Chicken Nuggets

This is a recipe from the book Once A Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I currently owe about $3.00 in library fines for this book.  I maybe should consider just buying it for myself. 

I have about four bags of these in my freezer.  I love the way they taste.  The original recipe uses dried, Italian-style breadcrumbs.  I used Panko breadcrumbs and added some Italian seasoning.  Makes 'em crunchy!  These aren't quite as "ready to go" as the nuggets in a bag, but they are healthier.

makes 4 to 6 servings

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (I prefer Penzey's)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan (I just use the stuff from the green can)

Cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks.  Combine chicken, melted butter, and Worcestershire in a 1-quart freezer bag to make a marinade.  Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a second freezer bag.  Tape the bags together; label and freeze.

TO PREPARE:

Thaw and remove the chicken chunks from the marinade.  Put them in the bread crumb bag (a few at a time) and shake to coat. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Arrange chicken on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle.

Bulk Cooking

So, I kind of started a new group at church.

Accidentally.

See, my friend Rachel and I would get together every six weeks or so and cook together.  We'd figure out what we wanted to cook, plan a grocery list, go shopping, and then meet at her house to cook.  We'd leave with enough food in our freezer to make our weekly meal planning much easier.  We started planning a new cooking session when our freezers were close to empty.

Over the months as we did it, we had several friends say they would like to be a part of our cooking sessions.  It never worked out for anyone to join us, so I didn't think too many people were really interested.  Plus, Rachel and I weren't too sure about adding a lot of people to the kitchen.  It could end up crowded, messy, and just really ugly :)

Then I found a website by a supper swap group in Minnesota.  And the way it was set up sounded pretty genius to me.  So I started a Facebook group for those friends that had expressed interest to meet and see about setting up a similar group.

And this Thursday, we'll meet to discuss the group and splitting up the TWENTY-TWO people that signed up to join into smaller groups!

I'm in way over my head.

And some of the other ladies feel that way.  So, I'll post a few of the recipes I've found that are for this type of cooking (label: OAMC) to provide a bit of a starting point.  And the supper swap website linked above contains all of their recipes.

Some of the recipes already posted on this blog freeze well.  The ones listed below are the ones I've tried myself and know for certain they do well as freezer meals.

Skinner Lasagna
Chicken and Macaroni Casserole

Chicken and Macaroni Casserole

This is from Grandma Steele. I'm lazy so I just scanned in her handwritten copy of the recipe.  :)

This is easy to make and also freezes well.  I left out the peppers and pimentos for a long time, but then decided to get adventurous and give it a try.  Uh, leave them in.  They make it taste good!  Ha!!

Thanks, Grandma!

Cheeseburger Macaroni

One of my more embarrassing memories is of returning home from college one summer and excitedly telling my mom that I had found this great "new" thing at the grocery store ... Hamburger Helper.  She very graciously didn't laugh in my face and even pretended to be excited when I made it for dinner that night.

Meat, cheese and noodles.  What's not to love? 

I got this recipe from Home Ec 101.  I was mainly interested because it was one of the first cheese sauces that I've seen that didn't start with a roux.  Being a total snob, I fully expected it to taste really nasty.  It didn't.  I did cut the recipe in half and it was plenty for the three of us.  


(For the record, Dax scarfed it and Julia wouldn't even touch it when she saw the tomatoes in it.  My friend Amanda thinks it would be great with peas.  I disagree, but if you like peas, give it a try.)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 4 TBSP butter
• 5oz evaporated milk or 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 10 oz sharp cheddar, shredded

In a large skillet, brown the meat over medium low until nearly done and then drain off the grease. Return to the skillet and add the diced onion and minced garlic. Continue cooking over low heat until the meat has browned and the onions are soft.  Stir in the tomatoes to heat them up.

While the meat is browning, in a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente. While the noodles are cooking, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk OR half and half, hot sauce, dry mustard, and salt / pepper.

Drain. While the noodles are draining melt the 4 TBSP of butter in the pan, then return the pasta to the pot. Stir to make sure all of the pasta is coated evenly. (The burner should be off). Add the sauce and turn the burner to low, stir the macaroni until it is evenly coated in the sauce mixture. Then stir in the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until everything is melted and wonderful.

Dump the contents of the pot into the skillet with the ground beef. Stir to combine and serve.