STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS (serves 4)
2 large green peppers
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked instant rice
8 oz can tomato sauce, divided
2 TBL chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBL grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
Dash of pepper
Cut peppers in 1/2 lengthwise & remove seeds. Combine meat, rice, 1/4 cup tomato sauce & remaining ingredients. Stuff peppers with mix & place in a greased baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over stuffed peppers & then sprinkle w/additional Parmesan. Cover & bake in a preheated 350° oven for 50-60 minutes.~~ You can mix mozzarella or cheddar into the meat mixture as well. From By Special Request

GORGONZOLA POTATOES (serves 12)
6 large baking potatoes
Vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
6 TBL butter, softened
3 TBL milk
4 oz Gorgonzola, crumbled
1 tsp salt

Wash potatoes & rub skins w/oil. Bake in a preheated 450° oven for 45 minutes. Cut in 1/2. Scoop out potato pulp
in a large bowl. Add sour cream, butter, milk & cheese; blend well. Stir in salt. Mound in potato skins. Bake 10 more minutes to heat. If you freeze ahead, reheat at 350° for 30 minutes.~~
Works well, freezing ahead.

The one caveat is to be leary of things that contain dairy products, particularly milk & cream, as they have a tendency to break after freezing.

There are only the two of us, but I make full recipes of everything. This results in 6-8 full meals. The "leftovers" are put up as frozen dinners, and reheated in the microwave.

Until recently we used 10" foam plates for this. The meal would be laid out on a plate, covered with plastic film, then the whole thing wrapped in foil. But they must have changed the formula or something, cuz the foam plates, lately, warp in the microwave. So we're experiementing with those Hefty Serve & Store plates, which are classed as being microwaveable.

Don't forget desserts too! LOL Bars/squares (brownies), fruit crumbles, pies!

What you can also do is cut up chicken breasts, steak, etc., and freeze it. All they have to do is take it out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the refrigerator. When the cook gets home, all she/he has to do is fry it up for the dish they're having. Saves time. Don't have to cut up the meat and easier for the children to cook too! They say it's best to freeze the cut-up chicken/beef in a freezable baggie with the meat laying flat. It makes for faster thawing.

Buy a big delicious ham. Cook it and freeze portions of it in your homemade tv dinners with mashed potatoes and corn or peas. With a fruit dessert in the freezer too, you got a complete meal! Or what about tv dinners made with Ann_T's salisbury steak. Heard that was very good!

Nancy

I have frequently marinated beef or chicken breasts in a variety of marinades and frozen in Ziplock freezer bags ready for them to thaw and throw on the grill.

Below are two of the recipes that they love.

BBQ BEEF KABABS

about 3-4 pounds good sirloin steak

1/3 Cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup catsup
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cut the meat in chunks. Combine remaining ingredients. Put meat chunks in large freezer storage bag(s) and pour marinade over. Freeze flat for easy storage. Thaw when ready to use and thread meat on skewers with onions, peppers, mushrooms etc. Cook on prepared BBQ grill.

***I have discovered that our favorite flank steak freezes well too before grilling.

GRILLED FLANK STEAK WITH ROSEMARY

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
4 1/2 Tbsp honey
6 lg cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 Tbsp dried
1 1/2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 2 1/4 pound flank steak

Mix all ingredients except steak in a 9x13 glass baking dish (or ziplock freezer bag if freezing) Add steak and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare bbq - med high heat. Remove meat from marinade; discard marinade. Grill steak to desired doneness, about 4 min per side for med rare.

Transfer steak to work surface. Let stand 5 min. Cut across the grain into thin strips. Arrange on platter and serve. Serves 5-6 (Bon Appetit Sept 1995)