My "baby" is a solid 3 1/2 now and I finally feel like I'm clawing my way out of the survival days of having a small child. I have several friends who do a lot of batch cooking or freezer cooking but there were far too many things on my plate in the last several years to warrant me branching out into something new.
I've barely scratched the surface of batch/freezer cooking, but I have started doing three things with skinless, boneless chicken breast (not frozen) that really have made a tremendous difference in my food prep.
Ingredients: 1 pound of cooked, shredded chicken (whatever is in my pre-cooked ziplock bag), 3/4 c salsa, 3 oz tomato paste, 1 c chicken broth, 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 16 corn tortillas, shredded cheddar cheese. I stop here. But the book continues on with these ingredients: 1/2 c chopped onion, 1 1/2 tsp chopped cilantro, 1 1/2 t. cumin.
Mix everything (except the cheese and tortillas). Warm the tortillas in the microwave 2 minutes, and if you skip this step they will rip on you when you try rolling them up. I learned this the hard way. Spoon about 1/4 cup filling into each tortilla and top with cheese. Roll them up and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Flash freeze, throw into a ziplock bag, and wallah! Done. You have two options for cooking: Brush with melted butter and bake at 375 for 20 mintues or until lightly browned. Or, zap a few at a time in the microwave for about a minute, then cook the taquitos on the stovetop in some butter until heated through and browned up.
I start with the large tray of meat I pick up at Sam's Club. In a perfect world, I would be buying farm-fresh, free range meat. But it's not a perfect world. I usually divide the meat into three portions, who of which I doctor up as you'll read below. Taking a few extra minutes at this point to prepare some meals translates to a LOT of saved minutes come mealtime. Revolutionary!
Also, if I was a professional blogger I would have this picture be in order of the points I'm making. But I'm an amateur and you get what you pay for. :-)
#3: Portion one goes right into the crockpot with a tiny bit of water to cook through and shred using my Kitchen-Aid mixer. Once cooked and shredded, I divide it up in two quart-size ziplock bags and throw those in the freezer. It's perfect for use in casseroles, soups, or mixed with barbecue sauce for hot sammies. The possibilities are endless.
OR, you can make what you see in bag #2 (wow, it's like the Price is Right!). I have been batch preparing chicken taquitos, and this recipe comes out of The Big Book of Freezer Cooking that I'm borrowing from my friend Katie. I wish I could link up the recipe but they don't offer this one on their website. It gives you portions to make up to 96 taquitos, which is obviously too much for our fam. But I'll give you the smallest portion that we make here because our kids rejected these. I don't know why; they are delicious.
Ingredients: 1 pound of cooked, shredded chicken (whatever is in my pre-cooked ziplock bag), 3/4 c salsa, 3 oz tomato paste, 1 c chicken broth, 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 16 corn tortillas, shredded cheddar cheese. I stop here. But the book continues on with these ingredients: 1/2 c chopped onion, 1 1/2 tsp chopped cilantro, 1 1/2 t. cumin.
Mix everything (except the cheese and tortillas). Warm the tortillas in the microwave 2 minutes, and if you skip this step they will rip on you when you try rolling them up. I learned this the hard way. Spoon about 1/4 cup filling into each tortilla and top with cheese. Roll them up and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Flash freeze, throw into a ziplock bag, and wallah! Done. You have two options for cooking: Brush with melted butter and bake at 375 for 20 mintues or until lightly browned. Or, zap a few at a time in the microwave for about a minute, then cook the taquitos on the stovetop in some butter until heated through and browned up.
And in bag #1, you'll find what I do with the second portion of raw chicken. I throw it in a ziplock bag with our favorite grilling marinate, so when it's time to get dinner ready I just have to pull it out to thaw and everything's already in there. Found this recipe in a magazine:
For 2-3 large breasts, you'll need 6 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning depending on your tastes, 2 tsp garlic salt. Whisk those together and throw in the bag with your meat and freeze. The leftovers are delish and perfect for slicing and tossing cold with salad greens, so I like to make this a big batch to eat off of it a few times.
For 2-3 large breasts, you'll need 6 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning depending on your tastes, 2 tsp garlic salt. Whisk those together and throw in the bag with your meat and freeze. The leftovers are delish and perfect for slicing and tossing cold with salad greens, so I like to make this a big batch to eat off of it a few times.
And with portion number three, not pictured here, I freeze those plain in a ziplock bag to keep my options open. Most of the time I use those for stir-fry or pan searing, but now that it's grilling season sometimes we like to slather on the barbecue sauce.
Happy chicken-ing!
Comments
Post a Comment