Freezer friendly!

   So last week I promised you an explanation of why my life is crazy busy recently. Well, here it is: we have no kitchen due to the renovation! Actually we have no kitchen (because we are getting a new one), no family room (because contractors are using it as their storage) and no dining room (because we store our kitchen and family room in it). No kitchen and a toddler - deadly combination, but I keep telling myself it's all going to be worth it at the end when I get my dream kitchen. So since our new sink is in the family room and the stove is in the dining room, there is no cooking happening for the next couple of weeks, but it is not a problem because we still have a big freezer! I was prepping for this renovation for a while, so I made bunch of freezer friendly dishes, portioned them into lunch/dinner sizes and I'm ready!
   First dish out of the freezer - cashew chicken with broccoli and raisins. It may not be the most photogenic dish, but it just came out of the freezer, so let's give it a break!

Ingredients:

* 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces 
* 12oz frozen chopped broccoli
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 8oz cashews
* 1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and brown chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add onions and raisins, season with a little bit of salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and cook for 15 minutes.

3. In a food processor, combine cashews and crushed tomatoes and blend until it forms a smooth paste.

4. Add to the chicken and cook for additional 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

5. If the chicken is tender, add frozen broccoli, adjust seasoning to your liking and cook for additional 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

   Delicious! Tender chicken, sweet raisins and creamy cashew sauce. You can freeze it by itself, you can freeze it together with the rice, or you can just not freeze it at all!

Enjoy,
Magda.