Making the most of leftovers.....

I think most people hate leftovers, but I always cook extra to have leftovers. As a stay at home mom, this makes lunches and fast easy dinners when I am in a crunch for time.

Last night I was going out for a girls night but still needed something for the girls and Jerry to have.

We had leftover baked chicken and vegetables (I made Becca's chicken thighs recipe) except I had used skinless boneless chicken breasts instead of thighs.

So from the leftover chicken and vegetables I made one of my got to leftover makeover dishes

 

Chicken Fried Rice

Put all the leftover chicken and vegetables in a skillet

Broke up the chicken with my spoon

 

Then added more vegetables.

Onions, more carrots and zuchhini

Then added a little brags and light terriakyi sauce.

I made a fresh pot of steamed rice and once it was done cooking I tossed it in.

If I would have had frozen peas I would have added those too

Finally added 1 scrambled egg

Taste and make sure it doesnt need any more seasoning.

 

This is Jacq giving it the thumbs up....lol!

For Jerry, I made some terryaki broccoli to go with.

Just seasoned with a little olive oil, lemon juice and the same terryaki suace and Tony's.

Tossed and baked on 350 for about 15 mins so it was still crunchy.

 

 

 

Salad Dressing

So if you don't know me and my family, one thing I think everybody will tell you is that they love our salads! We are known to have a salad with EVERY meal and sometimes it IS the meal!
When Jerry and I first started dating in college, one night he told me that he would take care of dinner-for me not to worry about it,study and he would bring dinner over.  Of course, I was thinking he would pick up something from a Restaurant...well....was I in for a suprise and he got a quick lesson as to what was "dinner" approved in my little world...lol! (KEEP in mind that I was only 19 and a sophmore in college and still lived in a very naive, somewhat innocent bubble of a world)
He brought over BAGGED salad...and a BOTTLED dressing....umm what was that? (I know many people use them and they're some good ones, so dont take this offensively) but I had NEVER had bottled dressing in my life and just thought they were gross and didn't really think people actually used them. ALONG with the BAGGED SALAD (gross, is that salad even washed, and does it even count as lettuce if its practically white/see through...not even green?) he brought over a Stouffer's Frozen Swedsih Meatballs microwavable meal (gag reflux)...ummm I HAD only had a frozen microwavable meal once in my life (my sisters and I begged my mom to let us try one when we were little bc all our friends got to have them and they looked so good while we had to eat all her homeade food, needless to say 2 bites in and we said, you're right mom this is gross and never had one again!)
So HE proceeds to microwave this stuff/food and plate it for me...
Trying not to be too rude bc we did just start dating and I did REALLy like him....I told him as politely as I could that I was not going to eat that but thanks. So he ATE both of them, which thoroughly grossed me out and then he went and got me a sandwich from Food for Thought (love that place!)
Jerry learned very quickly that I had FOOD standards and my family took our food seriously but he thanks his lucky stars everday because he says I have introduced him to so much good food that he would have missed out on....
SO back to our salads....
Really, I could give you LOTS of different salad recipes..there is endless possibilities but what makes our salads so good is the way we season or dress our salads and really its quite simple.
It is as basic as olive oil, lemon juice and then you can add different vinegars or mustards to change the flavor. I suggest just trying different combinations and see what you like.
I also put a spoonful of greek yogurt if I want to make it creamy.
Avocado also makes it creamy too!
I used to love nuts in my salads but since Jacq has a nut allergy, we are a nut free house.
We had leftover chicken fajitta meat from our cinco de mayo party sunday so tonight we made this big salad for dinner-

This was romaine lettuce, sweet onion, orange bellpepper, heirloom tomatoes (they are insanely good right now), fresh basil (still haven't killed my plant yet!), chicken fajita meat, avocado and manchego cheese.

I seasoned it with Tony's, olive oil, and the juice of one fresh lemon.

No vinegar tonight, I wanted it to be just light and fresh!

