How to cook once and eat 4 times from one cooking session.

I HATE COOKING EVERY DAY! Wait what? Really? Yes really, I would much rather be in my art studio dreaming up my next watercolor project. And who has time for cooking a meal every single day… I get burned out on it! SOOO I don’t. I Cheat. And no one knows about it… sometimes my kids are so hungry and they say so are you going to feed us sometime tonight…. (laser eyes from their mother beams at them) at which point I say if your that hungry make some mac and cheese, but we are having some chicken and _________ to go with our chicken, and supper will be ready in about 30 mins.

MY Friends, it’s all about the prep work… I feel like I have this down to a complete science. (but I am sure someone has found an easier way to prep) if so send that info my way.  

Grocery shopping Tuesday morning at Hy-Vee can feel like a magical place. They usually have meat markdowns up to 70% off, that’s when I feel like a scavenger for the best deals on chicken. No joke, I have gotten a 5lb bag of marinated boneless chicken for $5 all I have to do is sous vide these chicken breasts and add a side to my chicken and dinner is done. It’s that simple. Although those opportunities don’t happen all the time here is what I really do:

When whole chickens are a sale, (about every other month I buy about 4-6 chickens. I know that will get us through the next sale. (this way I am never buying chicken at the full price)

Since I don’t want to waste valuable freezer space with a whole chicken I plan that day or the day after to roast the 4-6 chicken, usually a morning or afternoon… but that’s ok, it’s saving me money and time later.  I usually add some spices, I like to do a rub with Italian seasoning on the inside of the skin to penetrate to the meat.  When I take out the chicken and let it cool I discard the skin, which means all the spices would go with it, and I don’t want that.

Note that since I have gotten a Sous Vide, I use that too for an alternative for roasting.

After I am done roasting the chicken I save the last chicken for supper that night, after all I have been roasting all afternoon the house smells like I am a fabulous cook, and everyone especially my dog wants some chicken.

I shred the chicken. I use it for bbq chicken, or for bbq chicken pizza, stews, soups, chicken pot pie, a creamy tortellini casserole, or I use it for salads. After all the chicken is shredded I place about 2-3 cups of shredded chicken into a bag and have about 4 -6 bags of shredded chicken ready to go… and that is one way I save time in the kitchen.

If you are like me and are like there is no way you are getting me to debone a chicken, DONT I have yet to see it worth my time… or if I do debone a chicken it’s after the cooking process, because I really don’t like handling the raw meat aspect of any cooking.

I BUY BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS when I am on the hunt for Chicken. I will buy sometimes 20lbs of this good stuff. The time savings is in the prep work of freezing. I like to season with a rub and then freeze the chicken breasts, if you have a Sous Vide then it’s all ready to go if not, thawing it and then roasting or grilling it is a snap.  Usually, an extra hour is worth getting 5 meals ready to go is worth it. DO not put a marinade or salad dressing in the bag before you freeze it, it doesn’t taste good and it’s not great for the meat. Stick with just seasoning. That way when you are ready to grill or roast all you do is get it thawed onto a pan and into the heat! Super simple stuff!

I like preparing my chicken this way because I don’t have to think about what is for supper, if I already know what is ready to go in my freezer, I just need some forethought as to what I want to make for supper that morning so I can get it out of my freezer.

Utilize your kitchen for the best Chicken

If you have a convect oven please use the convect roast option while roasting your chicken, you will be glad you did, it does an amazing job with making the outside chicken crispy and the inside of the chicken tender and moist, it’s my new best friend when it comes to roasting a chicken.

Sous vide and chicken were a match made in heaven! Seriously it’s changed the way I view cooking chicken. I love sous vide chicken for a roasted preparation but without the crunchy skin which can be done by searing the chicken, but who has time for that when sous vide is enough to make your pallet happy with the moist tenderness it brings to the table?

How to find the perfect Chicken recipe for your family

Are you like me and you love your cookbooks and want to know how to utilize chicken in your recipes? I own lots of cookbooks, I got overwhelmed with all these Chicken recipes and I end up roasting the chicken and for a side dish, I do mac and cheese! Does that ever happen to you? (you say no way, I am a way too awesome for that.) Then it’s just me, right?

I have narrowed my search for good chicken recipes into 3 categories:

Type of cooking method is it fried, baked, roasted, grilled, shredded (slow cooked.) or Sous Vide.

Type of meal is it a casserole or a stand-alone portion.

Prep process does it need to be marinated, or brined, or cooked all day, do I have to debone it before I cook it or can I after.

All of the categories mentioned plays a part in getting the perfect recipe. And don’t worry I don’t always follow the prep part of the recipe, because I know that if the end result is to shred the chicken, then I have that covered from freezing and shredding a couple chickens at once. I just need time to defrost it from my freezer.

The type of recipes can all coexist but I usually can look at the recipe and within 3 seconds know if it’s worthy of my time. When it comes to recipes I know what will work, or doesn’t work in my kitchen.

