Prep Ahead: Proteins

Planning ahead makes me feel accomplished, including in the kitchen.  When I'm at work and know that upon arriving home, dinner will come together quickly, well, that's worth a lot.  
 
My tip: Cook up your proteins ahead of time.  Then freeze them.

I find it a huge time (& money) saver to cook in bulk and freeze.  This includes shredded chicken breasts, ground beef or turkey and all kinds of beans.  Bonus: Stock up when meat's on sale.  Upfront, you invest some preparation time, but you will not regret your efforts when future dinners are made easier.  

If you've never cooked your own beans, you're in for a treat.  They not only taste fresher, but you avoid the preservatives in most canned beans and, you save money.  I always have the canned variety in the pantry and we eat those too; it's hard to keep up with consumption sometimes.  
 
Follow the steps below to cook in batches and freeze. 

Shredded Chicken

1. Buy a large package of fresh chicken breasts, 8-10 total.  Trim.
2. Prepare your larger crockpot with cooking spray and place chicken inside.
3. Pour 2-3 cups of chicken broth in pot.  Not all chicken will be covered. 
4. Cover and cook on HI for 3-3 1/2 hrs or LO for 6-7 hours.
5. Drain the broth.  Shred chicken on plate with two forks.  
6. Place back in pot and allow to cool.*

Ground Beef or Turkey
1. Buy 7-10 pounds of lean beef, turkey or a mixture.  I use about half of each.  
2. Finely dice 1 medium onion.  
3. Place meat and onion in large fry pan.  Heat to med and cook until browned, breaking into small pieces.  If your pan isn't large enough, you may have to go two rounds.  
4. Drain meat and discard liquid in sealed container in garbage when cool.  (Did you know putting dripping down the kitchen drain/disposal can attract unwanted visitors in the insect form?)  I save peanut and coffee cans for this.
5. Place meat back in pan to cool.*

Beans (pinto, navy, black, cannelloni, lentils, etc)

1. Rinse 2 lbs of beans and place in larger crock pot.  Fill pot almost full with water.  Let sit overnight (unplugged).
2. In morning, drain beans.  Fill pot back up with water.  Add 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes.  Cook on LO for 5-7 hours.  Some beans will cook less time so keep an eye out.
3. Drain and let cool.*

*After cooling, spoon into sandwich size Ziploc bags and seal.  I put about 1 cup in each bag.  Make sure you squeeze out as much air as possible. 

Next, place several filled sandwich bags into a gallon size freezer Ziploc bag and seal (you are double-bagging).  Label and freeze.

Then pull out what you need for dinner from the freezer.  i.e. if we're having chicken tacos, I use 2-3 bags.  If I'm adding chicken to a pasta dish, I might just use one.

Warning: when you use the last package of any of the above, a bit of sadness will set in because you have to start over... 

What are your kitchen shortcuts?


Note 1: For shredded beef or pork - add beef or preferred broth flavor and follow shredded chicken instructions.
Note 2: I have many friends who purchase rotisserie chicken to shred and freeze and this works well too.  I personally prefer chicken breasts, so cook myself.
Note 3: Some kinds of darker beans may stain a white crock pot.  I soak in water with a couple teaspoons of bleach until the stain is gone and then wash in soapy water.
Note 4: For best results, don't use store brand zipped bags.