Happy Father’s Day!
I have been very busy lately and not home as much to make dinner for my family. I had been wanting to make some casseroles to freeze for them to eat when I am not at home. There was a lot of leftover turkey from baking some turkey tenderloins. They are great btw, try them out. Just throw them in a pan and roast for an hour or so. This was the applewood smoked bacon flavor.
After roasting the turkey I cubed up the rest. I then proceeded to make 4 casseroles the next day. 2 turkey enchiladas and 2 turkey tetrazzini. I chose recipes where I didn’t have to do any further cooking like sweating an onion or anything just to make it easier on myself. This was a first for me so I wanted to set myself up for success.
I would love to know if you do this sort of thing because I intend on doing it again with some different dishes. Let me know what you freeze and reheat for your family. If you don’t do this it is a good idea. When you are making a casserole just make 2 and freeze the second. You can freeze it before baking and then defrost and bake for the original cooking time or you can bake it and then freeze it. Then you will have a meal ready when you just don’t feel like cooking. I baked the casseroles and then portion them out into freezer bags so that DH can just heat them in the microwave. The casseroles also store a little better this way. You can stack them up in the freezer bags instead of having a bunch of baking dishes in the freezer. I would recommend using a disposable baking dish if you are going to store in the pan so that you still have your trusty 9 x 13 ready to go. It has been working well so far. The kids like the food. DH likes having an option at home that is quick and easy for him.
I made the turkey enchilada in the style of chicken enchilada: a childhood fave, except I used chili lime baked tortilla chips in place of the plain tortilla chips. I did this just because they needed to be used but it turned out great. This casserole is a good use up if you have some chips that are starting to get stale because they soak up the sauce you pour over the chicken.
Now for the turkey tetrazzini. I love this recipe because you don’t have to precook the pasta. I always hated that about tetrazzini recipes in the past. This one is a winner frozen or not. Obviously you can substitute chicken for the turkey in both of these recipes.
- 2 cups of uncooked spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cups of cooked, cubed turkey breast
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of shredded cheese, divided (I used mozzarella in one and colby jack in the other)
- 2 cans of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat-free version but the original is good too)
- 1 tsp black pepper
Combine all ingredients well saving 1 cup of cheese for the top of the casserole. Bake uncovered in a 9 x 13 pan prepared with cooking spray for 45 minutes at 450º.
Let cool completely before placing in the freezer.
Here are some pics of the casseroles.
Turkey Tetrazzini
The one of the left is made with mozzarella cheese and the one on the right is made with colby jack cheese
Turkey Enchilada
Another turkey enchilada
I ended up running out of shredded cheese but no problem for lesliecooks, just sliced up some block white cheddar. Turned out pretty.
Baggies
One of the many freezer bags used. Make sure and label your frozen goods and put the date on it. You know you’ll forget what that frozen thing is. When did I make it?
Like I said earlier, kids love the casseroles. DH likes the ease of reheating the homemade food.
Please, if you have anything you like to make double batches of and freeze for later leave a comment. I am looking for ideas! I will be doing this again. I already have a plan for next time but I think these are going to last them a little while. Who knows your idea could be featured on this blog!
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