Fast Dinner Friday - Cooking Meat Ahead of Time

One of my secrets in the kitchen is to cook meat in bulk.

If I have a family pack of chicken breasts, you will find me putting them all in the slow cooker or marinating them and baking them. Five pound package of ground beef? You won't always see me cutting it into one pound packages. Brown it all at once.

You're going to be cooking at least some of it then so why not all?

This is a HUGE time savor.

Tonight our family is having chicken enchiladas. With already having the chicken cooked, the prep time is cut in about half to three-quarters. Here is my "go to" chicken enchilada recipe.

Creamy Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups cooked chicken
pepper
cumin
garlic powder
10 wheat tortilla shells
2 cups cheese (I use white cheddar)
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) diced chiles

Preheat oven to 350 and great a 9x13 baking dish.

In bowl, mix chicken with a pinch of cumin, pepper and garlic powder. Then add one cup of cheese and mix. Fill tortillas with one-fourth to one-half of the chicken and cheese mixture. Place side by side in baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Cook on medium-low until mixture is bubbly. Slowly stir in chicken broth. Whisk over medium - high heat  until thick and bubbly. Turn down or take off heat.

Add sour cream and green chiles (I always puree my chiles). Be careful not to have on full or high heat. You don't want the sour cream to curdle.

Pour sour cream and chile mixture over enchiladas and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese on top is browned.

This meal is really easy to do all the prep work and stick in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Just add a couple extra minutes and dinner will be a super Fast Dinner!

Slow Cook Chicken and Dumplings

Day 17 out of ... 366 - We're making progress! :)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
• 2 Tablespoons of salted butter
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 1/4 cup of white cooking wine
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 batch of drop biscuits

1. Put frozen chicken in slow cooker, cover with soup, broth and wine. Add butter, seasoning, parsley, onion and salt and pepper to chicken.
2. Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours on High heat.
3. An hour before serving, drop biscuits in by the spoonful. Stir and cover. Cook until dough is no longer raw.

Enjoy!