Thursday, December 11, 2008

Flamenco Chicken Stuffed Peppers

6 bell peppers, color of your choice
4 teaspoons Homemade Gourmet Chicken Enchilada Soup Seasoning
½ cup diced tomatoes with green chilies
8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
6 tablespoons milk
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 package Homemade Gourmet Spanish Rice Mix, prepared 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 13x9x2 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cut off tops of peppers and scoop out seeds. If necessary, slightly trim the bottom of peppers so they will sit up in the baking pan.
Prepare sauce. In a large sauce pan, combine enchilada seasoning, diced tomatoes, Velveeta cheese and milk. Heat slowly over medium heat until cheese is melted, and stir often to prevent burning.
In a bowl, combine chicken with sauce and Spanish Rice; stir until well blended.
Spoon chicken mixture into pepper shells and top with cheddar cheese.
Cover and bake 45 to 60 minutes or until peppers are soft. Serves 6.

Leaping Lords Cheesecake



Leaping Lords Cheesecake


2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 package Homemade Gourmet Basic Cheesecake Mix
4 ounces Three Musketeers candy bar or any candy bar of
your leaping lord's choice (about 1 cup chopped)
8-ounce container whipped topping, thawed and divided
chocolate cookie pie crust

Beat first three ingredients together until smooth and creamy, stir in candy pieces and half of the whipped topping.
Spoon mixture into crust. Chill 2 hours or overnight.
If desired, top with remaining whipped topping and garnish with additional chopped candy bar. Serves 8.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Chicken Swimming with Apricots


Chicken Swimming with Apricots

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ cup pitted dried plums
½ cup dried apricot halves
2 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet Garlic Lemon Seasoning
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup red cooking wine (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
8-ounce package angel hair pasta, prepared

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker with plums and apricots on top.


Combine seasoning, orange juice, wine and honey; pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low 6 hours or on high 3 hours.

Serve over prepared pasta. Serves 6.

Cranberry Sweet Bread Loaf


Cranberry Sweet Bread Loaf

1 Homemade Gourmet® Basic Sweet Bread Mix
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
8 ounces mixed-fruit applesauce
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup nuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine oil, eggs and applesauce and add to bread mix. Add cranberries and nuts.

2. Pour mixture into greased 5x8 loaf pan. Bake 60 to 80 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serves 10.

Huevos Burritos

Huevos Burritos

½ pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet Taco Soup Seasoning, divided
2 cups egg substitutes (equal to 8 whole eggs)
½ cup light sour cream
½ cup prepared Maria's Salsa
½ cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
12 low-fat whole wheat tortillas

Optional toppings: Additional prepared Maria's Salsa, cheese, sour cream

Brown beef with water and 1 tablespoon seasoning. Set aside; keep warm. In greased skillet combine eggs with remaining seasoning; scramble eggs until thoroughly cooked.
Add sour cream, salsa, cheese and warm seasoned beef. Heat on medium low until cheese is melted.
Warm tortillas slightly if desired. Spoon scrambled egg mixture into tortilla, roll up burrito style and serve warm with desired toppings. Serves 6.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Garlic Basil in an Italian Pear Chicken recipe


Italian Pear Chicken

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (or partridge) breast
4 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet Garlic Basil Seasoning
24-ounce can pear halves with juice, undrained
½ cup water

Place all ingredients in a freezer bag. Seal and smoosh! Before freezing, label as Italian Pear Chicken and list cooking options:
Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Defrost and place entire contents in a baking dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.
Slow cooker: Defrost and place entire contents in slow cooker. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Hot Dill Dip


Hot Dill Dip

2 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet® Mock Spinach Seasoning Dip (you won't use the whole mix packet)
10.75-ounce can cheddar cheese soup
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (optional)
Tortilla chips for serving

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine all ingredients except Parmesan cheese. Heat on high for 2 to 3 minutes and stir.
If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; serve with tortilla chips.

