Potstickers

This is  more involved than my usual recipe but they come together surprisingly fast and are very freezer friendly. Do not let the long list intimidate you because they are so worth the work and the filling can be made while the dough is resting.

These are perfect served along my Asian Noodles with Chicken and Veggies and don’t forget the dipping sauce.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons boiling water
  

  For the filling:

• 1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
• 8 ounces ground chicken or pork
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped water chestnuts
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar 
  

  For cooking:

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable, divided
• 2/3 cup chicken broth, divided
  

  Directions:

  For the dough:

  Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the boiling water and stir well with a wooden spoon. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.

  Unwrap dough and knead briefly. Divide dough into four pieces, place one piece on a floured surface, keeping the other three covered. Roll with a lightly floured pin to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with a 3 inch diameter cutter. Repeat for the other 3 pieces.

  For the filling:

  Squeeze the excess moisture from the cabbage, place in a large bowl. Add in the chicken, water chestnuts, soy sauce, ginger, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well.

  To fill:

  Place 1 rounded teaspoon filling in the center of the dough circle. Moisten the edge of half the round. Fold circle in half and pinch the edges together. Sit dumpling down firmly seam side up. Cover finished potstickers with plastic wrap while assembling the rest.

  To cook:

  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Cook 1/2 the potstickers in the skillet for 5-6 minutes or until bottom is golden. Pour in 1/3 cup chicken stock and cover tightly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for ten minutes if freshly made 15 minutes if frozen or until all liquid is absorbed. Repeat with remaining oil, chicken stock and potstickers.

  To freeze:

  Place assembled potstickers on a cookie sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes or until slightly firm. Store in labeled freezer bags or containers for up to 3 months. Do not thaw before cooking.

  Makes 36 dumplings.

 

Linked to This Week’s Cravings  Mouthwatering Monday  Weekend Potluck, Ingredient Spotlight

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Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

I had mentioned in the February freezer cooking post that I had made some tweaks to turn my favorite red sauce into a meat sauce. Here is the end result of that experiment- a slow cooked, super flavorful sauce with bits of Italian sausage. This recipe makes a ton of sauce for a very reasonable price and freezes well.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 –2 pounds of Italian sausage links of your preference. Hot, sweet, turkey or chicken it doesn’t matter; just use what you like.
• 2 onions, chopped
• #10 can of crushed tomatoes (the brand I use is 102 ounces)
• 1-2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For pasta:

• 1 pound dried spaghetti for every 6-8 people
• Meatballs for serving if desired

Directions:

For the sauce:

In a skillet over medium heat sauté onions in olive oil until softened. Place in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker.  Top onions with Italian sausage. Pour crushed tomatoes over sausage and onions. Add salt, garlic powder, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper. Gently stir in enough of the water to reach desired consistency. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Season to taste.

Remove sausage links from sauce and let cool. Cool the sauce in a shatter proof bowl in an ice bath. Slice the sausage into bite sized pieces and use a food processor or blender to break into smaller pieces if desired. Mix sausage with the sauce and freeze in 2-3 cup portions.

For the pasta:

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Mix with 3-4 cups of the prepared sauce and serve.

Notes:

Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight or until completely thawed. Heat in sauce pan until bubbling.

Adapted from  Easy Crockpot Red Sauce at Life as MOM

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Shredded Pork in a Green Chile Sauce

This is kind of like a cheater’s Chile Verde which is a Mexican dish with pork shoulder roast, roasted tomatillos, roasted poblano or Anaheim  and jalapeno peppers, and a few other ingredients that is braised on top of the stove for a couple of hours. I do plan on making that and sharing the recipe later on but here is a tasty and quick play on those flavors.

 

Shredded Pork in a Green Chile Sauce

Recipe by Micha

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours

Total time: 4 hours, 10 minutes to 8 hours 10 minutes

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 pound boneless pork roast
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups salsa verde or green enchilada sauce
• 1 or 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• To taste salt
• To taste black pepper

Cooking Directions

Place onions and garlic in the bottom of a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Add pork roast and pour salsa or enchilada sauce over all. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 or until roast is tender enough to shred. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Notes:

To freeze: portion into meal size servings and place in freezer bags or containers. Label and freeze. To serve thaw in refrigerator and heat in microwave or on the stove until heated thoroughly. Serve as desired.

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February Freezer Cooking

The 13 jars of meat sauce I made are in the fridge freezer.

I haven’t done a big freezer cooking day since last fall and it was long over due. Generally I cook for just one month at a time but we were able to find some really good deals. We took advantage and probably have enough dinners for two to three months and quite a few breakfast items. Obviously we’ll have to purchase things like eggs, milk, and fresh vegetables but the bulk of my dinner planning is taken care of for awhile. I’ll be sharing most of these recipes over the coming weeks.

Breakfast items:

•   French Toast: Three dozen pieces. This was two Sam’s Club sized loaves of French bread.
• Pancakes
• Cinnamon Scones

Dinner Items:

• Pork Chops: Two meals worth
• Pork Strips: Eight ounces for an onion and pork stir fry
• Pork roast for Cheater Verde
• Pork roast for however I decide to cook it
• Seasoned hamburger patties: Several meals worth
•  Potstickers:Three dozen
• Buttermilk Herb Chicken
• Seasoned taco meat
• Enchilada stuffed shells. Two meals worth. Awful picture, delicious recipe. I will be updating the picture the night I serve these. New picture is up now! yay.
• Packets of basic seasoned ground beef. 
• Barbecue Chicken Roll: I made two of these.
• Chicken strips for stir fry and fajitas
• Chili seasoned meat : I’ll use this for things like chili dogs, chili topped potatoes, and other places my usual chili recipe doesn’t work well
• Sloppy Joe filling 
• Chicken fried rice
• Crispy Ranch Chicken Strips
• Italian Sausage
• Chorizo
• Cooked shredded chicken for casseroles
• Plus much more

Sides and Others:

• Hasbrowns. I’m just as likely to serve these in hashbrown casserole as I am fried for breakfast.
• Meat sauce : I used the red sauce recipe from LifeasMOM with a couple of tweaks I’ll share soon.
• Refried Beans
• Mashed potatoes (minus the onions and mushrooms)

Breads:

• Make ahead butterhorns: Five dozen. I used a single recipe just cut them a bit smaller.
• French Bread Rolls

I’ve started a freezer cooking board on Pinterest where I’ll be pinning recipes, planners, and other information on freezer cooking.

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Slow Cooker Chili with Beans

There’s nothing like a pot of chili to ward off Winter’s cold. It’s fairly inexpensive especially when you augment the more expensive ground chuck with beans and feeds a crowd. This is a dish that benefits from a longer cook time so if you can let this cook for8-10 hours on low, please do so.

Ingredients:

• 1- 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced, optional
• 1 packet of chili seasoning
• 1 or 2 15 ounce cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed. You can use dry beans you’ve cooked as well. It’ll be 2-4 cups of cooked beans.
• 8 cups of tomato juice
• Salt, pepper, and extra chili powder to taste
• Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, raw onion

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground chuck along with the onions, garlic, bell peppers and jalapeno if using, until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off fat and place into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Season lightly with salt and pepper and add chili seasoning, stir until spices are combined with the meat mixture. Add in the beans and tomato juice. Stir well, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and extra chili powder.

Goes great with Mexican Cornbread, Southern-style cornbread or flour tortillas.

Feasting in Fellowship Friday, Friday Favorites,Weekend Potluck

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