From the Freezer to the Table in Less Than 30 minutes, Chicken

I can't lie, I really love meal planning.  I get a little joy and satisfaction out of planning out a different genre of food for each night of the week and adding variety to those meals with new, interesting spins on side dishes.  I love recording this on the inside of my pantry cabinet.  (I painted it with chalkboard paint years ago. A Pin-win.) Having all of this in place makes me feel ready to take on whatever may come during the week.

But, let's get real, even though I have a great plan, it usually falls by the wayside by Wednesday or Thursday.  It's one thing to have a plan, but it's another thing to follow through with the plan.  So, when I forget to thaw something overnight or forget to put something in the slow cooker in the morning, I need to have something quick to grab to make for dinner.  For this reason, I like to keep some brainless, quick cooking items in my freezer: marinated chicken, cubed ham, and taco meat.We'll start with the most versatile, marinated chicken.

I usually store each of these recipes in quart-sized freezer bags. I freeze them flat and store them upright in a little container in my freezer.  When I need to use one, I just toss the frozen bag on a plate and defrost it in the microwave for about 4 minutes.  After this step, I'm only about 15 minutes away from getting dinner on the table.

Chicken Fajitas adapted from New Leaf Wellness

1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon honey
The juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
(or substitute the seasonings with 2 TBS of taco seasoning)
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 cup sliced yellow onion

Combine all ingredients in a quart-sized plastic freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.

When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.Cook in large pan on medium heat for ten minutes.  Add the fresh peppers and onions in the last five minutes of cooking. 

Serve on tortillas or rice with your favorite fajitas toppings, like shredded cheese, salsa, and guacamole.

Greek Lemon Garlic Chicken from Allrecipes

Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
(or 1 TBS each of fresh herbs)
2 lemons, juiced
salt and pepper
1-2 lbs. chicken breasts

Combine marinade ingredients in quart-sized bag.  Add chicken.  Freeze. 

Thaw overnight.  Cook chicken on grill or pan on medium-high heat. 

This chicken tastes great paired with an orzo salad or used in a gyro.  For a gyro, place the chicken in a pita top it with lettuce, cucumber tomato relish, and tzatziki sauce. 

Orange Chicken adapted from ChefKey

Marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
2 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. minced ginger
a dash of honey (sugar or agave)
1 TBS. cornstarch

1 lb. chicken, cut in strips

Combine marinade ingredients in a quart-sized bag.  Add the chicken. Freeze. 

Thaw overnight.  Cook chicken in a grill or fry pan on medium-high heat. 

This chicken tastes great in a stir-fry.  After the chicken is cooked, add onions, pepper, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and/or carrots to the hot pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly softened.  Add a tablespoon of hoisin sauce to the veggies in the last minute of cooking.  Stir to coat. 

I also love this chicken added to salads.  I recently tried out this salad recipe with this chicken.  It was delish. 

So, next time you have some extra chicken on hand, mix up a marinade and store that chicken in your freezer.  Just getting this one step done ahead of time really helps dinner get out on the table faster.

Honey Pecan Chicken

This recipe has received unsolicited compliments from husbands. They have gone back for seconds and left their plates squeaky clean.  Last time I made this for my family, my husband gave an audible "alright!" when he found out what was for dinner, and he doesn't even like nuts. 

This recipe is quick to prep and quick to cook.  Win-win.  Plus, it is delicious. The pecan crusted chicken is crispy and savory, while the honey cream sauce adds a punch of sweetness and tang. Your taste buds will thank you for this meal. 

Cooked carrots and rice pilaf are great additions to this entree. 

Honey Pecan Chicken 

from Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer

6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves (for our exchange I used approx. 1 1/2 lbs of chicken)

For the marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

For honey cream sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup whiskey (or 3 TBS water and 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
1 cup whipping cream (or half and half)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

For breading:
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

Mix olive oil, time, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place chicken breasts in freezer bags then pour olive oil mixture over chicken breasts. Freeze in gallon-sized freezer bags, removing as much air as possible.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Sauté shallots in butter until tender. Add orange juice and whiskey over medium heat and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream. Continue cooking until slightly thickened. Add honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cool completely. Freeze separately using a pint-sized freezer bag.