Baked French Toast breakfast


Baked French Toast

16-ounce loaf French bread
8 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 Homemade Gourmet® Spiced Dip Mix
1 teaspoon vanilla

Praline Topping
1 cup butter, softened
1 Homemade Gourmet® Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup pecans
½ teaspoon nutmeg
maple syrup or honey for serving

Slice bread into 1-inch slices. Arrange the slices in a generously buttered 13x9x2 baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, half-and-half, milk, vanilla, Spiced Dip Mix and salt; beat with mixer or whisk until blended, but not too bubbly. Pour over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the mixture, spooning some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil; refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine praline topping ingredients (apple crisp mix, brown sugar, pecans, nutmeg) in a medium bowl and spread evenly over bread.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, or longer; until puffed and golden. Serve with maple syrup or honey.

Cranberry Poinsettias

¼ cup Homemade Gourmet® Cranberry Margarita Party Blender Mix*
1 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1 cup orange juice
3 cups crushed ice
½ cup vodka**


1. Place all ingredients in a blender and mix on high for 1 - 2 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Pour in glasses and serve. Garnish with orange slices or mint leaves, if desired.
2. To make this on the rocks, pour all ingredients, excluding the ice, into a pitcher and stir until the mix is completely dissolved. Serve over ice. Garnish with orange slices or mint leaves, if desired.

Serves 6, 8-ounce glasses for each recipe
*This mix will make 4 recipes for a total of 24, 8-ounce glasses.

**To make a non-alcoholic version, omit the vodka and follow all other directions as written.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Cranberry Sweet Bread Loaf

Cranberry Sweet Bread Loaf

Ingredients:
1 Homemade Gourmet® Basic Sweet Bread mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
8 ounces mixed-fruit applesauce
1 cup dried cranberries (craisins®)
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (optional)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir together, bread mix, oil, eggs and applesauce. Add cranberries and nuts.

2. Pour mixture into greased 5"x8" loaf pan. Bake 60 to 80 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

3. For muffins, fill 2/3 full, (yields about 18), bake 13 to 18 minutes.
For mini-loaves (yields 4 to 6), bake 25 to 30 minutes.
For mini-muffins (yields about 3 ½ dozen) bake about 10 minutes.

Comments: Craisins may be chopped into smaller bits to have more fruit pieces throughout baked product.

Cook Time 10 minutes
Preparation Time 10 minutes

Cranberry Orange Scones

Cranberry Orange Scones
Servings Per Recipe: 15 servings
1 Homemade Gourmet® White Chocolate Cran Orange Cookie Mix
1-1/4 cups regular flour
1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
2 sticks cold butter/margarine, cut into chunks
1 cup cold buttermilk


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chocolate/craisins packet from mix and set aside.


2. In a large bowl, combine the cookie mix, flour, and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Stir in chocolate/craisins packet. Add buttermilk and stir until all mixture is moistened.


3. On a generously floured surface, knead dough 15-20 times until dough is no longer sticky. Pat dough flat in rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes, approximately 3 inches in diameter, with knife or cookie cutter.


4. Place scones 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake about 15 minutes until lightly browned on top.


Cook Time 15 minutes
Preparation Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Cranberry Almond Lemon Cake

Cranberry Almond Lemon Cake

Ingredients:
1 Homemade Gourmet® Lemon Blueberry Muffin Mix
1 package instant lemon pudding
4 eggs
1-1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1-1/4 cup fresh cranberries


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine bread mix, lemon pudding, eggs, sour cream and oil, beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed.


2. Fold in cranberries and almonds. Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan.


3. Bake 55 minutes or until toothpick insert in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes. Invert the pan on a wire cooling rack and release the cake. Cool completely.


4. Generously dust with powdered sugar just before serving.


Saturday, November 15, 2008

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:


1 Homemade Gourmet® Basic Sweet Bread Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
7-1/2 ounce can pumpkin
6 ounces mini chocolate chips



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and stir together bread mix, eggs, oil, pumpkin, and chocolate chips until well blended.

2. Pour mixture into greased mini muffin pan and bake about 10 minutes. Insert toothpick near center; when it comes out clean, muffins are done.

