Prosciutto and Fontina-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

One of the greatest culinary challenges I'm facing on Sabbatication, is that my food staples are quite limited. I don't have endless types of vinegar, spices, seasonings, etc. I have (literally):

• salt
• pepper
• Italian seasoning
• cajun seasoning
• crushed red pepper
• seasoned salt
  
• extra-virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• sesame oil
• white wine vinegar
• chardonnay
• dijon mustard
• soy sauce
• hot sauce
• garlic
  

I don't want to go out and buy a bunch of ingredients; I'd like to keep it simple. For those of you who know me well, keeping things simple is a challenge. When cooking, I use a lot of ingredients. I make my own sauces, and nearly everything is from scratch. So, I've been going through my tried and true recipes looking for foods that use what I have. I've checked out cookbooks and cooking magazines from the library (Yes, I know it's all on-line...I just love to flip through a bound publication.) perusing them for recipes that use these ingredients. The challenge I have is that I don't want it to all taste the same. I want variation!

Last week, I found a few recipes from Cooking Light, and made the first one last night. It's from the December 2008 issue (a GREAT issue by the way...found several recipes to add to my "To Try" file), Prosciutto and Fontina-Stuffed Chicken Breasts , p. 177.

I tripled the recipe, planning on making some to freeze for later, because I knew we'd like this one. The first thing I noticed was that the filling looked a little skimpy. I wasn't sure how I would have enough to stuff 12 chicken breasts with 2 TB of filling each. In the end, I added a bit more fontina (1 cup instead of 3/4 cup for a tripled batch), but I could have used a bit more.

The chicken breasts were HUGE, so I chopped each one in half (OK...that means they were really quartered, because they're already halved), and made a pocket in each piece. I only had enough filling for 10 of them. So, if I were to make this again (which I will) I'll make a bit more filling.

We had them for dinner last night and, OMG, they were delicious!! This will be the next entree I make for our meal exchange. I liked the simplicity and the fact that they'll freeze well. I love to have food like this ready-to-go in the freezer.

Right after I made them I learned that a friend's husband broke (really crushed!) his ankle yesterday and the whole family had been in the hospital all day. He came home today and I brought some chicken over for their family to eat. I LOVE having food on hand when someone's sick or in the hospital. I was especially glad that even in our little temporary digs, I was still able to help a friend!

Prosciutto and Fontina-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• Cooking spray
• 1 ounce chopped prosciutto
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded fontina cheese
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 42 saltine crackers (about 1 sleeve)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons canola oil

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add prosciutto to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until browned. Add rosemary and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Spoon prosciutto mixture into a bowl; cool to room temperature. Stir in fontina cheese; set aside.

2. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 2 tablespoons prosciutto mixture into each pocket; press lightly to flatten. Sprinkle chicken evenly with pepper.

3. Place crackers in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until finely ground. Place cracker crumbs in a shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish. Combine egg whites and mustard in another shallow dish, stirring mixture with a whisk.

4. Working with one chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Dip chicken into egg white mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat chicken completely with cracker crumbs. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour, egg white mixture, and cracker crumbs.

5. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Add oil* to pan, swirling to coat. Add chicken to pan; reduce heat to medium**, and cook 10 minutes on each side or until browned and done.

Calories: 381 (33% from fat) Fat: 14g (sat 3g,mono 6.4g,poly 2.9g) Protein: 46.6g Carbohydrate: 14.1g Fiber: 0.6g Cholesterol: 113mg Iron: 2.4mg Sodium: 591mg Calcium: 74mg

*I also added a smidge of butter. I think foods brown better with a bit of butter.
**Medium might be a bit high. If the outside is browning too quickly (which happened to me at first) make sure you turn down the heat a bit. You want a nice golden brown

Ready to flash freeze ----------->

Pesto Chicken Grill Packets

Today, as I was contemplating what to make for dinner tonight, I remembered that it was the night of our meal exchange. That meant that someone else was cookin'! Whoohoooo!! That "someone else" was my friend, Debbie.

She emailed* a note that said she'd made Pesto Chicken Grill Packets. Well, the name alone just made my mouth water. Pesto. Chicken. Grill. The packet part was intriguing. I didn't really look at the recipe....just the directions, which were 25 minutes on the grill (in the packet) on medium heat.

When the timer went off I went and unwrapped my packet for the first time. It really was like opening a present!! This is what I found inside:

Pure heaven.

Katie & her friend had already eaten, and there was some pasta leftover. So I scooped out the food from the packet and placed it on a nest of pasta. YUM!

So here is the recipe for you to try, if you like:

Pesto Chicken Grill Packets
Victoria Spencer from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 2-1/4 pounds)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup pesto
  
• 2 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 8 scallions, trimmed

Side note
Serve with rice. (I think I'd prefer pasta.)

