Freezer to Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Noodles

It's basketball season at our house which means weeknights are a little more hectic as we try to get our boys to and from all their practices. Weekends are also crazy as we watch 3-4 ball games every Saturday. I am relying on my crockpot a lot to have a meal ready when we make it home, hungry and tired after it all. This freezer to crockpot creamy chicken and noodles is a new favorite.

Fat-free Smoothie Popsicles

Pour yougurt smoothie into a popsicle mold and freeze. It is that simple! By making your yogurt out of powdered milk you will save lots of money and it will be fat-free. We have been eating these up all summer long!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I was in charge of the pies for our recent Easter gathering. I come from a very large family which I love, but pies for 40+ was going to mean a lot of rolling out of pie crust. I opted to adapt a

Overnight Whole-grain Breakfast Cake

Are you looking for some new breakfast inspiration? Look no further!This overnight breakfast cake has the goodness of whole grain and the addition of plain yogurt and bean puree

Lazy Lasagna Bake

Sometimes we are in the mood for lasagna, but don't want to go to all the work. This dish is a great solution to that dilemma. I never have Ricotta cheese at the house and sometimes

Blackberry Sour Cream Squares

I taught a powdered milk class the other day and had many ladies request the recipes I had as tasting samples. It was hard for any of them to believe that this delicious, nice-enough-for-company dessert was made using powdered milk

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

I had my cub scout troop coming over to work on earning the nutrition belt loop. I wanted to provide them with a healthy snack. So, after reading a few recipes, I came up with this one. They turned out delicious! They are very low in fat and high in protein with the yogurt and the whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour and old-fashioned oats also add a lot of fiber. The boys told me that if "healthy" could always taste this good, they would love it! The bars froze well so don't hesitate to make a large batch and save them in the freezer for school lunches or a quick breakfast on the run. They are much less expensive to make than the store bought breakfast or protein bars and really don't take that long to put together.

Note: If you've tried this great recipe and you feel ready to try  an alternative, egg-free option try out banana oatmeal breakfast bars. It's very similar to this original recipe but has the distinct flavor of bananas. We love it!

Mix wet ingredients.

Add dry ingredients.

Mix well.

I added the oatmeal in a separate step, but you don't have to.

I made a double batch so I divided it into two 9x13 pans before adding the dried fruit.

I put raisins in one batch and chocolate chips in the other. Mix together well.

Press into greased pans. It doesn't look like much, but they rise to nearly double in size.

Delicious!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup plain yogurt

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup dried fruit or chocolate chips

Mix brown sugar, yogurt, egg, vanilla and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. If mixture looks too dry, add 1-2 Tbsp milk. (The need for milk will depend on how thick your yogurt is. My homemade yogurt is thinner than store bought so I did not need to add any milk.) Add dried fruit or chocolate chips very last. Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. or until golden brown.Cut into bars. These freeze very well. Allow the bars to cool completely before placing in freezer bags or containers.

Sausage Spaghetti Pie

 

This is one of our family's very favorite freezer meals. It is a little time consuming to put together so I plan ahead on a night when I am already making spaghetti. I make extra sauce and cook extra noodles on purpose so I can put this pie together using the leftovers. The original recipe makes three 9-inch pies. Our family is large enough now that I make two larger ones instead.

Mix the noodles with the eggs and Parmesan cheese and layer them in the bottom of your pan.

Add the creamy layer. I always use my homemade yogurt to replace the sour cream.

Top with sauce. Really any good, thick spaghetti sauce will work. I don't always follow the recipe on this one. I do always add some sausage though. It adds the delicious flavor that this meal requires.

Top with shredded cheese. Cover and bake immediately or freeze for 3-6 months. This recipe can definitely make it into your 3 month food storage rotation since it stores at least that long in the freezer all ready to go. You could also use freeze dried cheese and sausage crumbles to make this with fully shelf-stable ingredients if that is what you are looking for. The eggs could be omitted. They help hold the crust together, but that would not be required to make this a tasty dish.

Sausage Spaghetti Pie
1 (16 oz) pkg spaghetti	2 lbs pork sausage
4 eggs, beaten	2 cups water
⅔ cup Parmesan cheese	2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
⅓ cup dried, minced onion, rehydrated	Oregano, basil, garlic (to taste)
2 cups sour cream (plain yogurt)	1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tsp Italian seasoning	½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain and place in a large bowl. Add eggs and Parmesan cheese. Transfer to three greased 9-inch pie plates; press mixture onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Set aside. Mix together onions, sour cream and Italian seasoning. Spoon into crusts. In a skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in water, tomato paste, and spices. Simmer, uncovered for 5–10 minutes or until thickened. Spoon over sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. To use frozen pies: Completely thaw in refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 350° F for 35–40 minutes or until heated through.