3. Serve warm or allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Coconut Truffles




Recipe Yields: 30


Ingredients
8 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 14-ounce package flaked coconut
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter, softened (use butter for best results)
1 24-ounce package chocolate almond bark
1 Homemade Gourmet® Basic Cheesecake Mix


Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine cheesecake mix, 6 cups powdered sugar, coconut, condensed milk, and butter. Using stand mixer or heavy duty spoon, combine ingredients until well blended. Dough will be thick and firm.


2. Dust a large serving platter with powdered sugar, roll truffle dough into 1 inch balls (if dough is too sticky to roll into balls easily, add powdered sugar in ½ cup increments and work into dough). Place balls on prepared platter. Repeat until all truffle dough is used. Freeze for 30 minutes or until truffle balls are firm.


3. Break almond bark into large pieces and place in small deep microwave safe bowl. Melt bark on high for 45 seconds; stir. Microwave on high in 15 second increments until bark is completely melted.


4. Lay out a long sheet of wax paper on countertop. Remove truffles from freezer. Insert toothpick in truffle, dip into melted bark until coated, tap the side of the bowl to remove excess bark. Place coated truffle on wax paper and twist toothpick to release truffle; using a small spoon, dab small amount of melted bark on truffle to cover toothpick hole. Repeat with remaining truffles. Allow truffles to dry at room temperature until bark has hardened, about 30 minutes. Store coated truffles in airtight container.

Gifts from Your Heart and Your Kitchen...

Home-baked goodies are the perfect gift for family and friends! Not only do they taste delicious...they say, "I made this because I love you!" Plus as an added bonus if you included your children not only will you bond but you will also be creating holiday memories that they will always cherish!

So for the next few days I'll be posting a variety of easy to make and incredibly delicious holiday goodies.

Here is a list of some Homemade Gourmet baked goodies.

A. Great Baked Cookies: Add in ideas...pecans, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips
White Chocolate Cran-Orange cookies
Awesome Oatmeal cookies
Chocolate Chunk cookies
Peanut Butter cookies

B.Muffins:
Mocha Cappuccino muffins
Mini Pecan Pie muffins
Strawberry Bread muffins

C. Breads: Large loaf, mini loaves, or muffins...made with HG Basic Sweet Bread Mix
Banana Nut Bread
Apple Spice bread
Pumpkin bread

D. Other Ideas:
Five Minute Fudge....optional add-ins: toffee chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, chocolate mint chips, chopped cashews, chopped walnuts, toasted coconut
Butterscotch Blondies
Coconut Truffles


Perfect Packages for that elegant look:
*Chinese Food Containers....you can get holiday style or different print/designs
* Decorative Tins
*Cloth Lined Wicker or Metal Baskets
*Beautiful Cookie Jar
*Santa Claus Cookie Plate
*Christmas Stocking

For over 225 Holiday recipes, just go to the Key to the Kitchen homepage and select ‘Holiday’ in the “By Lifestyle Needs” search field. Some of the great recipes you will find are:

Baked Lemon and Honey Turkey
Hearty Green Bean Casserole
Little Apple Pie Crisps
Nanny Winn’s Dressing
Pumpkin Roll

To get to our Recipe database..Key to the Kitchen...go to my website www.homemadegourmet.com/marylou and hit the 'recipes' tab!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Free Party Dips in January!

January Hosts can score with special rewards!

Book your January Gathering in November! Get a free bundle!
Hosts who book a Gathering in November for a date in January will receive a Pre-Game Dip
Bundle worth $29.25 for FREE
when the Gathering holds.

The Pre-Game Dip Bundle includes:
♥ Jalapeno Bacon Cheddar Dip Mix
♥ Mock Spinach Dip Mix
♥ Black Bean Salsa Dip Mix
♥ BLT Dip Mix
♥ Maria’s Salsa Dip Mix
♥ Sun-Dried Tomato Dip Mix

Have $400+ in sales at your January Gathering! Get a free CD of recipes!
The Host CD of recipes in January will contain recipes for the perfect football party!

