When the kids go back to school, I tend to stock my freezer full of ready made products. You know, the ones that take minutes to cook or heat up? I do this because A) The kids are usually starving right after school and supper isn’t ready until 6 and B) back to school usually means I’m the one helping with most of the chores here on the ranch instead of the kiddos, well, because they’re at school! That means my time will get eaten up by chores, the little cowpoke (since the kids won’t be around to help watch), and trips to and from school helping out.
I love to cook from scratch and do it often but there are times when the kids need something fast to hold them through until supper or sometimes we need a meal in less than 30 minutes because we’re headed to town or school function.
Something I buy are Hot Pockets, Fully Cooked Chicken, and Stouffer’s Easy Express Skillet meals. I’m obsessed with the Stouffer’s lasagna but don’t always have time to cook the family version of it so the express meals come in handy!
We have two freezers, one big one for our beef and other stuff and our top freezer on our fridge. This is where the quick foods are easily accessible.
As you can see, it’s not very well organized. I’ve got veggies on bottom, hot pockets, chicken, Popsicles and bacon on top. My other freezer holds the Stouffer goods because well, obviously I can’t fit much else in here!
Here is one of my 20 minute meals using the Stouffer’s Easy Express Meals. First, I use Easy Express Skillets Grilled Chicken & Vegetables. It has the vegetables already in it but I still need one more filler. Since these meals literally only take 20 minutes, I need something that takes the same amount or less. That’s where biscuits come in! Bread is always a great filler and I’ve got a recipe that takes 20 min or less.
BISCUITS!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 c. flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- dash of salt
- 2 Tbl. sugar
- 1/2 c. butter
- 3/4 c. Carnation Evaporated Milk
PREPARATION:
Mix dry ingredients. Add butter, milk and form into soft dough. Do not over knead! Pat into a ungreased 6×6 pan. I use a pie pan myself so you can use whatever. Cut into serving size portions before you cook. Bake at 400′ for 15 to 20 minutes or until done and golden brown.
$500 Walmart Gift Card
I usually make my giveaways pretty simple, and while this one is still simple, it requires a bit more thought than the others I’ve done in the past. Hey, it’s $500, if you wanna the chance to win something big like that, it’s gonna take a bit more work!
TO ENTER
Leave a comment here with a recipe using one of these Nestle products that would be great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack:
- Carnation Evaporated Milk
- Nestle Raisinets
- Haagen Dazs Ice Cream (any flavor)
- Nestle Coffee-Mate Creamer (any flavor)
ONLY ONE RECIPE COMMENT PER PERSON! Put a little effort into the recipe folks. Please don’t be lazy;) I’d like to try some of the recipes myself! In fact, those of you who are saying, ice cream between two cookies, etc–WILL NOT COUNT!!! Geez!
Additional/Optional ways to enter, leaving each one in a separate comment:
- Twitter the giveaway, including a link back here and my handle, @ACowboysWife -1 entry
- Share on facebook or similar social networking site and leave a comment telling me. -1 entry
- Create a Whrrl story using photos of your recipe and I’ll give you an additional (include link to story)-25 entries!
FINE PRINT
This giveaway is sponsored by Nestle. Giveaway closes on August 18th at about 10pm CST.
About A Cowboy's Wife
I use evaporated milk in a lot of things. We do a lot of campfire cooking with it since it is easy to transport. Anyhoo, here is my recipe:
Chicken Fettucine Alfredo.
1 lb. cubed cooked chicken
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 can chicken broth
1 can Carnation evaporated milk
8 oz. provolone cheese, cubed
1 triangle pkg parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pkgs. fettucine, prepared according to package directions
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and evaporated milk. Stir well and cook until thickened. Add both cheeses, pepper and parley flakes. Cook only until cheese is melted. Mix cheese sauce, chicken, and fettucine. Serve with side salad and garlic bread or homemade breadsticks.
Here is my tweet: http://twitter.com/SereneMoments/status/3271764976
Carnation milk in muffin mix instead of regular milk, it really tastes great!