Chop pecans. Put pecans, flour, salt, and pepper in a small freezer bag.

Place all three bags into a second gallon-sized freezer bag and label.

To serve: Defrost chicken breast and cream sauce. Dredge chicken breast in flour and pecan mixture. Place a small amount of olive oil in large skillet. Pan fry chicken breasts until golden brown and cooked through. 

Heat sauce over low heat until warm; do not boil.

Serve chicken on individual dishes and pour cream sauce over chicken breasts. I recommend serving it with rice pilaf.  My family likes the Farmhouse brand of rice pilaf. 

Let us know what you and your family thinks of this meal!

Slow Cooker, Classic Pot Roast

My friend, Jeanne, admits that this recipe is better than her grandma's pot roast.  When she told me this, I was sold.  I needed to get my hands on this recipe. Then, Jeanne told me that this recipe roasts the beef in a slow cooker. Even better!  Who doesn't love the convenience of the slow cooker?

A few days later, Jeanne gave me a copy of the recipe; and about a week later, this what I served for Sunday dinner with my sister-in-law's family.  There was not a single speck of that roast left after that meal! That's saying a lot because some of my nephews are famously picky eaters.

So, Jeanne was right; this is a winning recipe. Her grandma would probably agree.

Classic Pot Roast with garlic-thyme gravy from cuisineathome.com

3 TBS vegetable oil
1 boneless, chuck roast, trimmed, seasoned with salt and pepper (3-4 lbs)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 TBS tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine (I just used cooking wine, since that's the only kind we ever have at our house.  You could also just add an extra 1/2 cup of beef broth)
1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sliced onions
6 medium carrots, peeled and but into large 2-3 inch pieces
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear roast on all sides, 10 minutes total. Transfer roast to a 4-6 quart slow cooker. 

Stir flour into saute pan; cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute more. 

Deglaze saute pan with wine, cooking until liquid evaporates.  Stir in broth and Worcestershire; bring mixture to a simmer, scarping up any brown bits. 

Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker; add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.   Cover and cook until meat is fork tender, on high heat for 4-5 hours or low heat for 8-9 hours.  Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves before serving. 

Every time I catch it on sale at the grocery store, I buy one chuck roast to store in the freezer for special Sunday dinners. This classic pot roast never disappoints. 

Comforting Chicken Pot Pie

Flaky, buttery crust.  Bits of golden chicken and mixed vegetables. Creamy, flavorful sauce.  Chicken pot pie is a traditional comfort food and perfect for a chilly winter evening.

The success of this recipe, I think, is due to the ratio of chicken broth to milk in the sauce.  Milk based recipes can sometimes freeze and reheat poorly; but since most of the sauce comes from the roux and chicken broth, this chicken pot pie bakes from frozen smoothly.

To save on some baking time, I like to make individual-sized, or even smaller, muffin-sized pies.  A full, nine inch frozen chicken pot pie might take up to two hours to bake through.  I'm just not that patient.

Chicken Pot Pie

1/3 cup butter
1/3 chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 celery seed (don't underestimate the deliciousness of a dash of celery seed)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1 lb. bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (and drained, if water pools around the veggies)
1 pkg. of two refrigerated pie crusts

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, cook the onions in butter until translucent.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Allow to cook for about two minutes. Slow stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens.

Add the chicken and mixed veggies. Stir to mix.  Set aside.

Line your pie pan (or muffin tins) with pie crust (be sure to save pie crust for the tops).  Spoon in the chicken filling until it reaches the top edge of the pie pan.  Top with more pie crust and pinch the edges until sealed.  Cut a few slits in the top of the pie crust to allow steam to escape.

If freezing, cover the pot pies with plastic wrap and place in freezer.  Once thoroughly frozen you can pop the pies out of the pie plate or muffin tin and wrap completely with plastic wrap and/or foil.  Check out this post to see more about this freezer meal technique. If you are using disposable foil tins this step is unnecessary.  I always like a second or third layer to protect the food from freezer burn, so I usually place the pies inside a Zip Loc gallon-sized bag as well. These outer Zip Loc bags don't ever touch the food directly, so I can re-use them several times over. 

