Cranberry Chicken

 Cranberry Chicken is one of those recipes that has been around forever.  If you think back hard enough, you've probably had it or something very similar served to you in the past. 

It seems like a strange mixture of ingredients, cranberry sauce, Catalina dressing and Lipton Onion Soup.  I mean, really?  I can't help thinking someone discovered it by accident when they poured the wrong bottle into their bowl and decided not to let it go to waste.  However it came about, it's a zesty combination of sweet and sour that when paired with rice, makes my family super happy.

Cranberry Chicken is also great for throwing together and freezing ahead of time.  You can even make the rice ahead of time and freeze it.

Learning that rice could be frozen changed my world.  Seriously.  I can throw this in the oven, reheat some rice in the microwave and toss a bag of salad with dressing and extra veggies and I'm done.

Dinner just took 5 minutes to assemble.

I now have time to make playdo critters with my kiddo, check my email and empty the dishwasher.

Life is good.

Ingredients
4-6 chicken breasts
1 small bottle Catalina dressing
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix (I used Lipton Onion Soup Mix)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to and line a 9x13 pan with nonstick foil or spray it with cooking spray.
2. Pound chicken breasts until even in size.  (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.)  Place chicken in dish.
3. Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix.  Pour over chicken.
4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Serve over rice.

Freezer Directions:

1. Pound chicken breasts until even in size.  (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.) 
2. Place chicken in freezer bags.  (This makes 2 meals for us so I divide it between to smaller freezer bags.)
3. Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix.  Pour over chicken.
4. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and freeze flat.
5. To serve, thaw completely and pour into greased or foil lined glass dish.   Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Serve over rice.

Family Friendly Freezer Cooking!

When I had my sweet boy 4 and half months ago, I stocked my freezer full of casseroles, crockpot ready meals and baked goods.  With a 3 year old at home, I knew there would be zero time to cook after the baby arrived.  However, until I tried freezer cooking, I had no idea how much I would love it!  

In fact I plan to do some freezer cooking sessions to stock up on food for the new year.  With all of the time I'll be saving, I can work on my New Year's resolutions.  Yeah, I laughed too.

In the past I've always been intimidated by freezing foods.  I've thrown a lot of stuff out with freezer burn because either I had no idea how long it could be stored or I didn't package it properly.

This time I did some research and was much more successful.  You can find great tips for freezing foods here and here.   

One thing I would recommend is to try a recipe before making 3 of them for your freezer, especially if you are looking forward to eating the meals after having a baby.  ;) 

There are 3 ways to stash food away in your freezer and I do combination of them.

The first is to double or triple whatever you are making for dinner.  This works especially well with meats, soups and chili.   I love being able to thaw out some homemade soup on a cold night without having to chop up a bunch of veggies. 

Pasta Fagioli can be frozen easily  It's best to add pasta just before serving.

Another way is to have a big freezer cooking day.  This would be good to do with a group of friends to help chop up all of those veggies.  This isn't that practical for me with 2 little ones at home, but someday I would love to try this.

The third way is to prep crockpot meals.  This is super easy and takes very little time.  I'm not a big fan of veggies in the crockpot unless I'm making soup so there really isn't a whole lot of prep work involved. 

I'm going to post some of my favorite tried and true freezer recipes below.  These are all recipes my family really enjoyed and were easy to freeze.

Cranberry Chicken - I fill two baggies with this and freeze.  To cook, thaw overnight, pour into pan and bake as directed.

General Tso's Chicken - Prep ingredients and store in baggies.  Thaw over night and dump into crockpot, cooking as directed.  I double this too because I really love it. 

Chicken Broccoli Rice - Freeze in baggies.  Thaw overnight, pour into pan and bake as directed.  I jazz this up a big with garlic, celery, onion, etc... and then crush Ritz crackers on top prior to baking.

Chicken Tacos - Cook as directed.  Shred, cool and place in baggies.  Thaw and reheat.  This is wonderful for tacos, but also makes delicious nachos, enchiladas, chimichangas, or rice bowls.

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti - Prepare casseroles, but do not bake.  Cover in foil and freeze.  Thaw completely before baking.  I used Italian sausage and extra sauce. 

Vegetable Beef Soup- Cook as directed and then freeze in baggies.  Thaw and reheat.

Baked Ravioli- Assemble casserole(s), cover tightly with foil and freeze.  Thaw completely before baking.  This may actually cook faster since the original recipe uses ravioli that is still frozen.

Pizza Bites- Bake as directed.  Flash freeze these by putting them on baking sheet and freezing.  Then place them in a plastic bag. You can reheat them in a 400 degree oven. 

These are just a few of my favorites to get you started.  I'll be adding more and you can follow my Freezer Meal Pinterest board for more ideas.

I'd love to hear about your favorite freezer meals!

Pizza Pasta Bake Freezer Meal

Lately, I've been contemplating the idea of doing some freezer cooking which basically means I've been sitting in front of the computer, reading up on what other bloggers have done and "pinning" away. 

Although I love the concept of freezer cooking, I think 1-2 freezer meals a week would be sufficient for us tackle those busy nights we when normally would fall prey to the drive-thru.  Soooo... instead of cooking for the entire month in one day, my goal is to cook a double batch of something each week to freeze for a later date.

Sooo...for my first attempt, I found this yummy Pizza Pasta Bake recipe on Freezer Meals for Us which is full of freezer friendly recipes.  I have a hard time following directions (just ask my kindergarten teacher)  so I changed it up quite a bit.  You have the option to throw in a bunch of veggies to bump up the nutritional value or leave them out if you're in a hurry.  The hubs liked that it was pretty meaty, but you could definitely cut back on the meat to save money and/or calories.  This recipe is totally customizable.

We really enjoyed this.  It was moist and full of flavor.  I'll update when I try the frozen one. 

Recipe
Adapted from: Freezer Meals for Us
(Makes 2 9x13 pans, 1 for now and 1 to freeze)
1 lb lean ground beef
12 oz reduced fat pork, turkey or chicken sausage (I used Jimmy Dean, but will try a lighter turkey sausage next time.)
1 lg onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 c veggies, (ideas- shredded carrots, shredded zucchini or squash, chopped spinach, diced green or red bell pepper, olives)
1 46 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1 8 oz can tomato sauce with basil, onion and garlic
1 small can mushrooms, diced
16 oz penne pasta (regular or whole wheat)
4 c mozzarella cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
4-6 oz turkey pepperoni

1.  Spritz a large pot with olive oil.  I found a natural olive oil in a can that I like.  Some day I'll splurge for a real spritzer.  Saute meat, garlic onion and veggies over medium heat until meat is cooked and veggies are soft.  Make sure you break up the meat as you cook it.  Drain well.
2.  In the meantime, cook pasta according to package directions, but under cook by 2-3 minutes.  Drain.
3.  Add sauces, mushrooms and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese to meat and veggies.  Mix well and stir in pasta.  Divide evenly between 2 9x13" pans sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Top each dish with pepperoni.
4.  Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 or cover and freeze.  To cook from from frozen, thaw in fridge and then bake as normal. 

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