Economy of Time - Chicken 3 Ways

As a busy mom I know that making a healthy and appealing dinner each night is a huge challenge. Last year I bought a cookbook called: "Cook Once a Week, Eat Well Every Day: Make-Ahead Meals that Transform Your Suppertime Circus into Relaxing Family Time" by Theresa Albert.

This book really has changed the way that I look at food preparation and planning. One of the most important ideas that I got out of this book was to prepare large quantities of meat a few different ways, for future use. I usually shop at Costco and used to think I was pretty organized by separating the huge family pack meats into smaller quantities and freezing these. Theresa goes one step further by actually cutting up the meat (if needed) and adding the marinade or spice mixture to the freezer bag and freezing it all together. Brilliant! All you have to do is take out the meat of choice the night before, put it in your fridge to defrost and then place it on a foil-lined baking sheet when you're ready to cook it. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until juices run clear. Add a few appropriate sides (carbs, veg, etc.) and voila, dinner is ready!

Chicken 3 Ways

• 1/2 head of garlic, minced and divided into 3 freezer bags
• 3 lemons juiced, divided into 2 of the freezer bags
  

Bombay Chicken (left bag in picture)

• Cut up 1/3 of the chicken into 1-2 inch size chunks and place in freezer bag with lemon and garlic
  
• Add 2 tbsp. commercially prepared curry paste (I like Patak's mild curry)
• Optionally, you can add 1/2 can coconut milk now or when cooking

Empty contents into an oven-safe casserole dish. Cook as directed. Serve with steamed rice.

Chinese Chicken (top bag in picture)

• Cut up 1/3 of the chicken into long strips and place in freezer bag with garlic only
  
• Add 1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce

Open up a bag of pre-shredded cole-slaw mixture and spread around on baking sheet. Remove chicken from marinade and place on top of cole-slaw. Bake as directed.

Greek Chicken (right bag in picture)

• Cut up 1/3 of chicken into chunks or strips and place in freezer bag with garlic and lemon juice
• Add 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
  

Bake and serve wrapped in pita bread with cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, hummus and kalamata olives.