TGIF

So sorry for the delay in posting, again, but traveling over Labor Day weekend is always a challenge, especially when you have little ones in the mix.

My TGIF posting is about the kitchen and cooking-one of my favorite pastimes. I know that this good information tip requires a little forethought, but I promise that the minimal planning pays off big time in the long run.

If you are like me and you enjoy cooking, you probably keep a freezer full of dinner supplies-chicken, beef, seafood etc.-so that you can pull something out in the morning and it will defrost in time for dinner....right?

Try marinating your meats and seafood BEFORE you freeze them. It really locks in the flavor and while the meat defrosts it also marinates so that by dinner time all you have to do is cook the meat, instead of trimming it and deciding how you are going to prepare it. Plus, the extra time the meat marinates only enhances the flavor.

Although it requires a little more prep time when you initially buy the meats and freeze them, it saves you a good fifteen minutes or more when you are trying to throw dinner together on the week nights.

I personally like to buy meats in bulk (to save money) at Costco maybe once per month. I plan my shopping trip for a day when I know I will have some free time and while my son naps, I break up the chicken and meat and seafood into small portions. I put each dinner sized portions in their own Ziploc bags with a different marinade (Buffalo sauce, terriyaki, citrus, etc.) and I label it on the outside of the bag so that I can differentiate between what each item is when it comes time to defrost. As I said before, I love to cook, so I choose to make my own marinades which takes longer, but you can cut down on the prep time by buying pre-made marinades or herb rubs when they are on sale at the supermarket (there is always at least one brand of marinade or salad dressing on sale at the supermarket each week) or you can purchase them in bulk to save money. A little Italian dressing on plain chicken breasts can make some really good moist grilled chicken in the summer months.

It takes me about an hour, once every few weeks, to trim the fat, divide up these meats and seafoods and marinate them, but it stocks my freezer full of pre-marinated entrees that I can quickly defrost during the week when I am pressed for time.

As an extra bonus, I am going to share one of my favorite (and really easy) marinades with you. This marinade is excellent on chicken, but is so mild it can be used on almost any kind of meat or seafood.

-Place 1 pound of boneless, trimmed chicken into a Ziploc bag and mix with:
-1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
-fresh cracked pepper from a mill to taste (almost a full tablespoon)
-salt to taste (almost a full tablespoon)
-Oregano, fresh or dried (1 tablespoon)
-juice from 2 squeezed lemons

This is a nice light marinade that works well for chicken kebabs or grilled fish or shrimp.

Enjoy!