Meal #2 - Chicken Stuffing Casserole

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

#2

10 pkgs of stuffing mix

5 cans of cream of chicken

5 cans of cream of mushroom

5 cups milk

20 cups cooked chicken

10 cups frozen corn

6 cans sliced mushrooms (only 3 casseroles will use this step)

20 cups cheese

Spray 5 foil pans.

Prepare stuffing according to box. Cook chicken. Place in the bottom of the pans.  Make just one layer (if you have any leftover, set aside for a different recipe).  Place 4 cups of chicken in each pan.   Next 2 cups of corn.    In 3 pans, layer 2 cans of sliced mushrooms.  Divide the soup mixture five ways and pour over the casserole. Finally place 4 cups of cheese on each one.    Cover with tin foil.  Label.

The label is below.

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

Remove from freezer 30 minutes before baking.

Bake at 350 for 1 ½ hours.

9/28/13

Wild Rice Chicken Dinner - Meal #1

Wild Rice Chicken Dinner

#1 – makes 5 recipes

4 cups of long white rice mixed with 1 cup of wild rice

5 pkgs of French style green beans

5 cans of cr of mushroom soup

2 onions

2 ½ c mayo

1 ¼ c milk

1 ½ t pepper

15 cups cooked chicken

 

Cook chicken. Set aside. Cook rice.  Remove from heat.  Add green beans.  Mix together soup, onion, mayo, milk and pepper.  Pour over rice and beans.  Then mix in the chicken.  Divide into five gallon bags.  Label

 

The label reads:

 

Wild Rice Chicken Dinner

Thaw completely in fridge.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

9/28/13

The actual shopping list I sent out for cooking day

I divided this list between 8 people.  It's for about 160 meals.  Here's the e-mail I sent out.

6 t allspice

1 aluminum foil

10 aluminum pie pans

12 lg baking potatoes

3 lbs beef

2 cups unsalted cashews, if you can only find salted cashews, we’ll just lower the salt.

1 cup white wine vinegar

2 T beef boullion

6 T honey

1 cup taco seasoning

1 T fish sauce

7 gr peppers

1 cup white vinegar

8 T basil

45 aluminum pans (9 x13)

4 bay leaves

21 c bread crumbs

6 cups brown sugar

2 lbs butter

3 cups carrots

39 pkg broccoli

2 pkg celery

75 cups of cheddar cheese

13 T chili powder

13 pkg corn

1.5 T cinnamon

6 T curry

6 T crushed red pepper

7 T chicken boullion

12 14oz containers of chicken broth

2 pkg mixed vegetables frozen (1 lb)

1 cup wild rice

190 lbs of chicken breast

12 16oz containers of cottage cheese

7 pkg cream cheese

24 cans cream of chicken

21 cans cream of mushroom

2 T cumin

30 eggs

6 pkg egg noodles – regular pkgs

10 cans evaporated milk

1 5lb. bag flour

3 T garlic powder

1 32 oz jar of minced garlic

1 fresh ginger

2 cans green chilies

18 green onions

3 cups half and half

3 2-gallon Ziploc bags

32 chicken thighs

6 cans kidney beans – you may be able to get a #10 can which would be cheaper

6 8 oz pkg lasagna noodles

1 cont of lemon juice

1 cont of lime juice

1 btl Liquid smoke

48 1-quart Ziploc bags

8 – 24 oz btls ketchup

48 manicotti shells

2 cups margarine

1 jar of mayonnaise

3 gallons of milk

62 lbs of hamburger

8 cups hashbrowns

3 lbs Italian sausage

4 cups oatmeal

2 cups oil

19 cans sliced mushrooms

2 lg btls mustard

11 cans sliced olives

39 onion

20 T oregano

5 T paprika

15.5 cups parmesan

10 lbs pork tenderloin

141 1-gallon Ziploc bags

23 cups ham, chopped.  You can get the Farmland and have them slice it at the deli at Walmart.  Then  our chopping will be cut down considerably.

