Man Pleasin' Chicken Freezer Meals

I stumbled upon the original recipe for Man Pleasin' Chicken here (while pinning my heart out on Pinterest, of course). It seemed to get rave reviews...but honestly I am NOT a fan of maple syrup. But I decided to give it a shot...and wouldn't ya know...I fell instantly in love. There weren't leftovers for lunch the next day because I ate them for dessert! :)

So, the original recipe is stellar, but I decided I needed a little Man Pleasin' on hand at all times in my freezer, so I adapted the recipe to make 3 dinners at a time. If you want to cook one today and have 2 for the freezer, just put one of the 3 meals straight into a pan and the other two in a freezer bag.

What you will need:
3 - 1 gallon FREEZER bags*
Sharpie Pen
6 lbs Skinless & Boneless Chicken Thighs
2 cups Dijon Mustard
1 cup Maple Syrup
4 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tsp Dried Rosemary

With the Sharpie, write "Man Pleasin' Chicken" and the date on each of the bags** (Quick Tip: It's also helpful to write the cooking temperature and time, it saves you from having to track down the recipe when you are ready to cook). Then place the chicken in the bags.

Combine all the ingredients (except the chicken) in a bowl. 

Pour 1/3 of the liquid into each bag (just over 1 cup each). Zip up the plastic bag and freeze flat in your freezer***

When you are ready to cook your Man Pleasin' Chicken:

Pull the freezer bag out of the freezer and let it defrost in your fridge (overnight or 24 hours is good). Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and dump the contents of your freezer bag into an oven-proof baking dish. Put the dish into the oven and let it bake for 40 minutes (or until internal temp is 165 degrees). Baste the tops of the chicken with more sauce halfway through. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

We like to serve with broccoli & brown rice! 

Random Notes:

*don't try to use bags that aren't made for the freezer, you will regret it...I learned this the hard way. For more freezer cooking tips, check this out (well, the post isn't finished yet, but when it is I'll link it!) 

**Even if you think you will remember what is in the bag...WRITE IT! Far too many times I have stood in front of the freezer, scratching my head and asking my husband, "Does this look like Pork or Chicken??"

***You can store more freezer meals when you freeze 'em flat. Plus the Type-A goddess in me loves seeing all that freezer goodness in a row. But if you don't care about such things, just throw it in there, but please don't tell me!