How to Host a "Freezer Meal Making Party"- Including 6 Chicken Recipes

Are you looking for a way to save time in the kitchen? Aren't we all. Several years ago I developed a logical way to assemble a variety of chicken dishes at the same time, thus saving time and money. I have shared the chart with multiple friends and lady's groups and a few times met with friends to assemble the meals together, a kind of productive Ladies Night Out. Below explains how I hosted the party and the chart to get you started. Be creative and develop some of your own recipes. Don't forget, you can always alter, cut in half, or double the recipes to fit your needs. Host a Freezer Meal Party for your friends or co-workers and get that freezer stocked.

Here is how it's done...

1. From the chart, and as a group, chose which recipes to make and a date for the meeting. At least a week out gives everyone time to prepare.
2. One member volunteers their home for the assembling of the recipes and shops for all the ingredients and ziptop freezer bags needed minus the chicken. The hostess must remember to multiply each recipe's ingredients times the number of members.
3. The members bring their own chicken. This allows them to chose the cut, amount, and quality (ex. organic) that they desire. This also gives everyone the opportunity to shop the sales.
4. The hostess divides the ingredient grocery bill among all of the group members, the hostess does not pay. I think it cost us all about $5.00-$7.00 each. Members pay the hostess upon arrival.
5. The hostess prepares her home by setting out large ziptop freezer bags, measuring spoons and cups, cutting boards and knives, ingredients, a Sharpie to date the bags, and anything else needed for the assembly. He/She does not forget the cocktails!
6. The members bring their chicken in coolers on ice. They could also take home their bags of marinades and add the chicken later but it is best to complete the entire job that night and simply throw it in the freezer when they get home.
7. The members divide in small groups, each taking a recipe or two to assemble. Each group works like an assembly line starting with one ingredient and adding that amount to as many bags as there are members. Once the marinades are made, bagged, and divided, each member adds their own chicken. Sometimes, last minute, a group member may not make it so it is nice if the members assemble their marinades for them and deliver it or hold it in their freezer for the person to pick up later. At home they add their own chicken.
8. After assembly, the members all clean the hostess' kitchen, place the chicken bags in their coolers, and share a delicious dessert over a pot of coffee, provided by the hostess.

Below is the chart you will need to host your own Freezer Meal Making Party. Download and give a copy to each member of your group.

Chicken Freezer Meal Party

May I suggest some desserts for your Freezer Meal Party...click here.

Not in the mood for a freezer meal party? No problem, I have made these all by my little lonesome and did just fine.

*The above photo was taken of Dryden in 2006 at my SIL Donna's house, she keeps the cutest little chickens that lay the cutest little eggs.

Don't forget Big Red Kitchen's RED event- National Wear Red Day®

Robin Sue

National Wear Red Day®

Friends it is time to get your red on! Friday, February 5th is National Wear Red Day® hosted by The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to encourage women to better understand their own heart health, risk factors, and ways to decrease heart disease among women. My specialty in nursing was cardiothoracic medicine, in other words I took care of people's hearts and lungs. The longer I practiced the more I noticed an ever increasing amount of female cardiac patients who were getting younger instead of older and the amount of female cardiac patients was gaining on the male cardiac patients!

What was going on? It came down to more women adopting poor health practices like smoking, fatty diets, weight gain, lack of exercise, and busier schedules that lead to stress. I've taught hundreds of people, positive and healthy ways to prevent heart disease. The first step is know what heart disease is, your risk factors, and ways to avoid heart disease. Here are some links to get you started...

Lower Heart Disease Risk
What is Heart Disease
What are the Risk Factors for Heart Disease
How Do I Find Out if I Am at Risk For Heart Disease?
Get the Word Out!

Join Big Red Kitchen's National Wear Red Day® Event by...

1. Posting a Heart, Healthy Recipe on your site between now and Feb. 4th.
2. Email your post link and permission to use a photo of your recipe to bigredkitchen (at) yahoo (dot) com by Feb 4th 6 pm EST.
3. Once the roundup goes live at 6 am EST on Feb 5th, let your readers know by placing a link on your site to the roundup so that they can see your name in lights the the other heart, healthy recipes.
4. Also for giggles and completely optional but encouraged, send me a picture of you in red or provide one on your post so I can post it here with your recipe. Dazzle us with your red ladies and gents!

Ideas for Heart Healthy Recipes
Mayo Clinic
NHLBI Recipe Book

Who will join me?
Sisters, mothers, aunties, girlfriends, wives, and daughters, and all men who love their sisters, mothers, aunties, girlfriends, wives, and daughters join Big Red Kitchen in getting the word out and the RED on! See you on the 5th in RED!

