Banana Jam

This great find came from Pinterest!  As many of you know, I make strawberry freezer jam every summer when the strawberries are fresh and the kids and I can go to a local u-pick farm.  I had never heard of banana jam before! The best part about banana jam is that bananas are available year-round. My kids and I gave this 6 thumbs up and we often times will eat it right on crackers during snack time!

Banana Jam
Source: Mom Foodie at blommi.com

5 c. Bananas, sliced
2 1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Orange juice
2 T. Lime juice
Generous pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Put all ingredients in large pot over medium heat. Once the jam starts to bubble, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly.

While the jam is cooking, place jars, lids and any equipment that will come in direct contact with the jam into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then shut off oven, but leave items in there until you are ready to use them.

Once jam is cooked, ladle it into the jars and place lids and screw tops on. As jam cools vacuum will be created and lids will seal (you will generally hear a pinging sound when the seal happens).

Yield: 4 standard jelly jars

Unopened jam can be stored in cupboard.  Refrigerate once opened.

Freezer Berry Jam

My in-laws and I took the kids raspberry and blackberry picking at Makielski's Berry Farm. There is nothing better than fresh picked berries! They are a lot sweeter than the average berry you find at the grocery store. We ended up bringing home 2 gorgeous pints of raspberries and 2 pints of blackberries. We made a big dent in my strawberry freezer jam this summer so I thought what's better than to make than some Raspberry Freezer Jam. Yum!!! It will provide lots of sweetness to our family all winter long.

Quick & Easy Strawberry-Blueberry Freezer Jam

I had so much fun making strawberry jam that I decided to make another kind this summer - Strawberry BLUEBERRY jam. It turned out just a well as the strawberry batch and so far we've really enjoyed eating it on top of Ritz crackers and with our peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.



While shopping at Meijer, I found that Ball now makes these plastic freezer containers. They come in three different sizes and are perfect for freezing homemade jam. They have locking lids and unlike glass jars, these won't break if little hands get a hold of it and accidentally drop it. I love these and picked up several packages before making my jam.

Quick & Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam

Strawberries are in peak season here in Ann Arbor, Michigan so my preschooler and I headed to a local U-Pick farm to pick some red beauties. There's nothing better than freshly picked strawberries! They are so much sweeter than the ones you find in grocery stores.

We ended up with a HUGE box full of big, juicy, bright red strawberries! They were just dying to be made into something delectable! I am going to call this Strawberry Week on Kathie Cooks so that I can share all the yummy things I made with our strawberry pickings.



The very first thing I made was homemade strawberry jam! My mom used to make homemade jam all the time when I was a kid. We never had to go to the store to buy more jam when ours depleted. We just went to our freezer and grabbed another jar of my momma's homemade jam. It was so good and tasted just perfect on our morning toast.

One thing many people don't realize is that jam is super easy to make. There are even no-cook recipes out there now, which is what I made. You can have a batch of jam made in less than 30 minutes! I ended up making 2 batches. Hopefully that will last us until strawberries are in season again next year.

Freezer Meals - Updated

I am 8 months pregnant now and baby #2 will be here before we know it! One of the items on my "Before Baby Comes To-Do List" is to stock our deep freezer with lots of frozen meals. I love to cook, but I'm sure sleep will be #1 on my list right after the baby is born. I found a 30 pack of 9x13 inch aluminum pans at Costco the other day for $5.99 and I plan to fill most of them up before this baby gets here!

I also have many friends that are pregnant right now so I'm hoping they can benefit from this post as well!

I have completed 8 different Freezer Meal Recipes so far. The links to the recipes are below. This list will continue to grow over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Mini Meat Loaves - DONE!

Spaghetti Casserole - DONE!

Pizza Pasta Bake - DONE!

Tator Tot Casserole - DONE!

The Best Chili Ever - DONE!

Ziplock Chicken - DONE!

Chicken Pot Pies - DONE!

Italian Lasagna - DONE!

Italian Lasagna w/Meat

For dinner last night...LASAGNA! This recipe caught my eye and I've been meaning to try it for awhile. It was very good and full of flavor! I even doubled the recipe, baking one last night and sticking the other in the deep freezer for another day.



