Freezer Meals Part 2

I eat a lot of chicken so I knew I needed to have a few meals in the freezer for dinner while on maternity leave. I bought 2 small whole chickens in which I boiled and cooked myself to make my own chicken both. I froze any the left over chicken broth I did use for my freezer meals to later use. I then made all my chicken meals in one evening, one at a time as a little assembly line to make things easier on me. 

 

White Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

• 10 soft taco shell
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

 2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream. 

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Chicken Pot Pie
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and cubed (or 1 lb cut up chicken pieces)

2 cups mixed frozen vegetables

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 tsp rosemary, oregano, or thyme (I like to mix up which spice I use each time)

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1 egg

1 Tbsp water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.) Unroll and place one pie crust in a pie pan, leaving the edges to crimp later.
2.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken and frozen vegetables, set aside.

2.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken and frozen vegetables, set aside.

3.  In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent, . Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and herb of choice. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.  

4.  Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, and seal edges. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.  Mix egg and water and brush over the top of the pie crust.  Sprinkle with extra herb you used in the filling. 

5.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cover edges of pie if start to get too brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Freezer Directions: Brush on egg wash and cover first with plastic wrap very tight, making sure to press down in all the creases, almost making a second skin.  Pop in the freezer until completely frozen, then cover very tightly with aluminum foil.  Write baking directions on top of foil.  If baked frozen add at least 15-20 minutes on cooking time.  If defrosted about 10 more minutes.  Watch for burning crusts!

Chicken Spaghetti
Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken
3 cups broken spaghetti
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 jar (4 oz) pimentos, drained
2 cups chicken broth (I use the broth from my chicken)
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make three cups. If you don't have a cut up fryer chicken, you can substitute any chicken pieces (sometimes I just use breast meat).  Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth (or in boiling water) until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except 1 cup sharp cheddar.  Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake for another 15 minutes.  Another option is to go ahead and sprinkle with cheese just be careful the cheese doesn't burn, if it starts to turn, just cover with foil.

Freezing Instructions:
Prepare casserole, add cheese to top of casserole but do not bake.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and freeze up to three months.  Allow casserole to defrost and bake as directed.

Cordon Bleu

I found a lightened up verse of Chicken Cordon Blue that is still full of flavor, moist and delicious! This was actually a very easy dish to make. I would recommend setting up an assembly line to make it an easy and smooth process.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Makes: 12 pieces

Calories: 222.7  Fat: 9.3 g  Protein: 28.4 g  Carb: 5.2 g   

• 4 chicken breast halves


• 2 large eggs


• 1 tbsp water


• 3/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs


• 12 slices thin lean deli ham


• 12 slices reduced fat Swiss cheese


• salt


• spray oil


• toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350°.  Slice chicken breast halves into thin cutlets. I usually get 3 thin cutlets out of one breast half. Pound them to make them thinner if you wish. This helps when you wrap the cutlets.

Cut each slice of cheese into squares and stack on top of each other. Place a slice of ham on top of the chicken, top with cheese and wrap chicken around to completely cover cheese, using toothpicks to secure. (Make sure no holes so cheese doesn't leak out) Season with a little salt.

Whisk egg and water to make an egg wash. Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs.  Spray cookie sheet with oil and place chicken on cookie sheet. Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked.

Fastest Dinner Ever!

I was getting ready for work the other morning thinking what the heck am I going to make for dinner tonight! I have no idea what's in the pantry, haven't been to the grocery store yet and all the meat we have is frozen! 

I admit, even though I love to cook and bake.....I am in NO WAY organized. I rarely am prepared ahead of time for dinners, I kind of just wing it! I buy a lot of the staples and then make short runs to the store on the way home, or just find something else to make :) I'm horrible.

