Freezer Fast Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh, I wish I had taken a picture...but we ate it too fast! Maybe I'll remember next time! Previously I posted how to make your own chicken broth. Recently we needed something quick to make for lunch, and I hadn't menu planned effectively. So, I relied on my fall back freezer stash.  After I had made chicken broth recently, I froze about 10 quarts of it.  I also had some extra cooked chicken breast that I had chopped and frozen and a bag of soup vegetables in the freezer.  In my pantry was a bag of egg noodles.  So, to make our very own chicken noodle soup all I had to do was defrost a few quarts of broth (basically just dumping the frozen chunk into the pot and letting it warm), add the vegetables and chicken, some seasoning like salt, pepper, onion, garlic and parsley, and then the noodles until cooked according to package directions.  All done, and a delicious hearty lunch!

We also like to add a little tobasco sauce...but AFTER we dish out the kids' portions.

In recipe form:

Ingredients
3 or 4 quarts of chicken broth
one bag egg noodles
one bag of soup vegetables (about 2 cups)
one pound of cooked, chopped chicken
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt (my chicken broth had ZERO salt in it)
1/2 tsp pepper
(I really just eyeball my spices...you should do the same and taste it)

Mix broth, chicken, vegetables and spices together.  Once soup is boiling and all ingredients are warm, add the noodles and cook according to package instruction.  Don't overcook the noodles!  Enjoy!

Freezer Meal: Chicken Fingers or Nuggets

chicken fingers after flash-frozen

This is a slight update to the previous Garlic Chicken recipe. We use this recipe as a healthy alternative to store bought chicken fingers or chicken nuggets.  Just cut the chicken how you or your family desires and bread it that way.    In my original recipe I recommended bread crumbs, but Panko is now readily available at grocery stores and is crunchier.  Try it!  Here's the recipe:

Garlic Chicken:

Ingredients:
2-4 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup PANKO bread crumbs
1 packet Italian dressing mix (or similar seasonings)
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves trimmed of fat, cut into desired shapes


Warm the garlic and olive oil together. In a separate dish, combined bread crumbs, dressing mix, and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. If freezing, place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Then transfer to freezer bags.

Another UPDATE is this is a cook from frozen product!!!  Just stick them in the oven at 375 for about 30-40 minutes until they start to sizzle.  OF COURSE check to make sure they are fully cooked before eating.

Freezer Meal Friday: Low Saturated Fat Hot Dog Corn Muffins

Happy Friday everyone!  This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe created by the author of Heavenly Homemakers.  You can view the original recipe there.

Who doesn't like hot dogs and corn muffins?  And combining the two seems like a novel idea!  I decided to give it a try.  The original recipe called for buttermilk and butter, so being that we try to eat low saturated fat now, I had to adapt it.  Here's the adaptation I made:


Ingrediants:

Fat Free Hot Dogs (or lowfat dog of your choice)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup of light olive oil (the light oil has less flavor)
3/4 cup skim milk
2 Tablespoons white vinegar

Combine milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut hot dogs into thirds.  Combine dry ingredients, and then add wet ingredients.  Do not overmix.

 Be sure to either grease, spray, or use muffin cups so the muffins don't stick.  Put one hotdog piece into each muffin hole.  Then pour batter over, so its 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

To freeze:  Put cooled muffins on a cookie sheet and flash freeze.  Then transfer to a freezer bag for storage.  To cook, simply remove and bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until the center is hot.




I've got to confess though, I was the only one who really liked these!  Both of my kids just ate the hot dogs out the middle. My husband and youngest daughter never really liked cornbread to begin with.  I do have friends who enjoy them though!

Low Fat Bacon Wrapped Chicken (with Proscuitti!)

Many of you have probably tried my Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast. Unfortunately, it has saturated fat, and after a high cholesterol diagnosis for my dear husband, we had to cut back on the stuff.  So, I created a Lower Fat version.

