Casserole

Mama’s Lasagna Bake

by The cook

in Beef,Casserole,Freezer Cooking,Readers Recipes

Mama’s Lasagna Bake: A little slice of heaven, right out of the freezer!

Ingredients: 

  • 8 cups prepared Marinara sauce (I make my own but using store bought is fine)
  • 4 pkgs (12 oz each) cooked rotini or any other medium pasta
  • 1 pkg sweet Italian sausage
  • 1 pkg mild or hot Italian sausage
  • (I have used bulk ground Italian sausage before but I prefer the sausage in casings)
  • 2 lg buckets ricotta cheese (I wait till these go on sale, usually around Christmas time then freeze them till I want to use them.)
  • 5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cups parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Boil the sausage on the stove till the internal temperature is 150. Meanwhile cook the pasta and drain. Let the sausage rest till cool enough to handle. Slice into ¼ inch medallions. In a large bowl mix all ingredients except 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese.

Portion out the pasta mix into disposable (which by the way re-use very nicely!) loaf pans, top with some of both cheeses, cover with saran wrap then foil and freeze. To re-heat simply place into a 350 oven till bubbly and warm or dump out onto a plate and warm in the microwave. These make a great meal for two when combined with a few bread sticks and a side salad.

 

{ 0 comments }

Bulk Green Bean Casserole – A Great Freeze, Heat and Eat Side Dish

by The cook

in Casserole,Freezer Cooking,Side Dishes

Green Bean Casserole Recipe:

-DELETED- cooks great, freezes great, thaws… not so great.

*****************UPDATE*******************************

We’ve done this a couple times, take it from us, not really worth it.  The convenience saved is killed by the soup separating. Just don’t do it…

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

{ 0 comments }

Leftover Casserole from Thanksgiving Leftovers: Bulk Cooking Casserols

by The cook

in Bulk Cooking,Casserole,Dinners

Bulk Cooking / Once a Month Cooking: Thanksgiving leftover casserole: A bulk cooking post using whatever I could find lying around

I was in the mood to do some bulk cooking, so at my wife’s request I whipped up a roasting pan full of green bean casserole as a bulk cooking item. I dug around the cabinets, fridge and freezer and came up with a handful of items that pretty much resembled a thanksgiving dinner. So to go along with the green bean casserole, I figured I would just do a thanksgiving casserole… even though it is July, sometimes turkey just hits the spot.

Here is what I found in the cabinets/freezer:

  • 3 pounds of a mixed chopped carrot and pea frozen mix from great food for all
  • 3 large bags(sams club size) of stovetop stuffing (chicken flavor) Meh.. chicken.. turkey… whatever.
  • 3 cans of campbells turkey gravy
  • 3 cans of precooked turkey from sams club from a while ago (you could.. and probably should… use something better like leftover turkey or fresh turkey, but this worked in a pinch and cleaned up the cabinet)

You can use whatever ratio of ingredients suits your taste… I was just scraping up items at random.

To start I cooked the canned turkey in a skillet with some salt and pepper. I always gotta wonder about canned meats to begin with. I just feel better cooking them to be sure. While that was cooking I boiled water for the stove top stuffing.

As with most of my bulk cooking, I used my large roasting pan and tossed the veggies on the bottom. Then I spread on the cooked turkey (all chopped up), topped it evenly with the stove top stuffing and finished it off with a light layer of the turkey gravy. Yup, it was as hard as that.

I then covered the roasting pan, tossed it in the oven at 375*F for about 35-40 minutes and removed to cool down. The result was an awesome all in one meal. We ate it for dinner, plus I had enough left over from the bulk cooking for 10 more lunches for me to take to work, I tossed them in some individual serving size containers and put them in the freezer. So all in all we had about 12-14 meals from this. I have defrosted and eaten several of them and they warm up great.

Mix up the stuffing in the roasting pan and add in the chopped up turkey:

Dump in the veggies of your choice: As mentioned we used about a 2 1/2 pound bag of frozen pea/carrot mix.

Dump on some gravy for good measure: This looks like a lot of gravy, but in actuality, it is just a thin layer on top. Once mixed it just gets absorbed by the stuffing.

A bowl of the end product: Yummy goodness!
A closeup:
It is very filling and totally tastes just like thanksgiving dinner in every bite. So awesome… and easy.

{ 0 comments }