This is what I do:

Know your audience: I start off with the right cookbook, if I am wanting a family friendly chicken dinner I always go to those Church cookbooks, (the ones that are spiral bound and looks like it’s from your community you grew up in,) then you're in the right place. If you want a chicken dinner to impress you may want an everyday Italian cookbook or even the Pioneer woman cookbook. Knowing who you are cooking for helps a ton when looking for a chicken recipe. Look for cookbooks that have a specific ingredient index, that will help aid in your search.

Start with the recipe title, what clues can I get from the title: Here are some clues that I know right off the bat if my family will eat that or not, or if the recipe is worthy of my time, all the while I am not getting into the ingredient section. Focus on the title of the recipe. Here are some examples:

Baked Chicken: can mean that it’s a bit healthier and fast, but not all the time… look at how long it says it will be ready

Stuffed Chicken Breasts: really mean, more time and energy that I might not have to devote too unless it’s for a dinner party or a special occasion I am not making this for my family.

Creamy x and chicken: really means this is a casserole, perfect for those long winter nights…

Mr perfect chicken salad: really means precooked chicken with salad-like ingredients. That might be worth my time if I have a family picnic, but not as a family supper.

Chicken pesto with pasta: a healthy alternative to a creamy sauce, and easy if you buy pesto, or cheap if you grow your own herbs for pesto, a must try for this family.

Favorite herb Chicken: example: lemon and rosemary chicken, usually a marinade or a flavor enhancer to add flavor, usually a roasted, sous vide or grilled type recipe that is very open ended.

Smothered Chicken: lots of cheese or sauce loaded with seasoning to make it spicy and delectable. (best done at a restaurant and not at my house… (just kidding)) This recipe does take some time to make.

Blackened Chicken: it’s roasted usually with lots of spices on the skin that you can taste through the chicken. This one is also a great recipe that usually calls for roasting, Sous Vide, or baked.

Knowing the title can make all the difference in giving up on finding the perfect recipe, and knowing the dish, the way it’s prepared and having an idea of how labor intensive will help with finding the right recipe.

At first glance of the recipe, if the ingredients are more than 5 ingredients long I usually skip that recipe, I am in it to feed my family, not become a gourmet chef, usually, If I am looking for a more upscale recipe then I can go into the more time intensive recipes.

I have a small rule when it comes to the rest of the recipe, the ingredients need to be one that I can access easy, It should be in my well-stocked pantry or something I can pick up next time I am at the store. It should also be something that isn’t expensive that I may again for a while. Usually, if it’s a spice that I don’t hardly use, if it’s in a small spice jar for about a $1 then I will get it. Be careful with different types of oils, sometimes it’s not worth the extra money, (spices and olive oil that you can make your own for a fraction of the cost.)

Another thing I look at is the brand name of some of the ingredients, I usually substitute brand name items for the store brand if it’s comparable, sometimes it’s not and I end up getting the name brand product.

Finding the right Chicken recipe is a process, I like to think of it as a culinary journey. Most of the time I find a good grilling or marinade recipe that I can sous vide or roast and I am golden for like 6 months, because with one open-ended recipe I can add different sides, I can change up how I present it, (chicken breast, quarters, shredded on a bun, all with one recipe. So it’s not that you need 50 good recipes you need one good open-ended recipe that you can do more with.

2 step easy Sous Vide Soup You are missing out on

I love 2 step recipes, you know, the ones that you have like two things you have to remember to do to make a great dish This is one of those! This soup you can adapt to other vegetables (broccoli,) but for us we had some cauliflower that I needed to use up.

Sous Vide Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

In a Ziplock gallon size bag add:
2 lbs of Cauliflower cut into small pieces, I used two bags of frozen cauliflower
1 fresh apple peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic (if you like garlic use more, it was a very mild taste)
1tsp. salt
1/2 tsp Chili seasoning (more if you like it spicy, but don't add more than 1Tbs)
1-2 bay leafs
Sous Vide this at 183F for an hour

Then in a food processor or blender puree the soup, if you have an immersion blender use it like you would with a regular soup recipe.

Add the puree to a stock pot, add  48oz. of Chicken Broth (less if you want it thicker.) Bring to a boil, and simmer until you are ready to serve. before you start to serve it add 1 cup of cheddar cheese. When you serve the soup, add some cheese for a garnish, and some crackers! we like goldfish crackers!

Enjoy!

Valentines Day is February 14th Are you Ready?

Want a tool that your husband will love, but it's for you? and no it's not something for the bedroom Geehz!. It's for your Kitchen and it makes your life SO MUCH EASIER!!!

The Sous Vide cooking process has taken kitchens by storm, It's my new favorite tool that makes cooking effortless! Those moderate and economically cheap cut of meats, like a roast, will taste like you hired a  chef for the evening! This cooking process is something that you can do with little prep work in the kitchen, and the flavor and the tenderness of the tenderness of the meat are so unbelievable! Try a steak, and see how you like it, you will never go back to the grill, or the crockpot ever again. I PROMISE!