4 T parsley

34 lbs potatoes

3 T poultry seasoning

2 pkts of ranch dressing mix

2 cups red wine vinegar

8 cans of refried beans

16 cups rice

8 pkgs rotini

2.5 cups salsa

1 container of salt

18 cups sour cream

5 pkts onion soup

53 cups mozerella cheese

1 cup pearl barley

21 t pepper

8 pie crusts

Plastic wrap

3 cans pork and beans

62 pork chops

12 T soy sauce

4 pkgs spaghetti noodles

23 jars (24 oz) spaghetti sauce

14 boxes chicken stuffing mix

12 lbs sugar

10 T thyme

7 cans tomato paste

# 10 can tomato sauce

4 #10  cans diced tomatoes

2 cans diced tomatoes (28 oz)

122 tortilla shells (10 inch)

3 oil spray

 

 

If you find a better deal in a different size, just get what’s cheaper and alter the amount you need accordingly.

 

If you don’t have a spice on your list, please check with the rest of us before buying it.  This will help us cut our costs.  There are only a few on here that I don’t have, so I can bring ours.  Probably the chili powder and other ones that have a lot, we should just go ahead and buy.  Mostly, I’m thinking of the ones that we only need a tablespoon or two.

 

I tried to divide it somewhat evenly, but if you see something on someone else’s list that you have and you want to bring that please feel free.  If you bring meat from your own freezer, it will count as a receipt.  For example, if you have 10 lbs of hamburger in your freezer, we’ll count it as 20 dollars, and we’ll try to figure out other groceries as best as possible.    When you buy your groceries, please turn in your receipt as soon as you can and put your initials on it.  The sooner we do this, the sooner we can figure out charges and reimbursements.  Some of you will be spending more on shopping than you are supposed to be paying, you will be reimbursed once we figure out how much your total is. 

 

If anyone finds your list a hardship please let me know right away.  I can buy some of the things and help out some.  There are seven of you involved – 4 (30 meals), 1 (21 meals) and 2 (10 meals).  So the cost for everyone will be different.  We’ll get this all worked out.

 

Any questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail.  Bring the groceries to the church on Saturday morning between 8 and 9.  The sooner we start, the sooner we’re done. J

 

Steph

 

P.S.  I will continue to be working on organizing the day, so that it will run smoothly.  Again, because this is the first time for us to do this, there will probably be some hiccups.  But regardless, we’ll have a bunch of fellowship and fun.  Oh, also you may want to bring a sandwich or something for lunch.

A view of the shopping list for our cooking day - the first step

Our shopping list is about three pages long in Excel, so I'll just show you how I did it so you can have an idea how to do it.

As you can see, I numbered the meals, then put the number needed per meal.  This worked out well for me.  In Excel, if you don't use letters in the columns you can add up all the stuff, just using the formula for adding.  So you have to make sure you keep all amounts the same (i.e. convert everything to Tablespoons  or back to teaspoons, whichever works best).  Then make a column for totals.  This saves so much on second guessing whether you added right.

We had 39 recipes and a side and a sauce and way more ingredients than this.   I tried to divide the ingredients between 7 people, but it was not super even.  We'll even it up when we figure out who still owes money and who needs to be reimbursed.

	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6
# of recipes	5	5	2	6	6	2
allspice
aluminum foil
aluminum pan (9x13)		5		6
aluminum pan (pie)			4
baking potatoes
basil
Bay leaves
beef
beef boullion
bread crumbs					3
broccoli					12
brown sugar
butter						10

The next step in our cooking planning day

The next step was to figure out how many of each meal we need so I made an excel spreadsheet to help me with this. 

