Family Freezer Meals : Chicken 1

[Ma Kettle]

Chicken Freezer meals

Prep work is the most time consuming and exhausting part of cooking from scratch. It doesn't have to be obnoxious though or even done all at once. I'm putting together some meal-shorts since I need to make these anyway and thought someone else might get something useful from it.

I needed to make some suppers that my family could just put in the oven and take out finished that are healthy AND tasty AND meet our nutritional needs. So I started with Chicken.

2 chickens boiled and de-boned to be exact. Rummaging through the kitchen I came up with fresh veggies, tortillas, egg noodles and other assorted sundrys that just all sounded scrumptious when paired with the word 'chicken'.

So I set out my casserole pans (3 disposables I sent my dh into the store for) and loaded up the table with everything that sounded good with chicken. Set up the trusty chopper and started washing.

I started with the colorful stuff (isn't that usually the most fun?) Peppers in assorted colors red, green, yellow, orange, onions white and red, some carrots, a couple radishes, a tomato and into the chopper it went



Next up some green stuff! Celery, green onions, chives, green peppers, a few leaves of spinach left from the last salad, broccoli (I wanted asparagus too but dh refused to add it) I did sneak a couple brussell sprouts in though. Chop Chop Chop!



All veggies chopped and tossed together. I'll separate them into 3 casserole pans then set them aside a moment. And we'll work on the chicken.




Taking the pot of chicken (that's cooked and deboned) we'll add to it enough milk/broth to almost cover the chicken but not quite, some chicken gravy (or you can use a can cream soup any flavor you like), and whatever spices you like. I added some seseme seeds, cilantro, chives, and just a tiny bit of fennel seed to mine.



Mix it all together (no need to heat it) for a nice creamy chicken soup concoction. This makes a nice creamy chicken soup all on it's own! Pour half of that mixture over 1 pan of veggies and set that aside.



To the 2nd half of the chicken soup add a good size dollop of sour cream and stir it all in. This is a medium size container of sour cream - you could use more or less per taste. I'm frugal, if I were making it for someone else I'd add a bit more




Pour the half with sour cream over the 2nd pan of veggies. Cover this tightly, label it 'chicken pot pie, add bisquick on top and bake at 350 until biscuits are lightly browned'' and put it in the freezer. One meal all done!

[Ma Kettle]

Now you have a pan of chicken and veggies left. Mix them together

nicely and prepare your 3rd casserole pan by coating the bottom

with sauce (any sauce that sounds good will do!) Here I used some

sauce I kept back from the preceding ziti I froze but you could use

some of your chicken soup, some plain tomato sauce from a can,

anything really that will separate the food from the bottom of the

pan and taste yummy on those tortillas.



Take your tortillas and line them with cheese. Again this is art!

Use what you like. I like 15 inch round tortillas stuffed so full

one person couldn't possibly eat it alone and yellow american

cheese because well... it's what I had on hand and I didn't have to

shop for it.

Stuff the tortillas with chicken/veggie mixture and line the pan



Add a layer of sauce and make another layer of tortillas if you

need more than one. Stuff it right up full


Top with sauce and wrap with foil. You could add a layer of cheese

here before wrapping but I like mine added later. It's all up to

you.


Label it 'chicken tortilla surprise and mark the instructions "Defrost overnight in the fridge. heat at 350 for 45 minutes,

uncover, top with cheese and cook til cheese is melted." Then put it

in the freezer to cook later.

These 2 meals will freeze nicely for 3 months if stored properly.

After that you risk loss of flavor and nutrition.

Now you are left with the remains of that chicken and veggie

stuffing you just used in the tortillas! Tonight's supper! Boil

some egg noodles and mix them in. Cover the pan and put it in the

oven. You can turn it on 30 minutes before supper time and maybe

even crumble some crushed potato chips or fried onions on top to

garnish before serving!






You'll notice there are no measurements given. I don't use them

unless I'm teaching my kids or it's a recipe that requires precise

measurements for integrity and stability. So if there are

measurements the recipe cannot be altered satisfactorily. If there

are NOT measurements then you can change it within the parameters

and never mess it up. (Note: More chicken than milk is a

measurement that can be changed if you prefer to have a chicken

soup rather than chicken pot pie) You literally CANNOT mess up

these meals! No matter how you change the ingredients to suit your

taste these meals are tasty and nutritious. So be creative and

enjoy cooking! It's the perfect way to involve your kids with

cooking and let them add the things THEY like too!

XXXXXXXX IMPORTANT XXXXXXX

Any food you make to freeze should be chilled before going into the

freezer. And just think! Now there's no excuse for at least 2

nights you don't have to cook supper but you still get the credit

for a great meal!

[Ma Kettle]

Note: These are made with fresh produce that has not been refrigerated previously. If you are using frozen veggies or grocery store produce you should keep them chilled until use. Not an issue if doing this all in a short time but if you're chopping ingredients in the morning then coming back to finish after lunch the chopped veggies should not be allowed to warm to room temp in between. Cover with ice or refrigerate instead.

[pgmummy]

Ma, did I read the instructions right - that you are supposed to cook the tortilla casserole before freezing it?

I love the idea of making 3-4 meals at once.

[Ma Kettle]

No cooking before freezing needed. The cooking instructions are meant to be just written on the package.

I'll go back and fix it. Thanks for asking

[pgmummy]

Thanks. DH is in charge of suppers at our house Mon-Fri and I like to help him out by having a few meals ready in the freezer. I think I'll add chickens to the grocery list and try these dishes on the weekend.