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I'm doing well staying away from frozen dinners since I started about a month ago. I don't really miss them since the homemade stuff tastes so much better anyway. Yeah, it's a time thing, but I've found that turning a big dish into a project on the weekend is kinda fun. Plus I've gotten bags of individual chicken breasts and individual salmon pieces, so I don't need to eat it all at once.

I'm pondering doing a turkey. I've done a turkey before at my place for Thanksgiving, so I'm not a turkey virgin - I'm just wondering about the price of these things this non-holiday time of year. I could also do a ham, but I'm not a very big ham eater. And I don't know many things ham could turn into. With the turkey, it would become enchiladas and soup and...

Hmm. I need more ideas for big batches of things that I can make and then break down into individual frozen servings.

Anyone have any ideas? I don't need actual recipes - general dishes would be fine. I've done lasagna, enchiladas, chicken soup, tomato soup, and red beans & rice so far.

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One of my favorite things to do, not only because there are always plenty of leftovers, and it's super easy to do, is make something in a crock pot. (although I guess that means actually having one) But stews and chili are my favorite things, and like the commericial says "set it, and forget it".

I did a BIG batch of turkey sausages and peppers a month or so ago - half of it turned into turkey sausage & peppers on hoagie rolls, the other half? I made into sausage shepherd's pie - sliced all the sausage up, added a can of tomatoes, topped with mashed potatoes + Parmesan cheese. Mmm.

Chili is also something easily broken down and turned into different meals - chili mac, chili topped potaotes, chili pie topped with cornbread... :D

Oh, great ideas! I have a fantastic stew recipe I haven't made in ages, and my mom's got a good chili recipe. Both would freeze well! WOOO!

I think my next project will be stew. *plots*

Oooh, YUM. I bet shepherd's pie would freeze better than regular pot pie. I pondered regular pot pie, but I can't imagine the freezing and reheating process would be kind to a pot pie's crust.

And I think I'm going to have to do chili soon! I love chili.

I make huge batches of pot pie filling (measured out into one pie size portions), and then have the dry ingredients for a top crust made up. Pull out a premeasured batch of filling to thaw. Add liquid to correct amount of premixed dry crust ingredients, top the filling and pop it in the oven. Takes no time at all.

Interesting. I could make a smaller pot pie that way. Invest in a small baking dish...

I've made a couple really good pork and beef roasts in a crockpot. They're also excellent for things like stewed fruit deserts. SO GOOD.

My absolute favourite thing to do with a turkey is to break up all the meat, mix it together with the stuffing and gravy, put in into a casserole dish (or many tiny containers of the single serving size), cover it with mashed potatoes and freeze until eaten.

If you do a ham, it could become ham sandwiches. Or, do you like bean soups? I have a navy bean soup mix I've made a couple times that I've added diced ham to and it came out very tasty. You could probably find some good recipes for soups that use ham as the meat. (In fact, I think my crockpot cookbooks have several.)

I'm not as wild about roasts, although I might give it a try. I could still hack the thing up after for individual servings.

OOOOOO! I forgot about that! There could be individual turkey and stuffing dinners!

Seriously, my mother makes double of everything at Christmas JUST for that reason. The freezer is still full of them.

I like ham every once in a while, but I'm not overly fond of ham sandwiches. However, I do like pea soup! MMMMMM.

I do this all the time. Chicken tortilla soup freezes well if you hold the cheese until you're reheating it. Beef stew, spaghetti sauce, meatballs, chicken and rice (I have a super easy recipe if you want it), goulash, gumbo, and vegetable soup (again, if you want a recipe I can give you mine) are all good and freeze well. I also like to make curry and rice and keep that in the fridge for up to two weeks. The rice keeps just fine so long as it's in an airtight container.

If turkeys are too expensive, you could always roast/bake a hen instead.

White bean chili with chicken is always good, or red bean chili with stew meet or ground beef.

Ham could go into a cheese and potato casserole (< lj user="fairmer"> does one that's v. yummy), or into bean soup.

Beef stew. Pot roast. Goulash.

Now I'm hungry.

