Jul 23, 2008

Batch Cooking (bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breasts)

Here are two of the trays of bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breasts.

After I stuffed and wrapped em (recipe to follow)
I put them on cookie sheets and flash froze em.
(stuck them in the freezer for an hour or two to firm them up so they wouldn't schmoosh when they were vacuum sealed and so they would stay separate so i could take out a few at a time if needed)

I had to use tooth-picks to hold on the bacon, But had to remove them after flash freezing so they wouldn't puncture the bag.
(the bacon was frozen in place so no problem!)

I put as many as I wanted into each bag
Then fired up my trusty vacuum sealer.
(I LOVE my vacuum sealer! I use is daily!)
Here is the finished product.
I have four full family-sized meals bags and ready to go PLUS three lunch sized portions!
(not everyone has as large of a family as I do, so you may end up with 6-7 meals worth for your family!)

For a few hours work today and I dont have to do major prep work or slaving in the kitchen for at least 4 meals later!!
whoo hoo!!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I never really follow a recipe for this.. but you'll get the idea, it's easy!.

Boneless/skinless chicken breasts. (as many as you would like to make)
bacon ( prosciutto is really good too!) enough to wrap each breast with one slice.
Cream Cheese (You'll need approx 2 Tablespoons per breast)
Frozen spinach (I mix the spinach and cream cheese about half-n-half, so eyeball it.)
Chives, onion powder, or finely chopped green onions to taste.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
Tooth-picks

*Pound each of your chicken breasts to approx 1/2 inch thick. (or butterfly them open)
*Season each breast with salt/pepper.
*In a separate bowl, mix your cream cheese, green onions & thawed, squeezed-dry spinach together to make the filling.
*Spread approx 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling onto the widest portion of each breast.
*Roll the breast up around the filling, starting at the widest end of the breast.
*Wrap each chicken roll with one slice of bacon.
*Secure bacon ends with tooth-picks.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for approx 1hour or till juices run clear.

For freezing, flash freeze the breasts, then seal with a vacuum sealer or use freezer bags. To use, thaw in the refrigerator then bake as directed above.

I have also made these with Feta and spinach (YUMMY!) but I have not frozen feta so I'm not sure if the texture is affected.

I hope this is clearer than mud.. if not.. let me know! ;)

have a great day!!

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12 comments:

  1. I'm new to your site and LOVE it!! I love the meatball and bacon wrapped chicken recipes. Will be trying them out and doing the freezing trick! I have to ask about the mini-meatloaves though - will you please post that when you get to it? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hiya Meggin!

    I'll post the individual meatloaf recipe with pics in the next few days.

    I'm so glad you are enjoying your look around my lil ole blog!
    and thanks for the comment! I get all giddy when I get comments! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am also new to your sight but not to you. YOu are one crazy chicky Luv ya

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm not new :( ,But I do visit every day! So I must like it here! They sound really good , I make them with garlic butter and mushrooms and cheese inside,I'll have to try your way.

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  5. Jenn....
    that brings back Girl Scout days...

    **singing**
    Make new friends...
    But keep the old....
    One is silver...
    and the other gold....

    **wink**
    I promise to never sing to ya again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, I can't tell you how happy I was to see your instructions for this today. Last night, I looked at vacuum sealers, but wanted to learn more about the process before purchasing! And now today, viola, you post this! I love it when these things work out for me!

    Couple novice questions... have you ever cooked the meals and then sealed and frozen them to create reheat and eat meals? How would that work? Would you have to cool/freeze the cooked product and then seal and freeze?

    I'm really, really interested in pursuing this. Thanks for posting the process and helping a sealing newbie!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paula...
    You are reading my mind too!
    Yep, I make "homemade TV dinners all the time!"
    as a matter of fact, worker #1 is working for the summer in Houston and staying with his uncle... to bachelors who dont cook make for some interesting dinners to say the least! lol

    In the individual meatloaves that I made and am going to post about tomorrow, you'll see that they are cooked before sealing and freezing... I made several smaller meal sized to sent to them.

    just heat-n-eat.
    I also vacuum seal stews/soups/casseroles then when I want to eat em just drop the frozen meal-sized portion (in the sealed bag) into a pot of boiling water and heat it that way.. or just nuke it.

    I'm working on a post all about make your own TV dinners...

    Great minds! ....

    I adore my Food-saver sealer! have had it for years and it has yet to fail me and I use that sucker a LOT!
    stay tuned for more....

    thanks for the comment.. I dance a little jig when I get comments/questions... it makes me feel like someone on this earth is listening to me lol cause THAT sure don't happen in this house much! lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow.... slow down and proof read Dana.... geesh

    ReplyDelete
  9. **waving to Reanell!**

    Oooh one of my Real-Life friends found me!! whoo hoo!!

    even tho I have been MIA for months while the man-of-my-Dreams is out of town... I don't call.. I don't write.... I suck. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. So how many freezers do you have? Mine are stuff full of things right now that I have gotten for free with coupons. You make up so much to freeze, plus you have a big family, do you have a walk in freezer?

    ReplyDelete
  11. *droools* Those look SO good!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. walk in freezer.. I WISH!! thats another reason I love Love LOVE my vacuum sealer! It reduces the size of the packages of food by far!
    and I can fit em in like a puzzle.

    ReplyDelete

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