To serve, thaw the pot pies and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of your pies.  Allow to cool for ten minutes before serving. 

Enjoy!

Bacon and Pear Butternut Squash Soup

Look at that title.  What is there not to love about it?  Bacon? Yes. Pears? Yes. Butternut squash.  Yes, please.

This soup is well balanced. Not too thick, not too thin. You can serve it as an entree with some crusty, thick garlic bread, or serve it on the side of some grilled chicken and veggies.  And best of all, it freezes wonderfully.

Bacon and Pear Butternut Squash Soup

4 slices of bacon
1 onion, chopped
3-4 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1-14 oz. can of pears in juice
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2- 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup half and half (or for a little less richness, use milk)

In a large stock pot, saute the bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon from the pot, but reserve the bacon drippings.  Saute the onion and celery in the bacon drippings over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add the butternut squash, pears, and broth.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly.  Puree using a hand blender or in batches in an upright blender.  Add the herbs and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in half and half.  Serve with crumbled bacon, and if you're fancy, fried sage leaves.

Everything all prepped for three double batches of the this soup for a freezer meal exchange. 

Try it out. Let us know what you think!

No More Flimsy Aluminum Pans

Have you ever gone to take a lasagna out of the oven and had the flimsy aluminum pan bend to spill sauce on your floor? It’s just so sad to lose any of that cheesy, gooey deliciousness.

Aluminum pans definitely have their place in freezer cooking. Many times they are great option for storing casseroles, enchiladas, and pasta dishes in the freezer; and are especially appropriate for those participating in freezer meal exchanges.

My wise friend, Miken, shared a different storage option for all of the casserole and casserole-like recipes. The simplicity of this idea made me do a palm-to-forehead move and think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Here it is:

1. Line a baking pan, like this 9”x 9” pan, with two layers of aluminum foil. The foil needs to be higher than the sides of the pan.

2. Place your casserole recipe directly on top of the foil. Here I added Sour Cream Enchiladas to the foil lined pan.

Notice that one pan is lined and the other isn't?
This is another way I like to keep my freezer
stocked. Split a recipe into two portions- one to eat
right away, one to freeze for later. 

3. Put another piece of foil or plastic wrap over the top.

4. Place the pan in the freezer.

5. When the casserole is frozen solid, just lift the edges of the foil to remove the casserole, leaving an empty baking dish behind.

6. Double check the frozen casserole is completely wrapped. Then, slide the whole thing into a gallon-size bag.

7. Store in your freezer until needed. I store this vertically just like my other gallon-sized bagged meals.

8. On cooking day, place the frozen casserole back into the same sized baking dish. Allow the casserole to thaw during the day. Then, bake according to the recipe’s directions.

Wa-la! No more aluminum pans. Plus, as an added bonus, the foil lined baking pan makes clean up so easy. 

Sour Cream Enchiladas (adapted from Skinny Mom)

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
10-ounce can green enchilada sauce
½ cup sour cream
10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken Soup
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
10-ounce can diced tomatoes & green chilies
4.5-ounce can chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
8 flour tortillas or 16 corn tortillas
¾ cup Mexican shredded cheese
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions 

Line two 9”x 9” baking pans with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick spray. 

Cook the chicken with the onion, tomatoes with green chilies, cumin, and salt and pepper in slow cooker for three to four hours. Remove chicken and shred. Add back to the slow cooker. Set aside
Place chicken and contents of the slow cooker into a large pot. 

Add the enchilada sauce, sour cream, chicken soup, and milk to a large pot. Stir frequently for 2 to 3 minutes and set aside. 

To assemble: Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture. Tightly roll each tortilla and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. 

Pour and evenly spread the sour cream sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the cheese.

 
Cover the tops of the pans with foil or plastic wrap. Freeze. 

Place frozen enchilada packets into gallon-sized bags for storage. 

On cooking day, place the wrapped enchiladas into the baking dish to thaw. 

Bake at 375° for 18 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melted. 

To serve, garnish with the cilantro and a generous dollop of guacamole.