I know it's not turkey, but Cheap, Healthy, Good just did a how to use a whole chicken post. And I think if you browse through stuff on that Label sidebar, there's more helpful recipes. Real Simple tends to have good leftover/quick meal articles too, but they reorganized their site, so I can't find them off hand. You can always make something like soup or chili the first night, and then use the leftover meat the next few nights for stir frys, and salads and casseroles, or whatever. And then come back to the soup after that. I guess it depends on how you feel about preparing meals during weekdays.

I like making curry, but I usually eat that over the course of 1-2 weeks, I've never tried freezing it. My grandfather makes stuffed peppers and freezes them. Chili is good too. Also stir fry is very easy.

Oooh, I love chicken tortilla soup. And I've got tortillas in the freezer! I've never made goulash, but it intrigues me. I think I might have to try it sometime.

And I did a scouting mission at lunch to one grocery store. $1.88 a pound, which is okay. And really not bad at all compared to other meat. Yeah, a lot of the weight of a turkey is bones, but I'd be using that for soup.

I've never had white bean chili. Hmm.

Ooh yeah. There are some casseroles ham could go into. I'd have to compile a list if I were to do a ham. I think I'd need at least 3 different recipes to take care of it. Maybe more. Although I could do a freakishly huge batch of pea soup. I love good pea soup.

I do it with navy beans, white kidney beans and great northern beans. Shredded chicken, and lot of lime and cilantro.

Okay, I've just spent my lunch hour reading that site. :D

And some weeknights I'm fine with cooking, but others... I had a chicken breast thawed already on a Wednesday, but didn't cook it until Friday. Most weekdays I just don't want to bother and/or get pans dirty.

Sounds tasty!

I'm not sure how well curry would freeze either. I do have one curry recipe I love, and it doesn't have any milk or cream or anything in it, so it might do well.

Stuffed peppers are out for me. I know they're really good for you, but I just don't really care for peppers all that much.

Chili and stir fry though... MMMM.

You and I are complete opposites with turkey and ham. Ham I can turn into all kinds of things (and I love it); turkey, I got nothin' besides Thanksgiving. (For the record, give me a packet of lunchmeat ham, even, and I will make you ham sandwiches, ham & cheese omelets, fettucine alfredo with chicken and ham or broccoli and ham, navy beans and ham and onions...)

There are two approaches to goulash. One is the American-uses-tomato-sauce-or-paste approach (99% of recipes on the internet seem to be of this type), and the other is the Hungarian-no-tomatoes approach. The latter is the one I use, which I got from the owners of the youth hostel I stayed at in Budapest, and tastes like the goulash I had in this little off-the-beaten path restaurant there. It's essentially beef stew with a fantastic amount of sweet Hungarian paprika (and is awesome). Both kinds are good, but I'm happy to supply the Hungarian recipe if you'd like to try it.

And $1.88 a pound is a great price on turkey. I didn't realize it was actually that cheap...

Actually, there's also a third approach to goulash: goulash made on Halloween, aka: Ghoulash.

*budum ching*

I think that I mentally have turkey as a chicken replacement, so anything chicken could be turkey instead.

And I do love ham and cheese omelets. I love a good omelet. And ham and broccoli does go good together. *ponders a casserole*

I'd love to get that Hungarian recipe!

And I probably will do a turkey soon. Not this weekend since I have plans, but maybe the weekend after it if it's cool enough to use the oven for hours.

*groans*

I know, I know, but I couldn't resist.

I had to hunt down the recipe in my LJ (Jan.2007, eek!), and...voila:

To sum up beforehand, this is not goulash like lots of Americans make it. Hungarian goulash, as I have been told by Hungarian people, never has tomatoes or flour in it. It is really a kind of beef soup, not a hamburger meat stew. In fact, that's exactly what it is, beef soup with a ton of paprika. And it is faaaabulous.

1 1/2 to 2 lbs cubed beef (stew meat)
1 onion, preferably vidalia
a lot of sweet Hungarian paprika (huge taste difference between normal paprika, spanish paprika, and hungarian paprika. You can get hungarian paprika from Amazon.com, World Market, and most grocery stores...but make sure you get sweet, and not hot)
2-3 peeled potatoes, chopped into smallish squares
2-3 cloves garlic (the more meat and potatoes, the more garlic required)
1/2 shallot (this can be left out, but I think it adds to the flavor)
1/8 cup oil or shortening (I used olive oil, as it's just easier)
64 oz. beef broth/stock (homemade or store-bought)
1 can vegetable broth
garlic salt
salt
2 tb gulyas/goulash creme, if you have it (you don't have to have it, but again, it can be found on Amazon)

In a skillet, put in the oil or shortening, on low so it heats up. Cut the cubed meat into smaller pieces if you like(I do). Dust/coat them with paprika(don't skimp on the paprika; treat it like it's flour) and put into the skillet. Turn the heat to medium high and let the beef start cooking while you dice up the onion. Add a large sprinkling of garlic salt.

