What to do with 40 lbs of Chicken

 The other day I found a co-op that was offering 40 lbs of chicken for bulk purchase.   I used to buy bulk chicken like that all the time and make freezer meals back when Zaycon Fresh was around.  It is really nice to have something I can just pull out of the freezer and cook or have ready.  It helps with meal planning and daily clean up too.  I was so excited to see the availability, I jumped right in.  

It was then time to figure out what meals I was going to put in the freezer.   I have a small collection of freezer recipes that I have gathered from thefamilyfreezer.com and onceamonthmeals.com websites over time.   They offer free downloads that I have taken advantage of.   I also have some standard recipes that we love that I put together and freeze.   Really anything that is chicken and a marinade, can be assembled and frozen and then you defrost and grill or cook.   

I have catalogued some of these recipes on Plan to Eat (although I have not been as organized as I would like with that) and also have some in files on my computer.    For this event...as that is what it is an event of chicken going to the freezer.  I pulled a couple recipes from a group I received from OAMMs.  It was a collection from other websites.  The first came from thepinningmama.com and had a couple of tweaks to it.  This is the first time I've made this one so hoping its as good as it sounds.  :)

Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake--Dump and Go Dinner

The Pinning Mama and Once a Month Meals

Creates 2 meals of 4 servings each in a 8x8 baking pan

2 pounds Chicken, Boneless Breasts

1 1/3 cups marinara sauce

5 1/3 individual provolone cheese slices

1/3 cup bread crumbs (italian)

1/3 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)

Divide chicken among the indicated number of baking pans.  Cover chicken with marinara and then the provolone.  Mix togeher the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle evenly over the chicken.   Cover with Foil.  Label and freeze.  

Day of:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake a 350 for 35-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.    Personally---I would defrost over night in the fridge before placing in the oven and then use a thermometer to make sure the chicken reaches 165.  

Serve with a green salad and pasta, garlic bread.   

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu--Dump and Go Dinner (pictured above)

A Mind Full Mom and Once a Month Meals

Creates 2 meals of 4 servings each in a 8x8 baking pan.

8 individual Chicken boneless breasts

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons Black Pepper

8 teaspoons dijon mustard (I used regular)

8 individual deli Ham slices

8 individual Swiss Cheese slices

2 cups white wine (I substituted chicken broth)

If chicken breasts are large, pound flat to a uniform thickness.  (I am so too lazy to do this.  I cut the chicken in half and arranged it in the pan so that it looked more uniform)  Divide chicken among indicated number of baking dishes.  Season with Salt and Pepper.  Brush chicken with dijon mustard (or just take the mustard container and squirt what looks like an appropriate amount over the chicken, like I did...)  Cover each chicken with ham then top with swiss cheese.  (since I cut the chicken in half, I also cut the pieces of ham into smaller pieces.)  Top with swiss cheese.  Pour wine (or broth) around chicken.  Cover with foil.  Label and freeze.

Day of:  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Bake at 375 for 25 min or until internal temp reaches 165.   

Be careful stacking these ones...they will leak with the liquid in there.   Also, I would take out of the freezer and refrigerate the night before.  I suspect this will take 45 min to cook if not more when frozen.  

These next two recipes are marinades that my family really likes.  We grill this chicken.   I sliced the breasts into strips to make them easier to handle.   The 40 lbs of chicken comes as double breasts so I was cutting them up anyway.  

Manti Chicken

1 cup sprite

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Granulated Garlic

1/8 teaspoon horseradish (I found powdered and use that instead of the prepared)

Mix all ingredients together, pour over 2-3 lbs chicken that you have placed in a ziplock freezer bag.  (Label it first) seal and then freeze.   Remove from freezer 1-2 days before cooking.  Grill.  Chicken is cooked when it reaches 165F by thermometer in the thickest part. 

Serve with a salad, crusty bread and ranch dressing...we love dipping this in ranch. 

Fajita Chicken

2-3 lbs chicken sliced

3 Limes, juiced

3 Tablespoons fajita seasoning  

Mix juice and seasoning.  Pour over chicken that you have placed in a ziplock freezer bag. (label first!)

Freeze.   Remove from freezer 1-2 days before grilling.  Grill until chicken is 165 in the thickest part.  

Make fajitas with tortillas, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, avocado and sautéed onions and peppers if desired.

The rest of the chicken (yes there was more!)  I threw into a crockpot with a container of salsa.  I let it cook until it shredded and then let it cool and put in bags to freeze.  This can be used anyway you want to use shredded chicken.  Tacos, burritos, enchiladas just to name a few.   In the past I have used a dry packet of italian dressing instead of the salsa.  That shredded chicken is great in wraps, chicken salad and more.   Easy to use and versatile!

Let me know how you enjoy these recipes! 

After these things...

 In our church we have what is called the Come Follow Me program.   It is scripture reading in various books that we talk with our families about and learn about in our church meetings each week.   This week we are in Genesis Chapters 18-23.   I have been listening and reading a few different sources so that I can understand better.  The Old Testament can be really hard for me to understand sometimes. I've heard the stories all my life but to apply them to myself, or to study more in depth escapes me a little.   