Ingredients:

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Fat Free Cream Cheese
Garlic, minced
Basil (dried)
Sliced Proscuitti

Soften cream cheese, and mix with 1tbsp minced garlic and 2 tsp dried basil. Cut chicken into tenders, spreading the cream cheese mixture over one tender and topping with another (like a sandwich).  Then, wrap in proscuitti.  Freeze on a cookie sheet, then transfer to freezer bag.

To serve:  Thaw, place in a baking dish, and bake covered for 45 minutes at 250 (or until chicken is cooked through).

Freezer Meal Recipe: Hot Wing Chicken

We now eat a low saturated fat diet, and I really wanted hot wings.  Did you know that chicken skin has a lot of saturated fat?  And pulling the skin off each chicken wing seemed really tedious.  So I came up with this super recipe:

Ingrediants:
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast
wing sauce
light blue cheese dressing

garlic (optional)
butter (optional)

That's it, really!  Cut your chicken into chunks and douse in wing sauce.  Bake until cooked through and bubbly.  The optional ingredients are what I serve to my children, who don't appreciate spicy food.  I put the chicken chunks in a small dish with butter and garlic.

To prep for the freezer:  Place chicken chunks in a bag and cover with wing sauce.  (In a separate bag I put chunks with butter and garlic for the little ones, and then place both bags in a larger bag so they stay together in the freezer).  To cook:  thaw overnight, place in a baking dish, and bake at 350 until cooked through and bubbly.

Freezer Recipe: Sweet & Sour Chicken

See, I told you this recipe was coming soon!  Its a winner shared with me by my friend Emily, and adapted a little for freezer cooking.

Ingredients:
1lb (or however much you need) boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cups Italian dressing, separated
1/2 jar of Apricot preserves

Preparation to eat now:
Marinate chicken in Italian dressing (enough to cover, doesn't have to be one cup) overnight.  Place the chicken in a baking dish, and mix the remaining Italian dressing (it was marinading in) with the preserves.  Pour this mixture over the chicken in the baking dish.  Bake at 350 about 30 minutes covered, then uncover until cooked (about 15 more).  Serve over whole grain rice.

Freezer Meal Prep:
Take chicken and place it in a freezer bag.  Pour about 1 cup of dressing, or enough to cover, in the freezer bag.  Squish it around.  In your blender, mix the remaining cup of Italian dressing, and the apricot preserves.  Pour this mixture into a separate quart size freezer bag.  Freeze.  To prepare, thaw both bags overnight.  Place chicken in a baking dish and pour the topping from the other bag over it.  Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake until cooked through and bubbly (another 15 about).  Serve over rice.

Freezer Meal Recipe Friday: Garlic Chicken

This recipe is from our freezer meal exchange...made by Pamela. It is so yummy - our whole family loves it!

Garlic Chicken:

Ingredients:
2-4 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup dry whole wheat (or just plain Italian but not as healthy) bread crumbs
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves trimmed of fat


Warm the garlic and olive oil together. In a separate dish, combined bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. If freezing, place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Then, wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags until ready to thaw.

When ready to eat, thaw overnight and then cook at 425F for 30-35 minutes.

Alternate options to the recipe are to add red pepper flakes into the garlic/oil mixture AND/OR dry Italian dressing mix into the bread crumbs mixture.

Freezer Meal Bonus Recipe: Italian Style Chicken

Ingredients:

6 small whole chicken breasts (about 4 lb)
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup veg oil
1 can (10.75 oz) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can (8 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained and chopped
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp dried marjoram leaves

Directions:
Cut chicken breast in half. Mix bread crumbs, walnuts and salt. Beat eggs slightly; stir in water. Coat chicken breasts with flour; dip into egg mixture. Coat with crumb mixture. Heat butter and oil in 10-inch skillet over med heat until hot. Cook chicken, several pieces at a time, until golden brown--2-3 minutes. Place 6 halves in each of 2 ungreased baking pans. Pur broth into dishes; sprinkle with cheese. Mix remaining ingredients; spoon over top. Wrap, label and freeze.

