Twice Baked Potato Casserole & Pan-Seared Flank Steak: Freezer Friendly

I told you in my last post that I've bitten the freezer bug.  It's true!  My little freezer over the refrigerator is stocked full - quick meals: some cooked and some to-be cooked, frozen veges, frozen fruit (we make a lot of smoothies for breakfast), and what I like to call "bits & pieces" - little leftovers that can be used elsewhere - for example: a 1/2 can of green chiles, a little diced onion, a bag of walnuts.  So far having meals on hand has proven to be effective if for no other reason than providing me peace of mind that I don't have to plan a meal on hectic nights, or in our case, when we return from a trip.  If I have time, I can thaw and cook a meal.  If I'm pressed for time, I can microwave-to-heat-up an already cooked entree.  I'm telling you - it is worth any extra time and money up front to make ahead.

This is one of the freezer meals I made a few weeks ago and we ate it last night along with a pan-seared flank steak.  It was delicious!!

Twice Baked Potato Casserole - from this awesome site

Ingredients

1 2/3 lbs yukon gold potatoes(about 2/3 of a 3 lb bag)

4 tbl butter, cubed

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt (I used sour cream)

5 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1/3 cup cream cheese

3 stalks green onion, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In the original recipe, she cooked her potatoes in the oven.  On this particular instance I was prepping other freezer meals and didn't have time to wait, so I cooked my potatoes in the microwave.  It's really a time saver to microwave them - and it worked just fine for this case.  Here's how:

 1 - Wash the potatoes & keep a little damp.  2 - Prick each potato with a fork several times.  I usually just prick the fork up and down one side (maybe about 5 - 10 times).

 3 - Wrap each potato in a paper towel loosely and microwave for 5 minutes.  Flip over and microwave for 5 minutes more.  Then I started checking.  The smaller potatoes were done, but the larger ones needed a few more minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, slice the bacon and onion.  Note: I ended up using 5 slices of bacon because I started out with 3 and it didn't look like enough :)  This looks like a lot, but you have a lot of potato.  We liked the ratio, but of course you can add these to your taste.

Also, prepare the mix-ins: cheese, sour cream, butter, and cream cheese.  I eyeballed the cheese and sour cream.  This might be why my potatoes were a little dry at the end.  Note: Before you want to cook them (after they've been frozen & thawed) add a splash of milk.  This will help to make them creamier.

 When the potatoes are done, I sliced them open halfway so they could cool a little before I prepared the dish.  At this point you can peel your potatoes or leave the peel on - I decided on the latter.  Once they're cool enough to handle, I diced my potatoes in a medium dice.  

Add the potatoes and cheese / butter mixture, mashing the potatoes along the way.

 Then add in the bacon and onions.

 Mix to combine.  Let cool.  Place in a freezer safe gallon bag. (Or if you have room you can leave these potatoes in an 8 x 8 pan and freeze as well.) Freeze.

The night before you want to use, thaw in the refrigerator.  Put the potatoes in an oven safe 8 x 8 dish.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

 Mmm...

Now onto the flank steak:
I had purchased a flank steak for another freezer meal that I decided to nix once I saw how expensive the steak was.  Mine was $18 not on sale.  I strongly recommend you wait for a sale ;)  I didn't want to try a recipe that I didn't know if we'd like and waste all that money!  So I held on to the steak and cooked it this way:  I couldn't explain it better than this great video!  I followed her steps exactly except for oven time.  I cooked mine 9 minutes in the oven for a nice medium.

This is half of the flank steak (bonus - it makes a ton for $18!) after it has rested 7 minutes.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the process, but I didn't want to touch my camera with raw meat hands.  Boo.

Once it has rested, slice it at a 45 degree angle along the grain.  If my knife was sharper, I would have cut it even thinner as it was still a little tough.  But the flavors were really tasty and complimented the potatoes very well!

The Verdict

Um. Yes please.  I'll take these potatoes any day.  They tasted EXACTLY like twice baked potatoes with none of the work!  And I still kept the health factor of the potato skin by keeping it on too.  You have to try these NOW. Yum!  Some people have trouble with their potatoes turning brown in the freezer, but these didn't even marble or have a trace of brown.  The yukon gold's worked nicely.  The only change I would make, like I said earlier, would be to add a splash of milk to the potatoes before I baked them.  I might also try to bake them covered for 20 minutes, removing the foil for an additional 5-10 minutes.  This might also to help keep them moist.