Kitchen Stewardship

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I have done modified Once-a-Month Cooking (OAMC) with a friend twice.  We made about 12-18 meals each, and it took all day and was totally hectic, but fun.  I get a little stressed out with all the intricate planning that can be involved, at least if you’re me.  I’d rather cook a double batch of a meal on a normal night, eat one and freeze the other, or do some big prep that will last over multiple meals (I call it “connected meal planning”), like quadruple homemade cream of chicken soup for casseroles or a big batch of beans for soup, tacos, and a side dish.  Even better if some of that connected meal planning meals can be doubled and frozen for future use!

Money Saving Mom and Life as MOM are hosting another OAMC saga this weekend, so I’m posting my goals in advance.  I won’t be big batch cooking, but I will be connecting my meal planning, and these recipes are perfect for real OAMC.  I’m posting without photos – ghastly, I know – because I haven’t made the dishes yet!  I just wanted to share some ideas with you all in case you’re joining in!  I also had to reverse engineer this stuff for Real Food, which is the theme for the week. 

All the casseroles reheat great and freeze acceptably if you are careful to keep it all moist and airtight.

How does Katie freeze make-ahead meals? I have enough glass dishes with lids that I can make many things right in various casserole dishes, albeit weird sizes.  I freeze soups and sauces in glass jars, or even in plastic bags.  For some reason I’m not scared of plastic bags, no. 4 plastic, no BPA.  I would not heat food in them, though.  I do still use Gladware for freezing some things…you do what you can!  [See the full details on how I think about freezer cooking and store meals.]  I keep a lot of ingredients to make prep quicker in my freezer, too, like onions, peppers and more.  What can you freeze?

Katie’s Real Food Cream of {X} Soup

This recipe is originally from the 30-Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking book, modified slightly for real food.  It makes the equivalent of 4 cans of soup, so I always plan enough casseroles to use it up within a week.  It freezes well inside a casserole but can separate if you freeze it alone, according to the authors.  I’ve never tried it by itself because of that, but I have seen other bloggers who make ahead cream of soups and freeze them.  Attempt at your food’s own risk!  UPDATE: More than a few folks say they freeze the cream of soup just fine, so I’m going to go for it next time!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
3/4 c. whole wheat flour (can add more if you like a really thick base)
4 cups milk
2 cups homemade chicken stock (preferably condensed for added flavor)
Optional:  Chopped onions

Method:

Melt butter over low heat.  If using onions for extra flavor, saute in butter until limp.  Add flour and whisk together until smooth.  Cook 1 minute.  Do not let it brown!  Gradually add milk and chicken stock, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat when sauce has thickened.  This may take up to 15-20 minutes.

Options:

• Cream of celery: Sautee a stalk or two of chopped celery with the butter before adding flour.
• Cream of mushroom: Sautee chopped fresh mushrooms in butter.
• Cream of broccoli: Add chopped steamed broccoli to the soup after it thickens.
• Cheesy sauce: Add shredded cheese (sharp cheddar gives the most flavor) after removing from heat.  Stir to melt.
• If you want to make a big batch of soup and have different flavors, you can always saute mushrooms or celery separately and simply add to the finished soup, one can-equivalent at a time.

I’ll make a batch this week – the chicken stock is already thawed – and use it for the following casseroles within 5-7 days:

Learn how to make a basic roux and a great cream of potato soup.

Honey Dijon Chicken Casserole

The original recipe is from a Quick Cooking magazine from 2000.  Original ingredient is in italics, my substitutions in bold.

Ingredients:

2 cans cream of chicken soup –>3 c. homemade + 1 1/2 tsp. salt + 1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4 cup mayo –>3/4 c. plain homemade yogurt + 1 tsp balsamic vinegar + 1 Tbs lemon juice + 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
OR homemade mayo
1/2 cup milk
3 T. honey
2+ Tbs. Dijon mustard
4 c. cooked chicken
1 pkg. 26 oz. frozen shredded hashbrowns –> 6 thinly sliced or shredded potatoes, skins on or off
3 sliced carrots
(I added) 1 chopped onion

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients.  Stir in the chicken, potatoes and carrots.  Put in a greased 9×13 baking dish.  Cover and bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Uncover, add shredded cheddar and Parmesan cheese (because everything’s better with cheese!  I added that!) and bake 15-30 minutes longer until potatoes are done.  Serves: 8  (Works great cut in half!)

