Sunday, May 4, 2014

Frozen

No, not that Frozen.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend prepping six freezer meals. A few friends have requested recipes, so here I am to share.

I've never really hopped on the once-a-month freezer meal bandwagon, though I often make a double batch of whatever and put half in the freezer for later. And when I was pregnant with my littlest monkey I made a bunch of marinades and froze pork chops and chicken, which made for easy meals after giving birth. But this was my first real go at stuffing a freezer in one weekend, and I think it went rather smoothly.

Typically when making these recipes I use beans from my freezer and leftover meat from a whole roasted chicken. Because I was making so much at once I bought three rotisserie chickens and used canned beans. When I got home from the store I picked most of the meat off the bones, popped them into my crock pot with various veggies and herbs, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and water and let it simmer overnight. The next day was cooking day, and any time I needed stock I just scooped & strained what I needed directly from the crock pot. Easy peasy.

On cooking day I started by making Runzas.

Next I made marinade for "Hawaiian" chicken. This is one of our favorite recipes. I've adapted it from an August 2008 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine (thank you library book sale for awesome old magazines!).

Huli Huli BBQ Chicken

10-12 chicken drumsticks


Marinade:
1/2 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. dark brown sugar or molassas
4 T. ketchup
4 T. dark soy sauce
2 T. garlic, minced
2 T. fresh ginger, minced
2 T. coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Whisk all marinade ingredients. Place drumsticks in large resealable plastic bag and add marinade. Refrigerate for one hour (or freeze, and thaw in refrigerator before proceeding).
Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature of 165.

 Couscous Salad makes a nice side dish for this chicken (though it isn't freezable!).

Next I made an extra large batch of Buffalo Chicken Soup, leaving out the cream cheese. At this point I took a lunch break, enjoying a fresh bowl of soup. It was excellent, even without the cream cheese, blue cheese, or gougeres. All the rest of the soup went into the freezer. The cream cheese can easily be added when it is reheated.

Next I made Chile Verde. I got this recipe from my mom, who I believe found it in a freezer-meal recipe book. I've made my own tweaks.

Chile Verde


4 oz chopped green chiles (I used seeded, chopped jalapenos)
2 chopped yellow onions
3 c. shredded cooked chicken
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder, or 1 T minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
3 cans pinto beans, drained
2-3 c. chicken stock

Saute onion and chiles until soft. Add chicken and seasonings and cook until fragrant. Add beans and slowly add 2 cups of stock. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until flavors are combined, adding stock as necessary to keep moist. Serve over warm tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream and/or salsa.








1 comment:

  1. Glad I popped in at your blog tonight, because these recipes sound really good, and I need some fresh inspiration.

    ReplyDelete