I made a chuck roast and it cooked all day in my Sous Vide water bath, It felt like forever!!! I am so glad I waited, I made a roux with the savory juices that came from the cooking process, and then let the meat rest while the roux/gravy was being made. I also cooked my carrots in the same water bath as the roast, just in a different bag, I wanted a maple glazed carrot for one of the sides, and it worked out amazing! It's  crazy how little prep work I did for the most amazing results! Here are some of my tips to make this chef-worthy meal:

Buy a chuck roast when it was 60% off, Freeze it,
The day before you want to cook it, take it out of the freezer to thaw
Add lots of pepper to the meat, (coat the meat in pepper and some herbs, whatever you like!)

Place the roast in the heated water bath and let it cook for a day like 18-22 hours,
While it's cooking cheek on the water level, add more if needed. and at some point, during the day you will want to add the carrots into another bag, and add some syrup and some spices to add some flavor. Add the bag of carrots to the water bath, and wait...

Once the meat and the carrots are done make the Roux from the juices of the meat, and dish up!

What do you think, a perfect gift right? You get a tool that makes cooking easy and fool proof, and other half gets an amazing dinner! 

Here is the perfect gift!

I am an Affliliate with Amazon any products you buy will help support my blog!

Best Sous Vide Brownies

The best brownies I ever made was with my Sous Vide, that took 10 minutes of prep time. It was insanely easy So here is my secret:

Take a brownie box mix,
add the ingredients that is listed on the box to the mix, but only use about half of the oil and a little less of the water, (if you add all the oil you will have a mushy brownie, which is also really yummy!)
Mix the ingredients really well.

You will need about 6-8 jelly jars, or pint jars, spray the inside of the jar with oil so the brownies won't stick. Then add the brownie mix into the jars, leave lots of head space. Don't over fill them, I like to fill them about 2/3 full, but that would be my absolute max, filling them higher than that could mean a big mess if they overfull. Add your lids and bands, I reuse my lids, I just sharpie on the top of the lids, SOUS VIDE so I know that those lids have been used.

On a side note, I did add some heath toffee bits to the top of these brownies before I baked them

Get the water ready, the sous vide cooker ready and drop the jars into the hot water once it hits the temp. I cooked them at 195 F. for 3 hours, just watch your water level, and let them cool before taking them out of the jar, or leave them in the jar, add some ice cream and you my friend will have an amazing desert that people are just going to love!

Other insights: making brownies in each jar could be served to each family member. So you could customize for each person, you can add nuts, candy bits, caramel sauce whatever you can think off! You will have fewer dishes, you can eat the brownie out of the jar, add some ice cream to it for a really yummy treat. If you know you want this desert for dinner tonight just keep it warm in the water bath until you are ready to serve it. Or give this brownie in a jar way as a gift to someone to brighten their day! What ideas would you do with your Sous Vide brownie? I promise this recipe will be hard to give away because you will want to eat it all and not share, good thing it's so easy to make!

What else should I try baking this way? I was thinking Banana bread, or blueberry buckle maybe!!! I can't wait to try them!

If you are new to this type of cooking I have an introductory post to get you familiar with how Sous Vide cooking works.

So if you are looking into the Sous Vide process, Amazon has the one I have.

I got my double oven in an unexpected way

The Anova Sous Vide precision cooker cooking brownies in mason jars

Anova Culinary PCB-120US-K1 Bluetooth Precision Cooker, 800 Watts, Black

So There is a new kitchen gadget in my kitchen and it's a tool that turns any pot into a water bath oven, AKA my new double oven.

Let me explain. it's a precision cooker, what it does is heat the water in a stock pot, or dutch oven or even a cooler, to the exact temperature that you set, and it cooks the food only to that temperature. It's a dream for so many dishes.

Cooking turkey breasts with the Anova Precision Cooker 

Anova Culinary PCB-120US-K1 Bluetooth Precision Cooker, 800 Watts, Black

They call this cooking process Sous Vide. I have an ANOVA Precession Cooker and I love it!

Sous Vide is a water bath oven, the long and the short of it: Once sous vide cooker heats the water to the temperature the food that you are submersing in water will only get cooked to that temperature, so there is no over-cooking, the food will never get hotter than what is set at. So if you like your steaks medium done, you set the Sous Vide cooker at 131 and it will never get hotter than that. The amazing thing about this is, your cooking it in vacuumed sealed bag so no air can get to it to make it dry, The meat that you sous vide is moist and tender you will never want to grill your stakes again... I promise!

So here are some youtube video's that have helped me wrap my mind around this new cooking process:

Or if you want to know how to make a meal like I did here is a short youtube video

One last thought about this cooking process: I look at Sous Vide as a really fancy way of saying this: I keep over cooking steaks, and it really makes me mad... so Sous Vide is another term for flawless cooking, in a vacuum sealed water bath with amazing perfect results every time... it takes the guesswork out of cooking your meat. Which reminds me, I have some pork loin I want to Sous Vide tonight, all I have to do is get the water going and let it do its thing! It's my new best friend!

Amazon has it for sale, a perfect gift for Valentines Day!

I am an affiliate for Amazon.