*Logo is from the NHLBI website, get one for your site.

Robin Sue

French Toast Sticks

This morning I made up a recipe for French Toast Sticks that yielded crispy exteriors and soft, bread-like centers. These reminded me of Forrelli Italian Lady Fingers. These were more on the pastry side of French Toast with a rich cinnamon flavor and went better with icing than maple syrup. These were perfect for my children's lunch boxes.

French Toast Sticks
1 package 4 ct. King's Hawaiian Snacker Rolls
4 large eggs whisked with 1 T. milk

1 1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

In a large zip-top bag shake together sugar and cinnamon. Cut rolls apart and split open. Cut each roll piece lengthwise into 3 strips. You should get 24 total. Dip, 4 at a time, bread strips into egg mix. Place the strips into the bag and seal and shake until well coated. Place the strips on a parchment lined large baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the strips. Bake in a 375 degree CONVECTION oven for 15 minutes. If you do not have a convection setting be sure to turn the baking sheet midway through baking time and they may take a few minutes longer. The strips will be slightly browned and flaky, crispy. Very delicate and flavorful. Makes 24 pieces.

Note- Serve with a simple icing made from milk and powdered sugar with a splash of vanilla. To reheat, place in the microwave, covered with a paper towel and heat for about 20 seconds, just enough to take the chill off. Also good at room temperature.

Super Bowl recipes will be in this Friday's Newsletter, don't miss a bite!

Tomorrow I will be announcing Big Red Kitchen's first ever event! Hint- it has to do with...RED! Be sure to come back.

Robin Sue

The Story of How I Became a Nurse

It was by accident and I mean that literally. I was in my second year of college as a bio/chem premed major when I had an accident in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory. It was late afternoon near the end of October, those Fall days when no one knows how to dress for the weather, very cold in the morning but warm by afternoon. I was about six weeks into refining a chemical substance for identification and had already spent about 24 hours in the lab doing so. With my lab notebook at my side I had documented the entire process down to every last detail. My lab station was always very neat with clean glassware on paper towels drying and other chemicals at the ready.

This one particular afternoon the setting sun came through the lab window at such an angle making us all very warm. Just prior to making some adjustments to my experiment, I fortunately removed my sweater. I poured my substance out of the hot beaker into a test tube and decided that it was still much too cloudy and poured it back into the hot beaker sitting atop the Bunsen burner for additional heating. Doing so caused a loud explosion sending hot, shattered glass everywhere followed by a fireball that rolled up both of my arms taking all the hair with it and settling on my right thumb. I froze as I saw my thumb on fire and burning paper towels float through that air. The student next to me stomped the fire out while I snapped to and blew out my thumb. It was all a matter of a few seconds but to me it was all in fast and slow, choppy, blurry motion. Almost the way a Jason Bourne movie is filmed. It was over for me, I would never recover the lost experiment in time for finals.

During that semester I had helped a hall-mate study for all her clinical exams. She was a nursing student and filled me with fantastical stories of her days in clinical. I was romanced by her stories and knew it would be years before I ever touched a patient, and here she was helping people presently. After visiting the infirmary to have my thumb bandaged, I marched myself down to the registrar's office and changed my major to that of my study partner's. By the next Fall I was happily with patients and not one of them exploded. This was one time a fireball saved someones life. Mine.

**I specialized in Cardiothoracic Nursing and worked in the MICU at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in NJ. I taught clinical nursing at an LPN college in NC then went on to be a Nurse Specialist in the Pulmonary Rehab unit at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in NC. The most rewarding career outside of the home! Now I practice my nursing skills on my children, husband, family, and friends. They haven't exploded either. Yet.

Now that you know a little more about me and since this is a food blog, here is my menu for the week.
Pasta Carbonara
Baked Corn Dogs
Frogmore Stew
Hamburgers and Broccoli Slaw
Chicken Ramen Salad

Tomorrow in BRK- French Toast Sticks, a recipe I made up for my children's lunch box.

The Newsletter will be out this Friday, sign up and verify.

Robin Sue

Sweet Italian Chicken

In my last post I informed you all about some changes I have been working on lately. One, having Dinner For Breakfast (DFB). I also included the top ten reasons it is working out for us. I have discovered an 11th reason: natural light to photograph my meals for Big Red Kitchen, an unexpected perk for sure. If I were to have dinner at our regular time of 6:30 pm the images would be yellowish and dark but here we have refreshing looking food shot in natural light.

