I’m a plan ahead, keep-it-organized kinda gal. Which means, of course, that I’ve got a deep freezer out in the garage that I try to keep stocked at all times. Fairly frequently, I will either have a big cooking day or plan at least to double something while I’m at it to freeze for later.
Most recently, I took things to near-ridiculous levels with Sam’s club-size ingredients. The onions, in particular, were crazily bigger than I had realized. But, oh, the savings!
This big ol’ can of tomatoes cost only $3-something!
Using the light but creamy tomato-basil soup recipe I posted HERE, we all had a big lunch, then had plenty left over for later. (We actually gave half to a friend in need, along with some yummy asiago cheese rolls from Sam’s. I figured that’d be a good break from the heavy dishes everyone tends to sign up for on MealTrain.)
In all, when you use the giant Sam’s can, you get at least 12 huge portions of soup. Great for a wintertime party!
After lunch, we washed the pot and got cranking all over again — this time on a really yummy baked pasta.
Ready to go!
Ingredients:
penne pasta (wait until it’s on sale for $1 per box at Kroger)
onion/garlic/mushrooms/spinach
ground beef (or turkey or chicken or leave it out!)
ricotta/sauce (also bought in bulk at Sam’s, saving more than $1 per jar)
mozzarella cheese
First cook up some onion and garlic …
then add in mushrooms and brown them up a bit.
Next up, dump in a whole package of baby spinach.
Time to brown up the beef.
When it looks like this, flop in a container of ricotta.
We used 2 jars of sauce here. (And note: I don’t add in a lot of salt when I use jarred sauce since it has plenty already.)
While that was simmering for a bit, we cooked up some pasta and lined up baking dishes, giving them a shot of Pam first.
Time for pasta!
Now, scoop on the sauce and spread it/stir it around to cover all the pasta in each baking dish.
Top with cheese and bake uncovered until it browns — about 20 minutes on 350 degrees.
A perfect dish to have one ready for dinner and another one or two frozen up for later. Since I prebake them, I generally pull them out to thaw for a few days in the fridge, and then they can be reheated in the oven or microwaved up for nights we’re really in a hurry to eat after work and kid activities.
Enjoy!
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I love your giant red pan/pot!
Me too! It’s a Le Creuset one we got with gift certificates from our wedding, and it really really rocks. It’s great for soups, chilis, roasting meat and even frying chicken wings.
That is a lot of food. Can we come over for dinner?
Of course!
Looks yummy! Hubby and I keep saying were are going to cook ahead and freeze meals, but it never happens
Do you guys make chili? That’s the easiest one to start with, I think. (And a little leftover frozen chili is great later on tamales, chili dogs, frito pie, etc.)