Directions:

1. Preheat a grill to medium. Cut four 12-inch-long sheets of heavy-duty foil. Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil into the center of each sheet.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay 1 piece of chicken in the center of each sheet and spread 1 tablespoon pesto on top.

3. Mound one-quarter of the zucchini, tomatoes and scallions over each chicken breast. Dollop 3 tablespoons pesto over each mound. Fold the foil over the chicken and vegetables; pinch the edges to seal.

4. Cover and grill the packets over indirect heat for 25 minutes. Remove from the grill and open carefully.

*(OK...she didn't really send me an email. It was a Facebook message. We are old, but modern!)

Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade

Ever since the Big Thaw of '08, I've been working on re-stocking my freezer supply of prepared food. Thanks to a couple good chicken and steak sales, both freezers are nearly full. This weekend I came across a great sale on thick petite sirloin steaks for just $2.79/lb. Needless to say, I stocked up!

We have our very favorite stand-by recipe for steak marinade, but I was in the mood to try some new flavorings. So I turned to allrecipes.com and found four highly rated steak marinades:

• Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade
• Awesome Steak Marinade
• Steak Marinade
• Best Steak Marinade in Existence
  

Before adding the steaks I did a little taste test. By far my favorite was the Beer and Brown Sugar one. My least favorite was the Awesome Steak Marinade. It had too much A-1 sauce in it for my taste. However...I haven't tried it with the steak, so I'll report back once I do more than dip my finger in the sauce!

Since it was also my turn for our Four Family Meal Exchange, I also made this for three other families. We grilled them that night, and WOW! This recipe is a keeper!! It had the right mixture of sweet and salty, being flavorful but not overpowering. I think the key is that you 1) marinate the meat, 2) sprinkle the seasoning on top, and then 3) pour on the rest of the marinade. It's a couple extra (quick!) steps, but it works quite well.

Since the steaks just simply looked like grilled steak, I skipped taking a picture of the final product. But here is a snap of the ingredients I used. I would imagine the type of teriyaki sauce, seasoned salt, and possibly beer could easily change the flavor of the marinade. So below you'll see the specific brands that I used. You don't need to use these, but I promise you'll have a winner steak if you do!

Combine in a small bowl:
1/2 tsp seasoned salt (Lawry's)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Combine in a zip-style bag or plastic bowl:
1/4 C dark beer (Deschutes Black Butte Porter)
2 T teriyaki sauce (Soy Vay Island Teriyaki)
2 T brown sugar

Mix together and add:
2-16 oz sirloin steaks

Marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes.*

Grilling instructions: Place steaks on a heated grill. Sprinkle the seasoning on the steaks. Grill on both sides, until they are cooked to your liking. A couple minutes before you take them off the grill, pour the rest of the marinade over the steaks.

*I marinated them for about 6 hours and it was quite good.

Cheese and Sausage Strata

The following recipe is one my friend, Anna, made for our meal exchange. She called it "Breakfast for Dinner". Our family liked it so much we've added it to our "Family Favorites" cookbook, and have made it a few times since she gave us the recipe.

Cheese and Sausage Strata
(Allrecipes.com; variations by Anna, with variations by us!)

Line a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish with:
Bread slices, about 1" thick (a great use for day old French bread)

In a skillet, cook over medium heat until no longer pink:
1 pound bulk pork sausage
Drain.

Stir in:
1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Sprinkle evenly over bread:
Sausage mixture
1/2 C shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, beat:
3 eggs (or 1 C of “Best of the Egg”)
1 1/2 C milk
2/3 C half-and-half cream (I use non fat half & half)
1 pinch pepper
Pour over cheese, making sure to moisten all the edges of bread.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares; serve immediately.

This dish can also be made ahead and frozen. To freeze, line a 9" x 13" dish with heavy foil. Assemble as directed above. Place in the freezer overnight, or until completely frozen. Remove the food (& foil) from the casserole dish. Leave the foil on, and wrap with additional foil, saran wrap, etc. -OR- vacuum pack it with something like a FoodSaver. When you're ready to cook it, let it thaw in the refrigerator (24-36 hours), and cook according to directions above.

Chicken Tequila Fettuccine

Happy New Year! Not being a fan of Black-eyed Peas, we skipped the traditional holiday meal and made pasta.

I came across this recipe sometime last year from Allrecipes.com. This is a great southwestern twist on the classic Fettuccini Alfredo. The cilantro and jalapenos give it a little kick without being too spicy. It definitely has a kid-friendly flavor.

Tonight I made it for our meal exchange. I found it very easy to make in bulk (4 x the recipe) and would definitely consider making it for a large group. It wasn't as time consuming and labor intensive as some recipes can be.

