Honey Dijon Glazed Ham

1 Center cut ham steak

1T honey
1T Dijon mustard
2 t fresh lemon juice
2 green onions, chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 t lukewarm water
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper

Glaze: Whisk honey, mustard, lemon juice, and green onions together in medium mixing bowl. In a steady stream, whisk in olive oil and lukewarm water. Sprinkle ham steak with salt and cayenne pepper and place in freezer bag. Pour glaze over ham and freeze, using freezer bag method.

Serving Day: Place ham steak on grill, basting occasionally with glaze, until steak is marked by grill and well warmed through. Pineapple slices may also be grilled before serving with ham. Ham can also be cut into chunks and threaded alternately on skewers with chunks of pineapple, then grilled. Eat over rice and enjoy!!

Balsamic Roasted Chicken Thighs

5 chicken thighs
1/2 cut olive oil
3 T Balsamic Vinegar
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 t pepper

Cooking Day: mix ingredients together to make marinade and then pour over chicken in bag. Freeze in bag.

Serving Day: Thaw completely. Place chicken , skin side up in a baking pan. Roast uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. You can also grill if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Smoked Beef Brisket

To heat from frozen:  place in simmering water until warmed through (usually 15 minutes).  Serve with BBQ sauce or on its own.

Meat and Vegetable Sauce

1 small zucchini
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
1 medium carrot
1 lb. mild Italian pork sausage
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 T. Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)

In large frying pan, saute zucchini, onion, garlic and carrot in olive oil until tender.
In large stock pot, brown Italian sausage and then drain.
Return sausage to pot and add all the tomatoes EXCEPT diced tomatoes.
With an immersion blender, blend sausage and tomatoes until desired consistency.  (If you like really chunky meat sauce you can skip this step.)
Add diced tomatoes, sauteed vegetables and remainder of ingredients.
Taste for seasoning adjustment.
Simmer for an hour.

To cook from frozen:  Thaw package in refrigerator overnight.  Pour sauce into sauce pan to heat while you cook your noodles.  Cook noodles very al dente and add to sauce to soak up extra liquid.

Asian Pork Loin

Ingredients:

1 pork loin

1 tsp ginger

1/4 c. ketchup

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 c. soy sauce

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in ziplock bag and freeze. When ready to prepare, put contents into crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore
Recipe by OurBestBites.com

1 lb. chicken breasts or chicken breasts and thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 c. white flour

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and either crushed or halved

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 c. white wine, white cooking wine, or apple or white grape juice. I'll be honest with y'all, it tastes a whole lot better with wine. Just sayin'.

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. salt (omit if using cooking wine; you may shrivel up and die if you add the salt in addition to cooking wine because cooking wine is treated with salt to make it undrinkable)

1 bay leaf

1 c. sliced mushrooms (or more if you love them. Mushrooms are divine in this dish!)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic and stir frequently until onions are tender and garlic is fragrant. Remove with a slotted spoon (this is why you need to keep the onion and garlic pieces big), shake off excess oil (you don't have to go crazy here, a little olive oil never killed anyone!), and transfer to your blender. Increase heat to medium-high.

In a large Ziploc bag, combine flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. black pepper. Add chicken pieces, seal bag, and shake to coat pieces with flour. Dump the entire bag into the hot pan and stir quickly to prevent pieces from sticking together. Saute until chicken is golden. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Turn off the heat under the oil, lest you start a grease fire. I am NOT speaking from ANY kind of firsthand experience here... ;)

While chicken is draining, add wine, chicken broth, tomato paste, thyme, and marjoram to the onions and garlic in the blender. Blend until smooth. Place chicken and bay leaf in your slow cooker and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3.5-4 hours. When you have about 1/2 hour to go, add the mushrooms and the chopped green pepper. Cook until mushrooms and pepper are tender. Remove bay leaf and serve over pasta.
Serves 6-8.

FREEZER MEAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Complete steps through browning the chicken. Instead of placing chicken in your slow cooker, place it in a freezer-safe container and cover with sauce. When ready to eat, place frozen mixture in your slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours. You can either cut the mushrooms and peppers ahead of time and freeze them separately from the chicken and sauce or you can just plan to have those in your fridge when you're ready to make this.