My Fried Rice

This is one of my favorite go to in the freezer. It reheats well and goes with your favorite chicken, shrimp or pork dish. Great  as a side with bbq steaks. Mix and match from the freezer or refrigerator. Add more meat if you want or leave it out altogether. This is an easy comforting dish.This is the dish  when finished.

Rice: This is obvious, of course. You need to start with boiled or steamed white rice. Make the rice the day before to firm it up. Fresh rice will just give you a gummy mess.  If you can't do it the day before, at least let the rice cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Fried Rice
What You Need	Directions
2 cups enriched white rice 4 cups water 2/3 cup chopped green pepper 1/2 cup chopped onions 2/3 cup chopped  carrots 1/2 cup frozen green peas 3 or 4 strips of cooked bacon crumbled 1 cup of cubed ham or chicken or shrimp (your call, I usual put in a mixture)  2 T soy sauce 3 tablespoons vegetable (preferably peanut) oil 2 eggs sesame oil, to taste (optional)	In a saucepan, combine rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Heat a wok till the surface is almost smoking. Then add 2T  oil and spread it around till it coats the surface. Crack eggs into small bowl and stir till mixed. Add to wok and scramble. Set aside while you cook the rest of the ingredients. Add remaining oil, the garlic and optional chillies stir for a few seconds. (If you prefer you can par boil the peppers and carrots for a few minutes before adding to the wok.) Add the carrots and stir for a few minutes then green peppers, onion, peas and stir for a few minutes. Add the rice to the pan, making sure to break up any clumps of rice. Stir till the rice is coated. Add your meats and then the bacon, stirring constantly.  Shake in soy sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste and toss again.  Add scrambled eggs and gently fold in to meat, vegetables and rice. Serve. Leftover rice is delicious.

Popular garnishes include green onions cut on the bias and sprigs of parsley.

Q&E Crepes Not Just For Dessert

Crepes are not just for desserts. They make very good quick and easy entrees for lunch, brunch and dinner. They make guests dropping by, easy peasy. Just grab a handful of crepes from the freezer and pair them with chicken, shrimp, ham, or mushroom. Your imagination is the limit. Whip up a batch of crepes when you have time. Freeze them with a piece of wax paper between each crepe. Store in a freezer plastic bag. They will be ready at a moments notice and provide a quick and elegant entrée or have a crepe brunch buffet with both savory and sweet crepes and let guest make their own.

Basic Crepe recipe:

Ingredients:
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 ¼ milk
¼ cup (½ stick) melted butter or margarine

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and eggs while gradually adding in the milk, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.  The first crepe never comes out, just toss it and move on.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Cool and wrap for freezer. When removing from freezer, wrap them in foil and warm in a 325-degree oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.

Fillings
There’s nothing better than crepes filled with meats or vegetables and covered with  cheese sauce.

Chicken (frozen cooked from freezer, cream of mushroom soup, frozen peas.l Make cream of mushroom soup using half the milk, heat then add chicken and peas. Lay each crepe on the serving plate, put 1/4 cup chicken mixture, fold in half and sprinkle with cheese (optional). Serve. These can also be filled with shrimp, substituted for chicken.

Hard cooked eggs in cream sauce or cream soup.

Grilled veggies in a cheese sauce.

Spinach, Bacon and Mushroom Filling

Q&E Entrees

These are  suggested entrees to have on hand in the freezer. Add a salad and bread to some of these entrees and you will be one smart host/hostess.Your guests will never guess how you did it.  I will be adding additional frozen entrée recipes and suggested menus.

C=Cooked		R=Raw
Chili		Lasagna
Chicken Spaghetti		Meatballs cooked+
Sweet and Sour Chicken*		Beef Cubes for Kabobs
Pizza		Shrimp C&R
Taco Filling		Cube Steaks
Salmon Fillets		Bacon
BBQ Chicken+		Hamburger

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, cut in cubes
1 can pineapple chunks (save juice)
one garlic clove, minced
1/4 Cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
l teaspoon ginger
1-2 carrots cut in small pieces
1 green pepper cut in pieces
Directions
Add all ingredients together in a ziplock bag. Freeze. In frying pan add chicken and vegetables  and allow to cook on low for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Cook frozen rice to go with the meal.

For dessert serve vanilla ice cream with chopped almonds and fortune cookies.  Fortune cookies can be stored in the pantry for just such an occasion.

+Flash freeze the meatballs and store in a zip lock bag when frozen.

+ Chicken cooked and shredded can be thawed and mixed with bbq sauce, serve over rice or on a bun.

Hamburger can make quick tostados, taco salad, nachos for unexpected company.

Q&E Freezer Meat/Fish

This chart is not complete I will be adding to it from time to time. Not everyone will want all the items or have room for them. It is a pick and choose for your life style.

I will be adding recipes for pulling items from the freezer and coordinating them into a full dinner.

C=cooked  R=raw

Chicken c&r		Hamburger
pulled Pork c		Meatballs c
Cooked Pork Chops*		Breakfast Sausage
Cubed Steak		Bacon
Meat loaf c		Italian Sausage
Shrimp c&r		Salmon filets

	*Baked Pork Chops
	*Sweet Potato Fries or *Rice
	* Vegetable
	* Dinner Rolls
	* Apple Pie
	Frozen from the freezer *

Freezer Pork Chops
Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon dry sage
8 bone-in pork chops 1 inch thick
2 cups Italian dried breadcrumbs
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sage and let stand 15 minutes. Flatten each pork chop (avoiding bone) between two pieces plastic wrap to a 1/4-inch thickness.

Put breadcrumbs in a pie pan and season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture onto another pie pan. In batches, season pork chops with salt and pepper and coat in egg mixture. Shake excess, then dredge in breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere. Freeze pork chops

To serve, pre heat oven to 350°. On sheet pan lightly spread oil for frozen chops. Cook chops turning over half way through for twenty to twenty five minutes until heated through.