Italian Lasagna
Source: Amanda's Cookin'

1/2 of a (1-pound) package lasagna, uncooked
1 lb Italian sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
1 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
2 t. sugar
2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. basil leaves
1/2 t. fennel seed
1/4 t. pepper
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 T. parsley flakes
1/2 t. salt
4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 c. grated parmasan cheese

Prepare lasagna according to package directions, drain.

In large skillet, combine Italian sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Stir in next 7 ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer 20 minutes. In medium bowl, blend ricotta, egg, parsley, and salt. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce into 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Layer one-third each lasagna, remaining meat sauce, ricotta mixture, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Cover. Bake in 375 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Uncover, bake until hot, about 20 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Serve with garlic bread and side salad.

Chicken Pot Pie

Yes, I know...ANOTHER freezer meal! This recipe took some time with all the peeling, dicing, and chopping but it sure did look and smell delicious in the end. I just know all the prep time will be worth it once my family sits down for this delicious dinner!



Chicken Pot Pie
Source: www.freezerdinner.com

Yield: 2 pot pies (6 to 8 servings each)


4 c. cubed cooked chicken
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 c. sliced carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. butter
1 c. flour
2 1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. pepper
3 c. chicken broth
1½ c. milk
1 c. frozen peas
1 c. frozen corn
Ready-made pastry for two double-crust 9-inch pies

Boil potatoes and carrots in a large stockpot. In another pot, boil cubed chicken for 8 minutes. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer vegetables for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain vegetables and chicken and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme, and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes, and carrots. Remove from heat.

Line two 9-inch pie plates with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill pastry shells with chicken mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pies. Cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and style the edges. Bake one pot pie at 425ºF for 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.


*To serve frozen pie: Cover edges of frozen pie crust with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425ºF for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for 70 to 80 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown.

Ziplock Chicken

Our baby is due this Spring...perfect grilling weather! So I thought it would be a good idea to add this as one of our freezer meals. All we'll have to do is let it thaw, throw it on the grill, and serve it with some grilled vegetables.

Ziplock Chicken
Source: 30 Day Gourmet

4 lbs. legs and thighs (I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs)
1 c. barbecue sauce
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
12 oz. coke or beer
Salt and pepper to taste

Assembly Directions:
Wash chicken parts well. Combine barbecue sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, coke or beer, salt and pepper in a large freezer bag. Add chicken parts.

Freezing and Cooking Directions:
Seal, label and freeze.

To serve, thaw parts. Cook on grill using a brush to baste chicken with leftover marinade. Test doneness by piercing thickest part of chicken. Juices should run clear.

Tator Tot Casserole

While searching for more freezer recipes online, I ran across a cool website called The Freezer Chicks. They have lots of great freezer recipes out there!

I've had many variations of Tator Tot Casserole but never one quite like this so we are going to give it a try. It was very easy to put together and it is now tucked away in our deep freezer...another meal waiting to be eaten after our baby girl is born.



Tator Tot Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
small onion, chopped
1 can Cream Mushroom Soup
1/4 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
16 oz. pkg frozen mixed vegetables
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese (medium or sharp)
Tator Tots

Brown ground beef and drain. Saute onion until translucent. Mix. In bowl mix soup, milk, sour cream. Stir until well blended. In 9'x13' freezer/oven pan layer ingredients evenly as follows:

1. Ground beef/onion mixture.
2. Frozen Vegetables (break up any clumps of vegetables)
3. Soup/milk/sour cream mixture.
4. Cheddar cheese.
5. Top with layer of tater tots.

Cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and freeze. Freezes about 6 months.

To heat: Preheat oven to 350'. Bake UNCOVERED 35-45 minutes until tater tots are brown and casserole is bubbly.

The Best Chili Ever

I've been searching for a good chili recipe. I had a hard time picking which one I wanted to make, but the name of this recipe almost felt like a challenge! Is this REALLY the best chili ever? I just had to find out!

Pizza Pasta Bake...

...another freezer meal.

Spaghetti Casserole

This freezer meal idea came from Mari's Recipe Blog.

Mini Meat Loaves

This recipe came from Betty Crocker's quick & easy cookbook. They are just that - Quick, Easy, and DELICIOUS!!! I love them! The cute little loaves bake much faster than a traditional whole loaf, plus you get more of that tangy crust. I even doubled the recipe this time so I could put one of them in the deep freezer for a quick meal down the road.