Ultimo Chicken Burritos

Another winner from our Freezer Meal Group. My kids ate them up, a sign of a scrumptious recipe. I was scrambling last minute to get dinner on the table, and thank my lucky stars, you pull the burritos from the freezer, zap them in the micro wave for 3 minutes and bake in the oven for 10. That's 13 minutes from the freezer to my mouth!

Ultimo Chicken Burritos

Each burrito includes rice, chicken, bean mix, and cheese. Fill each tortilla with these ingredients, fold tortilla into burrito. Individually wrap each burrito with plastic wrap before you place in freezer.

For shredded chicken, throw the following in a crock pot:

A few chicken breasts

1 packet or a couple Tbs taco seasoning

A couple Tbs tomato paste

A couple Tbs brown sugar

½ cup water

Bean Mix 

•  2-1/2 teaspoons  salt
•  1 pound  dry pinto beans
•  1 tablespoon  olive oil
•  1/4 pound  salt pork, rind removed, or sliced bacon, finely chopped
•  1 cup  chopped onions
•  1   serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped
•  1 tablespoon  finely chopped garlic
•  4 cups  water
•  1/4 teaspoon  cumin seed
•  3 tablespoons tomato paste
•  1 bag frozen corn kernels, (10 ounces)
•  6 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Soak beans according to package directions; drain.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add salt pork; cook 2 minutes, until browned. Reduce heat to medium; add onions and chile and cook 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add drained beans, water and cumin seed. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt and continue to cook 25 to 35 minutes more, until tender.

3. Add tomato paste, cook a few minutes until thickened.

4. Add corn, heat through.

5. Stir in scallions.

To heat burritos, unwrap, microwave for 3 minutes on high, then bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until outside is crispy. If you like, you can top with your favorite enchilada sauce and cheese. Serve with salsa and sour cream. Recipe courtesy Alexis Middleton.

Apricot Asian Chicken

Fridays are very busy! Coach M and I are running a soccer camp and its on Fridays...and that means between regular work stuff, kids stuff, jewelry stuff...I was happy to pull a meal from the freezer to thaw overnight so we could enjoy it after chasing the soccer balls for the majority of the day!

I do have to express how much my family enjoyed this meal. We even ate it for leftovers, AND that says it all, right there!

Apricot Asian Chicken:

Ingredients:

• 1 jar Apricot Pineapple Jam
• 1 Lipton Onion soup mix
• 1 Frozen bag Asian style vegitables with liquid seasoning (if you don't have the extra liquid seasoning, add 4 Tbs Hoison sauce)
• 2 tsp fresh minced ginger
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 4 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch lengthwise strips.
• 1/2 cup cashews, add to garnish

Preheat oven to 375. Put all ingredients (except for last) into 9X13 pan. Stir til chicken and vegetables are coated well. Bake for 40 minutes.

If you are eating it right away, garnish with Cashews. Otherwise put into a labeled gallon ziplock bag (With date & ingredients), lay flat and freeze.

I reheated the meal over the stove on medium heat and I served it over sticky rice. We also like this meal over Kung Fu noodles, but I will save that for another post.

Meet my Japanese rice cooker, her name is Ai-chan {pronounced I-chan}. Since living in beloved Nihon, I can't use anything else!

On to dessert...my version of a homemade "Pazookie". A "What?" you say. A Pizza-Cookie, which is deliciousness (aka store bought cookie dough) pressed into a small pan.........

Baked in the oven at 375 for 15minutes.....

And topped with Vanilla ice cream, drizzled with your favorite carmel and chocolate sauces.

On Fridays, we love to make it an extra "special" night with the kids. So we find a fun family movie to rent, close all the blinds, gather around our coffee table with our pillows and blankies, and DIG IN to the silkiness of the ice cream and crunchy sweetness of the cookie. Its like a brownie sundae, but better.