3 Easy Meals (Freezer/ Crock-Pot)

I've always been intimidated by Indian food, but recently I tried it at a few different places and became obsessed with the chicken masala!

I saw this recipe for crockpot butter chicken and decided to try it out.  (Bonus recipe for homemade Naan bread!  Seriously so easy and delicious!  I will never buy naan at the store again!)

My misshapen naan... I made an extra batch and put it in the freezer as well!

There were a couple things I had to buy that I don't usually have on hand like fresh ginger, curry powder, curry paste, and garam masala.
I normally go to Whole Foods for one thing: raw local honey. (If you buy in bulk it's much cheaper than buying any of the jarred honey.)  And this week I wanted to try out some of this amazing looking Thai curry paste.  I decided to get the red curry paste (they also sell yellow and green)  so I could use it in the butter chicken recipe.
I wasn't able to find garam masala at the store so I used this simple recipe to make my own.  I happened to have everything on hand. I did find curry powder at Whole Foods and realized they sell many spices in bulk so you can buy as little or as much as you like.  I just got a little baggy of it.

I bought a pack of 6 chicken breasts (about 4 lbs total) so when I got it out to make the butter chicken I decided to portion it out to make a couple other recipes to put in the freezer.

I used 2 chicken breasts for each recipe.
I chose to make this Thai chicken soup and this Honey sesame chicken recipe.  For the Thai chicken soup I already had the curry paste.  I didn't have the coconut milk, but I can get that before I decide to cook it.  I used only 1 of the 2 cups chicken stock, the other I will add when I cook it.  I just put everything else, aside from the peas and garnishments, into the freezer bag with the chicken.  (I omitted the fish sauce since I didn't have it and my husband doesn't like it anyway.) Then I double-bagged the whole thing and slipped the recipe inside so I'll know what I need to add when I make it.

I did the same thing for the Honey sesame chicken.  All 3 recipes called for fresh ginger so I was glad to be able to use up a big chunk of what I'd bought.  And I had my raw local honey on hand.  For this recipe you don't even have to chop the chicken since it will shred in the crock pot.. So simple!

Now I have a couple easy dinners in my freezer for a busy, or lazy, day!