Remember that 5 pound package of chicken that I picked up for just $5? Guess what? I got 4 meals plus leftovers from it. When I purchased it I had no idea what to do with it. Food is on my mind 24/7 so I started thinking about what I felt like making right away. You don’t have food on your mind??? That is fine because there are plenty of ideas on the internet. Just type in leftover roasted chicken and see the 1,000,000 things that come up.
The first thing that I wanted to make was something nostalgic. Nothing says nostalgia like chicken croquettes. I am a huge fan of cooking old school dishes that have been tossed aside. I remember having chicken croquettes with gravy and mashed potatoes when I was a kid. I loved it! I got so excited when I saw that blue box of Weaver Chicken Croquettes in the freezer. I liked how it came with 2 little white cups of gravy.
This was the first time I ever made chicken croquettes and it was so much easier than I thought. I am writing the recipe and will be posting it on here very soon.
When we sat down to dinner, Marty and I were both surprised how moist, soft and flavorful they were. He apparently had those Weaver ones when he was growing up too. “These aren’t hard like the other ones” he said. I realized that he was right and we both said how dry the Weaver ones were too. Like sawdust inside. I never noticed that about the Weaver ones before since I never had anything to compare them to. Now I know why they gave you two cups of gravy. We both agreed that mine were delicious and I would be making them again. Next time, I will double the batch and freeze the other half for a quick dinner one night.
The next thing I made for lunch the next day was a big bowl of curried chicken salad. When I cooked at school everyone who tried it loved it and ordered it every time it was one the menu. Mine is more flavorful than most I’ve tried. Not more curry, more flavor. It’s sweet, salty and a hint of spice. I put raisins & dried cranberries in mine. They add a sweetness & additional texture I am looking for. “I don’t like raisins” that’s too bad, pick them out, they are going in. LOL
Yesterday all during production I was starving. Through most of the cleaning, washing dishes and packaging I kept trying to think of what to make for lunch…with chicken of course. I knew I was making something with chicken for dinner, so it had to be completely different than the other dishes.
We don’t have a lot of frozen food in the house, but the ones we do have are for quick meals on our heavy production days. We get these cauliflower pizza crusts at Restaurant Depot and they are pretty good.
I grabbed a crust and cut up some chicken and tossed it with Thai chili sauce. I topped the pizza first with Thai chili sauce instead of pizza sauce. Then I shredded and topped with some mozzarella cheese. Next, I quickly grated a carrot, sliced up some mini bell peppers and green onions. Finally I added the chicken. When it came out of the oven I topped it with some cilantro. It was delicious and hit the spot. Best part was it only took about 20 minutes start to finish.
Last night I made Chicken & Hominy Tortilla Soup. I wanted something hearty and warming on such a snowy night. This was the first time I put hominy in my tortilla soup and it was delicious making the soup even more filling. The few fried corn tortilla strips that I made gives the soup the crunch and finishes the dish off.
We made this soup minus the hominy at our cooking class last year. It was a hit and I am tweaking the original recipe I wrote and adding in the hominy as an option. I will post this recipe on here as well.
So that’s it guys. 4 meals with one 5 pound package of chicken. Having a well stocked pantry and some staple items in the refrigerator are the key to be able to pull meals right out of your ass! 😏
YUM to the croquets. SO funny, I was actually thinking about those Weaver ones about 3 days ago! Could you share the recipe you used, as well as the breadcrumbs, please? New to your blog and enjoying it much!