Reading about Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac is one of those moments.   It must have taken a magnitude of faith for Abraham to follow that prompting from God. I am afraid I don't have that kind of faith.  It is too easy to question the little promptings I do have.  Abraham was promised posterity.  Isaac was his only son who they didn't even expect to have.  His birth itself was a miracle.   How easy would it be to say, Lord, it goes against your promises for me to do this.  But he and Isaac went willingly and followed what they were told.   Does this mean they went blindly?  No...But they went with faith and trust.    

One video I watched talked about how at the beginning of Genesis 22 verse one.  It says  "And it came to pass after these things"   And they said how important that this was...things weren't written if it wasn't important...writing didn't come as easy as it does now.  So "after these things"   How many times had God saved, showed and loved on Abraham.   Abraham was saved from being a human sacrifice in Egypt.  He had miracles left and right and through every aspect of his life.   Did he have any doubt after all those things that God would lead him down the right path?  Any doubt that everything was in his best interest?   I would say no.  The rest I still can't wrap my head around so I am going to go with this much for now.

So how can I be more like Abraham?   Perhaps start by trusting that what I am prompted to do comes from God and following through.   Understanding that I may not see the end, but God does.  He sees the end from the beginning.   

There is a song I love.  It is called Blessings by Laura Story.   It talks about how the blessings we are looking for are not always found the way we want to find them.   Perhaps the blessing is the raindrops, or the tears.   Perhaps those are the ways we find those things that we are praying and hoping for.   I hope that I can always take stock of the kindness, tender mercies, miracles and blessings that God blesses me with so that when I come to a huge problem in my life I will be able to say that because of those things I have faith and believe God will be there for me as nothing is too hard for the Lord.   

Oops, it's Valentines day!

 Here it is, that moment when you have to have something to hand out in the elementary school classes.  My son decided to pull out his and start writing his name on them this morning.   The valentines we purchased and had just the right number of for the class, ended up having duds.  Really, this does not work to hand out people...  (note the nice hole in the center)

We don't shop on Sundays, so it quickly became time to do some internet searching and scouring of our house for something that would work for the event.  I guess I needed to get creative?  Me...?  Oh we have Oreo packs?  Nope only one of those left.  Granola bars?   Na, not enough either.   (Also, the child did not want to use them.)  Bags of chips?  YES!  Luckily I had purchased a large box of individual packs just a week or so ago for the kiddos to use in their lunch at school.  Thank you bulk shopping!  A quick internet search later and voila!  

A cute printable was found.    So you can find it too here you go...   

Free Bag of Chips Valentine Printable - Great for School Valentines! (consumerqueen.com)

Printed, cut and we have plenty of valentines for tomorrow.   Special thanks to Consumer Queen for the printable content that saved our Valentine's day.   

What did we do before we had the internet to solve our dilemmas?   I don't even remember anymore.  Hope your Sunday before Valentines was less stressful.  :)

Affirmations

 

Do you have any affirmations?   Positive content is one thing, affirmations are different.  When I was in therapy my therapist said that I am statements don't always work because underneath you don't believe yourself still.  I can definitely see that being the case.  Even with affirmations I can see that being the case.   What do you think?  Have they worked for you?

In the book "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod, he talks about saying an affirmation every morning.  I actually printed out one based on his writing and started saying it while in the shower.   First time I said it outloud...my kids wondered who I was talking to in there.  :)  I took it to the Tony Robbins level saying it with conviction and feeling.   He says that if you don't say it with a lot of Umph that you won't believe yourself.  Maybe that's the difference between the belief and disbelief of a statement.  The passion in the words.  So if you have the book The Miracle Morning"  Read the part about the affirmations and pull out that section.  Or possibly adapt your own and say it with substance while in the shower or just as you are climbing out of bed in the morning.   How does it feel?  Do you believe it?

If you don't want to make your own check out a youtube video and play it for motivation instead.  These two are recommended by Jonathan Roche of Energyup.co   He says to listen to them daily.  

Unbroken - Motivational Video - YouTube

Dream - Motivational Video - YouTube

So no matter how you get your affirmations...remember, just like in the movie "The Help"  You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important.  

Another New Beginning

Life certainly goes in cycles.   This is another example of that.  Here I am still working on some of the habits I have worked on for years.   I am tired of being in this cycle.  Yes I am improving each time.  However, I find that I am forgetting some of the nuggets of wisdom that I had and needing to learn it again and again.   It is time for me to break the cycle of learning and not completing.  So!   Here is my new beginning, again.    I have been in a program called Noom, working with a coach to figure things out.   You know, everytime I have a coach, I tend to tell them what I want and they hold me accountable...well mostly.  It is actually me that is holding myself as accountable as I want to be.   I check in, I follow through, when I want to.   It is time to truly be accountable to myself.   I have a list of items I am working on.   These things are simple.  Sleep, activity, phone usage.   I am not jumping into a huge change all at once, but instead, tackling one item, one week at a time.   That way I can make sure it works for me and integrate it slowly.  I have found in the past that if I jump in too quickly I crash and burn.   It is an all or nothing type of thing.  Especially when it comes to food.  It is time to be my own coach and finally put all my knowledge to work...no more figuring it out, no more looking to another program.  I have the knowledge just need the consistency.   So, here we go again at the beginning of the trail.  A trail I know partly.  A trail I've seen and started and restarted.  I know all the info, I know what to do.  Now is the time to do it!   I am far from perfect, however I am not giving up.   Failure is to not try again...I will not fail!   

Here's to all of us with our new beginnings!  What are you working on?