About my long absence..and a recipe!

Hey everyone, it's Alexis. I haven't been doing much crafty stuff lately because my husband is going through some serious medical issues and my focus is on him and the kids. I have, however, gotten into freezer meals, and let me tell you, they're fabulous! I wish I'd discovered this years ago! I use the "Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer" and "Don't Panic, More Dinner's in the Freezer" cook books, everything I've tried in them is fabulous! I recommend them to anyone and everyone. I change up the recipes a bit (mostly because I hate, hate, HATE chopping onions and I don't like big chunks of garlic either) and I've gotten some interest on facebook so I think I'll post some of the recipes I use, with the changes as well. HOWEVER, the cookbooks are like 8 or 9 dollars on Amazon, so I think you all should get your own eventually, I don't want to infringe on their copyrights. I did ten meals, all multiplied by three so that I don't have to do "real" cooking for five weeks while my husband is in leadership training for the military. I never know when he's going to get home and I don't want to go through all that work for just me and maybe the kids eating a little bit (does not happen often) so we went and bought a 7 cubic freezer chest from Sam's Club and a whole bunch of food and I spent this last three day weekend doing nothing but cooking. But oh how satisfying! I think it will really help on the whole watching what you're eating thing. Because who doesn't love a home cooked meal everynight? Duh, everyone! But who honestly has the time and/or energy to do it every night? If you raised your hand, you should come live at my house! ha ha!
This is the meal we ate last night. It was FABULOUS, and guess what? My two year old AND my 10 month old both LOVED it too! Winner!!

Baked Penne with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cheese

	x3	x6	x9
1 lb. Uncooked penne pasta	3 lbs	6 lbs	9 lbs
1 lb. Hot Italian sausage	3 lbs	6 lbs	9 lbs
1 cup chopped onion	3c	6c	9c
2 garlic cloves, minced	6	12	18
8 oz. Tomato paste	24oz	48oz	72oz
8 oz. Tomato sauce	24oz	48oz	72oz
1/4 t. salt	3/4t	1 1/2t	2 1/4t
1/4 t. black pepper	3/4t	1 1/2t	2 1/4t
2-14 oz. Cans diced tomatoes, undrained	6	12	18
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped	3/4c	1 1/2c	2 1/4c
1 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded	3c	6c	9c
1 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated	3c	6c	9c
I cup Italian fontal cheese, grated	3c	6c	9c

Original Recipe Yield

12 Servings

Cooking Day

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. Drain pasta and set aside. Remove casings form sausage. Cook sausage, onion and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a lined 9x13 baking dish. Top with half of each cheese. Repeat layers. Freeze, using foil and plastic wrap method.

Serving Day

Return unwrapped meal to original baking dish. Thaw slightly. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly. (I need to put this note up here too. You do need to thaw it out completely OR cook for about an hour, I just found out this little tidbit last night lol!)

*Notes from Alexis:  I multiplied it by three and I used dried minced onion (so nowhere near three cups) and granulated garlic. Mostly I sprinkled and mixed until it smelled good. I also used a summer sausage (because it’s already cooked) I diced it up really small and cooked it just a bit with the onion and garlic to bring out the flavor. I didn’t have fresh parmesan, so I just used the regular stuff that you can buy off the shelf (although fresh would be amazing) and I had no idea what Italian frontal cheese is, or where to find it. So I used mozzarella, parmesan, and provolone instead. Remember that the worded directions are for only one recipe and you need to divide by however many you’re multiplying by. The foil and wrap method is lining your pan with foil (enough to go all the way around the pasta, since you’ll be folding it over your food) and then a layer of saran wrap, same size if not a little bigger. Remember when you’re using saran wrap your meal; things need to be mostly cooled before you can put it on the wrap. Wrap up your meal tightly with the saran wrap. The goal is to make it air tight to prevent freezer burn. Then wrap the foil the same way.  Put it in the freezer, pan and all, and let it freeze for a few hours. Then you can take it out of the pan and it will keep it’s shape. Makes it nice for stacking too. :D It’s called the flash freeze method. One more note on this particular recipe, you really do need to thaw it out mostly if not all the way. I followed the recipe and it took about an hour to cook all the way though. So just keep that in mind. Enjoy cooking everyone! And definately be expecting to hear from me more often. She's baaaaack! And I'll try to get Bree to get her happy butt on here too. I know SHE'S been crafting up a storm down there in Washington.