Make Ahead Freezer Chicken Dinners

In an effort to be more organized and healthy and less stressed, I decided to make a few freezer meals to use as school starts back up. This week we went to Costco and bought a TON of chicken and I decided I wanted to come up with some new ways to make it. After looking through many blogs, cookbooks, and pinterest links, I found my favorite 5 (with some modifications) to give a go.

I did this before school started in August and really appreciated having dinner already mostly made after a long day at school. Some of my favorites then were meatballs and beef stroganoff and enchilada chicken. But, now I'm trying to be healthy. They all sound good, I'm just not sure what the end result will be.

And I've decided that 5 make ahead meals is a great amount. 8 last time was a little overwhelming. This, this was doable. I was able to get everything prepped in just over an hour.

This is my counter after laying out all of the ingredients. Plus there's a new bag of dog food at the end. Just FYI - that's not for any of the meals.

Okay, the first meal that we LOVE and have made multiple times is Enchilada Chicken. It's super easy - take a can of enchilada sauce, a small can of green chilies, and a packet of taco seasoning and add 4 chicken breasts. Place in a ziplock bag, get the air out, and zip. When you want to cook it, let it thaw in the fridge, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or in the oven at 350 for 15-20 min.

This is the "finished" product for today.

So this one is Garlic Dijon Chicken. All it is is 3 chicken breasts cut in half, juice from two limes, 5-6 cloves of minced garlic, and 4 tbsp. of dijon mustard. Put it in a bag and either freeze or keep in the fridge until you're ready to cook it. Bake everything in the bag in the oven at 350 for 20-30 min.



Here's the "unfinished" product. Which is not so pretty. But I BET it will taste great!



This is Honey Sesame Chicken. Chicken in beer? Sounds SPECTACULAR!! It's 2-3 chicken breasts cut in half, 3 tbsp. of dijon mustard, 3 tbsp. of sesame seeds, 4 tbsp. honey, 1/2 c. beer, and 2 minced cloves of garlic. Put it all in a bag and freeze. Thaw and cook in the oven at 350 for 20-30 min.

nom nom nom. I heart beer and sesame seeds. I just hope it freezes well.

This chicken sounds AWESOME. However, I may have to make it a second time to see how it really tastes. As I was mixing all of the ingredients together for this one, I may or may not have pushed too hard on the bag and had teriyaki and pineapple sauce go everywhere. Oh well!! Note to self - double check that your bag is completely sealed.

This is a basic teriyaki chicken. It's 4 chicken breasts cut in half, a can of pineapple chunks with the juice, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 cup of teriyaki sauce, 1/2 a red onion cut in chunks, and a small bag of baby carrots. Just put it in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours on low.

Post spillage. I was able to replace some of the teriyaki sauce, but not the pineapple juice. Bummer.

This is the one I am the most excited to try. Cilantro Lime Chicken. To a bag add 4 chicken breasts cut in half, 1/2 red onion cut in chunks, 1 bunch of cilantro, 2 limes, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 12 oz bag of frozen corn, 1 can of drained and rinsed seasoned black beans, 1 tsp. cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Add to the bag, then when you want to cook it, slow cook for 6-8 hours on low.

YEAH BABY! I heart cilantro. It's fantastic. And this bag - colorful like woah!

Here they are, all lying flat in the freezer ready to go. Woo woo! This makes the sting of winter break ending a little less strong.

Cheesy Southwestern Grits

I had been thinking a lot about when I visited Ohio a few years ago. I miss my grandparents and I miss the food. I think we had grits almost every day for something. Just a few weeks ago we went to a restaurant here in Tucson and I had grits. They were boring. Bland. Not what I remembered. So, I had to make some for myself.

It's a problem I have. I have to fix things. Even when they're not broken. Especially when they're not important - food is the most frequently fixed.

Grits. Perfect.

For this you will need 1 c. grits, 1 1/2 c. water, 1/2 tsp salt, 8 oz grated mild cheddar cheese, 4 oz. cream cheese cut into cubes, 1/2 can Rotel, 4 oz can of diced green chilies, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 4 green onions sliced thinly, black pepper, and a beaten egg.

Okay, the list seems long. Totes worth it.

Totes.

Boil water. Add salt. Add grits.

Be cave man.

Reduce temperature and cook for 5 minutes stirring a few times. Remove it from the heat. It'll get prettier later. Promise.

Speaking of pretty - my dear friend Amy gave me these measuring spoons. I LOVE them! They are secretly my favorites (well, now that I'm posting it on the internet, I guess it must be publicly).