Chili and Cornbread

What tastes better after a day of early spring yard work? We had fruit trees and raspberries to prune. By the time we were done, it was just starting to drizzle. It was just slightly chilly. To walk into the house and smell the chili in the crockpot was heavenly. Precooked beans and hamburger in the freezer make it a snap to mix up this meal. Simmer in the crockpot for a few hours or heat quickly on the stove top depending on the demands of your day. Any leftovers freeze well for lunch or dinner another day.

Quick and Easy Chili
½ lb hamburger	1 can condensed tomato soup
⅓ cup dried, minced onion	2 cups precooked red beans
1 tsp dried, minced garlic	2–3 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp dehydrated green pepper	½ tsp dried basil
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes	¼ tsp black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a pan or slow cooker. Add water as needed to achieve desired consistency. Simmer for 15–20 minutes or until heated through and vegetables are tender. In a slow cooker, heat on low for 5–6 hours or on high for 2–3 hours.

I have a couple of cornbread recipes that I use. This one is very moist while my other one is more dry. It is all a matter of what you are in the mood for. This recipe calls for plain yogurt and bean puree to significantly lower the fat content. To learn more about making and using bean puree, click here. Enjoy!

Moist and Delicious Cornbread
2 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups corn meal	¾ cup white bean puree
½ cup sugar	2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp baking soda	2 Tbsp honey
1 ½ tsp salt	¼ cup water
Combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix just until moistened. Pour batter into a greased 9x13-inch pan and bake at 400° F for 20–25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You can cut the recipe in half and it fills an 8x8-inch pan. Bake for 15–20 minutes.

Tuna Noodle Supreme

We love the Creamy Broccoli Tuna Helper around here. I wanted to come up with a similar "from scratch" recipe that could be healthier for us. Here is what I came up with. It is simple and almost as quick as the boxed mix. The leftovers freeze well so double the batch if you'd like and save one casserole for another day.

Drop the dried peppers and onions in the water you will boil the pasta in. Add the pasta when the water begins to boil. Cook until tender.

Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients together.

Mix the frozen broccoli, noodles and sauce mix together in a glass bowl or casserole dish. Microwave until heated through. Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Supreme
2 cups small shell pasta	¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup dehydrated green peppers	1 tsp Dijon mustard
2–3 Tbsp dried, minced onion	2 cups frozen, chopped broccoli
2 cups plain yogurt	1 (5 oz) can tuna, drained
½ cup mayonnaise	Salt and pepper to taste
Cook noodles, dehydrated green peppers, and dried, minced onion in boiling water until noodles are tender. Drain. Meanwhile, stir all remaining ingredients together in a large glass bowl or casserole dish. Mix noodles with the sauce, cover and heat in the microwave until warmed through.

Creamy Italian Chicken

This is one of the meals I make that everyone seems to love! If they only knew how simple it is. Below you will find the recipe and instructions for making this using precooked chicken. Here I will take you through the steps if you are using frozen raw chicken.

I like to use the flash frozen chicken breasts for this if I don't have precooked chicken. They are always thinner and cook more quickly. Put 3-4 frozen chicken breasts in your crockpot.

Sprinkle one packet of Italian salad dressing mix over the chicken. I keep some of these packets in my pantry all the time so I can make this dish whenever.

Cover the crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours - until the chicken is almost cooked.

Whisk together the chicken soup, plain yogurt, and dehydrated celery, if desired.

Pour over the chicken and cook an additional hour. Uncover the final 30 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken a little if you'd like. Serve over cooked rice or egg noodles.

Creamy Italian Chicken
1–2 lbs chicken, cooked and cubed	1 pkg dry Italian Salad dressing mix
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 ½ cups plain yogurt 1/3 cup dehydrated celery	Cooked rice or pasta
Mix soup, yogurt, salad dressing packet and celery together. Place chicken in a casserole dish or crockpot. You can also heat this in a pan on the stove or in the microwave. Cover chicken with soup mixture and heat through, stirring occasionally. On the stove top or in the microwave it takes 10 minutes or less. In the oven, cover with foil and bake at 325° F for 30–45 minutes. In the crockpot, cook on low for 3–4 hours or on high for 1–2 hours. Stir a few times while it is heating in the crockpot to prevent it from getting overdone on the sides and bottom. Serve over rice or pasta. This casserole freezes well. Thaw and then bake as above.

Fruit Salad Using Plain Yogurt

For all those who have started making yogurt, here is a quick and delicious fruit salad you can make with it. (For those of you who haven't braved making your own yogurt yet, store bought plain yogurt works just as well.)

