I think one of the biggest helps ever is when I do something with my meats when it first walk into my door. The time it takes repackaging it into skinny, family portion sizes freezer bags or even cutting and preparing them for later is so little in comparison to the sanity I save later. This also saves a ton of space by putting it into compact, uniform shaped bags and most importantly I save on dishes. Who does not want to save on washing that same cutting board or pan 5 or 10 times when you could just do it once. Having Prepped meats is especially lovely when life gets nuts and I have hungry monsters and my mom job requires me to multitask like crazy, the last thing I want to do is deal with a hunk of frozen meat. Please trust me on this one and give it a try :) I promise you'll love it!
Below are the ways I prepare my chicken to help speed things up at dinner time. Generally many of these recipes could be made with 1 to 1-1/2 pounds whole chicken breasts cut in anyway you wish or a 2-3 pounds of a bone-in chicken. If you use bone-in chicken the cooking time will also need to be adjusted to cook longer. If skin is included, be aware it will also change the moisture content. Additionally, each of these meals can be adjusted to feed more by adding up to a total of 2 pound of chicken for one recipe. I often do this and add more sides to feed my family of 5-7 people with just one recipe to
Raw fillets chicken breastI love filleting my chicken. It allows me to portion size better for my family and allows us to use less meat. I typically fillet each of my chicken breast into 3-5 pieces, depending on the size, as soon as I bring it home. I then divide it into a family sized portion with 7-8 fillets into 1-1 1/2 pound packs in a quart freezer bag.
Raw slices or cubes chicken breast
Another way I prep my chicken breast is by either cubing it into 1 inch cubes or slicing it. Having my cubed or sliced chicken ready to go makes life great when I am making most of my chicken dinners.
These chicken dishes work best with tiny chopped or ground chicken. Typically I don't by ground chicken due to the expense so I just take a package of my fillets and thin slice it then quarter turn it to chop it while it is partially frozen.
One of the ways I bring many dinners quick to the table is by precooking some of my chicken so I have it ready to go to add. This is especially good when we want chicken quesadillas, chicken enchiladas, or chicken noodle soup (Below)
This is my favorite way to cook up a big package of chicken because I get chicken soup lunches out of it as well. I do wish you could smell my home right now. mmmm!
Note: I use chicken breasts for ease and preference but it is a bit more expensive than using whole chickens. Boneless chicken thighs would also do great with this.
Directions for bulk cooking chicken in the oven :
A super painless way to cook up chicken ahead of time is to dump the WHOLE flat (from Sam's Club -6 pounds) out of its packaging and into a 13x9 pan. (I just open it and flip it over into the pan.) then season the bottom side with salt, pepper, and garlic granules, using about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper and garlic powder. I then SEAL it very well with tinfoil and put it in the oven for at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Use caution taking it OUT of the oven!!! It will have sealed in all the stock from the chicken and will spill and burn you. Two 13x9 pans will fit in your oven at one time, making it possible to cook up 12 pounds of chicken at ones. This will also give you 3-4 cups of chicken stock.
I start these cooking as soon as I bring it in the house from the store and it cooks while I put my groceries away. The same with starting my 5 pounds of hamburger, I just put it in a huge pot and turn it on low, break it up a bit and stir/chop it every so often with a hard spatula while I put my groceries away.
Once the chicken has cooled, start chopping away. To divide the cubed chicken: Measure 2 cups of cubed chicken to get about 1 pound worth into labeled quart size freezer bags, or what ever amount preferred. Remove air, seal and flatten.
Cooking your chicken this way will also give you about 2 cups of chicken stock per 6 pounds of meat. Here is a recipe I use sometimes with this chicken stock.
Chicken Noodle Soup Lunches (serves 2)
1 quart size freezer bags
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped (tops included) (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup carrots or 2 cups worth, sliced (about 1 cup)
4 cube of chicken bullion
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1 cup of your chicken stock
1/2 cup cooked chopped chicken
Place the above ingredients into a quart sized freezer bag. labeled quart bags. Remove air, seal and freeze flat. When ready to serve, add bag contents to sauce pan. Add 3 cups water, bring to boil, add 1/2 cup dry pasta and cook until tender.
Note: I use chicken breasts for ease and preference but it is a bit more expensive than using whole chickens. Boneless chicken thighs would also do great with this.
Directions for bulk cooking chicken in the oven :
A super painless way to cook up chicken ahead of time is to dump the WHOLE flat (from Sam's Club -6 pounds) out of its packaging and into a 13x9 pan. (I just open it and flip it over into the pan.) then season the bottom side with salt, pepper, and garlic granules, using about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper and garlic powder. I then SEAL it very well with tinfoil and put it in the oven for at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Use caution taking it OUT of the oven!!! It will have sealed in all the stock from the chicken and will spill and burn you. Two 13x9 pans will fit in your oven at one time, making it possible to cook up 12 pounds of chicken at ones. This will also give you 3-4 cups of chicken stock.
I start these cooking as soon as I bring it in the house from the store and it cooks while I put my groceries away. The same with starting my 5 pounds of hamburger, I just put it in a huge pot and turn it on low, break it up a bit and stir/chop it every so often with a hard spatula while I put my groceries away.
Once the chicken has cooled, start chopping away. To divide the cubed chicken: Measure 2 cups of cubed chicken to get about 1 pound worth into labeled quart size freezer bags, or what ever amount preferred. Remove air, seal and flatten.
Cooking your chicken this way will also give you about 2 cups of chicken stock per 6 pounds of meat. Here is a recipe I use sometimes with this chicken stock.
Chicken Noodle Soup Lunches (serves 2)
1 quart size freezer bags
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped (tops included) (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup carrots or 2 cups worth, sliced (about 1 cup)
4 cube of chicken bullion
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1 cup of your chicken stock
1/2 cup cooked chopped chicken
Place the above ingredients into a quart sized freezer bag. labeled quart bags. Remove air, seal and freeze flat. When ready to serve, add bag contents to sauce pan. Add 3 cups water, bring to boil, add 1/2 cup dry pasta and cook until tender.
0 comments:
Post a Comment