Enjoy!

So You Want to Start a Freezer Exchange?

It’s no secret that I am a super fan of my freezer meal group. Given just a sliver of an opening in conversation, I will rave about how much I love the convenience, community, money-saving, and ease of our freezer meal exchanges.

So, if you are interested in saving time, money, (and perhaps, your sanity), you might want to consider starting your own freezer group.  (Hold on to your hats, here comes a long post. But, never fear, not only is there a good amount of useful information, but there is a printable at the end.)

STEP 1: Find 2-5 friends.

You need to be a little picky about who invite to your group, not because you don’t like them. There are just some practical commonalities you must have in order for these exchanges to work. Start by finding families of a similar size. In our group, we all have a need for meals that feed families of four. All the meals we bring to the exchange include the same number of servings.

Next, think about who has similar culinary tastes. Consider questions like: Does your family like adventurous, gourmet meals? Are you okay with meals that may use cream of chicken soup? Do you eat meat or poultry with every meal?  Do you eat exclusively organic? Etc.

Finally, your exchange pals need to be dependable. Your freezer meal exchange will be most worthwhile if you have group members consistently participating.  Remember, it takes teamwork to make the dream work.

STEP 2: Agree upon group guidelines.

You’ll want to establish some guidelines for your group to function smoothly.

Communication

How will you communicate with one another about the date of an exchange and what meals you’ll prep? Our group started by using texts and Facebook messages. We’ve since graduated to a secret, closed Facebook group, which I think was a great move. I highly recommend you check out this communication option. I’ve also read about other groups that meet at a park while their kids play or at someone’s house while they snack on appetizers. I know of some groups that use group emails. There are many possibilities, find one that works for each member of the group.

Meal Preparation

Will your group prepare meals together or individually? There are definite advantages to both. When you prep the meals together, it’s like a party. You’re all together for the shopping, you split the workload, and only make a mess in one kitchen. It may be a long day, but you’re finished with all the meal prep in a day. For us, it has always worked well for us to each prep our freezer meals at home and do a trade on the day of the freezer meal exchange. It’s a little more of a flexible approach. I like this because then I can pick and choose when I want to prep my meals. Sometimes I find a great sale on beef, but our exchange isn’t for another few weeks. I’ll prep the freezer meal while the beef is on sale and fresh, then store it in my freezer until the exchange day. But again, there are advantages to both, so just pick what works best for your group.

Food 

How many servings should be included in each meal? How much should each meal cost? How will you package and label the meal? How many different meals will you each prep?

Like mentioned above, our group preps meals portioned to feed a family of four. We budget $5-7 per meal. On the rare occasion that an entrée costs less than $5, we include a side dish that will bring the total to the agreed upon range. Most of our meals are frozen in gallon-sized bags and the occasional aluminum pan. Miken shared a great tip on how to freeze casseroles without an aluminum pan. Check out this post to learn about it. To label the meals, we usually just use a Sharpie and write directly on the bag. I recommend to do this labeling before you put the food in the bag. Did I learn this the hard way? Maybe.

Frequency 

How often will your group exchange meals?

Think about how often your family eats freezer meals- a few times a month, once or twice a week, or most nights. This is a major factor in how often you meet and how many meals are exchanged.

Our groups meets just about every other month. We all eat at least one or two freezer meals a week. So, the math goes kind of like this:

≈1 ½ meals a week x 8 weeks = 12 meals

Since there are six members in our group, we each bring two different meals to exchange with the group. In the end, we have 12 meals tucked away in our freezers to last through the next two months.

STEP 3: Follow through and adjust.

By this point in the process, you’ve done all the leg work to get rolling. Make sure that you and your pals follow through. After your first exchange, talk about what worked in the process and what didn’t. Make adjustments to how your group functions until you start cruising along without any hiccups.

I’m such a believer in freezer groups. This wonderful group of gals and their freezer meals have really helped to simplify this part of my life. So, if you’re wondering if it’ll be a good fit for you, just give it shot. It might just be one of the best decisions you make.

Use this printable to help you record the choices you and your group make while organizing your freezer meal exchange group.