Chicken with Tomatoes and Thyme

Today Ethan is working an event. It’s only 45 people, so it is pretty easy. The event is off-premise and that means he has to load all of his equipment into a trailer. And that means Jack wants to help. He loves to help Ethan load up a trailer. He actually isn’t all that helpful because he will grab anything out of the storage room and put it in the trailer. A few wrinkled cocktail napkins? Check. One butter knife? Check. A leftover party favor from last week’s wedding? Check. Ethan might not need any of those, but just in case he needs the white chocolate daisy sucker from “Jonathan and Julie’s” nuptials, he is good to go.

Since Jack wanted to help his daddy, that meant I had to take him out of our house. Yep, I took two children out for the first time. It actually wasn’t that bad. But it was tiring. Good thing I have a bunch of post-partum freezer meals…



1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
8 sprigs thyme
1 Tbsp capers
4 chicken thighs
4 chicken drumsticks
Kosher salt and pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 1 qt resealable plastic freezer bags

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes and their liquid, lemon, thyme, and capers. Divide them among the 4 plastic freezer bags.

Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 1 leg and 1 thigh to each bag. Freeze, for up to 3 months, until ready to cook.

When it comes time to cook it:
Set oven to 400 degree.

Remove the bags of chicken and tomatoes from the freezer (you'll need 1 bag of chicken and tomatoes for each serving). Empty the contents of each bag into a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil.

Roast until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

Yields 4 servings.

Rookie's Notes: When it comes time to cook, the chicken is supposed to go in frozen. It comes out perfect, so don't worry about it drying out. If you want to make this fresh and not frozen, I would guess the timing wouldn't be that different. Just keep an eye on it and check the temperature. It should register at 165 degrees.