That's when I thought about throwing something into the crock pot so it would be ready by time I got home. Chicken tacos! This literally took me all of 5 minutes to throw together beforehand and 2 minutes to shred the chicken once I walked in the door and then it was ready to serve! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1.5 lbs frozen chicken breasts

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 contained Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Santa Fe

1 pkg soft tortilla or hard shell tacos

Add ins - mushrooms, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Add frozen chicken (yes FROZEN) to bottom of crock pot. Mix together crushed tomatoes, black beans and cook cream, then pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Stir together to combine well and serve in soft or hard shell tacos and top with your favorites.

Now that's what I call a no fuss meal!

Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza

This has been a long time coming....

I've been thinking about this pizza for months and finally got the opportunity to have made it! About a year and a half or so ago I ordered this pizza at a restaurant in North Liberty, it was so good....even the leftovers were phenomenal. I've thought about it ever since......::sigh::  Why it took me so long to make it I don't know BUT I finally did it and it was just as good as I remember (okay not as good as from the restaurant but still pretty damn good!). I've never made anything Thai prior, it was the first time I've ever used the peanut sauce, which can be found in the Asian isle. This was the first time I used the Pillsbury Pizza Crust as well, it was pretty good for a store bought dough. However I like making my own, it's more fun but I was short on time and did not prepare myself ahead of time to make this meal so we'll call it semi-homemade ;)

Thai Chicken Pizza
1 pre-made pizza crust or homemade dough
1 - 7 ounce jar peanut sauce
1/8 cup peanut butter
8 ounces cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into stripes
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
cilantro
1/2 lime
red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I used Pillsbury thin crust Pizza Crust. Roll out dough and prebake as directed, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the peanut sauce and peanut butter.

Spread peanut mixture over pizza crust (I reserved about 1/4 of the sauce to toss the chicken with)

Arrange chicken, red and green peppers, carrots, green onions, and red pepper flakes over pizza. Sprinkle with cheese evenly over top.

Bake 8-12 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with cilantro and squeeze lime juice over pizza slices then serve!

Woola...Easy and delicious! Plus you can experience with whatever toppings you want.

Creamy Chicken & Spinach Pasta

I usually try to plan out our meals but tonight I just kind of "winged it" and through together whatever I had on hand which consisted of pasta and spinach. I found a recipes that included the ingredients I wanted to use and then just added whatever else I wanted that I thought would taste good.

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 onion, chopped
garlic
lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 handfuls spinach
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1 (16 oz) penne pasta
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions
1.Bring large pot of water to a boil, and stir in penne pasta.
2.Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat,  saute onions and garlic. Add chicken cubes and cook in broth; simmering until done, about 10 minutes. Stir in cubed cream cheese, spinach and lemon juice. Return to simmer, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.In a large bowl, mix together cooked, drained pasta, sauce and Parmesan. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

The taste of chicken pot pie, in a soup!
Chicken pot pie is the ultimate comfort food and this creamy, chunky soup is loaded with chicken and veggies in every bite. You can modify this with the vegetables you like to suit your taste. You can serve in hollowed out bread bowls or serve it with cut-out baked pie crust.
This recipe requires cooked chicken breasts. If you have raw chicken, poach 3 breasts in water for 15 minutes, then remove and dice into bite-sized pieces. This soup is filling!

Skinny Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Source: skinnytaste.com

• 1/4 cup flour (to make gluten-free use 2 Tbsp cornstarch instead)
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups fat free milk
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 2 chicken bouillons
• fresh ground pepper
• pinch of thyme
• 10 oz frozen classic mixed vegetables (peas, carrots green beans, corn)
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small
• 16 oz cooked chicken breast, diced small
• salt

Directions:

1. Create a slurry by combining 1/2 cup of the cold water with flour in a medium bowl and whisk until well blended. Set aside.
2. Pour remaining water and milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil. Add celery, onion, mushrooms, chicken bullion, thyme, fresh pepper, frozen vegetables, potatoes and return to a boil. Partially cover and simmer on low until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Add chicken and slowly whisk in slurry, stirring well as you add. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until soup thickens, adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.

The BEST part...

