Let's Cook Up Some Chicken!

One thing I have learned in the kitchen over the years is do as much prep work for dinner as possible before the week begins. I am a HUGE fan when it comes to easy but delicious recipes! One thing I try and do either Sunday afternoon or on Mondays is some prep work for the week. 

1st things 1st- SHOP your fridge, freezer and pantry and plan out the week. Look at your schedule and plan out on a piece of paper your menu for the week. This not only has saved my family money but also stress! Here's a great idea from "Make and Take"how to create an easy Wipe-off Menu Board. Click Here to learn more.

I will share my favorite freezer family recipes another time but right now I will share with you one very simple step! 

This week Fresh and Easy has their whole chickens on sale for .77 cents/lb! So that means you can get a whole chicken for about $3.00! If you are on a budget like me you might just grab one for now. Or if you have more in your budget grab a couple to stock up.

Tonight when you are home get out your crockpot (if you don't have a crockpot you need to get one asap)! The crockpot is a life saver! You don't have to spend a fortune. I actually have 3. One large one I got as a wedding present 12 years ago, a small one I got as a Christmas present and a medium sized one I got at the Goodwill for $4.00. That one is the nicest one I have! $4.00! I still get excited about that Goodwill find. Check it out below!

Ok let's get going!

Steps 1: Wash your Whole Chicken and clean out all the "extra parts" inside the chicken cavity. We do NOT need those extra parts of the chicken...

Steps 2: Put your whole chicken in the crockpot. It doesn't matter which side is up or down. Add  enough water to fill the crockpot 3 inches  from the bottom (about 3 cups should do- but depends on the size of the crockpot). Add some salt and pepper.

Steps 3: Turn  your crockpot on low and forget about it! I like to put it in at night just before bed and let it cook while I'm sleeping or your can set it in the morning and have it ready in about 8 hours.

Steps 4: When you are ready to deal with the chicken. Turn the crockpot off. Go change up the laundry and the dishwasher. It should be a little bit cooler now and a little easier to handle. Get out a colliander and over the sink dump everything in it. (You can get creative and save the juice if you want to flavor up some other recipes or soups etc but for now I'm just going to talk about the chicken). With the crockpot now empty, get your hands dirty and pick apart the chicken from the bones and place all the chicken back in the crockpot. It's a little tedious but worth it. 

******If you are completely pressed for time or don't want to get your hands dirty or maybe you have a big family. You might want to just purchase Fresh and Easy's Chicken Breast which are usually $1.99 per/lb which is still a great price!) 

Steps 5: Now you are done! Bag up your delicious Chicken. You can either freeze it or use it in the following recipes this coming week! 

CHICKEN RECIPE IDEAS:

• Make a quick lunch for you or the kids with Chicken Quesedillas 
• BBQ Chicken Pizza for Dinner- I love Fresh and Easy's Pizza dough. I usually can get 4 pizzas for my family out of one of their bags of dough. I break it into 4 little balls. Work with it to the right size. Then I turn my oven on low. Get out 2 cookie sheets (for 4 pizzas) and cover with foil (this saves on clean up)- set aside. While the oven is heating I get out my cast iron skillet. Add a little bit of Olive Oil to the pan. Then I heat on medium my pizza round on both sides. When it looks yummy and a little golden I add it to the cookie sheet covered in foil in the oven to stay warm.  Do the same thing with the remaining pizza dough. When your dough is all done. Saute up some sliced red onions. Then take out the pizza crusts from the oven. Add some bbq sauce to each of them. Add a little bit of shredded mozarella cheese. Add the cooked chicken you made earlier and your sauteed onions. Now add some more cheese! Put it back in the oven and turn on the broiler to get the cheese all yummy and bubbly. Enjoy!
• Add the Chicken to a Salad
• Baked Chicken Taquitos- Here's a recipe that I've used before that also works great to freeze! Click HERE.
• Here's a secret for you...   I get alot of compliments on my Chicken Alfredo Pasta. Well... you are going to be surprised when I tell you how easy it is and what I use....  Line a cookie sheet with foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Get out your broccoli (I buy a big bag at Costco for $3 something. My family eats a lot of broccoli). After you add how much broccoli you want on to your lined cookie sheet add just enough Olive Oil to coat the broccoli. Usually 1-2 Tablespoons is enough. Next add some Garlic Salt. Mix all the broccoli with your hands to get it evenly coated. Put it in the oven for about 15 minutes. Flip the broccoli atleast once during the cooking time. While that's cooking Cook up your spaghetti noodles. The noodles and brocolli should be done about the same time. Drain your pasta noodles and take your broccoli out of the oven (the broccoli should be all yummy and a little crunchy). Take your empty pan (the one you cooked the noodles in), add a little bit of Olive Oil (1 tsp) add some chopped garlic and let cook a minute or two. Now dump 1 jar of Ragu Classic Alfredo Sauce (Yep that's the secret! I know...crazy!) Let that heat up a little. Then add your cooked noodles, cooked broccoli and cooked chicken. Mix together and make sure it's all heated through. You are done and it's so good! 

I hope this gets your week started a little easier! I would love to hear your favorite ways to use cooked chicken. You can post in the comments or email me at:

Dancinginthekitchen.Lynn@gmail.com

Enjoy!