Over the holidays I got together with my friends Jen and Wendy. We brought all our kids to Wendy’s and her husband who usually is like all our husbands, you know the one. He’s that guy that we love dearly but when we are with our peeps we like to list all the things that drive us crazy. Hey it’s strength in numbers. Well this day he was the BOMB hubby. He took all 6 kids and kept them occupied while we cooked. They fished, skinned a dear, shot BB guns and rode around there property on a golf cart.The women did this!
That is 3 families, 16 meals per family, and $100 per family and thats about $6 per meal for a family of 4. Most of the meals we cooked were from the cookbook Don’t Panic – Dinner’s in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
plus we made The Pioneer Woman’s Italian Chicken Soup and
This Old Fashioned Beef Stew from Get Off Your Butt and Bake.
It took us about 6 hours to do it all. I emailed the publishers of the afor mentioned cookbook and they would not let me share a recipe with you. Obviously they do not know the power of bloggers and there friends they said no! So I took a recipe from the book this week and adapted it to my own.
I made this and tripled it so that I have 4 dinners total. I am slowly adding to my freezer stash. One of my biggest goals this year is to eat together as a family at the dinner table at least 3 times a week. I got Garrett these for Christmas. They are
Melissa & Doug Family Dinner Box Of Questions
It has been lots of fun to get a card out of the box at every dinner. So here is the lowdown on the Italian Pesto Chicken. This recipe is to make 4 dinners of 4 so don’t freak out at the measurements.
On Freezer Prep Day
2 Cups Butter
5 Tablespoons Pesto
16 Chicken Breasts
1 8 oz Package Mozzarella Cheese
4-6 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs
4 Cups AP Flour
4 Large Eggs
Salt and Pepper
On Cooking Day (this is for one serving)
4-5 Roma Tomatoes
1 Cup Sheredded Mozzarella Cheese
First you are going to take your butter and pesto and mix it in a blender. Then put it onto wax paper and roll it into a log. Place in your freezer for about 15-20 min.
Next you will need to flatten out all the breasts. The best way I have found to do this without a lot of mess is by using plastic bags.
This prevents all the juice from squishing out all over your counter when you hit it with the mallet.
I was able to do all 16 using only 2 bags. This is seriously a great way to get our your frustrations!
Once I had this done, I layed them out and put in a slice of the pesto butter and a slice of the mozzarella cheese.
and wrapped them up in pretty little bundles.
This next step I did not get a chance to photograph, well really I just got into it and forgot! We are gonna bread these puppies. Mix together flour and 2 tsp of salt and pepper and put it into a dish (I find loaf cake pans work great for this) put the panko crumbs into one and beaten egg into another. Dip your chicken rolls into the flour mix, then the egg, and then the panko. Place them all onto a cookie sheet in rows. Once they are all done put them in the fridge for about an hour to let the breading stick good. After your hour is done take them out and wrap each breast individually in plastic wrap. Put 4 or whatever you need for your family in a freezer bag.
When you are ready to cook them let them thaw and place them in a baking dish dice your tomatoes and put them on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. We served ours with peas and diced potatoes. It was really yummy and cheezy. here take a look.
The boys loved it. I hope you do to!
