I am the "queen" of last minute suppers! Maybe it's because I need to start meal planning a little better, but I feel like I am always in the kitchen before dinner trying to defrost the chicken. Only to an hour later be blowing off cooked chicken for the kids;)So this week on WFMW... I'm telling you what I like to do with raw chicken NOW:)
While visiting a good friend all most a year ago, they gave me some inspiration:) To make a quick dinner one night they pulled out ingredients for stir-fry and then pulled out cooked, choppped up frozen chicken..... no extra planning, no defrosting chicken for hours before cooking dinner. I was amazed... especially because this "MUCH busier than I am" mom made enough time to cook, cut and store all the chicken to be easily used later!!
Months later during a sale, I STOCKED up on chicken, cooked, cut it all up, bagged and froze it:) it was sooo nice!! And I grilled the chicken on my George Foreman just long enough to be safe to eat right from the bag so it's never been really dry even after recooking;)
As we worked through those pounds of cooked frozen chicken I restocked the reezer with packages of raw chicken... I just stuck them in plastic bags and into the freezer.... what a hassle again to defrost before cooking dinner.
This week I have STOCKED up again.... at one point I had about 20 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts in my refridgerator:) Finally Sunday afternoon, I started cooking, cooling, cutting and bagging:) I actually spent almost 3 hours cooking over 12 pounds while catching up with my siblings on the phone;)
My final batch I cooked in a skillet in some Italian dressing...I got lazy with it... so I kept it in the fridge since the bag only had a little less than 2 pounds!!! And we have totally eaten most of the chicken:) It's sooo easy and convienent to have it sitting and ready for us!!!I've read that cooked chicken is fine in the fridge for about 3-4 days! And then frozen chicken is good for 4 months:) Make sure you label and date your bags!!! So I'm hoping to stock up and cook up again before Baby Brother makes his debut!! It would be soo nice to NOT have to defrost raw chicken!!!
Oh and in case you are interested this is what we like to do with the frozen chicken..... stir-fry (thanks Coopers), fajitas, on salads (just warm), in spaghetti sauce, extra meat in canned soups and then sandwiches:)
4 comments:
I love that idea, will definetely use that one. I've discovered that most bags of frozen chicken breasts have baking instructions if frozen. It takes longer to bake but nice when you need it.
great idea! I've been doing this for ground beef, too which was my WFMW tip of the day. Great idea for turkey leftovers, too.
I used to love doing that when I had a freezer! I'd precook all kinds of meat!
hey, look at that!!
my latest: when whole chicken is on sale, I roast it until it's nice and toasty all over the skin. I take the white meat off (yes, we are picky) and then make stock with the dark meat, bones, and skin. The stock is SO much more flavorful when it is roasted first!! I've been using that up in tacos, casseroles, and soup.
:)
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