Begin with canned peaches, pineapple chunks, and mandarin oranges. You can decide how much of each you would like. 

Drain the fruit. (Freeze the fruit juice to make delicious smoothies later. You'll find the instructions here.)

Place a double layer of paper towels in a colander with a bowl below it. Fill the paper towel with plain yogurt. Allow the yogurt to drain until it is the consistency of sour cream.

Add the yogurt to your bowl of fruit. Sprinkle in a little powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Mix. 

If it is a little runnier than you like, stir in a bit of Ultra-Sperse (or Ultra Jel) until it is how you like it.

This salad is cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. It is well liked by kids and adults.

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Is summer keeping you so busy running that you are out of energy by the time making dinner comes around? That is how I am beginning to feel - My solution is to make a few larger batches of certain items so they can be waiting in the freezer for just one of these nights. "But, I'm feeling that way every night, " you think. I am too quite frankly. These mashed potatoes can be a side dish with many meals so they can come to the rescue many nights in a row if you need them too. You can also load them up like you would a baked potato and have them pass as the main dish. My kids never complain when I put them on the table.

Peel and dice your potatoes. (Many times we leave the peels on and just scrub well.) Boil in water until tender. Drain and place in your mixing bowl. My Kitchen-aid is great for this. I use the wire whip attachment.

Add homemade yogurt, milk and seasonings until it is the consistency you like. Because I never measure my potatoes anymore, I just do it until it looks goods. (My original measurements can be found in the recipe below.) Allow to cool, and package in freezer bags or containers. 

You've heated your kitchen up once and have quite a few nights covered. Next time you grill any meat, this can be your side dish or like I mentioned above, load them up when you reheat them and call them dinner. You won't get any complaints from us.

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
These are nice to have in the freezer ready to go for a busy night. They are also great for a holiday dinner. You can just reheat in the crockpot on low for 5–6 hours.
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced	½ cup reconstituted powdered milk
8 oz cream cheese (plain yogurt)	2 tsp onion powder
1 cup sour cream (plain yogurt)	Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain and mash. Mix in remaining ingredients only using enough milk to achieve the consistency you desire. Serve immediately or store in the fridge or freezer for later. Just package in ziplock bags or meal size containers. We also like to add grated cheese, chives, and bacon bits sometimes to dress them up.

Mixed fruit juice smoothie

Here is a great use for all the juice you drain off of canned or bottled fruit. I put it in ice cube trays and freeze it. Once it is frozen, I move it to a gallon ziplock bag. When we are ready to make a "Jamba Juice" style smoothie we fill the blender 2/3 of the way up with frozen juice cubes and then add a spoonful of homemade yogurt and some additional fruit juice that has not been frozen. Add a little powdered sugar or honey to sweeten your smoothie, if needed. You can also add fresh or frozen fruit such as bananas, berries, peaches, etc. Be creative and mix and match flavors - we've never had one we didn't like. 

They are especially great for summer time since they are slushy and cold - my boys always fight over who gets the last drop!

Sour Cream/Cream Cheese Substitute

Once you have figured out making your own yogurt (which is very easy by the way. You'll find a great picture tutorial here.) you will want to experiment with this trick. Line a colander with a double thickness of white paper towel. You can also use cheese cloth or muslin fabric. Place a bowl under the colander to catch the whey that will drain through.

For a sour cream substitute, fill the colander with plain yogurt and allow it to drain 30-45 minutes. It all depends on how thick you would like it. Many casseroles call for sour cream and milk. When this is the case, I actually just use the plain yogurt and don't even drain it. I then omit the milk or only add just a little to get the consistency the casserole needs.

For a cream cheese substitute, allow the yogurt to drain for a few hours or overnight. The yogurt will reduce in half if you leave it long enough. You can then use this in recipes calling for cream cheese. I have not yet tried a baked cheesecake with this substitute, but the no-bake variety works just great! I also use it in vegetable dips or fruit spreads as well as casseroles or mashed potato recipes that call for cream cheese. I have had success every time. You may want to search online for recipes using "yogurt cheese" that is the technical term for this substitute.

This substitute is completely fat free and is much less expensive to make using your powdered milk. So you can feel extra provident by using your powdered milk and saving money at the same time. 

What to do with the whey that you drain off ? This is a high protein liquid that works great to add to bread or muffins in place of the water that is called for. Freeze it if you'd like or just store it in the fridge for a few days and work it into the next recipe that you can.

Yogurt Smoothie

Drinkable yogurt or yogurt smoothies are delicious but they can be spendy. This homemade yogurt version costs me less than 40 cents a quart! (You can make this with store bought plain yogurt but it will cost you a lot more.) My boys come racing into the kitchen when I call out that we are having a smoothie for breakfast.