Chicken Tequila Fettuccini

Chop:
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Pour over chicken and set aside:
3 TB soy sauce

In a medium saucepan, saute over medium heat for 4-5 minutes:
1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 TB minced garlic
2 TB minced jalapeno peppers (seeds, membranes, and all...it's really not spicy!)
2 TB butter

Add:
1/2 C chicken stock 3 TB tequila 2 TB fresh lime juice

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until reduced to a paste-like consistency. Set aside.

In a medium sized skillet, saute
1 TB butter
1/4 red onion, chopped *
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

Cook
1 lb fettuccini

When the peppers and onions have softened, add the chicken and soy sauce. Toss and add the reserved tequila/lime paste and cream. Bring to a boil. Gently simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick. Toss with well drained fettuccini and garnish with cilantro. Serve.

*This nifty little gadget shown in the onion picture helps make nice neat onion slices. It pierces the onion and allows a knife to cut between the tines, making nice even slices. When I'm chopping an onion, I first slice off the top, and remove the onion skin. I leave the end (w/roots) on until the very end. This keeps the onion together, making it easier to work with. I then cut slices one way (as shown) and then turn the onion 90 degrees to make perpendicular cuts. (The onion will resemble one of those "blooming onions" from Outback Steakhouse.) Then I turn the onion on its side and start cutting the ends, getting nice little chopped onion pieces.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

This past weekend was jam-packed with holiday events and parties. To top it off, it was my turn to cook for our meal exchange. For the first time in many months I had no clue what to make! Brian immediately suggested "Julie's" White Chicken & Bean Chili. This was a recipe that Julie made for our meal exchange last year. It was Brian and Katie's favorite meal from the group last year, and so we decided to make it again.

One problem in our family is that while Katie, the vegetarian, loves beans of all kinds, her mother doesn't. I like the chicken in the soup; she likes the beans. Brian likes them both. We easily satisfied everyone's tastes by making two pots of the soup for our family: one with chicken and one with beans. Brian simply combined the two for his chili!

The recipe comes from Cooking Light's April 1997 issue. I love the flavor from the lime juice and tomatillos.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound skinned, boned chicken breast halves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots*
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
1 (14 1/4-ounce) can fat-free chicken broth
1 (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained and coarsely chopped
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (16-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, drained
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
9 tablespoons (about 4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add oil; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes or until done. Remove chicken from pan; set aside.

Add shallots and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes and next 6 ingredients (tomatoes through cumin). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Add chicken and beans; cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in lime juice and pepper. Ladle into bowls: top with cheese.

Yield: 9 servings (serving size: 1 cup chili and 1 tablespoon cheese)

Nutritional Information:
CALORIES 247(23% from fat); FAT 6.2g (sat 2g,mono 1.7g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 23.3g; CHOLESTEROL 38mg; CALCIUM 171mg; SODIUM 593mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 2.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.4g

*We couldn't find shallots, and substituted leeks instead. Worked just fine!

Chicken Parmigiana w/Linguini

So, this week was my turn to cook for our meal exchange group. For the first time in a long time I really didn't know what I would be making. The beginning of November kind of caught me by surprise! Thinking* my favorite hand-trimmed chicken breasts were on sale at Albertsons this week, I chose to make Chicken Parmigiana.

I love the recipe I have from San Francisco Encore. It's pretty straightforward, and just plain ol' yummy!

Over the years I've made it in different pans with different cooking tools, and I think I've finally found the perfect combo for breading/sauteeing chicken pieces: the 7 qt. Calphalon One Sauteuse (not the non-stick one) pan, and a stiff beveled turner from Pampered Chef. This particular turner wedges its way under the pieces, and the pan (seasoned with a little butter & oil) browns the chicken nicely, but also allows for a release that keeps the breading ON the chicken! Getting this step down is truly the key in making this dish.

Seasoning the pan with butter & oil....this was a tip I picked up from my Cook's Illustrated magazines. The oil helps with the stickiness, and the butter allows for better browning. Good to know!!

Now that you know how to cook the dish, here is the recipe:

Chicken Parmigiana (San Francisco Encore)

Preheat the oven to 325º.

Pound to a thickness of 1/4":
6 half boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I slice these so they are half the thickness, and then do a little pounding.)

Combine in a shallow bowl:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Mix in a separate bowl:
½ C dry plain bread crumbs
½ C Parmesan cheese

Dip the chicken into the eggs and then into the bread crumbs.

Heat oil (and butter...my addition!) in a heavy skillet. Quickly brown the chicken on both sides. Remove to a shallow baking dish.

