What to Cook Wednesday - Stromboli Freezer Meals!

And for the first day in summer, I'm posting on time. :)

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I bring you my family's NEW most bestest favoritist freezer meal, STROMBOLI! (It's so good, I had to make up words!)

It is literally oozing yumminess. Literally.

I got the original recipe from 40 Freezer Meals in 4 Hours on JoelandKitty.com (another great Pinterest find)!  Since it's just Chris and I eating people food (sadly the fur children cannot partake), I typically only make two of these meals at a time, and now just one since we have a stocked freezer going.

The best thing to do is to make the topping first. This batch will cover all four Strombolis.  This recipe smells like a pizzaria!  Here's the topping recipe, from OurBestBites:

Garlic Bread Seasoning
Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

1/2 c. powdered Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. marjoram
2 tsp. parsley

Instructions: 

Combine ingredients in a jar (preferably one with a sprinkle top) and shake. 

Mine looks like this and it's scrumptious. 

I then make the Stromboli one at a time, but with my own modifications. We start the same:

1. Stromboli:

1 package provolone

1 bag spinach

2 packs pepperoni

8 cups mozzarella

4 balls of pizza dough.  (Author doubled this recipe to make 4 strombolis, see below for buying fresh)

This ingredient list will cover all four Strombolis. If you know me, you know I'm NOT going to make my own pizza dough. Ain't nobody got time for THAT. Instead, I go to Publix and in the bakery section is this glorious display:

Homemade pizza, all in one cooler!

Keep in mind - use the dough within 24 hours. The first time I did not. I'm still finding dough balls in my fridge. So, yeah.

Here are the steps you need to repeat for each Stromboli. My notes are after the original directions.

 Make dough into rectangle.  This takes the longest, but it's worth it!  I use a cookie sheet as a size reference. I actually stretch my dough instead of rolling to help break down some of the elasticity. Flour is your friend if the dough is too sticky.

This part always reminds me of Cassandra from Doctor Who

Layer cheese and pepperoni and spinach.  

I layer Mozz, spinach, provolone, then pepperoni.

Wrap it up and then brush olive oil on top.Then add this topping for top of crust   This part takes the most patience, but it can be done!

Any leftover cheese is fair game for snacking. 

I add a step here.  I cut my Stromboli in half because A) it's easier to manage and B) it's just two of us eating dinner and C) it won't fit in my fridge if I don't. 

Wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum.

Plastic wrap, THEN aluminum. Not in the order above. 

After I wrap them, I can fit 3 packages into a large Freezer bag, labeled with the baking instructions. I get 8 Stromboli halves in 3 freezer bags.

The only bag where my handwriting looked human.

The author recommends: Day of Cooking: Defrost fully. Place in warm oven to encourage the dough to rise. Crank the heat up to 375 (best if cooked on a pizza stone) and bake till bottom of the dough is cooked.
My oven heats up REALLY fast, so we do this for each package (half of an original Stromboli):  Unwrap fully, place on cookie sheet in oven. Set oven for 175 & heat for about a half hour. Crank heat up to 375 for another 30 minutes and enjoy!

If you try this recipe and LOVE IT, let me know in the comments!  I'd love to know how it turns out!

Happy Cooking!

What to Cook Wednesday - Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Happy Wednesday/Friday!

Last night for dinner I made this amazing Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Recipe from the Six Sister's Stuff Blog.  Chris has asked it stay in the rotation!

Here's my finished product!  (Minus the extra stuffing I ate...)

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Recipe: (By Six Sisters Stuff)

Ingredients:

1 (6 oz) pkg. chicken flavored stuffing mix
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 tablespoon prepared, Dijon mustard
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces (I boiled mine)
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups cooked, chopped ham
6 slices of extra thin Swiss cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Prepare stuffing as directed on package.  Mix soup and mustard in medium bowl; stir in chicken, broccoli and ham. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with cheese slices and stuffing.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through.

(Recipe adapted from Kraft Recipes)

I found it on Pinterest when I signed up to take a meal to a new mommy, and her one request was "No Tomatoes." This ruled out 99.99% of the recipes I had, so it was time to try something new!  It's a good travel size recipe, but you will have leftover stuffing. Oh darn. :)

The most time intensive part is cooking the chicken and ham ahead of time. I bought the cubed cured ham and it worked just fine. In the future, I would love to try this recipe as a post-Thanksgiving meal when there are leftover turkey and ham clogging precious refrigerator space.

Please check out the rest of www.sixsistersstuff.com, and let me know how yours turns out!