Servings: 9, serves 1 cup; Calories: 169.2; Fat: 1.2 g; Protein: 18.5 g; Carb: 21.2 g; Fiber: 2.3 g

Chicken Piccata

This may seriously be the best dinner I've ever made! Actually it may be the BEST Chicken Piccata I've ever had in my life!

I've had awesome chicken piccata at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, and not so good piccata at a few other places that shall remain nameless. So I thought I would try my hand at making it at home for a dinner guest. I found this chicken piccata recipe from Allrecipes.com (it has over 700 reviews!), I followed a few of the suggestions from other reviews and added a few of my own. This recipe is with all my adaptions from the previous recipe. I doubled the amounts for the sauce as I served it with Angel hair pasta. The result, OUTSTANDING!

Chicken Piccata

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts


• 1 egg


• 2 Tbsp milk


• 4 Tbsp lemon juice


• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/4 tsp garlic powder


• 1/4 tsp paprika


• 1 stick butter


• 1 chicken bouillon


• 1 cup chicken stock, boiling


• 1/2 cup white wine


• 1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in water


• 2 Tbsp capers

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, beat egg together with 2 Tbsp lemon juice and milk. Set aside.


2. Place chicken breasts in a plastic bag and close tight. Take a canned good and pound chicken until even thickness about 1/2 inch thick. Half each breast into a medallion or strip. In a shallow bowl or dish mix together the flour, garlic powder, paprika and lemon zest if desired. Lightly floured chicken in flour mixture, then dipped chicken in egg mixture, and back in flour mixture. Place floured chicken on plate and place in refrigerator for about 20 minutes to keep chicken keep its coating.


3. In a large skillet, melt 4 Tbsp butter with a little olive oil and brown the coated chicken on both sides. Place on a baking sheet and place in oven preheated to 250 degrees to keep warm while you prepare sauce.


4. Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling chicken stock, then add to skillet. Add remaining butter, lemon juice, white wine and lemon zest. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Mix cornstarch with water to dissolve then add to sauce to thicken it. Add capers once ready to serve.

Serves with Angel hair pasta, Cesar salad and red wine.

ENJOY!!

Quesa - Dillas

Okay so what's what my husband calls them and it's obviously beginning to rub off! This was one of the fastest meals to throw together, it seriously took a total of 15 minutes to get all of them make and sit down to eat. Who doesn't love a quick dinner?! And on top of that, their good too :)

Chicken-Chile Qusesadillas
Source: Betty Crocker

• 1 pkg flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
• 2 cups finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 2 cups shredded or finely chopped deli rotisserie chicken (from 2- to 2 1/2-lb chicken)
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions (4 medium)
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup salsa

Directions:

1. Top one half of each tortilla with cheese, chicken, green chiles and onions. Fold other half of each tortilla over filling; press down with back of pancake turner. Lightly brush melted butter on both sides of each filled tortilla.


2. Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 filled tortillas at a time 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and thoroughly heated. Cut into wedges. Serve with salsa.

Tip: Once you cook a filled quesadilla in the skillet, transfer it to a cookie sheet in a 300F degree oven while you cook the remaining quesadillas to keep warm.

BBQ Pizza

I finally made homemade pizza dough! Yea! Okay I admit I made this a few weeks ago I've just never got a chance to post it. Although I will experience with other recipes I went with this one since it was easy.



Pizza Dough

Makes: 2 thin-crust or pan pizzas, 8 mini pizzas or 2 calzones

• 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup warm water (120F or 130F)
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil or olive oil

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 1/4 cups of the four, the yeast, ans salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the raining flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth ans elastic (6-8 minutes total). Divide dough in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. I made 2 12 inch pizzas. I used half the dough one night for the pizza below and saved the other half in the refrigerator to make a regular pepperoni pizza a few days later. You can also freeze the other half of the dough for another time.
   