Our off any oil remaining in the pan. Add and saute briefly:
1 clove garlic, minced

Stir into the pan, and bring to a boil:
2 C tomato sauce**
1/4 tsp dried basil
salt to taste
pepper to taste


Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in:
1 TB butter

Spoon the sauce over the chicken.
Sprinkle over the chicken:
½ C Parmesan cheese

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover, and arrange over the chicken:
8 oz. mozzarella cheese slices

Return to the oven and continue baking until the cheese melts.

To serve it to the three other families, I placed the chicken pieces on a bed of cooked linguini. It was a much better presentation than just putting the chicken right in the pan. Next time I'd add a little more sauce for the linguini.

My daughter (a vegetarian for 18 mos. now) used to call this Pizza Chicken and would devour it! Now, to make it for, I will bread and sautee some pieces of extra firm tofu. Works just fine!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!!


*Uh, no...they weren't on sale. I discovered this on cooking day, and by that time there was no going back. Dang it!!

**We used to make this dish regularly, but for some reason hadn't made it for many years. When I started canning a few years ago, I made waaaaaaay too much tomato sauce! So I purposely looked for recipes that needed tomato sauce. Since that time, I've been making this dish for company, to bring to families, and for our own dinners.

Jerk Style Chicken and Island Rice from Cooking Light

Today was my turn to cook for our meal exchange. I decided to make Jerk Style Chicken and Island Rice from Cooking Light (May 2004). My sister recommended the recipes to me, and they are YUMMY!! (5 star reviews on MyRecipes). You can make the chicken mild-hot, depending on what you do with the jalapeños.

First step, as always, was gathering the ingredients. The photo below shows the ingredients for the chicken (pretend that olive oil is in the pic too!).

Jerk Style Chicken

In a blender I mixed:

1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion

There was plenty of room in the blender to multiply this recipe by 4.

For the jalapeños, I cut out nearly all the membranes and seeds. I didn't want this to be too hot, as I was making it for families with children. I did, however, save the jalapeño innards, chopping them up separately. I placed them in a bag and gave one to each family in case they chose to add it to the chicken marinade. For dinner tonight our family made the marinade without adding the spicy parts...just to see how hot it was without the seeds/membranes. It was a medium hotness. To make it mild, I'd put in fewer peppers (more like 1 TB...I put in about 2 TB per recipe). If you like it hot, though, add the "extras"!

A lime zesting tip: The tool to the right is completely useless. See the lime on the right? It took me sooooooo long to scrape all that off. And I left too much good stuff on the lime. See the tool to the left? The microplane grater zested the lime to the far left. (I kept going and did the rest of the lime.) I'll be tossing out the tool on the right. (Although it does have a little blade to make curlies out of skins. But when have I ever done that??)

Once I had it all blended, I poured 1/4 into each bag. Then I put 10 thin boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces in each bag and sealed them shut. Into the fridge they went.

Nutritional Information: CALORIES 169(29% from fat); FAT 5.4g (sat 1.1g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 26.1g; CHOLESTEROL 84mg; CALCIUM 25mg; SODIUM 287mg; FIBER 0.8g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 2.6g

This part of the dinner was complete. All they had to do was stick them on a grill and cook until done. Easy!

For freezing: Simply blend all of the marinade ingredients, pour into a freezer bag, add your chicken, and place in the freezer.

Onto the Island Rice....

This complements the Jerk Style Chicken, so I included it in the exchange. I told the ladies that it was part of the main dish, but it's really a side. We only exchange main dishes, but sometimes a side dish fits the main dish so well, that it must be included. (Chili and cornbread come to mind). This was one of those times.

Island Rice

Bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil.

Add the following:

• 1 C uncooked, long grain white rice
• 1/2 C chopped dried pineapple (I prefer smaller pieces of this)
• 2 tsp butter
• 1/2 tsp grated lime rind
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cover the pot, reduce to low, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes (no peeking!). Remove from heat and add the following:

• 1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 TB chopped green onions
• 2 1/2 TB fresh lime juice

Mix it all up and serve hot.

If you have a rice cooker, add the water, rice, pineapple, butter, lime rind, and salt to the rice cooker. Cook it just like you would white rice (on mine...I cover the pot, and move the switch to "cook"). When it's done, stir in the remaining ingredients.

Nutritional Information: CALORIES 171(9% from fat); FAT 1.8g (sat 0.8g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 2.7g; CHOLESTEROL 3mg; CALCIUM 26mg; SODIUM 117mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.4g

When I made the rice, I doubled the ingredients and made it in two larger pots. It worked just fine!

Here is what each family took home:

20+ meals in 3 1/2 hours

So my post from yesterday motivated me to make some meals "assembly" style.

