freezer Archives | The Sparrow's Home

A Quiche to Build a Dream On

April 29, 2019 by Susan 8 Comments

This easy quiche recipe is perfect for a light meal, serving overnight guests, and is an ideal freezer meal. Whether you pop it right in the oven or make it ahead, this is one recipe you will come back to again and again.

Eggs are cheap. But somehow mixing them with other goodies and baking them in a pie crust makes them taste fancy.

I am a big fan of recipes that you can customize, and quiche fits that bill perfectly. My favorite is ham and green onion with lots of cheese. But it’s delish with veggies like spinach, too. Or even kind of plain with just a little onion and cheese. Sky’s the limit!

Chipotle Chicken Taquitos for the Freezer

April 1, 2019 by Susan 6 Comments

These chipotle chicken taquitos freeze beautifully and bake up crispy and delicious. Perfect to pull out for a quick lunch or weeknight dinner.

Sometimes all you need to do is change one little thing to take a recipe over the top.

There are lots of recipes for freezer taquitos out there. I tried a few and made them several times to have on hand for my husband and I for lunch. All of the recipes I tried called for a can of chopped green chiles. And they were good. Fine.

We liked them, but when I made the switch from green chiles to chipotles— revolutionary!

Southern Red Beans & Rice

January 11, 2018 by Susan Leave a Comment

What is your biggest cooking fail?

For me, red beans and rice holds that title. (The chocolate mousse that came out looking like poop is a close second).

Marrying a Southern-born man and living in the South for a number of years meant learning to cook things that I didn’t grow up on. Things like gumbo, jambalaya, king cake, and red beans & rice.

Moving back home to Minnesota, I was eager to share my new found food loves with my family and friends. One problem, while I’d eaten red beans & rice lots of times, I’d never made it before.

So maybe making it for a party wasn’t the best idea on my first try.

Stock the Freezer

October 5, 2017 by Susan 6 Comments

I am zero looking forward to my boys moving out one day. Not in the least. Nope. Uh-uh. I’m actually kind of in denial that it will ever happen.

Having said that, if I had to pick one thing that I’m kind of, a tiny little bit, looking forward to it would be cooking a wider variety of meals for Greg and I. And especially trying some of the awesome-looking freezer meals I see on Pinterest.

My kids are weird picky, and I don’t get how because from the time they were little, we had a variety of foods. They both ate everything until around 3 to 4 and then the picky moved in. We tried everything…ignoring it, forcing it, begging, pleading, bribing, punishing. Lately we’re in the mocking territory. (As in, I’ll serve lasagna and say, “The plain noodles and plain meat are over there,…the adult food is over here.”)

So when I see these crockpot freezer meals that look so yummy, but are (God-forbid) all mixed together…I pin them for later. Much later. Like years down the road. (I told you…denial) Although every once in awhile, when the boys are out, I’ll try something for just Greg and I. A casserole here. A crockpot meal there.

In the meantime, I do like to keep my freezer stocked with some ingredients that make meal prep quicker. And I’ve been on a bit of a freezer-stocking binge lately.

Ground Beef in the Crock Pot

September 28, 2017 by Susan 10 Comments

Cooking ground beef in the crock pot is the easiest way I’ve found to cook a large quantity of hamburger. Perfect for freezer cooking!

Have you ever needed to cook a large quantity of ground beef and wondered how to do it easily? Me too!

This is not so much a recipe as it is a technique. And like all my favorite crock pot cooking, it requires very little effort…and that spread out throughout the day.

I have been on a bit of a freezer stocking mission lately. And having cooked ground beef stashed in the chill chest makes meal prep so quick!

Grandma Lena’s Ginger Snaps

September 14, 2017 by Susan 2 Comments

Of all the smells that came out of my grandma’s kitchen…from sugar cookies, to dumpling soup, to raised doughnuts…these ginger snaps might just be my favorite.

There is some debate among the family as to whether in their ideal form they are chewy or crispy. I find them delicious either way, but my preference is chewy. Having said that, I am also forgetful, and so invariably, I end up with some crispy cookies as well!