I don't know about you, but when I know what I am making for dinner by 4:00, I am greatly relieved. I am a working mom, but even when I didn't work, I felt like so much of my day revolved around what to cook that everyone will eat, can I get to the market and make it to the carpool line on time, what else can I make with chicken, and how many times can my kids eat pasta this week. Since I love to cook and try new recipes, this kind of dinner angst really took the joy out of cooking.
Enter 2 good friends, 1 bottle of wine, a slew of recipes and one super brilliant idea. We decided once a month we would get together on a Friday and cook 5-6 meals for our freezers. Just knowing that I would have a freezer full of food, made my dinner time angst start to vanish.
So on a rainy Friday in September, we donned our adorable Anthropologie aprons courtesy of Julie, brought our ingredients and containers, and got cooking. Four hours later, endless laughter and a wonderful day of friendship, we loaded up our cars with delicious dinners ready to go.
We made Baked Penne with Chicken, Mushroom and Sun Dried Tomatoes, Veggie Chili, 2 Quiches - one with asparagus and one without, Corn Bread and Marinated Flank Steak. This week my family had the quiche, and let me tell you... it was delicious. I took it right from freezer to oven, made a salad and dinner was served. I will post the recipes as we try them just in case something isn't worth sharing, but this quiche is a keeper. Don't like asparagus? You could easily substitute anything your family would like - sausage, mushrooms, peppers, or just cheese.
By the way, we came up with the name CHEFS - Cheap and Easy Friends because we wanted inexpensive easy meals that everyone in our families would eat. We can aspire to be Les Trois Gourmands ( a la Julia), but for now, the afternoon spent with my cheap and easy friends was priceless.
Quiche -
Prep crust - Pre heat oven to 400.
1 1/2 cups flour
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 c. veg oil
2 T .milk
Combine all ingredients and pat into bottom and side of a 9" pie pan. Prick dough with fork and bake 15 minutes or until light brown.
Meanwhile, mix the following together:
1 c. mozzarella or swiss cheese, shredded
1 c. sharp cheddar, shredded
1 onion finely chopped -sauteed in olive oil until soft and slightly golden
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 16 oz container low fat sour cream
Pour into cooked pie crust and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until heated throughout and golden.
If the quiche is frozen, preheat oven to 350, and cook about 40-45 minutes, until heated throughout and golden.
