OAMC tip and recipes of the week.

Bun's first Cream Cheese Chicken

TIPS: This tip was published in the comments of this blog post. But in case you didn’t read it, here it is again.

Flash freezing refers to the freezing technique where you lay out something individually, usually on a cookie sheet or cooling rack, then once it is frozen, remove from sheet or rack and store in baggies or containers. It freezes things faster and safer than in a big clump or bag. And it makes it easier to remove them one at a time if you wish.

Things I most often flash freeze are: breakfast burritos, fruit & various berries, waffles, and French toast.

Come to think of it, I also flash freeze kid-friendly chicken bites. We made 3 ½ dozen yesterday and already 1 ½ dozen evaporated!

Did you know?

Cooking 30 dinners in one day takes me about 8-9 hours. But at the end of the day when all the dishes are cleaned up and I put up my feet, I know that I don’t have to worry about cooking for an entire month (or more sometimes). If I cook a single dinner in one evening it takes at least 30 minutes. That’s not counting the time it takes to think of what’s for dinner. So, 30 dinners would be at least 15 hours—not to mention clean-up. Once the concept is learned and recipes are tried and true freezer survivors, you will become very efficient at cooking mass amounts of dinners and enjoy your free time more!

It’s okay if you still want to indulge in an occasional night of cooking because you feel like it. But you don’t have to.

Breakfast Burritos

1 dozen eggs
1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage (or sausage of your choice)
1 C. grated cheddar cheese or Colby jack
½ C. salsa
20-24 tortillas

1. In a 10-inch skillet or cast iron pan, crumble and cook 1 lb. sausage until there’s no pink. Do not drain grease.
2. Add one dozen eggs to sausage and cook until firm. Scramble them up with the sausage.
3. Add ½ C. salsa. Mix well.
4. Grate 1 C. cheese over the top and warm over a low heat until cheese melts.
5. Spoon filling into center of tortillas, roll up and flash freeze on a jelly roll pan.
6. Freeze in a labeled freezer bag or container.

To serve individual breakfast burritos: Heat in a paper towel or napkin in the microwave for 1 minute on high.

Kid-Friendly Chicken Bites

For this recipe, click on the link above or go to Christy's OAMC site (in my sidebar) and select CHICKEN recipes and scroll down until you find it. It's also very hubby-friendly too!

Cream Cheese Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in 1-inch strips

(I've also used thighs or even bone-in cuts of chicken)

1/2 C. (1 cube) butter or margarine

1 packet of dry Italian dressing mix

8 oz. cream cheese

1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup

In a crockpot on high melt butter. When butter is melted add the Italian dressing mix. Stir together. Add chicken. Cook on high for 2 hours. Then remove chicken from crockpot. Add cream cheese and Cream of Chicken soup and cook and whisk together until smooth. Add to chicken. Serve over rice or freeze.

To freeze: Place in one gallon zipper bag or two 1-quart containers. (Don't freeze with rice.)

To serve after being frozen: Thaw in refrigerator over night or nuke in the microwave. Heat until bubbly and serve over rice.

This is also very good over cooked noodles, on rolls as sandwiches, or rolled up in a tortilla with diced tomatoes added. Cream Cheese Chicken is always a winner!