Have $500+ in sales at your January Gathering! Get a free CD of recipes AND a free collection!
Hosts with $500+ in retail sales at their January Gathering will get a FREE Game Day
Collection worth $68.25.


The Game Day Collection includes 12 delicious mixes to make any football party (or any other party) perfect:
♥ Buffalo Wing Sauce Mix
♥ Honey Chipotle Wing Sauce Mix
♥ Kansas City Rub Mix
♥ Bonnie’s Blue Ribbon Chili Mix
♥ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf Mix
♥ Chipotle Steakhouse Rub Mix
♥ Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce Mix
♥ Season ‘n’ Steam Philly Cheesesteak Mix
♥ White Pizza Sauce Mix
♥ Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix
♥ Cinnamon Sopapilla Dessert Mix
♥ Butterscotch Blondie Mix


Have $800+ in sales at your January Gathering! Get a free CD of recipes AND a free collection AND a free rolling cooler!

Hosts with $800+ in retail sales at their January Gathering get a FREE Game Day Collection and a Homemade Gourmet logoed rolling cooler worth $60! If the Host booked her Gathering in November, she’s getting the Pre-Game Dip Bundle, too. That’s more than $150 worth of free items PLUS all the rewards an $800 Host would normally receive. Wow!

As always, Homemade Gourmet® Hosts receive lots of great benefits:
♥ 10% of retail sales in FREE product!
♥ FREE products for Hosting samples at your Gathering
♥ 4 meals in 4 minutes™ in your freezer!
♥ And, depending on Gathering sales, 40% off up to three Pantry Staples and the featured product bundle of the month!
♥ Wow!

Book your January Gathering with me today!

Mary Lou
832-444-9605
mlgkng24@sbcglobal.net

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Update on Freezer Meals

A couple of weeks ago my friend and I created 19+ meals (list below) so here's a little update.

4Burgundy Beef tips
2 Cilantro Citrus Chicken
2 Asian pork loins
2 Italian Mozzarella Chicken
4 KC Burgers-16 patties total
2 Garlic Basil Pasta Casseroles
3 batches of HG Spaghetti Sauce

The first meal that I had was the KC Burgers. On practice nights I like to have something that is very easy to get done with very quick clean up! I grilled the burgers on my George Foreman grill. While the burgers cooked I was able to slice tomatoes and get out the other needed ingredients. I also premade HG Mock Spianch Dip earlier in the day....so we had chips and dip along with the burgers. Both of my kids (6,3) ate an entire burger themselves! I made all 8 patties and saved the leftovers for later. My family ended up eating burgers again the next day for dinner. I had had a late lunch and wasn't hungry for an early dinner, but no one seemed to mind that they were eating burgers again! No cooking and basically no cleaning!

I also used one of my HG Spaghetti Sauce batches with the Italian Meatballs I had for a spaghetti and meatball dinner. I also served a salad. I can never go wrong with Spaghetti in my house! We had the leftovers for lunch the next day.


We've also had the Garlic Basil Pasta Casserole. I pulled this out of the freezer about 2 days before serving it. I dumped half of the casserole into a microwave safe bowl and heated it up. I served this with a salad and garlic bread. This is another one of those meals that I didn't have a bunch of clean up or prep time. I simply got the bread in the oven, tossed the salad and warmed up the casserole. We used paper plates which helped with the cleaning. We had the other half for dinner 2 days later.

I was very excited to try the Italian Mozzarella Chicken dinner! It's a newer recipe that I had not tried...I'd only heard from other HG Consultants about how wonderful it was. I baked it in the oven, covered, for about 50-55 minutes....the chicken breast were thick. I steamed up a bag of long grain rice with mixed veggies and I also steamed corn on the cob. This is one of my favorites new recipes! The only difference is that next time I'm going to bake this with brown rice on the bottom and then dump the entire mixture over it. It makes a lot of sauce and the rice would absorb all that yummy flavor!