I chose chicken as a base, because the hand-trimmed chicken was on sale at Albertsons. I LOVE the hand-trimmed chicken. Before this discovery, I spent many hours chopping off all the gunk from the boneless, skinless chicken breasts: the tendons, fat, thick icky parts, etc. Last year I did a cost comparison. I bought chicken breasts for $1.89/lb. After I trimmed all the gunk off, I re-weighed them, figured out the cost, and realized it was nearly exactly the same as I would pay for the sale priced hand-trimmed chicken (2.99/lb.). So I quickly ditched buying the bargain breasts and now wait until this particular chicken is on sale.

My plan was to choose four recipes*, shop for the ingredients, set out on the counter all the supplies/ingredients, do a little prep work, and then...fill the bags assembly style!

Here are the plans, complete with step by step instructions and recipes. The first two are pretty much complete, while the last is more like a "Meal Starter"....there is a bit more work to do when it's time to cook them. But most of the work will be ready in the bag!

RECIPES

Cajun Curry Chicken (CCC)

Mix the ingredients in a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, and mix so they are all covered by the sauce.

1/3 C honey
3 TB water
3 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB margarine
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes. I often place red, green, and yellow peppers in the dish as it cooks. Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.

Note: This sauce freezes well. If you like REALLY spicy foods, you can add up to 1 more tsp of Cajun seasoning and up to 1 more tsp of curry powder.

Grilled Herbed Chicken (San Francisco Encore) (GHC)

8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Marinade:
½ C olive oil
½ C lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
1 TB rosemary, fresh & chopped
1 TB tarragon, fresh & chopped
1 TB sage, fresh & chopped
1 TB oregano, fresh & chopped
1 TB chives, fresh & chopped

Marinate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. While grilling, brush frequently with the marinade.


Kung Pao Chicken (KPC)

Small Bowl:
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
2 TB sherry
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB white wine vinegar
3 TB water

Medium Bowl:
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 TB cornstarch
1 TB sherry
1 TB canola oil

Chop: 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Place them in the medium bowl and let sit until ready.

Have ready in 3 small bowls:
4-6 chile peppers
½ C peanuts

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp crushed garlic

2 whole green onions, chopped
Chopped stir fry veggies (peppers, carrots, peas, baby corn, etc.)

Heat wok. Add 1 TB canola oil.
Add peppers & peanuts. Remove promptly.
Add 2 TB oil.
Add garlic & ginger. Stir.
Add chicken mixture until opaque.
Add peppers, peanuts, green onions, & any other stir fry veggies.
Add small bowl of sauce.
Cook until mixture thickens.


1. SET OUT ON THE COUNTER

All measuring cups & spoons

Pantry:

• honey
• olive oil
• garlic
• cornstarch
• sherry
• white wine vinegar
• canola oil

Spices:

• cajun seasoning
• curry powder
• pepper
• salt
• white pepper

Refrigerator:

• soy sauce
• Dijon mustard
• lemon juice
• margarine
• fresh parsley
• fresh Tarragon

Herb Garden:

• fresh chives
• fresh oregano
• fresh sage
• fresh rosemary

2. PREP WORK

CCC

• 1 clove garlic, minced

GHC

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
• 1 TB rosemary, fresh & chopped
• 1 TB tarragon, fresh & chopped
• 1 TB sage, fresh & chopped
• 1 TB oregano, fresh & chopped
• 1 TB chives, fresh & chopped

Chicken: The Kung Pao Chicken takes about 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts per recipe. The other marinades make enough to season/coat 6-8 boneless, skinless breasts per recipe. When I prep my chicken breasts, I actually slice the breast in half, length-wise, so they are a little thinner. This way they tend to cook a little quicker, whether it's in the oven or on the grill.

To figure out how many chicken breasts you'll need, plan on 6-8 for each marinade recipe, and 3 for each Kung Pao Chicken recipe.

Tonight I made 3 CCC (18 thin breasts), 3 GHC (20 thin breasts), and 3 KPC (3 breasts chopped into bite sized pieces) recipes. This took a total of 21 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves from the store.


3. FILL THE BUCKETS

Wanting to be like the meal assembly stores, I wanted to drop my freezer bags into buckets. I looked around my home, and couldn't find anything practical. So I searched the aisles at the big store (nameless because I hate shopping there, but you can find nearly everything...) with no luck. I found some glass, stainless steel, & ceramic canisters, but they were pretty pricey. As I was leaving the store, I saw a huge display of Sunny D drinks in plastic jugs. The jugs would be PERFECT, I thought. And, at only $2 a bottle, it was a steal. The "juice" inside was an added bonus. The jugs were going to be used immediately, so I poured two of them into my neighbor's juice containers, and one into my own. (The fourth is still full as I just used three today.) After discarding the liquid inside, I cut them up and came up with this:

I lined the buckets with zip-loc style bags. I'd recommend using freezer bags (they are heavier and better for freezing) unless you'll be vacuum sealing them in the end.