As you dice it up, put the onion in the skillet with the beef. Add some more paprika(like another couple of tablespoons) and crush the cloves of garlic, and add those to the pan, and if you're including the shallot, chop it up and throw it in there too. Stir every couple of minutes to ensure even cooking. It will turn a dark dark color and might even smell kind of weird, but it's okay. Paprika smells kind of weird when it cooks.
While the meat is cooking, chop potatoes and put in big stew/soup pot (not crockpot). Add another tablespoon or two of paprika to the potatoes and stir; turn the heat on low. When the meat and onions are finished cooking, scrape all the contents into the pot with the potatoes.

Add the beef and vegetable broth, and turn the heat up to high(if you are adding gulyas/goulash creme, this is the time to stir it in). When it hits a full boil, turn the heat down to low or medium low, whichever you need to sustain a very light simmer. Let it simmer for at least one hour. About 20-30 minutes in (possibly sooner, this is just when I checked it to see), a lovely rich dark red/orange color will sort of be floating on the top, with the soup below a kind of dishwater brown(there is surely a more appetizing way to describe the color, but that's what it reminds me of). This is a sign that you have done it right (and if it's all dark red, that's fine too; it will settle to the top once the heat goes down). Go ahead, taste it. It's delicious, isn't it?

Add more salt to taste. Let it keep simmering, and after the hour's over, it's ready to eat, though you can let it simmer longer if you want.

You *can* add other vegetables, like mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, beans; it just depends what you're feeling. Increase paprika accordingly, and put them in with the potatoes. I refrigerate the whole pot for one night so I can scrape off the fat that will freeze on top before portioning it out into smaller bags/containers in the freezer.

I made a stir fry the other day. Which is like...a frikkin miracle because I cook FOR NO ONE. But that came out rather awesome like. Some brown rice with it, I was in heaven. :)

NOM NOM NOM!

I cook pretty much....never. But my mom would always get just turkey breasts and roast them in the oven, instead of doing the whole turkey. We would slice it for sandwiches and everything, and it keeps really well. I'm not sure about cost, but that could save you some effort. :)

I've got an incredible recipe for a Puerto Rican black bean soup that is fantastic with ham. It's good without the ham as well, but the little ham chucks send it over the top. It makes a ton, but freezes well.

Black Bean Soup

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
3-5 "pieces" minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2-1 cup of ham (optional)
1/2 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 tsp cumin
2 cans of red or black beans (I usually use black. I love their taste)
1 can of tomato sauce
water
potatoes, squash, carrots, whatever fresh veggies you have on hand

Saute the onions, oil, green pepper, garlic and ham. When veggies are see through add cilantro and garlic, saute a little bit and add tomato sauce, saute a bit more and add cans of beans w/out the water that has inside the cans. Pour in 2 cans of water add salt, pepper and cumin. at this time you can add any or all of these optional ingredients: potatoes, squash, carrots. Bring to a boil and cook for about 1/2 hour or until the beans or potatoes are soft. Sprinkle on more cilantro and serve.

Enjoy!

THANK YOU!

Can that creme be substituted with something like yogurt or sour cream or creme fresh?

I've always wanted to try a turkey breast. I've heard it works really well.

Oooooh yum! I love the taste of cumin in stuff. MMMMM.

No, it's not a dairy-based creme--it's like paprika (fruit?plant?) that's been smashed into a paste with some other stuff. The girl who gave me the recipe said it wasn't something you had to have. I ran out the second to last time I made it and I haven't been able to find it (the tube I had I bought in a Budapest grocery store), but when I made it without, I didn't notice a difference in the taste.

Oh interesting. I've never heard of it before.

Coming in late to thank you for the link to CHG. I now have a new favorite food/recipe site! I've already got a shopping list going for next week to try out some new recipes. Chicken Curry, here I come!

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