Gah. So cute.

They look lovely- ish. Don't worry, the party hasn't even started yet.

Add tomatoes.

And chilies.

And cheeses. Stir it all up. Make sure the cream cheese has pretty much melted into the gritty mixture.

That sounds lovely right? Gritty mixture. Serve it to all of your friends.

Gritty mixture.

Then, add yo spices, yo. Word.

And green onions. Scallions. Whatever you want to call them.

Okay, in here is everything but the egg. The egg is the glue that holds it all together.

However, if you add dat egg straight up into the grits, the egg will cook and scramble and you'll have eggy grits. So, you must temper it. Feel fancy and smart when you do this. This is advanced stuff!

Add some grits to the egg.

Stir it all up. Keep stirring. Never stop stirring. Ever.

Once you feel the egg has been heated, you can move on.

Add the egg to the grits and stir all together.

Place in a greased pan and bake for 30-45 minutes until that crust is hard, golden, and bubbly.

Golden and bubbly - I think these are done! However, you must wait at least 15 minutes before digging in, or they'll be a hot runny mess. And that needs to be saved for the Real Housewives. They're the only hot messes I allow in my kitchen.

In fact, I'd be lying if I said I didn't just watch 3 hours of the OC Housewives tonight. I feel like my crazy life is so calm while watching this show. It makes me feel like a really sane person. I need to feel sane sometimes.

Here they are - the final masterpiece. These are scrumptious and spicy and comforting (which has been a theme of mine lately). 

And can I say that I ate almost all of them in just a few days? No? I can't say that. I did not eat almost all of them in a few days. I did eat all of them in just a few days.

Gahl. I love grits. 

Drew LOVED this dinner. He liked the grits, but he really loved the steak and asparagus that went with it!

Printable Recipe

Tomato, Spinach, Cheese Fritatta

Okay, after Easter we were LOADED on eggs. I mean, loaded. I went a little sale crazy and decided to buy way too many of them. So naturally, I decided to make breakfast for dinner and then eat it for the next few days for lunch. Dang it was good.

I also have about a billion hard-boiled eggs left over. Any ideas/suggestions on what to do with them other than eat them plain or make egg salad? I need something else! Help would be grand with that.

You'll need 1 clove minced garlic, 12 eggs beaten, a 6 oz. bag of spinach, can of Rotel with mild chilies, 1/2 c. tomato basil feta, salt and pepper to taste. You'll also need about a teaspoon of oil.

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat oil in a skillet that is also oven proof. Add the garlic and heat for a few minutes.

Add the spinach until it starts getting soft - 2-3 minutes.

Add the Rotel, salt, and pepper and cook for another few minutes - until spinach is wilted.

Spread the veggies around in the bottom of the pan so their well distributed.

Add the beaten eggs.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Let it cook for about 7 minutes or so, moving the edges so the runny eggs can touch the pan.

Then, take the whole thing and put it in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let it sit for 5 minutes afterwards.

Smell. Smelling is good.

Flip it out of the pan. Cut into slices and eat!

Printable Version

Creamy Parmesan Chicken Breasts

Have you ever been in a mood where nothing you planned on making sounds good? Like, you're hungry, but you'd really rather not eat anything than the things you'd planned on originally?

No? No one?

Okay, then I stand alone there. But that was my afternoon today. I was home before 5 (shocking!) and decided I wanted to make dinner. So, I did some serious blog-stalking and I came across this. AHH! I had the ingredients and it sounded good. Golden. I immediately knew what we were having for dinner, whether Drew wanted it or not.

Sorry, if he cooked more he'd get to pick more. Lucky for him, he's not picky at all. 

Okay folks, here's the big list. And by big, I mean small. You need 2 chicken breasts, 1/4 c. mayo (I used light), 1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese, a few dashes of garlic powder, a dash or two of either dried oregano OR paprika, and 3-4 tbsp. panko bread crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything but the chicken and the bread crumbs together in a teeny, tiny bowl.

Line a baking sheet with foil - trust me, cleaning up will be a zillion times easier. Lay the chicken breasts on the foil and evenly slather one side of each chicken with the mixture.

Put the breadcrumbs on top of the delicious goo.

That's right. I said goo. Goo.

I'm mature.

Bake for 20-30 minutes. That's it. Not kidding. That's it.

Eat. Enjoy. Serve with something of color because this looks quite boring on a white plate.

Or you could serve it on a colored plate - especially since I can see mashed potatoes going REALLY well with this.

Printable Recipe