Then, one recipe at a time, I simply started adding the ingredients to the buckets. THIS was the fun part! Plop, plop, plop...within minutes I had three meals...then six...and more! COOL!! There were a couple times when I lost track of how many teaspoons I'd added. That was when the handy-dandy kitchen scale came in handy. I simply weighed the buckets, and if the one in question was a little low, I added more.

Grilled Herbed Chicken (San Francisco Encore)
½ C olive oil
½ C lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
1 TB rosemary, fresh & chopped
1 TB tarragon, fresh & chopped
1 TB sage, fresh & chopped
1 TB oregano, fresh & chopped
1 TB chives, fresh & chopped
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cajun Curry Chicken
1/3 C honey
3 TB water
3 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB margarine
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Kung Pao Chicken

Quart bag 1:
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
2 TB sherry
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB white wine vinegar
3 TB water
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Quart bag 2:
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 TB cornstarch
1 TB sherry
1 TB canola oil
chopped chicken from 3 breast halves

(Because the KPC is in two smaller bags, I placed quart sized bags into plastic containers that I had on hand. The two smaller bags went into a larger bag to keep them together. There are still some steps to follow when making the dish, but this prep work will really make the rest much easier.)
Soon after I had 11 bags of meals ready for the freezer. Each bag will provide 2 meals for our small family, plus some leftovers for lunches. I started at 2:30 (getting out all the ingredients) and was cleaned up by 6 p.m. In fact, we had friends over for dinner and we were ready for them!

*Originally this post included a fourth recipe, "Chicken with Gloppy Marinade." The "20+" meal total includes the meals from this recipe. While it is a yummy dish, it wasn't a good freezer meal. The sauce came out way too salty, and the texture just wasn't right.

Freezer Meals/Batch Cooking

Freezer #1 (kitchen)

It's that time of year again...Back to School. And with that comes the need to have some meals ready to go in the freezer. Many years ago I tried "Once a Month" cooking. Brian and I would get a bunch of recipes ready in one day. Later I perfected it to "Twice a Month" cooking, which was much easier.

When Katie was born, however, I stopped doing that. For years, Brian would come home asking what was for dinner. "Uh...ummm....," I'd mumble as I searched the fridge, freezer, and pantry.

Last year I started getting more organized with our meals. First I started cooking multiple batches of favorite recipes. I'd make one to put in the oven, and then one for the freezer. Then I started the Meal Exchange. Around that time I discovered Dream Dinners, Entree Vous, and other meal prep places. These were fast and fun...but a bit more expensive to do frequently. It did, however, make me realize that I could (and should) be purposely making more foods ahead.

So, while I don't have a strict schedule, I do try to keep the freezer full of a variety of meals. Below are some of our favorites. In the next few months I plan on making each of these so I can take photos of them, to add to the recipes. But I love the recipes so much that I just wanted to post them sans pictures!

Freezer Door #1 (kitchen)

I make a lot of marinated steaks/chicken breasts ahead of time. I put out four ziplocks...add the marinade ingredients assembly line style, and then put the meat in the bags. Then they go in the freezer. I thaw them and just put the meat on the grill.

MARINADES FOR MEAT

Cajun Curry Chicken (Better Homes & Gardens)

Mix the ingredients in a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, and mix so they are all covered by the sauce.

1/3 C honey
3 TB water
3 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB margarine
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes. Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.

If you like REALLY spicy foods, you can add up to 1 more tsp of Cajun seasoning and up to 1 more tsp of curry powder.

Note: This sauce freezes well. To freeze it, simply place the chicken breasts and the sauce in a zip-loc bag.

Grilled Herbed Chicken (San Francisco Encore)

8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Marinade:
½ C olive oil
½ C lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
1 TB rosemary, fresh & chopped
1 TB tarragon, fresh & chopped
1 TB sage, fresh & chopped
1 TB oregano, fresh & chopped
1 TB chives, fresh & chopped

Marinate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. While grilling, brush frequently with the marinade.

To freeze it, simply place the chicken breasts and the marinade in a zip-loc bag.

Marinated Flank Steak (San Francisco Encore)

1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C honey
1/4 C thinly sliced green onions
2 TB grated onion
2 TB balsamic vinegar
2 TB sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp ginger

1-2 flank steaks

Combine all ingredients, except the steak/s. Pour over the steak and marinate overnight. Place the steak on a hot grill & cook 4-5 minutes per side, basting with the marinade. Slice thinly on the diagonal & serve.

We also use a lot of petite, and top sirloin with this recipe, as there are often good sales on those cuts of meats.

To freeze it, simply place the meat and the marinade in a zip-loc bag.

