With this Freezer Meal you can have a low calorie budget friendly family meal in minutes.Prepare the meal without cooking anything ahead of time. Freeze the layered ingredients in a bag until ready to use, and then simply thaw 24-hours prior to cooking. Toss the bag contents into a skillet and you have a meal ready in no time!
1tablespoonBreakfast Sausage Spice (Penzey's) or make your own sausage spice (see below)
1tablespoonfennel seeds
¼teaspoonsalt
1red bell pepper (either fresh or jarred and roasted)
1cupfresh spinach, chopped
1medium-largepotato, diced into 1-inch pieces
DIY Breakfast Sausage Spice:
¼teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonblack pepper
¼teaspoonsage
¼teaspoonthyme
¼teaspoonpaprika
¼teaspooncayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the Freezer Meal ingredients:
Microwave the potato until softened. Put cooked potato in the freezer to cool (approximately 5-10 minutes).
Dice potato into 1-inch pieces when cool enough to handle.
Chop spinach and pepper.
Label a Quart-size freezer bag using a marker, paper and tape, or whatever you have available.
Add Breakfast Sausage Seasoning (or DIY spiced blend) along with fennel seeds and salt to ground turkey and mix well with clean hands. Add turkey mixture to the labeled freezer bag.
Add the remaining ingredients to the bag in the order listed (chopped red pepper, chopped spinach and diced potato).
Remove as much air as possible (to help prevent ice crystals from forming) and seal the bag.
Lay the bag flat in the freezer (at least until hardened).
Remove bag from freezer and thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours prior to cooking.
When you're ready to cook: Lightly grease a nonstick skillet.
Drain any excess water from thawed bag. Add contents of the bag to the skillet (keeping turkey to one side).
Cook on medium/high heat for 15-20 minutes until meat is done.
Stir to combine all ingredients in the skillet. Remove from heat and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
Ideal slow cooker size: 4-Quart.
Add contents of the thawed bag to slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours, or until done.
Recipe Notes
I find it works best to keep the turkey to one side of the skillet until cooked. This allows you to crumble the meat with a spoon without mashing the potatoes.If you have a microwave sensor to bake potatoes, stop it when there is approximately 1 minute left. You want the potato to be softened, yet firm enough to cut into 1-inch pieces.Substitute shredded potatoes, frozen hash browns, or even diced up frozen french fries, for the diced potato in this recipe.Add diced onions, mushrooms or any other vegetable you have around.Make this a vegetarian breakfast by substituting your favorite meatless veggie crumbles for the ground turkey.Serving size: ¾ cupClick here to see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site.5*SmartPoints (Green plan)5*SmartPoints (Blue plan)4*SmartPoints (Purple plan)5*PointsPlus (Old plan)