Freezer Cooking:How To Shred and Freeze Chicken

My Philosophy on Freezing Cooking

There are very few times I don’t freeze. Some foods won’t keep as long as others, but most will freeze quite nicely for a reasonable period of time if packaged properly. To save space in your freezer, buy containers that will stack easily; freeze food in them and put one on top of another. Who says spaghetti sauce has to be frozen in a stand up container? It will freeze just as well and actually thaw faster if it is lying flat on a try inside a sealed zip-loc bag.

Make-Ahead Cooking Session

This morning’s cooking session started with a main ingredient that will be used for 3 different meals this week-Chicken. That may sound like a lot of chicken for the week, but when it’s on sale, I stock up and freeze. Three meals on the menu for the week are Chicken Pasties, BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and  Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas.

Freezer Shredded Chicken

I slipped two large bar pans of seasoned chicken breasts in the oven this morning while I continued prepping and cooking vegetables for my pasties. I seasoned it simply with salt, pepper and steak seasoning with garlic powder and then baked at 375° for about 45 minutes to an hour. The chicken was done by the time I finished with the vegetables and my homemade mushroom soup (recipe featured in this month’s newsletter.) It cooled while I cleaned up the kitchen, and then I shredded it, bagged it and stowed it in 2 cup portionsin the freezer. I reserved enough for my homemade chicken pasties. ( This recipe also to post later.)

Next Up: Weekly Meal Plan (Breakfast~Lunch~Dinner April 3-9, 2011)