"squirreling" Part Two

As I mentioned in my post Monday I'm currently experiencing "squirreling" and making freezer meals in anticipation of Gibson's arrival.

While doing my menu planning over the last few weeks I've been sure to incorporate a few freezer meals where I created a LARGE quantity of food so that there was one dish for that night and additional meals (made at the same time) that I could put into the freezer for later.

One of the meals that I did was Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole. This recipe made 4 meals... so one for right away and 3 that I have squirreled away in the freezer for future nights.

Here are the details...

Ingredients: 

• 10 Cups Cooked Rice
• 4 Cups Cooked Chicken
• 4 Cups Chopped Broccoli
• 2 Cans Cream of Broccoli Soup
• 3 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
• 4 Cups Shredded Chicken (1 lb block shredded) 
• Salt and Pepper 

Directions:

First, I cooked up my chicken. I used Chicken Tenders(they were on sale) and seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked for 20 minutes at 350 in the oven...

While my chicken was cooking I chopped and steamed some fresh broccoli in the microwave. (you can also use frozen if that is easier).

Mixed my steamed broccoli with the cream of broccoli and chicken soups.

Shredded my cheese. Cheaper to buy a 1 lb block and shred it yourself.

Cooked Rice... 4 cups of uncooked rice ended up making 10 Cups of cooked rice.

Took the Chicken out of the oven and chopped

Mixed everything together... Started mixing in a large bowl but there was sooooo much food that I quickly had to transition to my largest pot!

Placed 1/4 into a 8x8 pan and the rest was divided into three 1-Gallon Freezer bags!

 On the outside I placed a sticker with the date, meal name, and cooking instructions.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes!

When ready to eat the meals that are frozen I will simply take out the night before and place in the fridge to thaw and I will place in a 8x8 baking dish when ready to eat!



We ate the casserole with a mixed green and beet salad. Yummy in my tummy!

And just so you know what this cost:

• Rice $2.49
• Cream of broccoli soup $1.98
• Cream of Chicken Soup $2.97
• Broccoli, fresh $5.67
• 4 lbs Chicken tenders (on sale) $11.00
• 1lb Sharp Cheddar block of Cheese $7.59
• TOTAL: $31.70 divided by 4 = 7.93 each meal