You know my motto, being chic is being prepared. I have a large catalogue of freezer meals I have shared with you in the past and today, I'm making three comfort food casseroles featuring lots of chicken and vegetables for fall.
I shot this video before having the baby and am just now getting around to posting it. These meals have really come in handy!
My philosophy with freezer cooking is to use what you have and not worry about following a recipe too rigidly. There is freedom in opening your pantry and deciding what you'd like to use. For these freezer meals, I had nearly 5lbs of organic chicken breast, a 2 lb bag of spinach, 2 large onions, a giant zucchini from our garden, and a lot of brown rice.
With this combination, I make three different creamy chicken casseroles that freeze well and taste even better. I essentially make three variations on the same casserole to give you options depending on what you have in your pantry. If you make these, you can feel free to make all of the same kind, or do all three that I make for variety.
I have included the printable recipes below, but first let's talk about the chicken/ vegetable base. I sautéed the chopped onion in extra virgin olive oil and added 3 large spoonfuls of minced garlic. Then I added the chopped spinach and zucchini. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. To this, I added my nearly 5 lbs of shredded chicken that I cooked in the Instant Pot. This provides a very large base to make your three casseroles from. I used roughly 1/3 of the chicken mixture for each casserole.
Feel free to get creative. Use whatever vegetables you like. Top these casseroles with whatever you fancy. I used toasted breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, but you could do any type of shredded cheese.
Here I am listing the printable recipes for your convenience. Feel free to share these on Pinterest, or with your friends who could use some freezer meal inspiration!
Creamy Chicken Ranch Freezer Casserole
This is one of three freezer meals I have made using the large batch of chicken and vegetables cooked. I cooked nearly 5lbs of chicken breast and shredded it. I added it to a mixture of 2 sautéed onions, 2lbs of chopped spinach, 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic and one large chopped zucchini. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. For this recipe, use 1/3 of the chicken mixture. I mix this with two cups of brown rice.
ingredients:
- 1/3 of the shredded chicken vegetable mixture (roughly 1 1/2 lbs of chicken)
- 1/4 cup Ranch seasoning mix
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- bread crumbs for topping (toasted with a dab of melted butter)
- Aluminum baking pan (for freezing)
- Instant Pot (where I cooked and shredded the chicken before making this meal)
instructions:
Creamy Butter Chicken Freezer Casserole
This is one of three freezer meals I have made using the large batch of chicken and vegetables cooked. I cooked nearly 5lbs of chicken breast and shredded it. I added it to a mixture of 2 sautéed onions, 2lbs of chopped spinach, 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic and one large chopped zucchini. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. For this recipe, use 1/3 of the chicken mixture. I mix this with two cups of brown rice.
ingredients:
- 1/3 of the shredded chicken/ vegetable mixture (see note above)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1/4 melted butter
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- chopped fresh or dried herbs to taste
- 1 tsp salt
- toasted bread crumbs for topping
- Aluminum baking pans (handy for freezing)
- Instant Pot (what I used to cook and shred the chicken)
instructions:
Creamy Mushroom Chicken Freezer Casserole
This is one of three freezer meals I have made using the large batch of chicken and vegetables cooked. I cooked nearly 5lbs of chicken breast and shredded it. I added it to a mixture of 2 sautéed onions, 2lbs of chopped spinach, 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic and one large chopped zucchini. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. For this recipe, use 1/3 of the chicken mixture. I mix this with two cups of brown rice.
ingredients:
- 1/3 of the chicken vegetable mixture (see the note above)
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- grated parmesan cheese for topping
- Instant Pot is how I cooked and shredded the chicken
- Aluminum freezer pans
instructions:
I hope you enjoy the recipes featured in today's video.
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On last week's Natural Home with Jennifer video, Marielle writes, "Hi Jennifer, Thank you for using non-toxic products to clean your oven. A very easy way to clean the oven racks is to put one or two large towels on the bottom of your bathtub and put the oven racks on the towels to avoid scratching your bathtub. Cover the oven racks with very hot water and add 1/2 cup of dish soap or 3/4 cup of laundry detergent. Let everything soak overnight. Then, simply wipe the oven racks clean. The dirt, grease and grime will come right off without any scrubbing. If you want the exact method, you can Google it up and you will find it right away. Since discovering this method several years ago, that’s the way I clean my oven racks and it saves me a lot of time and energy."
What a great tip. Thank you, Marielle!
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These recipes look delicious! Just curious if I can bag them instead and cook in the crockpot. Thanks
ReplyDeleteFreezer cooking is so smart and these look delicious! Thank you. I do have a production "note" to offer. It's about video production, not about the content (the actual food) at all. The mushy, squishy sound the mic picks up when you are mixing the ingredients is very loud and unpleasant to listen to. Can you mute the sound or tone it down in the editing process? It's rather unappetizing -- unfortunate when you're making such yummy stuff. Just my two cents worth as a viewer!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer! I can't wait to make these. I have made your other freezer meals and they are wonderful. In the video you mentioned brown rice. How much did you add to the chicken mixture? Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteAll your recipes look so delicious! I live in the UK so wondered if it would be at all possible to have the ingredients in grams/millilitres, and the oven temperature in Celsius too, please? Thanks very much! :)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog and your lifestyle and your philosophy on taking care your your family and your home. You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteJust a note on using aluminum in cooking. I urge you to use parchment paper to line your pans. When exposed to heat, aluminum leaches into the food. Parchment paper is available in rolls at any dollar store. It makes fun packets too to cook complete meals. Your children will love opening their little surprise packages at mealtime. (That's chic, for the grownups.) ❤️Graciously, Diane Lettau
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW HEALTHY BABY!
I'm so happy to see others doing freezer meals. I want to share what I figured out in my process.
I do freezer meals too! I make batches of different meals and freeze them in individual portions in 2 cup anchor hocking glass containers like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-Classic-Storage-Containers/dp/B007EZ38KS?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B007EZ38KS
I label them with a strip of painters tape and a sharpie. Things usually last about 6 months but not at our house.
I have soups, lasagnas, meatloaf, burgers, hot dogs, sausages, chicken from the grill (I cook at least 40 if I am going to that trouble) desserts, etc ...
I bake 5 loaves of bread and freeze it after slicing so we can grab a slice or thaw a whole loaf as required.
It's awesome and after a couple of months of cooking BIG once a week, there are many different things to choose from.
No one in my house is home at the same time so they can pick something at anytime and have a healthy "ready meal" whenever they are hungry.
My favorite thing to cook on is my electric smoker.
https://www.amazon.com/Oster-Smoker-Roaster-16-Quart-CKSTROSMK18/dp/B00AZBKTS2?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00AZBKTS2
(You could get hubby one for christmas so he can do some of the cooking)
Just put an 8 pound boston butt in the freezer with some defatted juice after smoking it on this thing. It is amazing!
The mac & cheese, burgers and hot dogs are the kids favorites. They have the outdoor grilled taste when thawed and reheated. Clean up is a breeze as well.
(I'm 1/2 Panamanian too!)