Mess of Sunshine: 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.