Freezer Meal: Cafe Rio Chicken

A little confession.  I know the food is good at Cafe Rio.  I ate there once or twice on a trip to southern Utah a few years back.  But I don't go ballistic nuts over it.  Just sayin'.  Maybe because I have had so much authentic Mexican food that I never feel like I have been deprived, you know? (Not sure if this is a copycat recipe or what, but my source is noted at the end of this post). This was really tasty.  I used it in a salad, but there was plenty left over to do burritos or fajitas, tacos...OMGoodness, this would be amazing in Sopa de Pollo!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 oz.  zesty Italian dressing

1/2 T. minced garlic

1 packet ranch dressing mix, combined with 1/2 cup water

1/2 T. chili powder

1/2 T. ground cumin

1.  Place all ingredients in a zippered freezer bag (gallon size). Close bag and smoosh all the ingredients together.  Place bag in freezer until ready to use.

2. Take out of freezer one hour prior to prep time--this is also a slow cooker recipe--OR run room temperature water over the bag for about 30 seconds.  Then, empty ingredients into a slow cooker.

3.  Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.  Remove from slow cooker and shred with forks.

NOTE:  Great in tacos, salads, burritos, etc.

TIPS:  You might want to put this in two quart-size bags, depending on the size of your slow cooker.  What I have found with these recipes is that however you place them in the freezer is the shape and size you are going to have of your frozen meal.  Hopefully, that fits in your cooker.  Mine barely did on this.  But I tried a different recipe the other day (yuck!!) that I laid out flat to freeze and it wouldn't fit my smaller cooker and even with my larger oval one I had to chop away at the corners of the food to get them down in order to get the lid on securely.  Good things to know before you start.

Source:  Chef In Training.