Chicken Meals #2 & #3
Chicken Tortilla Soup and a version of Chicken a la King we call "in town" became the second and third meals to come from the chickens we roasted earlier this week. Three meals and there is still chicken left!
Having already had three meals containing chicken this week, I am considering placing the remaining chicken in the freezer for a future meal. On a crazy busy day when a meal that can be prepared quickly is needed, cooked chicken would be a blessing.
Chicken Tortilla Soup was an extremely inexpensive meal. For the base I used some of the broth from the chickens. To this I added approx. 2 C. of fresh salsa (tomatoes, jalepenos, onions, garlic powder, cilantro, cumin, bit of chili powder) that I made in the small food processor, the remaining leftover nacho cheese (roughly 1/4 C.), about 1 1/2 C. cooked chicken, and salt to taste. The soup cooked on med/low heat for approx. 30 min. During the final few minutes of cooking I added some homemade mac 'n cheese leftover from earlier in the week (approx. 1 C.). I added the macaroni at the end to avoid mushy pasta. We ate the soup with nacho cheese doritoes and a small dollop of sour cream.
This brought the final total of meals for the nacho cheese to 4.(see previous post for nacho cheese recipe)
Our version of Chicken a la King aka in town experienced a new tweak as I replaced the cream soup usually used with a water based thickener. This not only brought down the expense of the dish but made it easier for others to digest. Once more, the chicken broth showed up in this meal along with chopped carrots, celery, frozen peas, baby onions, and cooked chicken (approx. 2 C.). While the chicken/veggie mixture was cooking, wide egg noodles (yes, I cheated and used boughten ones - they were on sale) were cooking in another pot. Once the egg noodles were done, they were drained and set aside to add right before serving. After allowing the veggies to cook until tender, a thickener of flour, chicken soup base, and water was added to the broth and stirred in. Water was added until desired thickness was reached. Mixture cooked for approx. 20 minutes to eliminate floury taste. Right before serving the egg noodles were stirred in. In town was served over homemade biscuits that had been made while the veggies cooked through and baked while the mixture thickened and flour taste cooked out. This dish served 8 generously with enough left over to serve 2-4 more. This leftover amount was placed in the freezer for an easy meal on a day when only a few of us are home.
The chickens are at meal #3 with approx. 4 C. of chicken left and in the freezer. This means that there is a possibility of getting 5 meals from two roasted chickens. Not just five meals, but five meals of generous servings for 8 people. A smaller family could have obtained dinner for up to 10 nights out of the same amount. Each meal also incorporated other leftovers; this saved even more by eliminating food waste. The leftovers also tasted much better when given new life in other dishes than if they had been reheated and served in their original form. Now that's abundance.
Having already had three meals containing chicken this week, I am considering placing the remaining chicken in the freezer for a future meal. On a crazy busy day when a meal that can be prepared quickly is needed, cooked chicken would be a blessing.
Chicken Tortilla Soup was an extremely inexpensive meal. For the base I used some of the broth from the chickens. To this I added approx. 2 C. of fresh salsa (tomatoes, jalepenos, onions, garlic powder, cilantro, cumin, bit of chili powder) that I made in the small food processor, the remaining leftover nacho cheese (roughly 1/4 C.), about 1 1/2 C. cooked chicken, and salt to taste. The soup cooked on med/low heat for approx. 30 min. During the final few minutes of cooking I added some homemade mac 'n cheese leftover from earlier in the week (approx. 1 C.). I added the macaroni at the end to avoid mushy pasta. We ate the soup with nacho cheese doritoes and a small dollop of sour cream.
This brought the final total of meals for the nacho cheese to 4.(see previous post for nacho cheese recipe)
Our version of Chicken a la King aka in town experienced a new tweak as I replaced the cream soup usually used with a water based thickener. This not only brought down the expense of the dish but made it easier for others to digest. Once more, the chicken broth showed up in this meal along with chopped carrots, celery, frozen peas, baby onions, and cooked chicken (approx. 2 C.). While the chicken/veggie mixture was cooking, wide egg noodles (yes, I cheated and used boughten ones - they were on sale) were cooking in another pot. Once the egg noodles were done, they were drained and set aside to add right before serving. After allowing the veggies to cook until tender, a thickener of flour, chicken soup base, and water was added to the broth and stirred in. Water was added until desired thickness was reached. Mixture cooked for approx. 20 minutes to eliminate floury taste. Right before serving the egg noodles were stirred in. In town was served over homemade biscuits that had been made while the veggies cooked through and baked while the mixture thickened and flour taste cooked out. This dish served 8 generously with enough left over to serve 2-4 more. This leftover amount was placed in the freezer for an easy meal on a day when only a few of us are home.
The chickens are at meal #3 with approx. 4 C. of chicken left and in the freezer. This means that there is a possibility of getting 5 meals from two roasted chickens. Not just five meals, but five meals of generous servings for 8 people. A smaller family could have obtained dinner for up to 10 nights out of the same amount. Each meal also incorporated other leftovers; this saved even more by eliminating food waste. The leftovers also tasted much better when given new life in other dishes than if they had been reheated and served in their original form. Now that's abundance.