Cooking The Chicken

First, I skin the chicken. Then, I add the legs to the crock pot. Add some salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and whatever else I feel like sprinkling in. Pour in a half-cup of water. Put the lid on and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low 6-8 hours. When the chicken in done, remove it from the crock pot and set it aside to cool. After the chicken has cooled enough of handle, remove the meat from the bone and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use (up to 3 or 4 days) or freeze it in a freezer bag for later use. I try to keep the packages in recipe ready sizes.

Chicken Recipe Ideas

There are many nights when I have a hungry family, but not a lot of time to cook for them. Having cooked chicken already prepared saves me lots of time. Here are a few of our go-to quick chicken meals:

Chicken Taquitos

Chicken Tacos

Chicken and Rice Casserole - great make ahead meal – just warm it up!

Chicken Noodle Soup - just add the cooked chicken during the last 5 minutes of cooking time 

Do you ever cook meat in bulk? What do you do with it?

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We have a busy week here, so I am utilizing some of the chicken in our freezer! I need to plan some quick or make ahead meals for this week, along with a couple nice relaxing family meals. This menu actually makes me hungry looking at it!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Curry Chicken , Rice, Salad

Flat Iron Steak, Asparagus, Parmesan Orzo

Sausage and Peppers, Rice

Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Fresh Veggies

This is the general recipe as I remember it-

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 1 onion
• 4 large potatoes, cubed
• 2 cups kale, chopped
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

Brown the Italian sausage and the onion in a large pot. Then, drain the fat. Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring it to a boil for about 10 – 15 minutes. Add the kale and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the evaporated milk. The soup is ready to serve! We like it with crusty Italian bread to dunk into the soup. So good!!

Face it, there are times when we all just need a snack. Whether we are at home or on the road, sometimes we need something in our stomachs to get us to that next meal.  I am good at planning meals, but I am terrible at planning snacks. Mostly, because I can be a food Nazi. My family looks at a box or bag of snacks at the store with more than a couple ingredients in it and chances are it’s not going into my cart. I don’t want a bunch of chemicals going into my family! So, then, what’s a healthy mom to do?

Enter, my favorite snack cookbook from Katie@KitchenStewardship – Healthy Snacks To-Go. It is full of wholesome snack recipes that our family loves. Katie has recently updated this book and added lots more recipes and healthy snack tips.

The granola bars are our favorite, but the powerbar recipe is pretty good, too.  I just got the updated book so I haven’t tried the grain-free pumpkin muffins yet, but they are on my list!

To order Healthy Snacks To-Go, click HERE.  You can see the table of contents and even download free recipes. This is my favorite snack cookbook! You won’t be disappointed!

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*disclosure – I am an affiliate for Healthy Snacks To-Go, meaning if you purchase through a link above, I receive payment from the author for my referral. It helps keep the lights on here at Overcoming Busy. Rest assured, I wouldn’t promote something I don’t love

One of my favorite meats to freeze is ground beef. I prefer to brown the beef before freezing. Sometimes the thawing process can discolor and spoil uncooked meat, especially if you wait too long to freeze it. I like to freeze the ground beef one pound at a time in freezer bags. That makes it easy to add to recipes.

Easy Ground Beef Meal Ideas

Our family has a few favorite, easy dishes that I can whip up using one pound of frozen ground beef and just a few ingredients. It makes those nights when I don’t have a lot of time or energy a bit easier.

Chili – We make a simple chili like THIS one.

Tacos – I like to use THIS homemade taco seasoning.

Sloppy Joes – Just ground beef, ketchup and BBQ sauce

Unstuffed Peppers – Our family likes to make easy rice skillets like THIS one.

Mexican Orzo Skillet

• 1  pound ground beef
• 1  cup salsa
• 1/2  cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1  cup water
• 1  tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4  teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1  can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

I have tried to make sure I keep some staples on hand myself. Here are a few ingredients I don’t want to be without.

Chicken Broth – There is always chicken broth or chicken bouillon in my pantry or freezer. I can add it to rice to make it more flavorful. Throw in some veggies, noodles and left over chicken and you’ve got soup! There are so many options available when  you have broth on hand. My recent pantry favorite is THRIVE chicken bouillon. The container is huge. It keeps forever. The flavor is fantastic and it is cheaper than the bouillon I used to use!

Pasta and Rice – I combined these since they are sometimes interchangeable. Use them to stretch foods you already have. Throw them in chili or soup to make them go a little further. Make a casserole out of meat and veggies you have on hand. Toss pasta with a little butter and parmesean cheese. So easy!

Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce – I use a lot of canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. They are so easy to toss with pasta or rice. Cook your meat with canned tomatoes in a skillet. Make tomato soup.

Frozen Meat – Whenever I have a little leftover meat (cooked or uncooked), I throw it in the freezer. There are so many times when I need to go to the store and I don’t have any fresh meat to make dinner (and my husband requires meat!). I just check the freezer. I am always so surprised to find that little bit is just enough!

What are some of your pantry basics that can keep you feeding your family just a little longer?

I don’t even need a recipe for this one.