Yesterday we had Burgundy Beef tips. I had a HG gathering yesterday evening so I wanted to make sure to have dinner for my family before I left. By the time that my husband got home the beef tips were in the crock pot on warm and I had cooked egg noodles on the stove. All he had to do was to serve it! This is also great served over mashed potatoes or rice. There was only enough leftovers for me to have for lunch one day this week. It's a nice feeling that I can leave for an event and my family still has a warm dinner to come home to.

I can't wait to try the Asian Pork Tenderloin....It's a favorite for many of my customers!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Free Best of HG Collection! A $103 value.


New Consultants in October Receive FREE Best of Homemade Gourmet Collection
Join Homemade Gourmet® as a new Consultant in October or November and
you will not only become part of one of the BEST home-based businesses
available, but we will give you a collection of “customer favorite” products
worth $103.25 to jump start your business. When a new Consultant places
their initial order worth $400+ retail, we will automatically include the Best
of Homemade Gourmet® Collection FREE!
The Best of Homemade Gourmet Collection includes:
Homemade Gourmet® Mini Pecan Pie Muffin Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Basic Sweet Bread Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Chicken Enchilada Soup Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Texas Cornbread Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Texas Cobbler Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Cranberry Almond Pasta Salad Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Mock Spinach Dip Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Jalapeno Bacon Cheddar Dip Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Apple Pecan Vinaigrette Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Season ‘n’ Steam Broccoli Beef Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Skillet Burritos Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Creamy Italian Casserole Mix
Homemade Gourmet® White Chicken Chili Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Basic Cheesecake Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Grandmother’s Sunday Roast Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Awesome Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Maria’s Salsa Mix
Wow!
Enrolling is easy. Ask me today!
Plus an added bonus!!
For a limited time, we’re offering a free bonus to new Consultants who share the names of two friends or family who might be interested in the business. We’ll send a packet of information to the contacts that includes a Homemade Gourmet Garlic Lemon Marinade Mix, a Homemade Gourmet Season ’n’ Steam Fajitas Mix, a Make Friends, Make Money, Make a Difference DVD, a Fall/Winter Product Catalog and an invitation from CEO Ken Johnsen and Founder Tami VanHoy to join the business and learn along with their friend. All details are included in the Welcome Packet that comes with the Starter Kit.

October's Fabulous Hosting Rewards!




Host a Homemade Gourmet® Gathering this month to share all of the fast, easy and great-tasting 4 meals in 4 minutes™ and Homemade in a Hurry products with YOUR family and friends!

Learn about the fast, easy and delicious Season ‘n’ Steam microwaveable entrées!
See how the 11 Homemade in a Hurry entrées can get you out of the drive-thru!
Earn GENEROUS Host rewards, including the Homemade in a Hurry Meal of the Month!
Experience how to make great-tasting meals… in minutes!
October Only! Bonus Recipe CD- Casserole Creations and a Holiday Meal Planner!
Let us show you how to take control of those dinnertime dilemmas & YOU could also earn a BONUS Recipe CD filled with easy and delicious casseroles as well as a Holiday Meal Planner to help you tame those holiday meals too!

Dates are booking fast! Call your Independent Consultant: Mary Lou Garcia 832-444-9605
**mlgkng24@sbcglobal.net

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Italian Mozzarella Meatballs



















About 2 weeks ago I whipped up 2 meals with the package of 2 1/2 lbs ground beef that I had in my refrigerator.

I also noticed I had a few boxes of Mac-n-Cheese (which I hardly ever make) so I thought I should use them up for that night's dinner. I'll get to that in a moment. While I was getting that night's dinner going I decided to make another meal and used the remaing meat I had left to make Italian Mozzarella Meatballs. I put all the ingredients together, shaped them with a melon baller, and then baked them.

Once they were out of the oven I let them cool down. Then I put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to let the meatballs firm a little. I think they were in the freezer for about 15 minutes. After I pulled them out I put the almost frozen meatballs in a gallon size freezer bag. This way I can just pull out however many I need for 1 meal. I made 30 meatballs in all. Here is the recipe.



















Italian Mozzarella Meatballs

10 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet® Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf Seasoning Mix
1-1/2 ground beef
1/2 cup ketchup
1 egg
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.
2. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
3. Place meatballs on foil lined pan or baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


















I made spaghetti and meatballs a few days later. I just pulled about half of the meatballs out and then I heated them in the microwave-enough to defrost. Then I put them in the pot with my Spaghetti Sauce to warm. I made a batch of spaghetti noodles and dinner was a hit. The kids always love spaghetti! Now with the remaining meatballs I can make Meatball Subs or make another Spaghetti dinner.



















This is my Taco Mac-n-cheese. I browned 1lb of ground beef with 2-3 TBS of HG Taco Seasoning. Then I started the pasta. While this was cooking I made the Italian Meatballs from above.

Then I drained the pasta and made it as directed on the package. I added the taco seasoned meat and 1 can of diced tomatoes and mixed together. I served this with a salad.

We all were pleasantly surprised at how great this tasted! Both of the kids ate it up! Very easy and another hit with the family! We even had left overs (this made a huge batch, I used 2 boxes of pasta) that we ate later that week. Less work and clean-up the 2nd time around!!

The best part about these 2 meals was that I made it at the same time!! Saving me lots of time later. I made the meatballs while the pasta was boiling and the ground beef was cooking! While we ate I let the meatballs cool down. So even if you feel that you don't have time to fill your freezer I want you to ask yourself as you are cooking...Is there anything I can make while this is going on?...or make a double batch and freeze the rest for later. Before you know it you will have a freezer full of options available to you! Doing a little at a time is better then not doing anything at all. You will be excited as you start to see those meals ready to go every time you open that freezer door! Save your time and engery on something else-like homework! 1st grade homework keeps Kathryn and me busy!

Monday, October 13, 2008

NEW-Diabetic Friendly Meal Collection!



The freezer-meal concept I demonstrated below also applies to the Pantry Staples available in our other collections. Our newest collection - the Diabetic Friendly Meal Collection - is designed especially for diabetics, but it's filled with delicious and healthful meals for any family watching their diets. Our Diabetic Friendly Meal Collection makes about 50 entrees - and that's just the beginning! We have more than 200 diabetic friendly recipes on our Key to the Kitchen recipe database, too. The collection is $123, and with the purchase of each collection, a portion of the profits will go to further diabetes research.




Diabetic Meal Collection, $123.00 (includes donation)


This special collection was created to provide great-tasting, easy to prepare meals for persons with diabetes. Following an analysis by the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma, this collection has earned a diabetes-friendly rating. Over 50% of the profits from the purchase of this collection will be donated to further diabetes research.



Includes:



* Kansas City Seasoning Pantry Staple with container and scoop
* Garlic Basil Seasoning Pantry Staple with container and scoop
* Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce Pantry Staple with container
and scoop
* Chipotle Seasoning Pantry Staple with container and scoop
* Cranberry Almond Pasta Salad Mix
* Mom’s Smashed Potatoes Mix
* Black Bean Salsa Mix
* Mock Spinach Dip Mix
* Exclusive Meal Planner
* Sheet of 8 Freezer Labels
* Great-Tasting Meals in Minutes DVD
* Donation to further diabetes research

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Friday Freezer Frenzy

A little back ground before I go into detail about my freezer night. I had told my friend, Alicia, that we need to fill our freezers since our schedules were getting really busy with kids, work and softball!! We kept putting it off until Friday morning. I get a call from Alicia saying that she's on her way to Sam's to purchase meat for us to make our meals. I happened to have ground beef and boneless chicken breast sitting in the fridge from my grocery day earlier in the week. So I said okay! She asked what type of meat she should get and I suggested stew meat and more chicken. She also got pork chops and more ground beef...she brought canned goods that she had in her pantry aswell.
Alicia arrives at my home later that day with her groceries and lots of excitement! I like to plan my menu out but we didn't even know what meals we were going to make....(we ended up just looking at the HG seasonings and would pull one that sounded good.) I must admit I was a little panicked but I reminded myself that this is easy to do. We actually didn't have to have a 'plan' to succeed. And succeed we did!