Pour homemade yogurt in the blender. Add frozen fruit. We used a banana and some raspberries this time.

Sweeten with powdered sugar and a little vanilla to taste.

Blend until smooth. Enjoy with muffins for a quick and tasty breakfast!

Making Yogurt with Powdered Milk

Making yogurt with powdered milk is easy to do and very inexpensive.  It costs me less than $.35 to make a quart of plain yogurt and it costs me over $2.00 a quart to buy it at the store.  This is one way that I rotate through our powdered milk storage.  It is completely fat-free and I can use it as a sour cream and cream cheese substitute in my baking.  Many, many people have tried the smoothies I make with it and they can never tell it is 100% powdered milk!

Begin by mixing your powdered milk according to directions in hot tap water. I actually only add 3 cups of water to my blender so I don't make a mess and then I add the final cup of water to my bowl later. I have always used the non-instant powdered milk you can get at the LDS cannery.  (Morning Moo variety of milk will not turn into yogurt.  It is not true milk so will not culture correctly.)

Allow the milk to sit in the blender a few minutes so the foam can rise to the top.  If you look closely, you can see a line where the milk stops and foam begins.

Slowly pour the milk out of the blender into a glass bowl.  The milk will pour out and the foam will stay behind. Add any extra water at this time.

You'll need an instant read thermometer.  Be sure to test your thermometer before using to make sure it registers 212° F in boiling water.  If it is off, you will need to adjust accordingly.

Microwave the milk until it reaches 180° F.  It takes about 7 minutes in my microwave depending on how hot my tap water was. (Note added 3/2014: I have since learned that you only need to heat it to 180° F if you are using fresh milk from the cow. This pasteurizes the milk and makes it ready to turn into yogurt. All powdered milk has been pasteurized already so you only need to heat the milk to 125° F and then you can mix your plain yogurt start in right away.)

Allow to sit on the counter and cool back down to about 125° F.  This takes about 20-25 minutes so I set a timer to help me not forget about it.

Once it reaches 125° F, stir in a little plain yogurt with live cultures to use as a start.  You can use store bought yogurt or some of your own homemade yogurt once you have some.

I used homemade yogurt for my start.

Whisk it in well.

Pour into a thermos and close the lid.  Allow to sit on your counter for 4-12 hours.  The longer it sits, the tangier it is.  We prefer our yogurt not as sour tasting so I open it up in 4-5 hours.  You should have what appears to be thick milk.  Sometimes you see a little clear, yellowish whey on top.  Refrigerate when it is done. If I open my thermos and find my yogurt runnier than I want, I test the temperature. If it has dropped below 100° F, I pour the yogurt into a microwave safe container and heat it for 30 seconds to a minute. It usually instantly thickens when I do this and then I can cover it and put it right into the fridge. 

Here are the instructions one more time.  I list some troubleshooting ideas at the bottom.

Homemade Yogurt

Reconstitute powdered milk to make 1 quart. (Do not use the "Morning Moo" brand. It will not turn into yogurt.) Heat milk to 180° F stirring constantly, if heating on the stove. You can also heat the milk in the microwave. It takes me about 7 minutes in my microwave. (Note added 3/2014: You really only need to heat the reconstituted powdered milk to 120–125° F since it has been pasteurized already. This ends up saving a good amount of time and it works every time for me.) Remove from heat and let cool until milk reaches 120–125° F. Set a timer for about 20 minutes so you don't forget about it. Use an instant read food thermometer to measure the temperature. Mix in ¼–½ cup of plain yogurt with active cultures. Stir with a wire whisk. Pour into a thermos and screw on the lid. Allow to incubate for 2 ½–12 hours on your counter. I've found that when I use plain yogurt from the store it takes 4+ hours to set up. If I use my homemade yogurt as a start, it is often done in 2 ½–3 hours. The longer you incubate the yogurt, the tangier it will be. You know it is done when you open your thermos and you see a small amount of clear, yellowish liquid (whey) on the top and thick white yogurt below. If you still see milk, it needs to incubate longer. Quickly close the thermos so you don't lose much heat and let it sit another hour or more before checking again. Refrigerate after incubating. It will thicken a little more as it cools.

If you have problems having success, it is one of two things. Either your thermometer is off or your thermos does not hold the temperature at 120° F. You can test your thermometer by putting it in boiling water. It should register 212° F. If your thermometer is on, then you can assume it is your thermos and you'll have to try with another one. There are other methods for incubating yogurt. A quick search online will lead you to some articles describing the other methods. The thermos method has always worked for me, it is the least costly, and it requires less steps so it is my method of choice.