Freezer-Cooking: Chicken Cacciatore

YUMMY!  

We all agreed that this was even better than the teriyaki - and since my son raved about my mad teriyaki skills, that should tell you something!  We served ours with fettucini pasta, but you can use rice or polenta as well.  If you use brown rice or whole wheat pasta (1/2 cup per serving, cooked) this meal is only 5 weight watcher points per serving!  

Heads up for those of you with picky eaters - my son eats raw green pepper like it's going out of style, but cook it and it's a no-go.  But no biggie; I just put a little butter, salt, and parmesan on his noodles, then spooned on the chicken and tomatoes, leaving the peppers out.  I confess ... a few red peppers made it in with the tomatoes, but he didn't know it and he ate every bite!

Chicken Cacciatore: 

-8 chicken thighs, with bone, skin removed
-28 oz. can crushed tomato
-1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
-1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips
-1/2 large onion, sliced
-1 tsp. dried oregano
-1 bay leaf
-salt/pepper to taste

You can either put the ingredients directly into the crock-pot, or into a gallon freezer bag for later.  Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 7-8 hours.  To thicken your sauce, you can either add a little flour or cook on high without the lid for the last hour.  Serve over rice, pasta, or polenta.  We also sprinkled just a touch of parmesan cheese on top!

Happy Cooking!