To serve: About 1.5 hours before serving, remove from freezer and unwrap. Place in oven safe dish, cover and cook in 375 degree oven about 40 minutes. THEN, uncover and cook another 30 minutes.  Serve over pasta.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Working Woman's Cookbook.

Freezer Meal Recipe Friday; Italian Chicken

So, this may seem like a cop-out to some, but its super easy and really yummy.  Just put some Italian dressing in a freezer bag with chicken.  Freeze.  Thaw and cook.  Yum!  The Italian dressing really flavors it!  I like to grill the meat and put it on a bun for a simple sandwich.  So much better than fast food and just as fast!  You could also slice it for fajitas.  Be creative, what else can be a simple marinade? I've done lemon juice with chicken, also wine with chicken or beef.  No need for the expensive marinades.  Enjoy!

Oh, and for those of you disappointed not to see a "real" recipe, tune in Monday for a more "in-depth" Italian chicken recipe.

Freezer Meal Recipe Friday: Tomato Chicken

My husband doesn't like tomato sauce, but this meal is OK for him.  I like to serve it over pasta (whole wheat of course!) My recipe calls for pre-cooking and then reheating on meal day, but I can't help thinking it'll work to freeze raw, too.

Ingredients:
1 (14 oz) jar chunky pasta sauce
1 (16 oz) jar mild salsa
1 (10 oz) can whole tomatoes
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
cayenne pepper to taste
pepper to taste
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
pasta

Directions:
In a large pot of medium-low heat, mix all the ingredients (except chicken and pasta).
Place chicken in a seperate pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 25 minutes, until chicken juices run clear.
Transfer chicken to sauce mixture.  Cover, and cook on low about 20 minutes if freezing, 40 minutes if not. If freezing, allow to cool and transfer to freezer bag.

On cooking day: Serve with pasta.  Reheat chicken and sauce and serve over cooked pasta.

This recipe was amended from Tara's Chicken.

Freezer Meal Recipe Friday: Tex Mex Chicken Soup

So I do know its summer, but we LOVE this soup recipe.  Served with some homemade rolls (which can also be frozen) its a quick and easy meal.  The ladies in my freezer meal exchange rave about this also!  One warning though--make sure you are getting diced chillies and NOT diced jalapenos...unless you want to kick up the spice A LOT! (oops)


2 14-oz cans chicken broth
1 15-oz can Great Northern Beans (Rinsed and drained)
1 4-oz can green chillies, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen corn

Spray a large soup pot lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Saute garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Add beans, chillies, oregano, cumin and broth.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add chicken and corn. If freezing, reduce heat and allow to cool before transferring to freezer container.  If eating immediately, allow to simmer an additional 15 minutes.

On eating day: Thaw and reheat on stove on low.

This recipe was adapted from Moms Budget.

Zesty Chicken Marinade: Freezer Meal Friday on Saturday

So, today is Saturday (or it was for those of you reading this later), and not Friday, as the freezer meal Friday recipes normally occur.  Yesterday however my family visited Hershey Park, and 'oops' I forgot to set an autopost! Hershey Park was a lot of fun!

Today's recipe is a simple chicken marinade.  We eat A LOT of boneless/skinless chicken.  I often buy it on sale for under $2 a pound, so freezing it in a marinade and adding some sides on cooking day make it a quick fix. You can grill it, bake it, broil it, or cook it in a pan.

Ingredients:
4  garlic cloves, minced (I just used a tbsp-ish of minced garlic)
1  small onion, finely chopped
1/3  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
1/4  cup  olive oil
1 1/2  teaspoons  paprika
1  teaspoon  ground cumin
1  teaspoon  dried parsley
1/2  teaspoon  ground red pepper
About 1.5 pounds of  boneless skinless chicken

Mix all the ingredients together in a freezer bag and thaw when ready to cook.  The mixture will marinate the meat as it thaws.

This recipe was amended from My Recipes.