I have been getting many great comments from you all about this little experiment and have enjoyed the banter. I have had breakfast in other countries, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and Korea and it was always a nice surprise to see the variety each country brings to their breakfast table. Korea probably has the most amazing breakfasts I had ever seen in my life- seafood, rice, eggs, meats, noodle dishes, salads, fruits, sushi, kimbap, and so much more. So I brought a little of the world into our kitchen and said move over to our usual American-rush-out-of-the-house-cold-cereal-for-breakfast tradition. Right now, today, this week, this month, it works for us. In the summer, things may be different, like the cook sleeping in for a change.


I found this chicken recipe on Debbie's site Mocha Me, you may recognize it as the base of my Harvest Chicken and Biscuits. This morning I made it like hers with a twist- I used my own seasoning mix. My family really liked this chicken dish served over fine buttered noodles, salad, and Karen's Roasted Cocoa Smoked Paprika Cauliflower which has a deep smoky flavor enhanced by the cocoa but not tasting chocolaty.

Deven: "You put sugar in the chicken, mom?" Squishing his face into his wow-that's-weird look.
Me: "Yes and I'll never do it again, OK?"
Deven: "No! You can do it again."

Sweet Italian Chicken
1 T. Italian Dressing Mix or 1 pkt. Good Season's Italian Dressing Mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, excess fat removed

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients until chicken is coated evenly. Place in a single layer in a baking dish and bake in 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Serves 4-5.

Don't' forget to sign up for the newsletter over there on the right sidebar. I hope to put out some great Super Bowl Recipes.

Oh does anyone have a cure for 7 year old girls going on 17?

Linked to Se7en's Fabulous Friday Fun

Robin Sue

What's New?

It all began with spilled milk. One morning while I was getting ready for work, I could hear the children downstairs fighting. Well one thing lead to another and over went the gallon of milk, spilling half of its contents on the floor. Right then I decided something needed to be done, for one, I needed to be ready and in the kitchen when they come down for breakfast. For another we needed to start our day off with a big healthy meal together as a family.

I TURNED THINGS UPSIDE DOWN- Dinner for Breakfast
That's when it came to me to flip my daily menu over. Eat dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. Benefits...
1. Eating our large meal earlier in the day to "break our fast" is healthy.
2. We do not have our blood sugars crashing by 10 am.
3. We start off our day together as a family.
4. Everyone is home to help out.
5. We no longer go to bed with full bellies. Good-bye acid reflux.
6. I can go to my gym class at 5 or 6 PM without rushing home to cook.
7. We eat breakfast for dinner like healthy smoothies, cereal, toast, or oatmeal.
8. I don't have to cook a meal at the end of the day when I am tired.
9. My children eat better.
10. I am DONE cooking for the day by 8 am!

I GROCERY SHOP IN MY JAMMIES
Another change that I made was evaluating what task I spend too much time doing. It is grocery shopping. I now shop online on Wednesday evenings (in my jammies) and pick it up the next morning after work from my grocery store. Harris Teeter offers a shopping program called Express Lane in which a personal shopper shops for me! It does not come from a central warehouse but from my local grocery store where I know the store, managers, baggers, and personal shopper and it only costs $4.95!

MENU PLAN FOR A YEAR
I plan my menu for a year. Yes I do. It is seasonal, flexible, and a life saver. I got away from doing it for a while and the BRK fell apart. If you want to learn how to plan your menu for a year go here.

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER
Sadly many sign up for the newsletter and never verify which means they will not get the newsletter. So please, if you sign up check your spam folder for the verification letter if you do not receive one. My next newsletter will feature Super Bowl recipes.

BRK FAN CLUB
You can see on my side bar a place to click and sign up for my fan site via facebook. Here you will get behind the scenes of BRK.

BLOGS OF THE MONTH
This is a very popular feature on Big Red Kitchen. Recently updated for January 2010 highlights more of my favorite blogs I love to read.

BRK'S RECIPE BOX
Newly updated with scores of Big Red Kitchen's recipes, a better navigation system, and a spanking new catagorized Dessert Section.

I AM A CRAFTY SUPERSTAR
Cut Out + Keep, a very cool craft site, contacted me to ask if I would like to be one of their Crafty Superstars. Much better than a rock star is being a Crafty Super Star among greats like Mark Montano, Kate Shirazi, Betz White and of course Lorraine Elliot of Not Quite Nigella. Pop on over and see some of my projects.

8 is great! Well, that is eight new things going on in BRK. I'll give you a few days to absorb it all.

Robin Sue

Graham's Best Apple Martini

This guest post is brought to you by my friend Graham Holt of Graham's Travel Blog. While blogging I have made many friends and Graham and I have been long standing fans and supporters of each others blogs. I enjoy his writing and find myself laughing out loud at his adventures and some of his misadventures too. I am so happy that he is here on Big Red Kitchen today sharing his non-neon green Apple Martini.

