Sustainable Options

Monday, August 2, 2010

One Chicken=5 Meals

I am always looking for ways to stock the freezer with homemade ready to eat meals and the fridge with easy to fix dinners.  So I purchased a whole Rocky chicken at the Davis Food Co-op and had them cut it up for me.

1: Chicken Tacos: I put the breast and thigh meat in the slow cooker for 4 hours with onions, a teeny bit of jalapeƱo (from our garden), Chile powder and paprika.  At dinner time I shredded the meat and added it to tortillas, cheese, fresh tomatoes, avocado, etc.

2: Chicken Enchiladas: I mixed the chicken, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of salsa, Chile powder and paprika.  Then in a 8 x 8 glass dish lined with foil I layered tortillas, chicken mixture, cheese (repeat layer ending with cheese on top).  I froze this and removed it from the pan the next day wrapped in foil and I will defrost it for a quick meal and bake at 350 for 45-60 min. 

3: Burrito: I had a little enchilada mixture left over so I made a burrito from the same ingredients and froze it (my husband ate it a few days later and said it was really good). 

4: On the same day I made the tacos I took the legs and wings, seasoned them and put them in the fridge for an easy BBQ the next day. 

5: Chicken Stock: I used the back bone of the chicken in a small pot, added onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt/pepper and enough water to cover ingredients.   This simmered while the tacos were cooking and I used the stock a few days later to make egg flower soup.  (in the future, I will wait for the cooked chicken bones/skin to add more flavor to the stock).