Chicken Cacciatore

I am a HUGE fan of freezer cooking....with working full time, all of Miss S's activities and Hubby's schedule it can be SO daunting trying to decide what to have for dinner every night and actually finding the time to cook. We end up eating too much junk and fast food cause by the time I get home from work I am pooped. I've done freezer cooking on and off for several years but have decided that it's time to get serious about it again. Over the weekend I made 4 different recipes and froze 12 dinners. Not too shabby for about $30 of ingredients and a couple hours of my time.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite freezer cooking recipes. This is a great website that can give you the basics about freezer cooking but I really recommend finding the recipes that your family loves to eat and just making huge batches of them. This recipe for Chicken Cacciatore makes 15 servings, so I freeze it in four containers and have four dinners and a little bit of left overs for lunch the next day.

We had this for dinner last night and it was delicious!

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 15-oz jars of spaghetti sauce
1 can Italian style stewed tomatoes

In a large skillet or stock pot, saute the onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in olive oil until onion is soft. Stir in chicken, spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Package in freezer bags or plastic containers. Label and freezer.

To serve:
Thaw. Pour into medium saucepan. Simmer until heated through. Serve over wide egg noodles, spaghetti or rice. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.


PS Don't forget - PROJECT POSTCARD!