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! 

Easy Turkey Dinner

I made this one up when I had turkey lunch meat that really needed to be used in the fridge.   It has become a staple that we really love throwing together.  It kinda reminds me of school lunch turkey dinners.    If you want you can use homemade versions, but this is meant to be really quick so we pull out the cans and boxes from storage.  :)

Quick and Easy Turkey Dinner

Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Total Time: 20 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 ¹⁄₂ lbs sliced deli turkey meat
• 2 pcts turkey gravy
• 1 pkg stuffing mix
• 1 can cranberry sauce
• 1 pkg dinner rolls
• 1 can green beans
• other veggies as desired

Directions

1. Make stuffing according to package directions (microwave)
2. In large skillet make gravy according to package directions.  Add sliced turkey meat and continue to mix until heated through
3. Prep veggies, and open cranberry sauce.
4. Serve meat and gravy with rolls sauce and veggies on the side.

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Whole Grain Personal Pizza

Whole Grain Personal Pizzas. 
I came across a recipe for pizza pretzels on pinterest.  I couldn't get the pretzels to work, and tried them as a calzone and that didn't work.  Finally I made it a pizza crust adding whole wheat flour and flax seed.  Voila!!  Perfection!  Here is my tried and true recipe!  So much fun, and so easy!! 


2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup ground flax seed  (I put a bunch in my coffee grinder and it ends up being app 1/3 cup when ground)
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 to 1-1/3 cups Hot water
4 teaspoons Olive oil

Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a mixer with dough hook.  Combine the hot water and oil in a measuring cup.  With the mixer running, gradually pour in the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball.  The dough should be quite soft.  If it feels too dry, add 1-2 Tablespoons of warm water.  Is sticky add a little flour.  Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball and then process for 1 minute to knead.  Sometimes I pull it out and knead by hand a little longer just to get out some aggression!  :)

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl.  Allow to rest for 10-20 min. 

Break the dough in to 8 equal sections.  Lightly dust your countertop with flour.  Take one ball of dough and roll it out to the desired thickness.  1/8-1/2 inch thick works great!  Place dough onto cooking sheet.  Spread some spaghetti sauce on top.  Dust with Parmesan Cheese, and mozzerella cheese.  Add any additional toppings desired.  Pepperoni, Chicken, Olives, Peppers, Onions, etc.  Dose liberally with Penzey's Pizza Seasoning.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 min or until cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy!!