So the other night we were all running in different directions and I needed to serve something fast and yummy. We had just been to the apple orchard and I had a lot of apples that needed to be used, so I made fried apples, twice baked potatoes and pecan crusted chicken. The great thing about this whole meal is it can all be made ahead and stored in your freezer. The chicken was pre-preped and frozen so I just defrosted and put it together. So then I had time to make a giant batch of twice baked potoates and freeze them in family size portions, for the next night I need a go to meal. I don't know about you, but in my book that ROCKS!!!!!

Pecan Crusted Chicken

(I made strips for this because they are more kid friendly, however you could do the full breast or nuggets)

**** Three separate meals to be frozen in gallon size bags

6 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

1 cup Dijon mustard or spicy mustard

2 cups clover honey

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

3 cups crushed rice checks (i used my food processor to make a fine crush for a very crunchy coating)

2 cups crushed pecans (use your food processor for a quick crush)

3 gallon freezer bags

3 snack or quart size freezer bags

1. Prepare your chicken how ever you please (full breast, nuggets, or strips) Divide evenly among your 3 gallon sized freezer bags.

2. Combine honey, mustard (just use what you have..but NOT yellow mustard) oil. salt, garlic, and pepper in a large bowl. Divide evenly over the chicken. PRESS AIR OUT OF BAGS AND SEAL.

3.Mix your Rice chex and pecans mix together. Divide evenly between three of the small bags. PRESS AIR OUT OF BAGS AND SEAL.

4. Freeze (if you are serving one that night for dinner throw it in the fridge and let in marinate for at least 2 hours)

To Cook:

1. Thaw in fridge.

2. Preheat oven @ 350.

3. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

4.Put breadcrumbs in a pie plate or large bowl.

5. Take chicken from bag and roll each piece and roll in crumb mixture.

6. Bake for 3o min. or until NO LONGER PINK.

***IF you have extra chicken leftover, it is very very yummy in salad!!!!!!!

Twice Baked Potatoes

8 large baking potatoes or 16 small
8 slices bacon
2 cups sour cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes or until you can easily handle them. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
Bake for another 15 minutes.

Allow to cool (if not serving right away) Put in freezer bags in family sized portions. Freeze. To prepare from thawed just reheat in a 350 oven until warm.

Fried Apples (my hubby's favorite)

2 tablespoon butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 medium tart apple, cored and peeled

1/2 cup apple juice or cider

Directions:

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in sugar and lemon juice. Cut the apple into four rings; or whatever shape you like. add to skillet. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until apple rings are tender, turning frequently. Serve warm.

The verdict?

Kennedy loved this, she actually ate most of it and asked to have it again the next day. Jeremy could not stop saying how good it was...this meal was a winner!!!!! I loved the taste of the chicken and it was perfectly crunchy. YUMMY!!!!!!

Hello All!

This has been a long time coming for me, as I love to cook, I love to write, I love to tell people my opinions, and I love my blog.

In case you have not figured it out yet, this will be my food blog. I strive to do many of my recipes virtually from scratch, sometimes I use a little help, but I like to keep chemicals out of my family's food, not to mention the fact that if I cook it ALL I know what is in it. Recently my dear friend, Narah (HI! if you're reading this) have been really interested in is freezer cooking...also known as OMAC (once a month cooking), make ahead meals, dinners in the freezer, so many of the recipes I post will be able to made in this way. ***Many of the recipes I post will not be my own the will just be recipes I have tried and I plan on telling you adjustments I made and what my family and friends thought of the food...

So that's that! Lets get started! :)

Okay, so I am a avid Rachel Ray watcher. The other day I was watching her show (one I had recorded...so I don't know the original air date) and there was this adorable gal on there who had pledged to use her crock pot everyday for a year...and blog about it!!!! Well of course I ran over to my laptop (that's always fired up) and checked out her blog....AMAZING. Here is a link to Stephanie's blog A Year of Crockpotting. Well I have been checking it out once a week since then and she posted a very cool recipe for Turkey Apple Cheddar Meatballs that can be made in the crockpot. While I do love using my crock pot I had my freezer cooking in mind so I decided to use the recipe but go the more traditional route, and use my oven not my crock.

Here is the Recipe as posted on Stephanie's Blog

--1 1/2 pound extra lean ground turkey--1 egg--1 tsp kosher salt--1 tsp ground black pepper--1 tsp onion powder--1 green apple, peeled and shredded--1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar--1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

Here is how I made the recipe (I doubled it)

3 pounds ground turkey

2 eggs

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp onion powder

2 green apples peeled and shredded

1 cup cheddar cheese

1 cup dried cranberries

(as you can see I only added poultry seasoning to the original recipe, because I wanted to add a "thanksgiving flavor")

First off I peeled and shredded my apples. I used my mandolin to make a thick shred so you get that good apple taste. The just get everything in a bowl and mix with your hands. (that is the only way to mix meatballs or meatloaf...just be sure to remove your jewelry) Mix well. Form into balls. I made mine golf ball sized, as suggested on Stephanie's blog. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Bake @ 350 for 20-25 minutes. ****If you make a double batch and want to freeze some....cool and then separate into freezer bags. Freeze. When ready to serve thaw in fridge or microwave and reheat.

So how did it taste?

I really enjoyed them. Kennedy and I some for lunch and they were yummy. I also served them (after freezing) last night at my church fellowship meal and everyone raved about them. This is a mild and very family friendly recipe. What I love most about the whole meatball thing is if you want to freeze them you can take out what you need for lunches, and if you are a mom like me

you know that many times you don't need a giant serving for a little eater :) !

Other notes about this recipe: This is a great recipe to make with your kids because of its ease and gooey factor when mixing. Kids love playdough so the will love forming meatballs. I know my daughter did. Then she wanted to eat what she made.