Most people are convinced that they can’t do cooking in bulk, because they don’t own a separate, full-size freezer. Au contraire, mon frere! I’ve managed to store 30 meals at once in my side-by-side fridge/freezer for a few years now. You may have to sacrifice your ice cream and frozen waffles for a couple of weeks, but who needs that stuff, anyway? Okay, okay; those of you that believe ice cream is a food group can put down the bricks and stop yelling at me now! Recently, we acquired a shiny, new stainless steel fridge with the freezer drawers on the bottom (LOVE it!). Since the old fridge still (mostly) works, we decided to keep it and move it into the closet with our washer and dryer. I now use the freezer in the old unit to hold all of my frozen meals. Anywho, fitting all of your meals into your freezer depends upon how you package them. For the first year or so, I used gallon-sized freezer bags. Soups, stews, and sauces can be laid flat to freeze and then stacked on top of one another or stood on end like books on a shelf. The thing that takes up the most room is casseroles, as those have to be frozen in a dish and then taken out and wrapped in foil. A couple of years ago, I purchased a vacuum sealer. Sure, the bags are more expensive, BUT they can be washed and reused! It’s been a great investment. If you still aren’t convinced that you can store a month’s worth of meals in your freezer, try starting with 2 weeks’ worth. You’ll figure out what works for you with a little practice. The recipe I have for you today is what us southerners call my “funeral dish”. This is the one that you throw together at the last minute to take to a sick friend, new mom, or those that have lost a loved one. It’s probably my favorite casserole, because it’s one that my picky children will eat!

Nana’s Chicken Casserole

1 lb. chicken 1 can cream of chicken soup

1 qt. chicken stock 1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 stick butter 1 16 oz. bag of Pepperidge Farms

cornbread dressing

Boil your chicken in the chicken stock, adding water to cover chicken if necessary. Save enough broth to fill your two soup cans; shred chicken and set aside. In a dutch oven, melt butter, then add cream of chicken soup. Fill the soup can with broth and add. Add the bag of dressing and mix until moistened. In a separate bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup with one soup can of chicken broth. Mix with a whisk to remove lumps. Spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Make a layer with half of the dressing mixture. Top this with all of the shredded chicken. Pour half of the mushroom soup mixture over the top. Top with the remaining dressing and then soup. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes. NOTE: This will give you about 10 servings, so when I fix this for my family, I’m able to get 2 meals out of it. Instead of using a 9×13 dish, I use 2 8×8 dishes. I line these with foil and coat with cooking spray. I assemble the casseroles then put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I can lift them out of the dishes with the foil. You can either wrap them in a couple of layers of foil or place them in gallon-sized freezer bags. I prefer to vacuum seal them with my Foodsaver. On the day you wish to serve this, thaw the casserole in the 8×8 dish and then cook for 30 minutes. It can be cooked frozen; I cover it with foil and cook for about 1 hour, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes. I usually serve it with a vegetable side.