My facebook link: (Hope I did that right)
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=1580602481&share_id=120042980739&comments=1&ref=nf#s120042980739
Shared on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1299731843&ref=profile
Tweet: http://twitter.com/samasam/status/3271896224
http://whrrl.com/experience/story/18316781
i have never done this before, i hope i whirrl’d ok!!
http://whrrl.com/experience/story/18316781
Here’s a recipe for my favorite low calorie coffee drink. Start with cold coffee (I brew mine the night before and let it sit in the fridge until morning), add 1/2 cup ice, 2 tablespoons sugar free coffemate (any flavor) and 1 packet splenda. This coffee is sweet and low calorie. Very yummy and much cheaper than buying a cup at Starbucks. You can even make a frappe by adding your desired amount of ice and blending everything in the blender.
i tweeted, but i dont know how to show it on here@
Take a couple tablespoons of Vanilla Coffee Mate creamer and mix it with just enough skim milk to make it creamy. Pour over fresh in season strawberries and blueberries – makes a wonderful rich tasting dessert. Great over a nice slice of Angel Food cake too
* 8 ounces macaroni
* 1 1/2 cups Carnation milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 dash hot pepper sauce
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
* 3 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
* 1/2 cup bread crumbs
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Heat the milk in a small saucepan. Stir in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and hot sauce. Set aside.
4. Stir 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and 3 cups cheese into the drained macaroni. Pour the hot milk mixture over the cheese and macaroni. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheddar on top. Combine the bread crumbs with the melted butter, and spread over the top. Sprinkle with paprika.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, and then place under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 ounces) miniature marshmallows
1-1/2 cups (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
Combine butter or margarine, evaporated milk, sugar, and salt in a medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil stirring constantly for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, nuts, and vanilla. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into a foiled-lined 8-inch square baking pan. Chill until firm.
Milk chocolate fudge: Substitute 2 cups milk chocolate chips for semisweet chocolate chips.
We make the milk chocolate fudge – YUM YUM!!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
This is an easy Mac & Cheese recipe for your crockpot, you do have to precook the pasta, but the rest is just throw it in and forget it. Spraying your crockpot with Pam will help a lot before you put it all in.
Cook 16oz of elbow macaroni and drain. In the same pot add in 4 eggs, 6 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, 2 1/4 cups of milk, 2 cans of evaporated milk (12 oz each), 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix these really well and add it to the sprayed crockpot. Top it off with 2 more cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Put the lid on and cook on low for about 6 hours. That’s it!
Meatloaf
1 lb of ground meat
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup cachup
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
1 egg
Mix all ingredients into the ground meat. Shape onto a foil-lined cookie sheet. Around the meatloaf, add slices of potatoes and carrots. Cover with foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
this has been a favorite in my family for 40 years.
Enjoy!
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
1/4 cup chilled Csrnation Evaporated Milk
1/2 pint (2 scoops) Haagen Daza chocolate ice cream
1/2 liter chilled seltzer water
In a tall glass, mix together chocolate syrup and Carnation Evaporated Milk. Add half the seltzer water and stir gently. Put ice cream on top and fill with rest of seltzer. Serve with straw and spoon.
This is lighter and more thirst quenching than a milkshake. It’s a great sweet snack. The name is traditional – they never have egg in them.
whipped cream (use real whipping cream and whip it up good)
add diced apples, mandarin oranges, diced pears, Nestles raisinets, and pieces of Nestle crunch bar.
It’s a surprise fruit salad
i need to win because my son needs stuff for school
i was craving home made icecream one night but didnt have any cream in the house.. So I substituted Coffee-mate creamer for the cream. It turned out perfectly with a delicious hazelnut undertone.
Breakfast pudding:
1 cup carnation evaporated milk
1 cup regular milk
1 pack jello instant pudding (vanilla)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 banana sliced
granola for sprinkling
In a bowl combine carnation evap. milk and regular milk.Whisk in instant jello pudding.Whisk for two minutes until thick.Add in blueberries.Pour in a serving bowl and top them with sliced bananas and granola.
Your instantly delicious breakfast is ready.
Yummy Sweet Potato Pie
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup evaporated milk (less if desired)
2 tbsp. butter, melted
3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
2 unbaked pie shells
Beat the eggs slightly; add sugar, salt, spices, and milk.
Add butter to sweet potatoes and blend with milk and egg mixture.
Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer or until filling is firm.
Makes 2 pies.
This pie makes a nutritious snack or dessert.