Cut up some potatoes and an onion. Place the potatoes and onions in a stoneware pan, casserole dish or cookie sheet. It really doesn’t matter. Toss them with a little olive oil. Season them with your favorite season salt or steak seasoning. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 25-40 minutes, depending on how many potatoes you use, or until they are fork tender.

The potatoes get kind of crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The onions are slightly charred and caramelized – full of great flavor. I like them just the way they are, but the kids like to eat them with ketchup. Either way, this dish is so good and so simple. Perfect for overcoming busy in the kitchen!

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Here’s my menu for the rest of the week. I’ll be linking up to Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday.

Chicken and Noodles

Chicken, broccoli, rice casserole

Mexican Pork Roast, green chile sauce, torillias, avocado

Homemade Pizza

Reuben Sandwiches, salad

What are you feeding your family this week?

First, cook chicken breast in olive oil in a skillet until golden on both sides.

Take a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles or a can of diced tomatoes and a tablespoon or two of canned green chiles and pour over the browned chicken.

Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over white rice. Add a vegetable on the side or a salad and you’ve got a meal!

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The week before Christmas was a week of creative cooking. I have to say, I came up with some on-the-spot recipes that turned out really well. We were trying to use up all the food we had in the house to make room for Christmas food and were down to the last few items.

One day I found: a couple frozen chicken breasts, a can of refried beans, a small chunk of velveeta, tortillas, guacamole and some salsa. Here’s what I came up with….

• Cook the chicken breasts in the crock pot on high for about 4 hours. (I added some salt, pepper, cumin and garlic powder before cooking.)

• Shred or chop the cooked chicken.

• Spoon chicken down the center of a tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese and wrap. Repeat with all chicken.

• Bake in a 400° oven on a cookie sheet for 8-12 minutes. We liked ours a little crispy, but not hard on the outside. You can bake them less or more depending on your preference.

While the chicken was baking, I warmed up a can of refried beans in a small sauce pan. I cubed the velveeta that I had on hand (probably a 1/4 of a block) and added it to the pan. After the cheese was melted, I added a half-cup of salsa. I served it in a bowl with the taquitos.

Turned out to be a pretty tasty meal that the whole family enjoyed.

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Believe it or not, I don’t have any Christmas leftovers (thank goodness!) and since I cleared out the fridge and pantry before Christmas, I have to go to the grocery store. Here is my getting-back-to-normal-food-after-Christmas-menu.

Chili, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Sauerkraut, sausage, mashed potatoes

Mostaccoli (from the freezer), Salad

Braised Chicken Thighs with Winter Vegetables (from the January/February 2012 Everyday Food Magazine)

Homemade Pizza

Leftovers

Here is our go-to cookie recipe for making large quantities of really yummy cookies every time.

Butter Spritz Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, and cinnamon- set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and egg yolk – beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
5. Fill a cookie press with dough, and press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If the dough won’t release from the press easily, the dough might be to warm. Chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
6. Bake 11-13 minutes or until light golden brown on bottoms. Cool on cookie rack.

The kids take turns pressing these cookies and choosing the patterns. These are their favorite to make. This recipe makes approximately 6 dozen perfect, buttery, yummy cookies. Perfect for eating with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.  You can fit almost 2 dozen on baking sheet, so a batch of these is finished in no time!

Do you have a go-to Christmas cookie recipe?

I’m linking up to Sweets and Treats link party at RamblingWithGrace.com. Check it out for more Christmas treat ideas.

This week’s menu contains two new recipes. One is a Chicken And Kale Casserole from the November Everyday Food magazine and the other is a Chicken Chile Verde Casserole from Big Oven.com. Both sound heavenly. I like the idea of the Chicken Chile Verde Casserole, because it sounds a lot like the chicken enchiladas I make (without the rolling of the enchiladas). And, the Chicken and Kale Casserole sounds good because of pasta and cheese and the fact that kale is in season right now. I love cooking seasonal veggies!

I’ll use more kale in my Zuppa Tuscana. We love this hearty soup! And it’s so easy! This crock pot Zuppa Tuscana recipe from StockPilingMoms.com has to be the easiest I’ve seen. I just serve it with crusty bread and it fills the whole family up!

Kroger has boneless pork loin on sale, so that means I’ll buy a big one and make a couple recipes with it. First, I’ll roast part of it and serve it with green beans and potatoes. Then, I’ll slow cook the rest for pulled pork sandwiches. Yum! One of my faves!

Here’s how our dinner menu looks as a list:

• Chicken Chile Verde Casserole, chips, salsa, guacamole
• Chicken And Kale Casserole, salad
• Zuppa Tuscana, crusty bread
• Roast Pork Loin, green beans, potatoes
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches, cole slaw
• Left overs!!

After I make my menu, I use that to make my grocery list for the week. I add in some breakfast and lunch basics and maybe a treat or two. I use a spreadsheet on my computer that it broken down into categories (dairy, meat, veggies, etc.). It’s not very pretty, but it gets the job done. Here’s a pretty grocery printable that you might want to use. I might have to start using it. Maybe, it will make grocery shopping more enjoyable!

What are you planning on feeding your family this week? Get inspired at I’m An Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday.