Ham & Cheese Twist
This is a freezer meal recipe, but it can be easily adapted to make in one night. Learn more about how to freezer cook and start your own group. Click to see the start of the series with links to all posts in the series!
HAM & CHEESE TWIST
1 FAMILY:
1 loaf Rhodes bread dough
¼ cup butter or margarine
½ envelope hidden valley ranch mix ( not generic):
3/4 lb. thinly sliced ham
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp poppy seeds
6 FAMILIES
6 loaves Rhodes bread dough
1 ½ cups (3 cubes) butter or margarine
3 envelopes hidden valley ranch mix (not generic)
4 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced ham
9 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 tsp. poppy seeds
TO PREPARE BEFORE FREEZING:
Roll bread dough out into a rectangular shape so its approx. 1/2 inch
thick. Combine margarine and ranch mix. Spread about 5 TBS of mixture on the rectangle. Layer ham and cheese down the center of the rectangle.
Use a pizza cutter to cut strips along each side of the dough (even numbers on each side). Starting at the bottom, take each piece, cross and twist. Continue cris-crossing until your pizza is braided.
Brush remaining butter/ranch mixture over top. Sprinkle with poppy seeds (optional).
Wrap loaf with plastic wrap and then foil.
To prepare after freezing: To thaw over night. Place in fridge as is if you wish to cook it on the foil. If you do not wish to cook it on the foil unwrap it and place on lightly greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap. Let thaw overnight. A couple of hours before you are ready to bake place it on the counter to continue to thaw and begin to rise. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Note: Photo’s are with a wheat bread dough. I would recommend white bread dough.
If you bake it right on the foil there is no mess to clean up!
Zatarains Coupon and Recipe
.50/2 Zatarain’s Rice Mix Coupon
I am printing this Zatarain’s coupon because we use Zatarain’s Rice in our Taco Rice Salad recipe for Freezer Meal Cooking!
Find more printable coupons here!
Freezer Meal Prep Work!
Who is following along for our cooking this weekend? If you aren’t you can still follow along and do it on a future date!
You will just need to know…
This is going to be easy since I already prepared…
So on cooking day we do not actually do any cooking! We only assemble the meals. Anything that has to be cooked is prepared ahead of time. So that means as hostess this month I must make prep-work assignement for each of the members of my group.
Prep Work Assignments:
AJ- Cook the meat for the French Dip. Cook the hamburger with taco seasoning for the Navajo Tacos. Slice the peppers for the Pineapple Pepper Chicken.
Cathy- Shred carrots and cook with sausage and diced onion for Sausage Hash. Crock pot the pork for the Cafe Rio Style Burritos. She previously crock pot cooked the chicken for the Cream Cheese Chicken, Southwest Chicken Wraps, and Ritzy Poppy Seed Chicken.
Kearna- Assemble and cook the Meat Loaf Minis.
Monica- Prepare the Zuppa Toscana Soup.
Cathy ended up with all the Zaycon chicken at her house so she just went ahead and started cooking it to make more room in her fridge/freezer. You will probably want to divide that out more evenly for your group.
Saturday I will post results from our cooking day with pictures and total cost for the cooking as well!
March Freezer Meal Shopping List
Tomorrow is shopping day for our freezer cooking this weekend! I have prepared the shopping list. We are cooking for 4 families this month instead of 6. So if you are shopping for 6 families just multiply my number by 1.5 to get your list for 6!
Below is a key for my spreadsheet in case it confuses you. 
A: Ingredients
B: Amount needed to make all of the meals.
C: Amount we have on hand from last time we did freezer meals.
D: Amount that is going to be donated to the group. This is a great way to decrease costs. We each look through our pantries for items we already have in our stockpile and them “sell them to the group” for our coupon deal price. So in this column each member will list how much they are willing to “sell” to the group and leave their initial by it so we know who is bringing what. As this months hostess I have a lot of things on this list because I have been looking for deals for the ingredients and buying them during double coupons or good sales.
E: My final shopping list after we deduct what is on hand and what people will be bringing.
F-T: The meals we are making and their individual ingredients.
Now you can view and print the entire spread sheet! Web Page or PDF or Excel!
See the menu and join the virtual freezer cooking group!
