Freezer Friday: Chicken, Zucchini & Carrots

This has been a very busy week in my kitchen!  Chicken, carrots and zucchini from the garden were the central ingredients of my freezer stashing this week.

Ten pound bags of boneless skinless chicken breast were on sale for $1.29/lb.  I couldn't pass that up!  So shredded chicken, broth, and Chicken & Biscuits filling made it to the freezer.  The I'll post the Chicken & Biscuits batch recipe next week.

Surprise, surprise, after being away from my garden for a week, there were zucchini's waiting for me.  And this is after I gave a whole shopping bag of zucchini to a friend!  I froze about 15 cups of grated zucchini  (Click here for the "how to") and made a double batch of the A to Z Zucchini Sweet Bread with pecans, orange and cranberries - very yummy!  Three loaves of the bread made it to the freezer.

When I made it out to the garden on Tuesday, I couldn't find the carrots for the weeds so I just started pulling.  Much to my surprise, there were quite a few carrots there.  So, some of those made it into the Chicken & Biscuits and the rest are baby food and finger foods for GBaby.  I also made a batch of pear baby food.

Phew.  All in three days!  Now for a couple days out of the kitchen...

Corn Thief!

Upon arriving home from a week away I took a quick stroll of the garden to assess the chaos.  The blight had taken over all of our tomato plants :(.  I have carrots that are waiting for me to free them from the weeds.  Piles of beautiful broccoli florets ready to be picked, and a few green peppers sizing up nicely.   There was also handful of green beans that grew on the three green bean vines that survived the Vine Chomper.  When we left last weekend, there were about a half-dozen nice ears of corn that looked like they were going to be beautifully ready when we got home.  I guess they were ready early and a little Corn Thief decided to help us out.  These cobs were peeled and eaten, down to the last kernel!  Next year's gardening plan is going to involve battle strategies against our local wildlife!

My Crock-Pot

(Note: the terms “slow cooker” and “crock-pot” are interchangeable and here mean the same thing.  Crock-Pot is the original trademarked name for slow cookers)

My kitchen would not be complete without my Crock-Pot.  Growing up my mom often utilized her slow cooker to get dinner on the table and I was trained early on how to cook in the crock pot.  I remember making beef stew in the crock pot for a Girl Scout badge task when I was in about fifth grade.

It should come as no surprise that as I grew up and had my own home, a crock-pot became a necessary appliance.  When we moved into our apartment in Pasadena seven years ago, a six quart slow cooker arrived at my door, a housewarming gift from my mom-in-law.  This beauty still works just as good as the day I opened it and I have give it quite the workout.

I started with meats, soups, stews, sauces and beans.  Then when I found Stephanie at A Year of Slow Cooking I got a little more creative and tried her Crème Brule recipe (yeah, it was pretty good!) and yogurt (ok, but I’ve gotten my method perfected now).  On occasion I still look for creative recipes but most of the time my slow cooker is just my workhorse for batch cooking items destined for the freezer.  It cooks while I go about my day.  No minding things on the stove.  It’s great!

So, if you’ve not tried a slow cooker, you should!  If you’ve wanted to start batch cooking, the crock-pot is a great place to start.  Fill it up, let it cook, eat some and freeze the rest.  It doesn’t get any easier than that!  If you enjoy slow-cooking, what is your favorite thing to cook in the crock-pot?

Easy Broccoli & Rice Casserole

Wonder of wonders, I am still picking broccoli out of our garden.  Usually the heat of early July will end our broccoli crops but not this year.  We’ve just recent gotten tastes of summer heat.  So, we are still enjoying broccoli.  Some has made it to the freezer but a lot of it is getting used fresh.  Here is an easy, one dish dinner.  I put chicken in this recipe, but it can easily be omitted for a great vegetarian dish.  Since it was about ninety-five degrees the day that I made this, I made it in the microwave.  It can also be cooked in the oven or slow-cooker.  Drop me a line if you’re interested in other cooking methods.

Broccoli & Rice One Dish Dinner

Ingredients

2 cups Brown Rice, uncooked

4 1/2 cups Water

3 cups Broccoli, florets or chopped

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 cup cubed Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded or chopped Chicken (cooked)



Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe casserole dish with a lid.


2. Cover and microwave for 15 minutes.   Remove from microwave and stir.  Repeat.


3. At this point the rice should have absorbed most of the water and it should be soft most of the way through.  If not, cook longer at 5 minute intervals.  If it has reached the point of near softness put the lid back on the dish and let it sit for 20 minutes.  The steam in the dish should continue to cook the rice the rest of the way.  If, at any point, it looks like your rice is absorbing too much of the liquid and the casserole looks dry, stir in additional water as necessary in ¼ cup increments.

It was a crazy day in the kitchen, so I didn't get any "after" pictures, but your final dish should be moist and cheesy.  Enjoy!  Click here for a printable version of this recipe.