Barbequed Herb-Mustard Chicken (Sunset Magazine)

Combine:
Family Size
½ C dry white wine
2/3 C canola oil
3/8 C white wine vinegar
2 T onion, finely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp pepper
1/4 C spicy brown mustard

(Group Size....the quantities above X 4)
2 C
2 1/3 C
1 ½ C
1/8 C
2 T, 2 tsp
1 T, 1 tsp
12 cloves
2 tsp
1 C

Chop into 1" cubes: 4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (16-24 Group Size)

Marinate the chicken in the sauce at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Place on skewers, alternating with chunks of:
peppers (red, yellow, green)
onion
cherry tomatoes
mushrooms
zucchini

I freeze the uncooked chicken with the sauce and add the veggies fresh.


OTHER FAVORITE FREEZER FOODS

Stuffed Shells

Sauce
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
28 oz can tomatoes w/puree
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp dried basil, crumbled

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat; add garlic. Saute 2 minutes or until golden. Add tomatoes; break up with spoon. Add pepper, salt & basil; mix. Reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes, stir occasionally.

Filling
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 ½ packages (15 oz total) chopped frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed very dry
3-4 oz (1/2 a jar) roasted red peppers, drained & chopped
1 C (4 oz) shredded fontina cheese
½ C grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 large egg yolk
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

12 oz jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained

In bowl, combine filling ingredients & mix.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13 x 10" baking pan. Spoon filling into shells; arrange in prepared pan. Top with sauce. Cover. Bake 30 minutes or until hot.

8 servings. Per serving: 427 calories, 22 g protein, 45 g carbohydrate, 19 g fat, 76 mg cholesterol, 904 mg sodium.

You can freeze the filling -or- you can fill the jumbo shells and flash-freeze them before placing them in a zip-loc bag. Sometimes I freeze the sauce with the stuffed shells, and sometimes I don't!

Lasagna with Pesto (San Francisco Encore)

1 lb ricotta cheese
1 ½ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
½ C minced fresh parsley
½ C minced green onion
½ tsp minced garlic
1 egg yolk
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp marjoram
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

1 pound lasagna, cooked, rinsed in cold water and drained.
Pesto Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a shallow baking dish. Combine all the ingredients except noodles and Pesto Sauce. Blend well. Taste and correct seasonings. Spread some of the filling over each lasagne noodle. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Stand vertically in the baking dish in a single layer. Spoon Pesto Sauce over the top of each roll. Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through. Serve immediately.

To freeze this, you can freeze the filling-or- the individual rolled up lasagne pieces. If you freeze the pasta, place the rolls on a cookie sheet and flash-freeze before you put into a zip-loc bag.

Pesto Sauce

Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce
(San Francisco Encore)

Preheat oven to 350̊.

Heat in a frying pan:
1/2" of oil
Fry just until soft, about 5 seconds on each side:
12 corn tortillas
Lay flat and drain on paper towels.

Combine the following:
4 C cooked shredded chicken
2 C shredded Jack cheese
1 7 oz. can diced green chilies
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Spoon ½ cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla. Cover with 2 T of Tomatillo Sauce. Roll up the tortilla to enclose.

Lay tortillas, seam side down, in a 10 x 15 inch baking pan. Bake, covered, approximately 15 minutes or until hot.

Bake uncovered, until cheese has melted.

To serve: Spoon 3/4 C of Tomatillo Sauce onto dinner plates. Set 2 enchiladas on each plate.

Top with:
shredded lettuce
dollop of sour cream

Garnish with:
lime slices

Tomatillo Sauce (San Francisco Encore)

Heat in a large saucepan:
6 T oil (3/8 C)

Add, and cook until soft:
2 medium onions, chopped
1 7 oz can diced green chiles
26 oz. (2 13 oz. cans) tomatillos, drained
1 C chicken stock
3 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

Simmer 25 minutes over low heat. Taste and correct seasonings. Puree in food processor or blender until smooth.

Uncover and sprinkle with
8 oz. shredded Jack cheese

You can freeze the enchilada filling by itself, or you can fill the tortillas, and flash-freeze them before you place them in a zip-loc bag. The sauce should be frozen separately (in a freezer bag) because it will make the enchiladas too mushy.

Chinese Postickers
To freeze these, fill the dough, then flash-freeze before placing in a freezer bag.

Four Family Meal Exchange

Jerk Chicken with Island Rice...an example of what each family took home

Last year (about this time) I had this brilliant idea to start a meal exchange group. I thought about how people enjoy having meals made for them, and also sharing favorite meals/recipes with others. So I combined these ideas and formed the first "Four Family Meal Exchange" group.