Wild Rice Chicken Dinner - $4.50	x		x		xx	x	x
Chicken Stuffing Casserole - $7.00		x	x	x	xx		x
Chicken Potpies - $12.00							x
Chicken Manicotti - $7.00	x	x	x		xx		x
Chicken Broccoli Bake - $4.00	x		x	x	xx	x	x
Chicken Curry - $3.00	x		x		xx
BBQ Chicken - $2.50	x		x	x	xx	x	x
Sweet Asian Chicken – $2.50	x		x		xx	x	x
Teriyaki Chicken - $5.50	x		x		xx		x
Party Enchiladas - $8.00	x		x	x	xx	x	x
Chicken Parmigiana - $4.50	x		x		xx	x	x
Cashew Chicken Stirfry - $3.00	x		x		xx
Chicken A La King - $2.50	x				xx		x
BBQ Meatballs - $6.50	x		x	x	xx
Easy Lasagne - $11.00		x	x	x	xx		x
Hamburger Corn Bake - $6.00		x			xx		x
Spaghetti Pie - $8.00				x	x	x	x
Spaghetti Ham Bake - $6.00		x			x		x
3-Cheese Lasagne - $7.00	x		x	x	x		x
Hamburger Goulash - $7.00	x		x	x	x		x
Beef and Bean Burritos - $5.00	x		x	x	x		x
Spanish Rice - $4.00	x		x	x	x
Chili - $6.00	x			x	x	x
Beef Fajitas - $12.00	x				x		x
BBQ Pork Chops - $6.50	x		x	x	x		x
Carribean Pork Tenderloin - $4.00	x	x	x	x	x		x
Raging Garlic Stir-fry - $4.50	x		x		x
Mustard-Oregano Pork Chops - $7.50	x	x	x	x	x		x
Beef-Barley Soup – $8.50	x				x		x
Loaded Potato Soup - $6.00	x		x	x	x		x
Pizza Rice Casserole - $9.00			x		x		x
Sloppy Joes - $3.00	x		x	x			x
Scalloped Potatoes & Ham - $5.00	x	x	x	x			x
Chicken Supreme - $3.00	x			x			x
Chicken on Sunday - $8.00	x	x	x				x
Chicken Divan - $8.00	x		x			x	x
Parmesan Chicken - $6.00	x	x	x	x		x
Chicken Noodle Soup - $5.00			x	x		x
Baked Potato Chowder - $			x
	T	J	M	A	JE	S	D
Freezer Mashed Potatoes - $6.00
Twice-Baked Ranch Potatoes - $4.00			2x

Wednesday's Household - is it worth it?

Today, I'm feeling like it's not.  I can totally relate to my step-sister's post My House: A War Zone.  When I'm lazy during the day, I don't really care.  But when I've worked hard and wrestled with four little (and one big one) sin natures all day and I've done all I could to keep up on the laundry and the house clean, and yet it looks like it's in a perpetual state of mess.  I want to throw my hands up in despair and say "I give up."

It doesn't hurt so bad and feel like offense so much when I haven't been doing my job.  It doesn't feel like an attack or a war on my job so much when I put my feet up and sat at the computer all day. 

But it really feels like they are out to get me, when I've spent all day doing dishes and they come home and within two minutes there are ten cups on the counter and only six people in the house. 

It really feels like they are trying to make more work for me, when I empty their laundry basket and find clothes I haven't seen them wear in forever (maybe never) and something still hanging on it's hangar. 

When I find their shoes filled with dirt in a huge pile on the back porch, I feel like they want our family to look bad. 

I think that these are lies.  I'm pretty sure there is nothing intentional about these things.  They aren't trying to make more work, they don't want our family to look bad, they aren't out to get me. 

They just aren't being intentional about making sure these things don't happen.  So I need to teach them, but my time is so limited from when they get home from school (some don't get home till 6 and then have an hour or two of homework).   

So this morning, I put a letter in two of my older boys' hands.  One for each of them.  One was about the laundry and how there were many things in there that hadn't been worn and one even was on a hangar.  The other was about some things the other had left out for someone else to care for.

It was a plea for them to get their hearts on board, for them to remember their jobs, and hopefully it wasn't in their face as much as my nagging can be.  You see, these two are teenagers (or almost) and I need their hearts, not just outward conformity.

Please remember that your family isn't out to get you.  Don't let those thoughts reign in your mind.  Run to the word, fill your mind with His truths.  And also remember that if our children were perfect and had it all together, they wouldn't need us.

Steph

Tuesday - Cooking Together

Here is a note I sent to my church group - (if you are in my church group and didn't get it and want to be a part of it, e-mail me, sorry I missed you) 

Some of us talked on Sunday, but others of you weren’t there.  So instead of my initial request for YOU to e-mail me, I’m sending out an e-mail to everyone I can think of.  If you think of someone who may like to be a part of this please forward this to them.  Kelli, would you forward it to Shayna if you know her address?  Otherwise, I’ll get it from her on FB.

