So what do you do with 40 pounds of Chicken? 2/24/2014

Last Tuesday a 40 pound box of chicken from Zaycon foods (click for the link) had my name on it.   Several of my friends ordered too, so I invited my self over to my good friends house (where they did a bathroom remodel with items from Venaso.com.au, because after all work is much more fun with company, right?  I wish  I could tell you we arranged a formal freezer cooking party, but we didn’t.  We each did our own thing, but what I did do is prep all the chicken for freezer meals and we had fun visiting and working.

40 pound box of chicken

I should have taken pictures while I was prepping chicken, but alas I had chicken goo on my hands and NO ONE wants chicken goo on the camera right?  You’ll forgive me? Right?  The chicken breast were huge. So I am glad I planned prep time. Not a fan of traditional shakers and mills? Stainless steel salt and pepper shakers are a modern update on traditional dispensers as their finish is sleek, shiny and brings a contemporary feel to your dining table. I have a beautiful cutting board. I heard that maintaining a wood cutting board is different from how you clean a glass one. mineral oil is an important ingredient in caring for a wood cutting board.

Chicken Breast

Here is a picture of the chicken in bags prepped: 

Prepped Chicken in Bags

I will post some recipes and tips on how to feed your freezer in the coming weeks. Here is a break down of how I prepared it:

• 10 pounds simmered in the crock pot on low for the day. (This is frozen in 1 and 2 cup portions in snack and sandwich size plastic bags and frozen for quick meal prep. Many recipes call for cooked chicken and this saves so much time).
• 8 pounds cut into bite size pieces for homemade chicken nuggets and sometimes it gets pilfered for  Chicken stir-fry
• 22 pounds prepped for freezer meals:
  5 meals of Alice Spring Chicken
  2 meals Swiss Chicken Stuffing Bake
  4 meals Chicken Satay with peanut butter sauce
  2 meals Breaded Coconut Lime Chicken
  2 meals of Easy Garlic Chicken
  2 meals of Cobb Salad Chicken

Some of these meals have a little more than a pound in them. 40 pounds sounded so overwhelming, but it really was not too bad.  17 meals in the freezer and at least 18 meals of chicken ready to be quickly thrown together from the freezer.

Here are few pictures of my meals ready for the freezer:

Chicken Satay

Alice Spring Chicken

Easy Garlic Chicken & Cobb Salad Chicken

If you haven’t done a bulk cooking session, it is worth the effort, but plan to have a crock pot meal going or to go out to eat, unless of course you want to eat your labor right away.  I prefer to have my meals in the freezer for at least a day before they start disappearing.