Freezer Cooking

Jan

Zaycon Chicken Sale is back: $1.69/lb

Zaycon Foods is coming this month and offering a fantastic price on bulk boneless, skinless chicken breasts at just $1.69/lb! The email I got states that the sale opens today at 5pm, and I just checked and it seems to be live NOW!

what is zaycon foods all about?

Zaycon Foods is a privately owned company that works to pass on wholesale prices to families. In order to accomplish this, Zaycon Foods sells their food to the consumer in the form of events versus selling in a store. The result is quality food at substantial savings! They started in a few PNW states, but have since expanded to all the lower 48.

While Zaycon Foods is primarily known for its awesome chicken breast sales, they also have events for ground beef, bacon, and even fruit sales in the summer.

One thing you should be mindful of is that Zaycon Foods sells their items in set quantities and they are large. As an example, the chicken breast is sold in 40 lb boxes. So plan on some prep time afterwards! If space and/or money is limited, you can always split with a friend. Each box contains (4) 10 lb bags, so you could easily split them up.

how to take advantage of zaycon foods’ offers

The first thing you must do is create a Zaycon Foods account. From there, you’ll be able to view upcoming events for your area, and make purchases.

Next to each event, you’ll see the time/date along with ordering instructions, like this:

On the date of the event, bring your receipt and drive to the designated location. I’ve been through this process a few times now and can tell you it’s all very well organized. There are signs, ample workers, and I don’t even have to get out of the car! They load it up for me.

angela, what on earth do you do with that much chicken?

Believe it or not, 40 lbs of chicken is not that much once you prep it!

One thing I’ve done before it to set the day aside and I made chicken cordon bleu, curry chicken, teriyaki chicken, and a few others. Perfect for the freezer and for sharing with my sister who’d just had a baby. Believe it or not, it didn’t take up too much room in my freezer, either.

I have two ideas for recipes, if you’re looking for them too.

First, Fix, Freeze, and Feast. It’s my all-time favorite freezer cookbook (in fact, I JUST pulled it out again tonight for the fabulous meatball recipe!). You can nab it for about $10 at Amazon, or you could check your local library.

Second, Angela from Frugal Living NW wrote an e-book last year entitled The Ultimate Guide to Freezer Friendly Meals: Chicken. It’s only $3.99 now and you can download it immediately.

If you’re still on the fence? You may wish to read my review post which shares my own experience with Zaycon and more about the quality of the chicken. I can tell you I’ve been happy and have placed several orders myself.

{ 8 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Mar

Frozen Food Month: some of my best tips

It’s frozen food month and I thought I’d share with you a collection of some of my favorite freezer meal posts.

Nine Tips for Better Freezer Meal Batch Cooking (posted on 09.04.10)

How I made 22 Breakfast Burritos for $8.63 (posted on 05.04.10)

What to do with 10 lbs of Potatoes (guest post; posted on 04.15.10)

How to Organize a Freezer Meal Swap (posted on 01.29.10)

Vlog: Freezer Cooking with Cod (me & my husband; posted on 03.09.10)

What are your favorite tips for prepping freezer meals?

{ 0 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Feb

Time is tickin’ for your Zaycon chickin’

Locals (Western Washington): if you have your heart set on getting cheap chicken, please don’t delay.

The Western Washington event, which will take place starting next week, requires that you reserve your box no later than February 23rd OR until sold out (which happened last time). To get started, you will need to set up a free Zaycon account. Then select the event nearest to you to place your order.

As a reminder, the chicken is sold in a 40-lb box for $1.59/lb. The chicken is made without the use of hormones, too. For more information, please see my post from the other day.

Wondering what to do with that much chicken?

While 40 pounds of chicken might sound like a lot, I find it’s perfect for prepping freezer meals! Last time, I prepped chicken curry, chicken and broccoli casserole, chicken cordon bleu and more. I took about 3-4 hours, and prepped about 20 meals. Perfect for stocking up the freezer and/or sharing with a friend who could use a little lift!

Some of you have recently asked for some ideas on freezer recipes. I have a couple for you.

1. 40 Simple Ways to use 40 Pounds of Chicken. This e-book was assembled by fellow blogger Angela from Frugal Living NW. You can buy it for $5.95, and the good news is it’s yours right away to read, print, or save to your computer. Get yours now.

2. Fix, Freeze, Feast. This is THE cookbook I refer to over and over on this blog! I used this book exclusively for preparing my Zaycon chicken.

3. Zaycon Chicken Chili. Don’t forget to make up a batch of this yummy chili! This is my own recipe, inspired by cheap chicken!

4. Freezer Meal Tips. Feeling overwhelmed? Read my post on 9 Tips for Better Freezer Meal Cooking.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I’ve ordered this chicken before and would be happy to share some thoughts!

Disclosure: poor grammar in the post title was intentional. I was trying to be cute.

{ 1 comment }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Oct

Ordering Zaycon Chicken? Need some ideas?

I know many of you are ordering 40-lb cases of Zaycon Chicken! As a reminder, this boneless, skinless chicken breast is just $1.48/lb. The fall event is coming soon, so make sure to register for Zaycon Foods and place your order if you haven’t already – they are coming to Pacific Northwest cities starting this week!