 

This is the note I passed out at the picnic explaining what we’re doing.

 

Let’s get together and do some cooking!!!!   Now that we are into another school year, wouldn’t it be nice to have some things in the freezer so that you can just pull it out and throw it in the oven or crockpot?  There will be crockpot meals, and oven meals, and even marinated meats for the grill.  We won’t be doing sides or desserts, but at least this will jumpstart our menu for the month.  You’ll go home with 30 meals and recipes for each one.  And a list to put on your fridge so you know what you have in the freezer, if you don’t forget to cross things off. J 

 

Please talk with Steph or Dominique if you would like to be a part of our group.  We will be compiling receipts and split the money between us. 

 

We are planning on starting around 8 or 9 on Saturday, September 28, 2013.  Please e-mail Steph if you want to participate.

 

So if you want to be a part of this (or if you want to come along for the fellowship without the expense) please e-mail me soon, so I can make the shopping list.

 

Below is a list of meals, please let me know if you want a half or a double of the recipes.  All will be 9x13 otherwise.  Also please pick out which you want to do.  If you can’t do 30, that’s fine, just give me the number you can do.  If you do 30 recipes, your cost will be $200 or under (for one 9x13).  It does depend on which recipes you pick.   My total for the 1^st thirty recipes came to $180, but I’m giving us a bit of lee-way for some mis-calculations.

 

1.       Wild Rice Chicken Dinner - $4.50

2.       Chicken Stuffing Casserole - $7.00

3.       Chicken Potpies - $12.00

4.       Chicken Manicotti - $7.00

5.       Chicken Broccoli Bake - $4.00

6.       **Chicken Curry - $3.00

7.       **BBQ Chicken - $2.50

8.       **Sweet Asian Chicken – $2.50

9.       **Teriyaki Chicken - $5.50

10.   Party Enchiladas - $8.00

11.   **Chicken Parmigiana - $4.50

12.   **Cashew Chicken Stirfry - $3.00

13.   **Chicken A La King - $2.50

14.   **BBQ Meatballs - $6.50

15.   Easy Lasagne - $11.00

16.   Hamburger Corn Bake - $6.00

17.   Spaghetti Pie - $8.00

18.   Spaghetti Ham Bake - $6.00

19.   3-Cheese Lasagne - $7.00

20.   Hamburger Goulash - $7.00

21.   Beef and Bean Burritos - $5.00

22.   Spanish Rice - $4.00

23.   Chili - $6.00

24.   Beef Fajitas - $12.00

25.   **BBQ Pork Chops - $6.50

26.   **Carribean Pork Tenderloin - $4.00

27.   Raging Garlic Stir-fry - $4.50

28.   Mustard-Oregano Pork Chops - $7.50

29.   Beef-Barley Soup – $8.50

30.   Loaded Potato Soup - $6.00

31.   Pizza Rice Casserole - $9.00

32.   Sloppy Joes - $3.00

33.   Scalloped Potatoes & Ham - $5.00

34.   Chicken Supreme - $3.00

35.   Chicken on Sunday - $8.00

36.   Chicken Divan - $8.00

37.   Parmesan Chicken - $6.00

38.   Chicken Noodle Soup - $5.00

 

** Needs a side, such as potatoes, or rice, so add about $2.00 for the total cost of the meal.  You won’t be counting this cost for the cooking day, because you’ll be making the sides later.

 

A couple of sides that we can freeze are

Twice-Baked Ranch Potatoes - $4.00

Freezer Mashed Potatoes - $6.00

Please let me know by Wednesday which recipes you want to do, and when you do that I’ll know that you want to participate.  If you don’t want to participate, you just don’t need to e-mail me back.    You would still be welcome to join us for some fellowship on Saturday though. J

Steph

Have you ever tried something like this?  I haven't but I thought it would be fun to get together and cook.  I honestly don't need meals in the freezer, because I'm home to cook, but others do and it's a lot more fun to do them together.