Rotisserie chicken saves the day

In order to save time I like to take advantage of ways in which I can save steps. Things like washing and cutting veggies the day I buy them or cooking three pounds of ground turkey and freezing two are good time savers in a pinch. One of my favorite time savers is grocery store cooked rotisserie chicken. I am a member of BJ's and each time I go I buy two chickens (they have either organic chicken or purdue) for $5 a piece. I have discovered that two chickens at $10 can provide us with several meals.

When I get home from the store I immediately carve the chicken. The drumsticks go in a lunch container for Brian (he gets two lunches out of it). The breast meat gets set aside for a recipe later in the day. Then the carcass gets turned into a simple broth.

Each chicken purchase lends itself to homemade broth. Just place the chicken carcass, a stalk of celery, and onion skinned and cut in half, two long carrots and about 10 cups of water in a crock pot. Set to low and cook overnight. In the am you sift out all of the solids, strain the broth and viola... homemade stock. I usually then make chicken rice soup (in the crock pot... I will be sure to post this recipe soon). Sometimes I either freeze or can the broth to use later.

Some of the ways we use the breast meat (and an other meat we set aside) is to make one of these dishes:

• Chicken pot pie (refrigerated pic crust, a bag of microwaved mixed veggies, cut chicken, jar of gravy, salt, pepper and sliced potatoes)
• Chicken Quesadillas 
• Southwestern Soup
• Chicken Salad
• Quick chicken stir fry
• Shredded BBQ chicken

Just to name a few. So next time you are in the grocery and you see the warmer full of rotisserie chickens don't forget to grab one!

Just FYI, the nutrition info on the purdue rotisserie chicken, plain:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size  3 oz (84.0 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories  140 Calories from Fat  72

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  8.0g 12%

Saturated Fat  2.5g 13%

Cholesterol  70mg 23%

Sodium  330mg 14%

Protein  17.0g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% • Iron 4%