Here comes SUMMER! And with summer comes CHAOS! It seems that everyone’s lives hit fast forward once the weather breaks. I know ours does. We travel a lot more and have so many activities.
AND let’s face it, when it’s nice out, the last thing you want to do after you have been stuck in doors all day at work, is to be stuck in the kitchen all evening. I want to be outside with my girls while they ride their bikes, or showing off my drawing skills with sidewalk chalk.
That’s where meal prep and freezer meals come into play at my house. I failed this past week. I had no plan and no meals that I could pull out of the freezer. I didn’t even make it to the grocery store. Luckily, I have (or had) a decent stockpile of food to use.
I decided the best thing to start with for stocking my kitchen is CHICKEN. My family can basically eat chicken every day, so for us, it’s a good thing to have available all the time. And, it can be used in so many recipes and transferred with so many different flavors.
I like to cook a big batch of chicken and shred it so that it can be added to a number of different recipes. Lately, I have been using my Instant Pot to cook my chicken because it is so fast and the chicken stays moist and flavorful. I have also thrown a couple chicken breasts in the crockpot and let it cook low and slow for a couple hours. You will find directions below for each of the 2 methods I just mentioned.
Instant Pot Method:
-Place the trivet in to pot. Pour water/chicken broth into the bottom of the pot.
-Add chicken breast and season with salt and pepper.
-Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn to close. Turn the valve, making sure that it is in the SEAL position.
-Press the Poultry button and adjust the timer to 15 minutes. Once the timer goes off, allow Natural Release for 5 minutes before releasing the steam valve.
-Open the lid once all of the pressure has escaped.
-Take the chicken out of the pot and shred.
Crockpot Method:
-Add chicken to the crockpot and season with salt and pepper.
-Then add water/chicken broth to the crockpot.
-Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 1 ½ hours.
-Take the chicken out of the crockpot and shred.
Once the chicken is cooked and shredded, I like to portion it out and use my food saver to keep it fresh in the freezer. I have found that 1 1/2 – 2 cups is a good portion for many recipes for my family of 4. Adjust your portions accordingly to your family size and needs.