 

Chicken Salad version 2.0

Do you prepare meals for the week on Sunday/Monday? I am not one to prepare all our meals for the week-I actually enjoy cooking and love making fresh meals for us every night but I like making batches of healthy fast quick meals to have in the fridge to eat on and snack on during the week. Makes it a lot easier to eat healthy when you have things ready to eat.
Chicken and tuna salad is one of those things.
I know I made chicken salad last week but this week I made a different version.
I took a shortcut and used a store bought roasted chicken

Deboned, deskinned and chopped it up
Chopped sweet onion and sweet bellpeppers in red, orange and yellow and chopped italian parsley
Seasoned with Tony's and one spoon of olive oil mayo

Chicken Salad

So today for lunch, I used the leftover roasted chicken to make chicken salad. I make several versions of chicken salad. Lately, I have been OBSESSED with the chicken salad from Zoe's kitchen so I tried making their version.
I put all my leftover de-boned, de-skinned roasted chicken, added 2 stalks of celery and one spoonful of olive oil trader joe's mayonaise and sprinkled Tony's (all purpose seasoning) into my food processor. Pulsed.
Ate it lettuce wrap style with Boston lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
I didn't plan for the girls to eat this with me and made them something else (next post) but Giuliana LOVED it. It was very smooth since I had put it in the food processor so it was easy for her to eat. Would make for good sandwiches for them, but I just fed it to Giuliana with a spoon!
I had about half the chicken left and it made a good amount of chicken salad, probably a pint!

Roasted Chicken

I think one of the easiest and most versatile things to cook is a simple roasted chicken. I roast chicken several different ways. Honestly, between my mom and I, I think we could come up with enough recipes of chicken and rice to fill a whole cookbook. I seriously cook some version of chicken and rice at least twice a week. It's easy, it's fast, my girls love it and it makes versatile leftovers.
Today, I did a basic lemon herb roasted chicken

I washed the chicken, put it on the roasting rack. Rubbed it down with olive oil, the juice of 2 meyer lemons, meyer lemon zest, salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, red pepper, sweet basil, and oregano. I rubbed it good and spread seasoning in between the breast meat and skin.
I stuffed a lemon sliced in half into the carcass as well.
Baked at 350 for a good 2 hours
I always let my chicken rest after I take it out of the oven for about 5 mins then I cut it and place it on a platter and pour the juice from the bottom of the pan all over.
I cut the chicken by first slicing down the middle of the breasts. I then cut the drumsticks and thighs together then wings. Makes for a pretty platter. The key though is pouring all the juice over the meat!

 

For this meal, I cooked some Trader Joe's butternut squash ravioli, roasted zucchini and a simple salad.

Here is what I served the girls

 To be honest, they were not the biggest fans of the butternut squash ravioli's. They were kind of a bust and wouldn't buy them again. My girls LOVE cucumbers so that is always my go to fresh vegetable to serve to them. We seriously go through so many cucumbers in our house it's crazy. We all love them and probably eat at least 4 cucumbers a day!

 

For Jerry and I, we ate the chicken with salad and roasted zucchini.
I love oven roasted vegetables and you will see that almost every night we have them.
They are so fast and easy.
I usually cook supper in the late afternoon while the girls are napping or playing, so I like to cook things I dont have to think about too much or watch constantly.
I just season with olive oil, salt, red pepper, lemon pepper, basil and oregano and bake at 350 until tender on a foil lined cookie sheet.

The best thing about roasting a chicken is the leftover chicken! The chicken is moist and flavorful and there is endless possiblities of easy fast meals to make with it.
Here are some of our favorites...

Chicken Salad (finely chop chicken, celery, onions, pepers and a lil mayo) then you can stuff it in a tomato or avocado
Chicken Quesadillas (girls love tortilla, avocado, cheese cooked on stovetop quesadilla style)
Chicken Pitas (pita with chicken, topped with tzatziki sauce and tomatoes

Some weeks, when I know its going to be a busy week I will roast two chickens to have the meat on hand to make fast easy meals!