Well cool. :-) I got everything except one dish I had planned done and frozen yesterday, and the chicken for my last dish is marinating and I'll make it tonight (double batch for dinner and freezer). Now in my freezer:

1 Tropical Turkey Meatloaf
2 Tomato/cheese Meatloaves
1 Beef Stroganoff Cassarole
1 Greek Pasta and Beef Cassarole
1 Chicken spaghetti dish with white broccoli cheese sauce
1 Beef & Rice Bake
1 Creamy Baked Spaghetti

And tonight I'm making Orange Walnut Chicken (minus the walnuts) w/sauce over rice, for a total of 9 dishes in the freezer, plus a weeks worth of individual rice/salmon lunches for my dogs.

It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would...now if I can just make this a habit! :-)

Would love to have the beef stroganoff casserole recipe. Sounds delicious. And it also sounds like you did a good job. Deb

The stroganoff is kind of a "pseudo-stroganoff", but you're welcome to it. It's my own recipe (pretty basic), so I can't really be too specific on the amounts - sorry!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef or beef stew meat
1-2 small cans sliced mushrooms
1 Can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg dry french onion soup *or* one cube beef bullion w/one onion, chopped finely (optional - I don't like onions, though I do occasionally use the soup)
Uncooked egg noodles (3-4 cups?)
1/3 cup sour cream
Garlic and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
Water

Brown beef and mushrooms in oil until meat is no longer pink. Add soup(s), 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, garlic and pepper to taste. Heat thoroughly, pour into 13X9x2 cassarole dish. Mix in egg noodles and add enough water to almost cover the casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until noodles are firm but not too soft (about 30-40 min.), remove and stir in sour cream. Top with shredded mozzerella, return to oven until cheese is melted (or freeze). Reheat at 350 degrees until warm (aprox. 20 min.). I don't have a microwave, so can't tell ya what the reheat time is on that.

Enjoy! Not a "spicy" dish, but nice and creamy. :-)

Wow Jamie! Ya done good :)
I love those gladware oven containers. I am forever hunting down coupons for them. I did learn a valuable lesson though. When they say cook on a cookie sheet, they mean it. I had one directly on the rack and it started to melt a little......

You had a great cooking plan. I find my creativity is limited in that area :) But I am in the habit of double batching just about eveything I cook. With little effort, the freezer fills up, my stress level is down, and the utility bills are kept in check. You gotta love it.

Actually I've been pretty limited in my cooking for awhile now - this weekend I just got tired of eating the same stuff all the time, and since it was grocery-shopping weekend (I only get paid once per month, so I only shop for groceries once per month to stay on budget), I decided to *use* some of the cookbooks on my shelf and make all the stuff I don't have time to make after work during the week for the freezer.

I did substitute/leave out some ingredients that were expensive like spices I don't normally have on hand or subbed different types of meat/cheese to keep the cost down, but for the most part, I was suprised at how many recipes I have that really only require what I normally have on hand anyways. And I do really like the ovenware containers - I found them for $6 for the 8 pack at Costco, so I think I'll get another pack next month. I borrowed a cookie sheet from my mom (I only have one metal sheet) so I could cook more than one dish at a time. :-)

That orange walnut chicken is *excellent* - I'll post the recipe here (or in the recipe forum) later. And amazingly simple...for the first time in *months*, I'm really looking forward to dinners this week, because it's already done, and stuff I wouldn't normally make from scratch after work. :-)

Jamie....did you post the orange walnut chichen recipe? I am dying to try it.....

Ya know, I don't think I did. I'll post it right now in a separate post...