The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
Let me tell you a secret: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Why? Because Thanksgiving means cooking, eating, and (in my opinion) no-fuss quality time with friends and family. Today, I’m going to talk about twelve dishes that will be on my table. And, I’d love to hear from you: What is on your Thanksgiving menu this year? Continue reading What’s on your Thanksgiving Menu?→
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
As Halloween draws near, many of us will be thinking about the sugar that kids and adults will be eating. It’s funny, because added sugar lurks in many foods all of the time. In this post, we’ll talk about sugar and five tips to cut down on it. Continue reading Five tips to cut down on added sugar→
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
Today, let’s talk about one strategy that can save you time in the kitchen without making you sacrifice a healthful, home cooked meal: The Roast Chicken. Roast chicken is my key to a better week. After I roast a chicken, I get about two cups of leftover chopped chicken, plus – I get a bonus because I use the bones to make homemade broth!
When I roast a chicken over the weekend, the leftovers from the roast are used in lunches and dinners for the week. This cuts my weekday cooking time, and also gives me ample opportunity to get more creative with my meals. For example, this week, I used leftover chicken in a casserole and in a chicken salad. Leftovers from this one roast chicken covered our lunches for the week and most of our dinners!
Here are ten ways to use leftover roast chicken:
1. Chicken casserole (I make mine with pesto, chicken stock, brown rice, frozen chopped broccoli and frozen artichokes)
2. Chicken enchiladas
3. Chicken salad (I make a no-mayo lemon poppyseed chicken salad or a Mediterranean Chicken Salad)
4. Chicken soup
5. Tortilla soup
6. Chicken stir fry
7. Chicken chili
8. Baked ziti with chicken
9. Chicken and dumplings
10. Pizza with chicken and pesto
Now, some of you may not want to roast a chicken, and instead opt to get a rotisserie chicken. While I think that is ok to do in a pinch, rotisserie chicken can come with a lot of extra sodium. Instead, I keep it simple. Prepping a roast chicken doesn’t take too much time, and you can do other things around the house while you wait for your chicken to roast.
Here’s how to cook a roast chicken:
1. Choose an organic chicken from the grocery (Why organic? see why by visiting my post about sustainable food).
2. Clean your sink and surrounding countertops using green cleaners.
3. Cut a small orange into quarters and place it next to the sink.
4. Fill a ramekin with a teaspoon each of black pepper, dried thyme and rosemary and place the mix next to the sink.
5. Put a roasting pan next to the sink too, and set your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
6. Open the roast chicken packaging in the sink and let all the juices run down the drain.
7. Run water over and through your chicken. If there are giblets (these are the organs packed in the chicken cavity), take those out. I usually throw them away, but some people use it to make sauce or gravy.
8. Place your rinsed chicken on a roasting pan.
9. Fill the chicken cavity with slices of orange (lemon works well too!).
10. Sprinkle herbs on and in your chicken until the top, sides, and bottom of your chicken are covered.
11. Place your chicken in the preheated oven
12. Clean your sink and counter tops while the chicken is cooking.
13. After your chicken has cooked for an appropriate time (about 90 minutes – you can see when the chicken’s juices are running clear), use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken has an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees fahrenheit. To do this, check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. (see chicken from farm to table for more information about food safety and chicken)
14. Let your chicken rest for 10 minutes, carve, and then enjoy!
On this blog, I want to present creative ideas to make you more productive. And, one way to do that is to offer you strategies that will give you more time. If you want to eat healthfully on a budget, most of the time you have to cook at home. But, this takes up so much time! By roasting a chicken on the weekend, you can use the leftovers in many different ways to make delicious, healthful meals that won’t stretch your budget.
So tell us: How do you use leftover roast chicken?
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
Looking for healthy snack ideas? In this post, I highlight ten crunchy and colorful alternatives to chips and dip. Some of these ideas are classics (like peas and carrots), while others offer new flavors (like chocolate avocado dip!). All are yummy and will offer a fun, crunchy (and colorful!) alternative to chips and dip. Continue reading 10 crunchy and colorful alternatives to chips and dip→
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
When I was a kid, my mom used to make poppy seed chicken casserole. It was creamy and delicious, with the pop of the seeds and the softness of the chicken. She always topped the casserole with crushed butter crackers – that buttery crunch took that comforting casserole to the next level.
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
If you know me, you know that I make a lot of my meals at home. And here’s a secret: I modify recipes to match my food philosophy. Today, I’m going to talk about how I make my meals healthy, even when I work from a recipe. Here are 10 tips on how to cook healthier:
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
Sometimes, you just need a little something to spice up a weeknight meal. What better thing to do than a simple side? So last night, I threw together a simple side veggie to go with our entree. It took about 15 minutes to prepare and sauté – pretty good, right?
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
This week, I wanted to give you a little glimpse into my weekday lunch preparation. Hopefully some of the creative shortcuts can be helpful for you – and this post will show you how to make weekday lunch preparation easy.
The postings on this site are my own (unless otherwise stated) and don't necessarily represent any other organization's positions, strategies or opinions. Thanks!
Celebrating creative productivity, healthy living, and purposeful growth