This was our final result....19+ meals!
4 Burgundy Beef tips
2 Cilantro Citrus Chicken
2 Asian pork loins
2 Italian Mozzarella Chicken
4 KC Burgers-16 patties total
2 Garlic Basil Pasta Casseroles
3 batches of HG Spaghetti Sauce-13.5 cups of sauce


* I say 19+ meals because with any leftover meat from these meals you can create a different meal....saving you time and money! As an example...you can shred leftover chicken to use in a casserole, pasta salads, a HG soup like Chicken Enchilada Soup, on salads, wraps or tacos.
We put all the ingredients on my kitchen table which included tomato sauce, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, cream of chicken/mushroom soup, pasta noodles, and the meat.

I pulled out all my Homemade Gourmet Pantry Staple containers/seasonings, extra mixes, my recipe binder, and all of my 4 Meals in 4 Minutes Meal Planners.


I pulled out a pot, pan, and bowl I thought we would need. We didn't dirty many dishes!! Used only the above, 2 spoons and a measuring cup.

Then we got started.

Up first was Burgundy Beef tips. We put all the needed ingredients on the island along with the recipe card. We would end up with 4 Burgundy Beef Tip meals.


First we labeled 4 Ziploc gallon sized freezer bags "Burgundy Beef Tips' with the date. Then Alicia split the meat into the bags.
Then we added 5 tablespoons of HG Sunday Roast Seasoning to each bag.
Dumped in a can of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of water to each bag.

Then, Alicia's favorite part....she 'Smooshed' the bag....making sure to mix up all the ingredients as much as possible. Then she got out as much air out of the bag and sealed it.

Here are our 4 beef tips! The one on top contains a can of beef broth...due to the lack of planning we only had 3 cream of mushrooms soups..so we improvised and used the broth instead.


Now, Alicia has hosted her own Homemade Gourmet Gathering before and has attended a friend's gathering so she already had experience with making 'smooshed meals'. At her HG Gathering I demonstrated how to make 4 meals in 4 minutes with the help of her guest. I got 4 volunteers and each made a meal for Alicia's freezer....she just provided her meat and canned goods and I provided the seasoning. Schedule your own Homemade Gourmet 4 Meals in 4 Minutes Gathering so you too can get 4 meals in your freezer!


Now it was on to making our Casserole:
I put the 2lbs of ground beef with 4 tablespoons of HG Garlic Basil seasoning on the frying pan. I also got the pasta going. We made other 'Smoosh' meals while this what going on. I would turn back and forth checking on the meat.


After draining the pasta I dumped everything else in this pot and mixed it up. Then I split this into 2 freezer bags labeled 'Garlic Basil Pasta Casserole' with the date and cooking instructions. Thaw, place in baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes on 350 degrees.
This casserole includes 2 lbs of Garlic Basil seasoned ground beef, mozzarella cheese, HG Spaghetti Sauce, and 1 box of pasta noodles (of your choice). This fills 2-9x13 pans. So really you can get 4- 8x8 casseroles out of this. I normally use the Glad Ware pans....the type that can go from freezer to oven to microwave to dishwasher. I fill an 8x8 pan with half a batch and put it in the oven for that night's dinner, then I would fill the other 8x8 pan with the rest and top with aluminum foil then cover with the lid and freeze for a later time.




Now it's Asian Pork loin:
We gathered the needed ingredients, labeled our freezer bags, separated the meat, added 2 tablespoons of HG Garlic Lemon seasoning, 2 tablespoons of chicken broth. Then we 'smooshed' it together and sealed the bag. I had to write on the bag to add 6 tablespoons of honey and 2 1/2 TBS of soy sauce at time of cooking. This is best as a crockpot meal so it really didn't matter that these 2 ingredients were left out at this time.


Next meal...Italian Mozzarella Chicken:


We labeled our bags and split the chicken (most of these meals call for 2-3lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast or pork chops). Then we added 4 TBS of HG Italian Mozzarella Seasoning, 1 can cream of onion soup and chicken soup. I always use the low sodium/low fat versions of the soups and broths on all my recipes. We 'Smooshed' until all the ingredients were blended, let out as much of the air and resealed the bag.