“Can’t Miss” Deals, Coupons, and Freebies Weekly Recap
“What’s deals should I be doing right now?”
It’s a question I get I asked while I’m out and about. And you know, with at least 60 posts written in the past week, it could be pretty overwhelming to find the best (unless you’re here checking the site once or twice a day). Each Saturday evening, we’ll do our best to recap our favorite deals, coupons, freebies, and posts from the week. So let’s start!
- Hey Idaho - don’t miss out on boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.59 a pound! Make sure you watch our video about what to do with your STOCKPILE of fresh CHICKEN!
- Get a full ONE MONTH FREE TRIAL to Netflix if you sign up now! This is a limited offer (they usually only give 2 weeks), so NOW is a great time to try Netflix out!
- Got WINCO? Got PROPEL coupons? Some of the Winco stores have Propel marked at $.48 each (FREE after coupon!). Read the comments as many readers are reporting what stores have that price. You’ll also see that there was a little drama with Winco… for a few hours they decided not to accept these propel coupons! Thanks to prodding from readers and an informative email written TO Winco by our very own Amber, they WILL accept the coupon. Can’t believe that little post caused so much chatter!
- Have you seen Megamind? I haven’t, but many are saying it is a fab family movie! Learn how you can get it for $13.99 shipped from Amazon!
- Albertsons: FREE soda on Saturday!
- Target: Free floss and ibuprofen!
- Walgreens: Free Dove Deodorant and Tampons
- Rite Aid: Learn how Mel made money purchasing Purex and Sucrets
- Interested in cooking 15 dinners in one day and freezing them for later? Even better, do it with 5 other friends and you’ve got a freezer meal group! You can virtually do the cooking day with us! Learn more about freezer meal cooking on this post and the 15 dinners we’ll be making next month.
Here are quick links to the printable coupons andFREEBIES we’ve been talking about!
What about you? What do YOU think have been the best deals this week?
Virtual Freezer Meal Cooking Menu for March
Freezer Meal cooking is a fabulous way to save MONEY and TIME!
The fab five get together every other month and put 15 of our favorite meals together. Assemble, bag and freeze. Then when it comes time to figure out what is for dinner we simply check our freezer cooking menu, choose something fab, pull it out of the freezer, thaw and heat!
We wished we could have all of our readers over and show them how we do this, but we can’t. 
So we have put together everything you will need to do it at home with your fab friends!
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
So now that you know how to start a freezer cooking group, and all about shopping for freezer meals, and how to assemble meals on cooking day, YOU ARE READY TO GET STARTED!
Our next freezer meal cooking day is March 12th!!
You can follow right along with us. I am posting the menu now so you can keep an eye out for items on sale. In the weeks to come I will also post my shopping list and prep-work assignments. If you can not wait to get started cooking and want to use our menus and shopping lists, check out past freezer cooking menus and shopping lists here!
March Menu:
- Pineapple Pepper Chicken{We will have cheap chicken from Zaycon}
- Cheesy Spinach Burgers
- Meatloaf Minis
- French Dip Sandwiches
- Sausage Hash
- Italian Pork Chops {Buying pork this week at Albertsons}
- Navajo Tacos
- No Mystery Meat Marinade
- Cream Cheese Chicken {Cooking cream cheese is cheap at Albs this week}
- Southwest Chicken Wraps
- Ritzy Poppy Seed Chicken
- Ham and Cheese Braid
- Garlic Herb Burgers
- Zuppa Toscana Soup
- Cafe Rio Style Burritos
Zuppa Toscana Soup
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
1 FAMILY
3/4 cup onions, diced 1/8 inch
1 slice bacon, 1/4−inch diced
1 1/4 teaspoon garlic cloves, minced
1 ounce chicken bouillon
1 quart water
2 medium potatoes, cut in half length−wise,
then cut in 1/4−inch slices
2 cups cavallo greens (kale can be substituted),
cut in half, then sliced into 1/16−inch strips
1 1/2 cups srumbled sausage − pre−cooked
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 FAMILIES
4 ½ cups onions, diced 1/8 inch
6 slices bacon, 1/4−inch diced
2 ½ T garlic cloves, minced
6 (1) ounce chicken bouillon cubes
6 quarts water
12 medium potatoes, cut in half length−wise,
then cut in 1/4−inch slices
12 cups cavallo greens (kale can be substituted),
cut in half, then sliced into 1/16−inch strips
9 cups crumbled sausage − pre−cooked
4 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
TO PREPARE FOR FREEZING:
Brown and crumble sausage. Place onions and bacon into 3 to 4 quart saucepan and cook onions over medium heat until the onions are almost clear. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add chicken bouillon, water and potatoes, bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients then simmer for 5 more minutes. Let cool and place in gallon ziploc or spill proof container.
