Freezer Cooking for April (part 1)

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I did a quick survey of my freezer foods this last week and saw I was down to 1 more meal of stuffed manicotti and 1 more meal of ranch chicken (which we had tonight), several quarts of veggie stock and 5 packages of hamburger mix. It was time to prepare a few more meals for the freezer!

Today was my Costco grocery shopping day and I purchased the necessary ingredients for several freezer meals. These are not complete meals but more like meal starters. Years ago I did “Once a Month Cooking” and found it way to exhausting. So now what I prefer is to prepare items for the freezer that make cooking day a little easier and less stressful.

In this blog post I will share my first 3 freezer meals.
This first freezer cooking session was chicken. I bought approx. 9lbs of chicken legs. These meals go together pretty quickly. My house was quiet this evening (hubby at work and kids all moving in their own directions) so I put on my favorite CD and got to work. I had all 3 meals in the freezer and the kitchen cleaned up as the CD hit the last song! Ha, ha!

The first meal was Peach Chicken. Here is the recipe:

Peach Chicken – for the freezer
2 ½ to 3lbs chicken pieces (I used legs, but thighs or breasts will work as well)
2/3 cup orange juice
¼ cup soy sauce
¾ cup peach jam (you can sub apricot or even mango jam for the peach, I actually used peach/mango/orange jam that I purchased from Costco today)

Put the chicken pieces into a gallon size zip lock bag. In a small bowl combine sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Seal the bag and squish it around to cover the chicken. Label and freeze. The night before you want the meal put it in the fridge to defrost. The meat will sit and marinate as it defrosts. During the day you can flip the bag of chicken over a few times to allow the meat to be well marinated. At dinner time pour the contents of the bag into a large pan (11x15) and bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes. The time will vary depending on what type of chicken pieces you use. When you poke the meat with a fork and the juices run clear then it should be done cooking. Serve this meal with some rice pilaf and a nice green salad for a yummy and easy meal.

Assemble your ingredients:


Put the chicken in the gallon size bag:



Mix up the sauce and pour it over the chicken:




Seal the bag and squish it around and put in the freezer. I did this twice…



The second meal I made was Cajun Chicken.

Cajun Chicken – For the Freezer
2 ½ to 3lbs chicken pieces (such as legs, thighs or breasts)
1 small onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
2T olive oil
1 t (heaping) minced garlic
1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes
1T red wine vinegar
1t dried basil
½ t salt
½ pepper
1 to 3t hot pepper sauce (such as the brand Tabasco), optional

Put chicken pieces in a gallon size zip type bag.  chop up veggies. In a small bowl assemble sauce ingredients.. Label and freeze. The night before you want to serve this meal take it out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. The chicken will marinate in the seasonings as it defrosts. To cook pour contents of bag into a large pan (11x15 size) and bake at 350 until chicken is done. This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour depending on the type of chicken pieces used. Serve with mashed potatoes or cornbread and a salad.
 
Assemble the ingredients (the onion I show in the pic is a very large onion so I only used half of it):



Put the chicken pieces in the gallon size zip bag and chop up the veggies…


Put the veggies in the bag with the chicken..


Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl..


Pour it over the chicken, seal the bag and squish it around so the sauce covers the chicken. Put in freezer..


Tomorrow I will do the hamburger meals…



Comments

  1. Vanessa SchenkApril 14, 2012 at 1:59 AM

    Hi Crystal, you are totally amazing for sharing these!! I love your slow cooker meals for the freezer, they have saved me soooo much time!! I am going to try these chicken ones when I go grocery shopping next.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Felecia CofieldApril 14, 2012 at 7:41 AM

    Hi Crystal! Thanks for sharing these recipes! I like the Cajun one and hope to get some chicken legs this weekend. Blessings from Bama!

    ReplyDelete
  3. allisamazingApril 14, 2012 at 12:55 PM

    These are great recipes. Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cary ~ My Wool Mitten at Serenity FarmsApril 14, 2012 at 6:18 PM

    Its so generous of you to share these wonderful recipes!!! Thank you ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 15, 2012 at 4:42 PM

    I just love this! I was a kid the last time mom did 30 Meals or Once a month cooking. Thankfully we mixed it up by adding 2-3 other families and making it more of a social hour. I still dread cutting more than one onion! Having said that your meals look painless and best of all they look yummy! Can't wait to try! Thanx!

    ReplyDelete

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