   

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat removed and chopped
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
  

1. Preheat over to 425F degrees. Prepare pizza dough above, roll out dough for one pizza into a 13 inch circle. Build up edges slightly; prick dough with fork. Bake about 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
2. In a pot over medium heat add the olive oil, onions, jalapenos, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, thyme, and oregano, then stir well and cook until fragrant. Add the ketchup, mustard Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and vinegar.
3. Raise the heat to medium-high and simmer, while rapidly stirring, until everything is blended and smooth. Lower the heat to a simmer and add the chopped chicken. Stir to coat the chicken, then remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
4. Leaving a 1-inch border pour the BBQ chicken and sauce evenly over the crust. Top with cheddar, Parmesan and mozzarella. Bake about 10 minutes more or until bubbly and cheese is melted.
   
   

Chinese Done Right

Many people choose to start working out or eating better for their New Year's resolutions, so in keeping with this theme I decided I'm going to try and find healthier meal options for dinner! My first choice, Chinese. Stir-fries can be loaded with sodium and saturated fat, but they don't have to be! I found this recipe on TheNest.com and served it with a 1/2 cup rice per serving. I also added green and red peppers, water chestnuts and red pepper flakes. This proves you don't have to sacrifice flavor to save calories!!

Sweet Orange Chicken - Serves: 4
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, quartered
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced carrot

• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Stir water into cornstarch in small cup. Set aside.
2. Heat large frying pan or wok on medium-high until very hot. Add cooking oil. Add chicken. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes until browned. Add carrot.
3. Combine remaining 6 ingredients in small bowl. Add to chicken mixture. Stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, for about 6 minutes until chicken is no longer pink inside and carrot is tender-crisp. Stir cornstarch mixture. Add to chicken mixture. Heat and stir for about 1 minute until boiling and thickened.
   

1 serving: 229 Calories; 9.1 g Total Fat (3.6 g Mono, 2.3 g Poly, 2.2 g Sat); 76 mg Cholesterol; 14 g Carbohydrate; 1 g Fibre; 22 g Protein; 191 mg Sodium

Buffalo Style Pizza

We love pizza in our household. We usually have it once a week, whether we order one from a restaurant or just pop in a frozen pizza into the oven. But I've started to really enjoy making our own pizza. It actually can be even faster than order it and waiting for it to be delivered! Especially if using a pre-made pizza crust (which I love making things semi-homemade). So the other night I made Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza. I love buffalo chicken sandwich's, salads, wraps and wings, so of course this was delicious!! I'm not a fan of blue cheese and always substituted ranch dressing and that's exactly what I did here too.


I'm so disappointed I don't have a picture for this. When I went to upload my picture somehow they all erased from my camera instead!!! AHH! And I had some good photos of this pizza too.....mouthwatering good.




Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza

• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 oz. of your favorite hot sauce or wing sauce
• Blue Cheese or Ranch salad dressing
• 1 prepared pizza crust
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. In a medium bowl combine cooked chicken, melted butter and hot sauce; mix well.
3. Spread a fair amount of salad dressing, then top with chicken mixture and mozzarella cheese (I used both mozzarella and cheddar).
4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust is lightly golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Chicken Quesadillas

Texas Chicken Quesadillas

This recipes comes from Allrecipes.com which had well over 100 reviews (which is how I pick my recipes). These were very easy to make and really good. I minced up some garlic cloves and added to the onions and served with sour cream and salsa and a side of fresh sweet corn on the cob!

Everything you need

Ready for the oven

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 onion, sliced into rings
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
• 1/2 cup barbeque sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 8 (10 inch) flour tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Slowly cook and stir onion until translucent. Mix in honey. Stir until onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Place remaining oil and chicken in the skillet over medium high heat. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in barbeque sauce and evenly coat chicken. Layer 4 tortillas individually with chicken, onions, Cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese. Top with remaining tortillas. One or two at a time, place layered tortillas on a large baking sheet. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Do not let tortillas become too crisp. Remove from heat. Cut into quarters to serve.

Coming Next:

Beer Bread and Loaded Baked Potato Soup