TO PREPARE AFTER FREEZING:
Thaw. Reheat.
Garlic Herb Burgers
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
1 FAMILY
Herb-garlic butter:
3 Tbs finely chopped, mixed fresh herbs: parsley, basil, oregano, chives &/or tarragon leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
½ c salted butter, softened
Burgers:
1 ½ lbs ground sirloin or ground round or ground chuck
coarse salt
black pepper
6 deli hamburger buns (such as Kaiser)
melted butter (to brush buns with)
6 FAMILIES
Herb-garlic butter:
12 Tbs finely chopped mixed fresh herbs: parsley, basil, oregano, chives &/or tarragon leaves
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. salted butter, softened
Burgers:
6 lbs ground sirloin, ground round, or ground chuck
coarse salt
black pepper
24 buns
melted butter (if desired to brush buns with)
Butter Preparation: Place all the herbs, garlic, pepper, and butter in a small mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until slightly fluffy. (can be done w/food processor) Place a 12″ square piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on your work surface and mound the flavored butter in the center. Roll herb butter into cylinder shape within plastic, twisting the ends to compress the butter. Chill the butter in the refrigerator or freeze until firm. Butter will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Burger Preparation: Make hamburger patties, but for each one place your thumb in the middle and press an indentation almost through (but not quite) to the other side of the meat.
Unwrap formed butter and cut crosswise into 1/4-1/2″ discs. (You will be using approx. 4 tablespoons Herb-Garlic Butter per 1 1/2 pound of ground meat)
Form hamburger patty fully around one butter disc, pressing gently to seal the disc into the dead center of the meat. (too much pressing will make your burgers dense and tough) Grill burgers until cooked to doneness, (about 5 to 7 minutes per side for medium-done). Do not serve for about 5 minutes, to allow flavors to fully meld.
Ritzy Poppy Seed Chicken
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
1 FAMILY
2-3 Breasts of chicken
1 c. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 Sleeve Ritz crackers (36), crushed
4-6 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter/margarine, melted
6 FAMILIES
12-18 Breasts of chicken
6 c. sour cream
6 cans (64.5oz) cream of chicken soup
6 Tbsp poppy seeds
3 Sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
24-36 Tbsp (3 sticks) butter/margarine, melted
TO FREEZE
Cook chicken and cube. Mix with sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and poppy seeds. Place in gallon-sized bag. Each person gets 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers.
TO PREPARE AFTER FREEZING
Thaw and put chicken mix into casserole dish. Melt butter, combine with crackers, and sprinkle over chicken mixture. Cover in foil and bake @ 350 for 25 min, uncover and bake additional 5-10 min, or until bubbling.
Freezer Meal Cooking with the FabFruGals
Freezer Meal cooking is a fabulous way to save MONEY and TIME!
The fab five get together every other month and put 15 of our favorite meals together. Assemble, bag and freeze. Then when it comes time to figure out what is for dinner we simply check out freezer cooking menu, choose something fab, pull it out of the freezer, let thaw and heat!
We wished we could have all of our readers over and show them how we do this, but we can’t. So we have put together everything you will need to do it at home with your fab friends!
Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!
How it works:
So now that you know how to start a freezer cooking group, and all about shopping for freezer meals, and how to assemble meals on cooking day, YOU ARE READY TO GET STARTED!
We have put together virtual freezer cooking including a menu, and a shopping list!
Amber’s Menu
AJ’ Menu
Kearna’s Menu
Monica’s Menu
- The Menu
- Shopping list (done for 4 families of 4)
- Prep Work Assignments (also for 4 families)
- Fridge List
- Final Cost (coming soon)
