Chicken Tip: Germs and Seasoning

So I am a bit a freak when it comes to chicken and cleanliness. Part of this I have done for awhile and then I learn something new and it has changed how I do chicken. I have always bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the 3 pack from the store and would take them home and separate them, as is, out before freezing them. I would wrap them individually in foil and put in them in a gallon freezer bag and be done.

Then I was introduced to a new way of doing things. Right now, I have lost my mind and can't remember who told me about this, sorry...but it is a brilliant idea I believe this person got from Rachel Ray. I still buy the same chicken I have always bought, but I have made my life easier and cleaner now that I have adopted this new way. The suggestion made on Rachel's show was to buy your chicken and season it before you put it in the freezer! So for me that meant separating the chicken like I did before, but trimming/cleaning up the gross parts of chicken and seasoning it too all before freezing. This has been so awesome, especially with a new baby.

To keep it organized and remember how I seasoned the chicken, I put 1 or 2 ckn breasts in a ziploc (whatever you would normally cook for a meal, sometimes 1 ckn breast is huge so I just do one) and write on the bag the date and what seasonings I used. It is great because the chicken is basically marinating that whole time before you cook it.

You get all the messy work done once! Before I was having to clean like crazy every time I made chicken just because I am a little weird. But it saves me time and money (for more cleaning supplies haha) and it is easy to tell Brent "hey, take some chicken out and put on the grill" if I am busy with Cole or running late after something.