You know how we love Z'Tejas here in Ausitn (and have made some of the recipes from their website).  We had some yummy leftover mac and cheese and some grilled chicken from our dinner there.

For some freezer treats for Zoe, I combined cut these leftovers to make mini mac and cheese bites.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. leftover mac and cheese
3/4 c. grilled chicken, cut into small cubes
Bread crumbs
Cooking spray

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease mini muffin tray with cooking spray.  Combine mac and cheese with chicken.  Fill muffin tray, then top with bread crumbs.  Cook for about 15 minutes, then cool for 15 minutes.  Put in freezer bag for future use, or enjoy immediately!

Ingredients:
1 package of breakfast sausage
1 small onion, diced
1 cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can navy or cannellini beans, rinsed
¼ of a head of a large Savoy cabbage, or ½ of a head of a small one, shredded
Handful of diced carrots
2 small or 1 large Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup milk (or ½ cup buttermilk and 1 T. sugar)
Pepper and salt to taste

Instructions:  Brown the breakfast sausage with the onions in a skillet.  Transfer the sausage and onion to a heavy stock pot.  Deglaze the skillet with the white wine over medium high heat, scraping all the brown bits.  Add wine and brown bits to the stock pot, along with the garlic, beans, and cabbage.  Turn on the heat under the stock pot, medium high.  The cabbage will start to wilt a little, and while it is, add the potatoes and carrots.  Add the chicken broth and the milk, and season with pepper and salt to taste.   Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Serve with bacon cheddar and chive biscuits. 

Martha Stewart has a GREAT meat loaf recipe.  I’ve altered the recipe slightly so that I can have individual sized meat loaves in the freezer to pop in the oven on those days I work late or am returning from a day trip. 

You can find the recipe here:  http://www.marthastewart.com/315282/all-american-meatloaf

Tips I’ve found useful:

I don’t top with onions or the remaining ketchup mix; rather, I use BBQ sauce.

If I don’t have any celery on hand, I’ll substitute half a yellow squash.

Don't pack the meatloaf tightly into the cups. They will be more tender if only loosely packed.

This will make 18 standard size muffins --OR-- 12 muffins and one mini-loaf.

These sometimes spill over the muffin tin. Place muffin tins on a lined cookie sheet for easy clean-up.

To freeze, remove from muffin tin and place on a baking sheet in the freezer until frozen.  Then wrap each in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag. 

If you make these, let me know how they turned out for you, or if you made them even better!  :)