I'm Just A Dump Cook

I thought I'd share one of my strategies for taming the take-out monster. Like everyone, I have days where I either don't feel like cooking or I'm too tired to cook. Ordering two large pizzas can cost us $20 even if you have coupons and eating out in a restaurant like Applebees will cost us over that even if we order water with our meals. So one of the things I try to do is to have something ready in the freezer that won't take long to cook. That's why I'm a dump cook!

Dump cooking just means that you Dump your mix into a gallon freezer bag with your chicken (I'll do one for meatballs another day) and freeze it. Then when you want it you Dump it into and pan and cook it! Bake at 350 for for about 25 mins if defrosted. I double the time when it's frozen. You don't have to fuss with it all.

I like boneless skinless chicken breast because they're quick and low fat. Kroger had them on sale last week and I always stock up when the price is at the most $1.99 a pound. But this will work with everything - wings, legs, thighs, bone-in breast - just adjust your cooking time. For defrosted boneless skinless chicken breast it's about 25 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. For chicken pieces it can run closer to an hour. You can also use your crock pot too.

Recipes:

Teriyaki Dump Chicken

• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1.5 tbls. minced ginger
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1.5 tbls. cider vinegar
• 1.5 tbls rice wine vinegar or sherry
  
  

Citrus Ginger Chicken

• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tbls. honey-mustard
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp red pepper (optional)

Cranberry Chicken

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
• 2 tbls. melted butter
• 1 tbls. soy sauce

Garlic Dijon Chicken

• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 4 tbls. dijon mustard
• 2 tbls. lime juice

Herb-wine Chicken

• 1 cup red wine
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1/2 lemon sliced thinly
• 2 tbls. minced parsley
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Russian Chicken

• 16 oz Russian salad dressing
• 2 pkgs. dry onion soup mix
• 2/3 cup apricot preserves

I often double the recipe because we like our chicken with a bit of sauce. Also this is for 4 chicken breasts so adjust if you're making more. They're very forgiving recipes. Even if you dump a 1/2 bottle of barbecue sauce in a baggie with some chicken and then freeze it for later use you're ahead of the game! Or maybe you have your own favorite marinade recipe - try that as a dump recipe.

We have fruit trees and berry bushes and one of the things I do is freeze some berries for use in cobblers in the winter. Even if you don't have berry bushes you can freeze berries when they're on sale in the summer. All I do is lay them on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once they're frozen solid I put them in a freezer baggie. That way they don't stick to each other. I don't wash them before freezing. I wash them before using them.

Fruit crisp is always a tastey thing to eat at any time of the year. But it seems so much more special in winter when most of us can't get fresh blueberries or blackberries! I made this for breakfast this morning - yummy and good for you (I use oats and flaxseed for the topping)!

I think it's time for some Valentine decorating as it's in two weeks. I don't do a whole lot for that day but I do like to mark the occasion for my family. I started working on a few simple Valentine projects that I'll share next week.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. As always, thank you so much for stopping by!

Go Steelers!!