This recipe is actually in October's Bundle of the Month: Mini Meal Trail Collection. It's only $59.75 and includes a FREE HG Homestyle spaghetti sauce mix and a Menu Planner for 16 meals! This is a great way to begin filling your freezer. Read more about it on my HG Website.


The rest of our chicken went to Cilantro Citrus Chicken:
First we labeled out bags, divided the chicken, and dumped in 14 TBS of Cilantro Chicken, poured the remainder of the chicken broth from the Asian meal and about 1/4 c of Olive oil. Smooshed and sealed. This is really great to use in HG's Cranberry Almond Pasta Salad!


Next up was our triple batch of Homemade Gourmet Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce:
We needed 15 TBS of HG Spaghetti Sauce seasoning, 3 6-oz can tomato paste, 3 15-oz can tomato sauce, 6 cups water. We put this all in a large pot and got it to a boil while we went on to making our KC Burgers. After it reached a boil we reduced the heat and let it simmer. I left this to cool in the fridge over night, and then I put 4 cups of the sauce in a gallon bag and then I put 2-3 cups in a quart size bag...I did this twice. The gallon bag is for a spaghetti meal and the quart bag is for a casserole meal.



Our final meal was Kansas City Burgers:
These make the juiciest burgers! They are great grilled with a little BBQ sauce. Suggested toppings: sliced cheddar cheese, purple onion, avocados, cooked bacon and Kansas City BBQ Sauce as the condiment of choice
We didn't have any tomato sauce left since we used it on the Spaghetti Sauce, but we grabbed a can of diced tomatoes and put it the blender. We used half of what this made for the burgers and put the rest into the Spaghetti Sauce pot instead of just wasting it.

To our 4 lbs of ground beef we added 8 tablespoons on HG Kansas City Rub mix, 16 oz of tomato sauce. Then Alicia formed the meat into 16 patties. We placed them on Cling Wrap and folded it over and pressed around the burgers to seal (4 patties per) then placed these covered patties in the freezer bag and put another 4 covered patties on top of those-8 total patties in a bag. Now I can just pull out how ever many I need for a particular meal. This will actually make me 2 meals.

WE WERE DONE!!

This picture shows all the meals made except for the Spaghetti Sauce. One side is Alicia's meals and the other is mine.
Look at all these options now in our freezer! Also note how these meals lay flat and don't take up much room in my freezer. I actually have a lot more room on my top shelf for more meals.

Making 19+ meals didn't take us very long. We started at 5:07pm and ended at 6:45pm. Keep in mind that we stopped for pictures and we were really just taking our time while having a good time. Being that we 'winged it', I thought we did great on time. If we had planned ahead of time and had our stations already set up it would have taken a lot less time I'm sure, but nothing beats having a fun with a good friend!!


Overall we spent about $100.00 in meat and about $15 on canned goods. We used my pantry staples so we spent $28 on Homemade Gourmet seasonings.** Divide this into 19 meals and it came out to about $7.53 per meal.....each meal contains 6 servings..$1.25 per serving. Now you can't buy a kids meals for under $4.00 these days-what a value!


The value increases if you have leftovers to make another meal OR if you are feeding only 1 to 2 then it's like you are getting 38 meals!! All you would have to do is to divide the recipe into 2 freezer bags, or you could cook the full recipe at one time and then refreeze the leftovers for another date.

** I do want to point out that if you used the individual Homemade Gourmet mixes instead of our Pantry Staple size that the total for the seasonings used is $72.50!! So you can see the value in buying our 'bulk' size seasonings-the Pantry Staples.

You can find the recipes and cooking instructions online at my website www.homemadegourmet.com/marylou and click 'recipes'. You can print them out or email to a friend plus you can print a grocery list out!! Most of these recipes are from the Meal Planner that's included in our HG 4 Meals in 4 Minutes Collection.
Feel free to contact me with any questions!
Have a delicious week!
Mary Lou
832-444-9605