Freezer Meal Recipe Friday: Stovetop Chicken Casserole

I've been so tired this week! That picture is how I've felt! I've been getting "almost" enough sleep, and nothing very stressing has been happening, but I've been just dragging.  Thankful for the meals I have tucked away that just need thawed and heated or cooked.  This week's meal was introduced to me by a dear friend Annette after the birth of my first daughter. Yes, that one up there looking exhausted.  Annette brought us that hot meal, and we've been making it ever since. I especially like it when I don't know what else to cook!  I have the kind of husband who needs vegetables concealed whenever possible, so I added spinach to the recipe.  It really works and pack a powerful punch of vitamin K and vitamin A!

 Later, when I started making freezer meals I decided to try to see if it would work in freezer form.  It does.  Perfectly! Here you go:

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken cut into chunks
4-6 slices swiss cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
 1 cup frozen spinach (thawed if not making a freezer meal)
1 box of stovetop stuffing
2-4 tbsp of butter, melted

Line the bottom of your ovensafe baking dish or 9/13 pan with the chicken chunks. Layer the swiss cheese next, then pour on the spinach.  Mix the soup and milk together, and then pour that over the spinach.  Top evenly with the stuffing, and finally drizzle the melted butter over the top of the stuffing.  Cover tightly and freeze.

To cook:  Thaw completely and bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  You may cook from frozen but it will take about 2 hours and not taste as yummy.

Freezer Meal Friday Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Chicken

 Frozen Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Happy Freezer Meal Friday!  I know a bunch of you were looking forward to seeing some more recipes!  I know I love having my freezer work for me.  This morning I threw some rye bread I had baked in the freezer and then threw some cookies in the oven straight from my freezer.

Today's recipe is Bacon Wrapped Chicken.
Its so easy you'll be making batches of these to freeze all the time!

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds Boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tsp dried basil
1 stick cream cheese (plain or veggie or herb)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 pack of bacon

Directions:
Let the cream cheese soften, add the basil and the garlic.  Alternately, you can just use herb or veggie cream cheese and eliminate this step, although I still plop some garlic on when I do this.
Take the boneless skinless chicken breast and trim of visible fat.  Then, slice it in half making chicken fingers.  Take a scoop (about 1 tbsp) of the cream cheese mixture and spread it over one of the chicken figures and then put the other on top...like a sandwich.  Wrap the chicken "sandwich" in bacon (one or two slices).  To freeze, place on lined cookie sheet and freeze overnight.  Remove from freezer and place in freezer bags.

To Prepare:  Remove chicken from freezer and let thaw in fridge overnight.  To cook: bake at 375 for 40 minutes and then broil to crisp up chicken OR (better choice) fry in covered pan until cooked through.

Freezer Meals (Make Ahead)

I've been waiting until Friday to write this, because I think "Freezer Friday" has a nice ring to it.  Agree?  Every Friday I plan to share a recipe for a freezer meal, or make-ahead recipe that you can use.  This is a HUGE money saver, as you get to not just buy in bulk, but buy in bulk on sale!  It also reduces the need to get fast food or eat out when there just isn't time for dinner.  With a freezer meal you just thaw (if necessary) and bake!

One super option for freezer meals is to join/start a freezer meal exchange.  I've been part of one of these for two years.  Every month I make 5 of the same freezer meal, and then on a designated day I swap meals with 4 of my friends.  I go home with 5 different meals!  This month London Broil was on sale buy one get one free, so I bought 6 cuts of meat and will use that in this month's recipe.  I also got the red wine vinegar that will also be part of the recipe on clearance for additional savings.

Here's the recipe for Marinated London Broil:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Place meat in a gallon size zipper bag (I usually choose a piece between 1-2 lbs).  Add ingredients to the bag and freeze.  Allow to thaw overnight the day before you plan to cook it.  When ready to cook, place on broiler pan, pat dry and sprinkle with salt (you can omit this). Broil on high for 7 minutes on each side.  And be prepared for massive deliciousness!