Total cost: under $5 (depends a lot on your chicken cost)

This was one of those meals that I couldn’t figure out how to avoid the aluminum foil when I had to cover my 9×13 pan.  Thanks to one of my faithful readers who recommended flipping a cookie sheet over, I now have a safe cookware substitution as well!

Campbell’s {Katie’s} Easy Chicken and Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 can cream of celery soup—>1 1/2 cups homemade cream of chicken base with sauteed celery to taste (~1/4-1/2 cup)
1 can cream of potato soup—>1 1/2 cups leftover homemade   cream of potato (or if I don’t make that soup the same week, I’d use a chopped leftover baked potato and more cream of chicken w/marjoram added)
1 cup milk (might be less, depending on how thick/thin your homemade condensed soup turned out!)
1/4 + tsp. dried thyme
1/4 + tsp. black pepper
4 cups cooked cut-up vegetables (if I’m smart, I steam extras the day before!  Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots are perfect.  I could also use my freezer veggie extras bag.)
2 cups cooked chicken
1 pkg. refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10)—> Homemade biscuit dough (use your favorite recipe, or mine, which is adapted for real food already!)

Method:

Mix everything but the biscuits in a 3-qt shallow baking dish.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Stir the mixture and add dollops of biscuit dough liberally over the top.  Bake 15 minutes more or until biscuits are golden.  Serves at least 6.

Total cost:  under $5

This is a photo of the biscuit casserole, just about done.  It was taken almost a year ago before I understood anything about food photography!

Potato Beef Casserole

This original recipe is also from a Quick Cooking magazine from the year 2000 – that would be the first year I had a kitchen. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (less is fine if you’re going frugal)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 Tbs celery leaves
1 can cream of mushroom or chicken soup—>1 1/2 cups homemade
1/2 cup milk (less if homemade soup is runny)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
Optional:  sliced fresh mushrooms

Method:

Cook beef, onion, celery and leaves over medium heat until meat is cooked and veggies tender.  Remove from heat; stir in soup, milk, W. sauce and pepper.  Place half the potatoes in a greased 2-quart baking dish (8×8 inch works great).  Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt.  Top with half of beef mixture.  Repeat layers.  Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 70 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Total cost:  $4-5, even with grassfed beef!

Final Notes

Many say that white potatoes aren’t good for you, either.  I’m willing to bet that both of my potato-based casseroles here would be great with cooked brown rice, too.  I just love potatoes, so I’m not giving them up yet!

Sometimes I use the cream of chicken recipe from Tammy’s Recipes as well.  It’s very tasty!  I also have a few more casserole dishes, a creamy chicken enchiladas and a chicken tetrazzini, both only made better with the inclusion of homemade real food.  I’m pondering this week whether I’ll make each meal on the day it’s served or do a big batch cook and make all the casseroles on one day and just cycle them through the oven when I need them.  It would save on cutting boards and saute pans, and you know how I feel about dishes!

UPDATE:  I did it!  In one hour, I had all three done and ready to go, minus the biscuits which I will make Friday.  Woo hoo!  My only dishes were a cutting board, knife, pot, whisk, ladle, food processor, and big bowl.  I was finished with them before the honey dijon casserole was on the table, and HALF that recipe made enough that I froze an entire meal’s worth of leftovers!  That’s one big recipe; use at your own risk.  I need to plan a 3-in-1 meal day more often.  I’m so looking forward to the next couple days…

Be sure to see my guide to Reverse Engineering Recipes for Real Food Quality for more tips on keeping packaged food out of your kitchen!

Other Helpful Freezer Posts:

• Freezer Cooking for Working Moms (and other busy cooks)
• Why I can throw together a meal so fast:  10 Easy Prep Foods I Always Have in My Freezer
• Update:  How to Store and Freeze Fresh Produce and Grains

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If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

I’m participating in:

• Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
• Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
• Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet
• Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
• Frugal Fridays at Life as MOM

Hungry for more? Related posts:

1. 10 Easy Prep Foods You’ll Always Find in my Freezer
2. Real Food, Real Moms: Working to Feed a Family, Freezer Style
3. My First Roux (and a Cream of Potato Soup Recipe)
4. Nourishing Frugal Recipes Carnival
5. Recipe Connection: Hearty Lentil Stew