I’m excited to share with you that fellow blogger Angela from Frugal Living NW has released a new e-book, appropriately timed for the chicken sale:

“40 Simple Ways to Use 40 Pounds of Chicken!”

The book contains 40 different ways you could prepare your chicken, with over 3o recipes. Some of the recipes that stood out to me included Thai Chicken Satay Marinade, Mexican Brown Rice Chicken Bake, and Bruschetta Chicken Bake. The book also provides practical instruction for freezer meal shopping and preparation.

If you’re looking for all-chicken recipes for a little inspiration for 40-lbs of chicken – here you go!

Right now, the e-book is on sale for $5.95. Once you’ve purchased it, you’ll be able to download it right away. From there you can save it to your computer or print. Go HERE to order yours!

{ 0 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Oct

Mutant Zucchini from Outer Space (AKA my garden)

A couple weeks ago, I shared how I harvested a HUGE zucchini from my garden. To jog your memory, here’s a pic:

I didn’t weigh this puppy, but I swear it was bigger than either of my kids at birth (and my son was well over 10 pounds, too!)

I had this great idea of inventing a story about how this mutant zucchini was terrorizing me and how he met his match when he was baked into loaves of zucchini bread. But alas, my husband and my feeble attempts to decorate it resulted like a bad version of Larry from Veggie Tales:

Not exactly what I was going for. So…no fun, creative story today for you. (But I owe you one, and I won’t forget! Got to put my BA in Creative Writing to good use, right?)

Moving right along, would you believe this ONE vegetable yielded EIGHT loaves of bread? It easily took me half an hour or more just to shred and pretty much my entire morning and part of my afternoon to bake. Here’s the result:

Not pictured: the mostly-eaten loaf we’ve been enjoying all day with my homemade applesauce!

I plan on freezing a few loaves and giving away a few as well.

In case you’re curious, I’m using this Allrecipes.com recipe. I think I’ve done this recipe about half a dozen times now and love it!

{ 2 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Sep

9 Tips for Better Freezer Meal Batch Cooking

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about freezer cooking…but it’s been awhile since I’ve made freezer meals!

I truly think there’s something about fall that puts me in a cooking and baking mood. So this week I’ve been busy shopping for food I could turn into freezer meals for my family. Yesterday, I made 7 meals: 3 batches of honey glazed chicken thighs and 4 batches of chicken broccoli bake. As I prepped my meals, I thought of some tips I’ve learned along the way. I thought I’d share them with you this morning.

1. Prepare freezer meals using ingredients when they are on sale! This week, fresh boneless skinless chicken breast is on sale for $1.99/lb at Albertsons. Given that great price, making some meals using chicken makes good sense to me (or should I say “good cents?”).

2. Prepare meals when you have a nice chunk of time. Try to create some time to do this when you will have minimal interruptions. For me, I worked yesterday while my daughter napped.

3. Start with a clean kitchen! Maybe this sounds simple, but it’s true. Having everything clean and organized before you get going will put you in a good frame of mind to work. You will also find you go through pots, pans, measuring cups, and bowls quickly, so it’s nice having them all clean and ready to work with.

4. Have fun! I truly believe you should have FUN in the kitchen. If you’re dreading making 10 meals, why not make yourself a nice cup of coffee? Turn on some music – or maybe one of my webcasts in the background (there’s my shameless plug for the day!). The point is, do something to make this a fun, relaxing experience.

5. Cook meals with similar ingredients. I LOVE the book Fix, Freeze, Feast for my freezer cooking. I’ve also noticed as I’ve worked my way through many of the recipes that the authors use some key ingredients over and over…sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, minced garlic, and honey come immediately to mind. Consider making two or three meals that play off the same ingredients to keep your grocery bill down.

6. Consider swapping meals with a friend! If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I’m a big fan of freezer meal parties! These enable you to focus on preparing ONE meal, but you end up with 6, 8, or even 12, depending on the size of your group. I’ve also heard of people swapping with a friend that has similar eating preferences.

7. Organize your freezer. Make sure that everything in your freezer has a purpose. It’s so easy to let food accumulate there, and then you’ve forgotten entirely what you have! Take some time to throw out any old food or food you know you’re not going to eat (of course, offer it to a friend where possible!).

8. Create a list of your freezer meals. Once you’ve cooked your food, create a list or spreadsheet of the meals that are in there so you’ll have them for easy referencing when you plan your menu for the week.

9. End with a clean kitchen! As I was cooking yesterday, I was cleaning. My mom taught me this method, and I think it’s great! So while the chicken is cooking, empty and re-load the dishwasher. And while your sauce is cooling, wipe down the counters. The point of freezer cooking is to help you regain control of your kitchen, so make sure it’s neat, tidy, and ready to go at the end of the day.

We have a three-day weekend upon us…why not plan or make a few freezer meals to use later this month?

{ 7 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

22 breakfast burritos for $8.63

May 4, 2010

Wondering what to do with all those tortillas laying around? Well…you need to do something. Mine expire in less than a month, and I’m sure yours do, too. Of course, you could eat them, freeze them, or give them away and those are all fine ideas. Here’s what I did with just 2 packs of [...]

8 comments Get the full scoop! →