I had never had an Apple Martini before a friend, who is particularly fond of them, requested that I make this drink about a year ago. Knowing of this request, my wife sent me an interesting NY Times Article titled The Greening Of the Martini , which included several recipes for the drink.

While one of the recipes called for an infusion of apples and vodka, most of these recipes focused on DeKypur Sour Apple Pucker. This product has a flavor that is not completely unlike that of an apple Jolly Rancher, and while it does a good job of masking the flavor of vodka, it ends up being more of a distraction than something that I can proudly serve in my home. Using this product creates a passable drink in a busy bar serving college students, but I was more interested in something that I would actually want to drink.

When apple season rolled around this year, I picked up this project again, and I've come up with a recipe with which I'm really happy. Once the required ingredients are prepared, the drink comes together fairly easily. Some may find this a bit too much work for a cocktail, but I have yet to serve this to someone who didn't thoroughly enjoy it.

The following recipe will make five drinks with enough Apple Infused Vodka left over for those that wish to try the base of this drink straight.


Apple Infused Vodka
2 Medium Apples: This is proven with Cortlands and Fujis, but other, crisp and slightly sour varieties such as Gala and Fuji should work as well. If using a sweeter apple, you may wish to adjust the amount of Heavy Simple Syrup that you use in the final drink.

15 ounces Vodka: Smirnoff works fine for infusing, but a better brand could be substituted if desired.

Chop the apples, discarding the core, and place into a 1 quart Mason jar or similar container; muddle the fruit. Add vodka and store in the refrigerator for 48 hours.


Shake jar several times a day and muddle again after the first 24 hours. At end of the two days, muddle the mixture one last time and strain the infusion by a method that works for you. I've used a cone coffee filter holder without a filter for this. This method allows some of the pulp to pass through which you may not desire. Filtering through several layers of cheese cloth would resolve this.


Squeeze out the vodka infused apples to get as much liquid out of them as you can. Store the resulting liquid in a refrigerator; a 17 oz glass flask works well for this purpose. The Apple Infused Vodka may be stored refrigerated for up to two weeks without a noticeable decline in quality.

As a byproduct of this process, you will have some vodka infused apples. These can be discarded or repurposed if you happen to be clever in the kitchen. I tried to make a drunken apple cake, but the alcohol flavor remained too strong. Perhaps carefully cooking the apples first would help.

Heavy Simple Syrup
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cups White Sugar

Combine White Sugar and Water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, using a pastry brush dipped in warm water to wash down any sugar crystals that may form on the sides of the saucepan. Allow to cool and bottle.

You may notice that this recipe is between traditional simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water ratio) and rock candy syrup (2:1 sugar to water ratio). I find that this is a good balance between concentration of the syrup and shelf stability. If you already have some simple syrup handy, you may need to adjust for its sweetness in the final drink.



Graham's Best Vodka Apple Martini
3 oz Apple Infused Vodka
1/2 oz Heavy Simple Syrup
Quarter of a Lemon, with the pips removed
Splash of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider (1/2 to 1 oz)
Thin Apple Wedge for garnish

Pour Apple Infused Vodka and Heavy Simple Syrup into a cocktail shaker 2/3 full of ice. Squeeze the Quarter of a Lemon into the cocktail shaker and drop it in. Shake well; 30 shakes works well for this drink. Strain into a martini glass, add splash of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. Garnish with a Thin Apple Wedge.

Please enjoy the above recipe, fiddle with it, improve on it and let me know how it goes in the comment section below. It's true that it takes a bit of time to complete, but if you try it, I'm sure that you'll agree that this drink is worth the effort.

I'm also open to ideas about using the vodka infused apples, so if you have any ideas, let me know.

Graham is the author of Graham's Travel Blog. When he's not traveling, he enjoys spending time in the kitchen and maintaining his blog.

Photography by Nicole Holt, Graham's lovely wife. Video taken on a Flip Cam.

Thank you Graham, I really like that this drink is topped off with Martinelli to give it a bit of fizz and that it is not neon green!

Robin Sue

Breakfast Tacos

It is cold here. I believe it is cold everywhere. As I type this recipe, I have Necco, my sugar glider, curled up in the crook of my arm between my polar fleece jacket and sweater. You see, he's been kicked out. I found him curled up and shivering on the wheel today instead of snuggled up with Snickers in their bed. Snickers is growing uncomfortable as their joey grows in her pouch. I think there is only one joey, at least that is all I can feel right now, a little head and a foot now and again. But don't quote me, I am a nurse for humans not marsupials. I think she must be having mood swings and kicked him out of bed this morning with a, "You did this to me," speech. I wonder how much longer? Necco wonders too.


