a few meals. If you  freeze sloppy joe filling or pulled pork, you'll have an entire meal ready to go in 10 minutes or less for a busy night.

Storable Lunch or Dinner - Meat Pasties

Meat pasties are basically single serving size meat pies. History tells us that miners used to take them in their lunches in place of a sandwich. It is one way to trade up the way you serve beef or chicken stew. I've done them with canned meats and dehydrated vegetables and they turn out deliciously! I also use items from my freezer sometimes. This time, I mixed frozen peas and carrots with hashbrown potatoes. I stirred in some precooked hamburger and then made a thick gravy using reconstituted powdered milk, flour, beef bouillon, onion, and garlic. I mixed all of this together for the filling.

Roll out pie crust (I always keep some in my freezer ready to go.) and place filling on top.

Fold over and crimp the edges well. Cut a few slits for ventilation. (These pasties can be frozen at this point for up to 3 months.)

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

Enjoy with your favorite side dish - we opened some bottled fruit to make it an easy night.

Storable Lunch or Dinner - Hamburger Buns

Making Hamburger Buns is quick and easy once you have figured out making bread dough. You'll find one of our favorite recipes here. Really, any basic bread dough will work, you can even use frozen dough if that is how you do things in your kitchen.

When I make bread, I always fill my big mixer so it gives me enough for 3 loaves. This picture shows me dividing the dough into 3 equal portions.

Flatten one portion out to be the height of a wide mouth canning ring.

Use the canning ring as a cookie cutter to cut out the hamburger buns.

Place buns on a greased baking sheet. I always shape the remaining dough into a bun the best I can. You'll notice the "odd" looking one squished in the middle there. Allow enough room between buns for them to rise without touching.

Spray the tops of the buns with Pam and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you want to. I don't usually bother with this step, but I wanted you to see the true result. Let the buns rise until about double in size.

Bake at 350° F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. You can see the "odd" bun quite well here. Oh well, my husband isn't picky. He'll love the little bit bigger bun. Cool on a wire rack. Slice and use for hamburgers, sloppy joes, pulled pork, chicken salad, etc. These freeze very well so don't hesitate to make a large batch one day and be set for quite a few meals. If you  freeze sloppy joe filling or pulled pork, you'll have an entire meal ready to go in 10 minutes or less for a busy night.

Storable Lunch or Dinner - Whole Wheat Tortillas

You won't think making tortillas is worth the work until you've tasted a homemade tortilla. If you are one of the lucky ones who has tasted a tortilla hot off the griddle, you will be more than just a little excited about trying your hand at this recipe.

Make your dough.

Divide it into balls.

Cover the dough balls with a moist paper towel for 1-8 hours. You read that right - it takes at least one hour for the gluten in the wheat flour to relax so the tortillas are easier to roll out. You can leave it longer though depending on the demands of your day.

Cut the edges off of a gallon size ziplock bag to create two heavy-duty pieces of plastic. Roll out each dough ball until very thin between the layers of plastic. This is where the kids have fun helping you. We've even had taco parties and our guests have fun taking turns rolling these out. You can place a bowl upside down over the top and cut around it to create perfect circle tortillas if you want to. We don't mind the homemade appearance. Cook on a hot griddle as you would a pancake. Fill with your favorite taco filling or turn them into delicious sandwich wraps. They also taste great in Mexican Lasagna.

Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas
4 cups whole wheat flour	½ – ¾ cup shortening
1 cup all-purpose flour	1 ½ cups boiling water
2 tsp salt
Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Rub the shortening in by hand until the dough is the texture of oatmeal. Make a well in the center and pour in the boiling water. Mix with a fork until the water is all mixed in. Sprinkle with a little additional flour and knead with your hands until the dough does not stick to your fingers. Divide into balls about the size of golf balls and place on a tray. Cover with a moist paper towel and allow to sit for at least one hour or up to 8 hours. This makes them much easier to roll out. Cut the seams off a gallon-size ziplock bag creating two pieces of heavier plastic. Roll each ball out between the two pieces of plastic as thin as possible. Place a tortilla on a hot griddle. As soon as you see a bubble on top (in about 10 seconds) flip the tortilla over. Cook for about 30 seconds. Flip and cook the other side for an additional 30 seconds. Roll out the next tortilla while you wait for one to cook. Continue until all the balls are done. Store your cooked tortillas between two kitchen towels to keep them warm and soft before serving. These freeze well.

Storable Dinner - Tamale Casserole

I flipped the order of the ingredients for this casserole to give it a prettier presentation. It is a family favorite regardless of the order of the ingredients! I had a good friend bring this over one of the times we had a new baby in the NICU. I knew that when my husband and all the kids liked it, I needed to get her recipe. When I read the ingredients, I was excited to see it was a "food storage" recipe and oh, so simple.

Begin by spreading out one can of chili in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Top with a layer of cooked rice and an additional can of chili.

Open two cans of tamales and remove the papers. (Usually found near the chili or on the Hispanic isle at our local grocery stores. I've only ever seen a Hormel brand.) Place the tamales in two rows across the top of the casserole. Drizzle any juices left in the can across the tamales.

Top with shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake or heat in the microwave.

You can do a 1/2 size batch in an 8x8 pan. Since this freezes so well, I usually do two when I am making it. 

Tamale Casserole
2 cans of tamales	Grated cheese
2 cups rice, cooked	Sour cream or plain yogurt
2 cans chili
Empty the cans of tamales into a 9x13-inch pan or two 8x8-inch pans. Remove and discard papers then cut into bite sized pieces. Spread evenly in the pan. Cover evenly with cooked rice. Spread the 2 cans of chili over the rice and top with cheese. Bake at 375° F for 30–45 minutes or heat in the microwave. Top with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt when serving. This freezes very well.

Storable Dinner - Chicken Bistro Twist

This looks fancy and tastes even better!

Mix filling ingredients like you would for a chicken salad. Canned chicken is great in this recipe.

Roll out bread dough into two recitangles.

Spread filling down the center of each rectangle.

Snip the dough with kitchen scissors, cutting from the outside in towards the middle.

Fold pieces over the filling alternating each side as you would for a braid.

Don't they look pretty?

Go ahead - WOW your family with this one! It is a great freezer meal which is why I always make two at a time.

Chicken Bistro Twist
Soft garlic breadstick dough	¼ cup chopped black olives
1 cup chicken, cooked and chopped	¼ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup dehydrated peppers	¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp dried basil	½ cup shredded cheese
1 tsp dried, minced garlic
Check out the bread section for the garlic breadstick dough recipe and make a double batch. After the first rise, punch it down and divide in half. While it is rising, rehydrate peppers and garlic. Make a chicken salad filling out of all the ingredients. On an oiled surface, roll each piece into a 14x10-inch rectangle. Spread half of the filling down each loaf. Cut 1-inch wide strips using kitchen scissors down either side of the dough, cutting from the outside edge of the dough into the edge of the filling. Braid the loaf by folding top strips together across the filling and continue alternating strips until you reach the bottom. (This will look similar to a Danish braid.) Spray the tops of each loaf with oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning or some of the bread dipping herb mix found in the bread section of this book. Bake at 350° F for 25–30 minutes. If browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil before baking the final 5 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. To freeze: Remove from oven after 25 minutes of cooking. Allow to cool. Wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap and freeze. To use frozen loaf: Thaw and wrap in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350° F for 10–15 minutes or until heated through. *Source: All Things Provident by Tamara Price