The everlasting meal, five meals to make with leftover roast chicken

Most of my friends think that I cook everyday and spend hours each day in the kitchen to serve the meals that I do to my family.  The reality is I only cook about two days a week and just assemble the rest of the time. I am like all of you; I have busier days than others. When I eat out often I do not eat as healthy as I should and I spend WAY TOO MUCH money. My son has a great deal of food allergies and this also leaves us with a lot fewer options, so in the end, preparing meals at home is the sensible choice.  But I believe home cooking doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless.

Cooking one meal that will carry on to variety of different meals is not as difficult as it seems. For a Sunday supper, I will roast a chicken (which I rub with Massel stock powder and olive oil), even if there are only two of us. When I cook, I usually make plenty, for exactly this purpose, to cut my cooking time down for the next meal I prepare.  Now, I am not one that likes to eat the same thing over and over again, but the leftover chicken will provide me with a variety of dishes for the week to come. Curry Chicken Salad, Chicken Enchiladas, and chicken soup, are just a few ideas.

When your chicken is cooked, it just takes five minutes to toss together a few ingredients with the shredded chicken, then put on a tortilla with some other vegetables, then wrap it up. You will have Curry Chicken Wrap for lunch.

Some days when my son comes home from school, we are on-the-go from the moment he hits the door.  Either I am chauffeuring him to a sports event, helping (or screaming for) him get his homework done, etc. These days, I try to prepare something in the morning, so all that I have to do is stick it in the oven when it is time for dinner. Chicken Enchiladas are a great recipe for that. It is made with our Creamy Cheesy Sauce, which is another recipe that’s handy to make a big batch of when you make it. It can then be used with pasta or rice or/and vegetables….any way your imagination will lead you.

We also have soup at least twice a week. Soup is healthy, hearty and it is an economical way to stretch your food dollars. Instead of waiting for hours to let the flavors of the vegetables simmer into the broth as days gone by, Massel shortens that time for you. They have done all the simmering for you. I can have a soup ready in 10 minutes with some vegetables, rice, and my leftover chicken. I have a delicious Lemon Chicken Soup recipe that uses cooked chicken.

So in 10-30 minutes, less time it takes for delivery or carry out, I can make a meal at home that is healthy and easy on the wallet. Start small and why not try a few dishes a week – It gets easier and easier.  Consider a soup night once a week.  You can see how far one meal stretches.  Massel are warming up the winter with some fantastic soup recipes for you to try.