I started by emailing everyone I knew who 1) regularly cooked for their families, 2) kept a clean kitchen, 3) were reliable, 4) lived close by, and 5) didn't have any food allergies/special food needs. I told them of my big plan, and asked if anyone would be interested.

Here's what I emailed:

"Hi all! I am e-mailing some friends who like to cook to see if anyone is interested in joining a Meal Exchange group. Below are the details. Take a look, and if you are interested, email me.

Four Family Meal Exchange

Each month, you will be assigned a week (always the first, second, third, or fourth week of the month). Sometime during that week (you decide what day is best for you, and it can vary from month to month), you will prepare four main dish meals. You will set a time for the others to pick them up. Then throughout the month, three meals will be prepared for you!

1. Food restrictions: No food restrictions. Meals do not have to be catered to children's tastes.

2. No boxed/packaged meals. This can be discussed some more. We're open to the use of some packaged foods - dried pasta comes to mind – but not "meals" like Kraft Mac 'n Cheese or Hamburger Helper.

3. If someone will be out of town/unavailable for a cooking date, the two parties should arrange an alternate plan (maybe put it in the freezer to be picked up later).

4. The group will invest in 3 - Pyrex 9" x 13" covered baking dishes (all the same; $8-10 each). When you've finished your meal and cleaned your dish, drop it off at the home of the next person who cooks. (Note: your dish doesn't have to be made in this pan. It's just an easy way to prepare the meal, and have it ready. For some meals-like soup- you would need to use something of your own.)

5. When it's your turn to cook, determine a "pick up" time. Email the time to the group with at least 24 hours notice. If the chosen pick up time does not work for you, you need to contact the person cooking and make alternate arrangements."

Right away a couple people responded. Within the week we had a group! COOL!

A couple months later, after friends heard us talking about our group, we got a second group off to a start. (They do things the same way, although they have allowed for some food restrictions, which meets the needs of the people in their group.) So, now we have two separate groups going.

A year later, three of the original four in our group are continuing. We've asked another friend to join us next month, and we're hopeful she'll say yes, and love it as we do.

What do I like most about this? The two best parts of this exchange are having someone else make dinner for us three times a month. LOVE that part! I also love the variety we are adding into our dinner rotation. It's so easy to fall back into old stand-by meals, and not experiment with new recipes. With the meal exchange, we've found some yummy recipes that we've made again.

What kinds of recipes have we made? Here is a sampling:

Beef & Vegetable Pot Pie
Chicken Casserole w/Potato Chip Topping
Chicken Parmigiana
Traditional Lasagna
Roasted Butternut Squash, Rosemary & Garlic Lasagna
Stuffed Shells
Pan Roasted Chicken & Vegetables
White Bean Chili
Layered Mexican Chicken
Cajun Curry Chicken w/Rice
Beef & Bean Chili
Penne Pasta w/Chicken & Vegetables
Black Bean & Chicken Burritos
Chicken Casserole w/onions, potatoes
Southwestern Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Sausage/Egg Breakfast  Strata
Pecan Crusted Chicken
Chicken Lasagna Alfredo
Rice w/Beef & Spinach
Italian Pasta
Enchiladas w/Tomatillo Sauce
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Crustless Spinach Quiche
Chicken Bog
Creamy Pasta w/Spring Vegetables & Shrimp
Chili
Ham & Chicken Tetrazzini

If you are interested in starting a group, here are some further suggestions:

Flexibility: Flexibility is important, but also involves more communication. Maybe you think you'll always cook on Sundays. But plans change...meetings & events come up. A Tuesday may work out better for you when your week comes up. When you have a choice, you can pick what works best for YOU during your assigned cooking week.

Save money: If you plan well, you lower your costs & save money! When your cooking week comes up, look at what the “loss leaders” are at the grocery stores. Are chicken breasts or beef on sale for a great price? Vegetables? If you look at what's on sale, then look for recipes using those ingredients, you can keep the costs down.

Why four families? It is easy to break up a month into four parts. It's easy to quadruple recipes. For people just starting to cook in large quantities (also known as “batch” cooking) having to make more than four meals can be overwhelming. We want this to be fun, not a chore!

Have a smaller family? If your family is on the smaller side, you will probably get two meals out of this! Or...you can put individual servings in a freezer bag/container and save it for later.

E-mail! We e-mail the group, letting them know what our cooking dates & pick up times are.

Un-cooked meals: Sometimes our family already has dinner plans on a member's cooking night. Or maybe I simply know that the following day will be hectic, and I'd like to use my meal that night. If the meals are prepped, but not oven-baked, most can be popped in the oven the following day.

Casserole/oven-baked meals: Finding something that others can just pop in the oven simplifies the cooking.

Include the recipe: This way they will know the time and temperature for cooking the meal. Also, they will have the recipe so they can make it again!