So to stay extra warm this past week, we have been enjoying some favorite comfort meals in Big Red Kitchen like Creamed Chicken, Chili Mack, and Breakfast Tacos. My SIL Ellen taught me about Breakfast Tacos back in our Germany days during some of our cozy Sunday Night Suppers. These delicious tacos made the rotation often, especially during those cold German winters.


Breakfast Tacos
2 pounds bulk breakfast sausage
2 pounds frozen hash brown potatoes, I use diced
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
20 eight inch flour tortillas

Others:
Extra oil for frying
seasoned salt or a potato seasoning like Penzeys Northwoods Seasoning
Sour Cream
Salsa

In a very large skillet over high heat cook sausage until browned breaking up large chunks. Remove from pan leaving grease behind. To the sausage grease add potatoes, you may need to add 2 more T. of vegetable oil. Leave on high heat and cover to heat potatoes through, about 10 minutes. Remove lid and stirring frequently cook potatoes until crispy, about 10 minutes. I like to season my potatoes generously with seasoned salt at this point. Once the potatoes are crispy, add sausage back into the pan and pour beaten eggs in. Stir well and heat until the eggs are scrambled and cooked through. Stir in cheese. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, fill each tortilla with a rounded 1/2 cup of filling. Fold tortilla in half and wrap in waxed paper to keep warm. Place all of the tacos in a large pan, dish, or basket. I like to place mine on a warming tray and cover with foil. Serve with sour cream and salsa. Makes 20 tacos.

Note- Store leftovers in the refrigerator. To reheat, place one in the microwave for 45 seconds. Carefully open the tortilla, there will be steam, and add sour cream and salsa if desired. Great for the lunch box.

PS- We drank Mimosas with our Breakfast Tacos this past Sunday night. A good way to start the week.

Other Sunday Night Suppers
Ham Biscuits
Kielbasa Sauerkraut Buns

I want to point you all in the direction of an up and coming website called Tastebudding. I spoke with Jessica last Fall as she was doing some research into the site's development. I was very excited about her vision for the site and I hope that those of you who have children pop on over there and sign up to receive an email when they launch. I think we could all use some refreshing new recipes that are healthy and kid-friendly.

Robin Sue

Happy New Year 2010

Time flies! It has been one whole week since we set Big Red Kitchen up for our New Year's Eve celebration. This year we decided to stay home, too many crazies on the road. We invited our friends over to ring in the new decade with us, this is their first in the US, for the last nine they have been in Germany. Funny thing, 10 years ago Himself and I were in Germany bringing in Y2K with friends and it wasn't until last Thursday that I realized a decade had whizzed by us. The decade we got out of the Army, moved to Virginia, Himself started a new career, we adopted Daelyn, and settled down in the Big Red Kitchen. The decade my blog was born.


I blinged out BRK with all the New Year hoopla and we all got a kick out of everyone trying on hats and beads and blowing horns- all. night. long.


I thought it would be fun to do Fondue. Everyone likes fondue, right?

Here are the items I served with our Cheese Fondue:
Swiss Cheese Fondue- from Trader Joe's
Herbed Brie Fondue- Trader Joe's
Queso- also from Trader Joe's
3 Bratwursts- Bauernwurst, Weißwurst, und Nürnberger Wurst
Roasted Cauliflower
Pan Roasted Tiny Red Potatoes
Raw Carrots and Celery
Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms
German Pickles
Sliced French Baguette
Apple Slices
Cherry Tomatoes
Cheese Tortellini
Organic Corn Chips

For Dessert and Good Luck:
A Giant Sweet Soft Pretzel
Raspberry Jam Berliners


We grazed all night long.


A highlight for the children were huge frosty mugs of Root Beer, something new to our Scottish and German friends. I like to keep my mugs in the freezer, right there on the door. The kids LOVED this. This is their version of those Captain Morgan commercials.


After a fun night of ringing in the New Year and waking all our neighbors with our horn blowing, poppers, and shouting, we went to bed. But that's not all, no, no, no. We have a little tradition of going to my brother's for our Good Luck Supper of Pork and Sauerkraut and Black-Eyed Peas. So delicious as always Rob.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration. This time of year is always a reflective time for me. Good things are happening here in the BRK as my team of friends, family, and Life Planners have been busy encouraging me to Dream Big and not only dream, but do it. Soon you will see some of my dreams come true.

PS- I don't believe so much in luck, it is just a great excuse to eat those yummy foods.

Robin Sue