Rotisserie Chicken Recipes for Meal Planning

Welcome to the April 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Recipes

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants are sharing their recipes, their stories, their pictures, and their memories.

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Like most families nowadays, we are always trying to find ways to stretch a dollar at the grocery store. One of our favorite ways to do so is to grab an herb roasted rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods each week and develop rotisserie chicken recipes around it.

Rotisserie chicken recipes are a great way to try a variety of flavors and keep costs low during the week. We are able to stretch this bird six ways to Sunday and I love collecting new recipes or even inventing new food traditions for us to make the most of the bird.

So, which rotisserie chicken recipes keep finding a way onto our meal plans?

1. LUNCH – Ripped Chicken with Avocado and Salt and Pepper – Eating the chicken straight off the bird as we prep it to be stored for the week is one of our favorites. As we rip, we put some in a Pyrex dish and some on the plate. Grab a ripe avocado at the market, slice and sprinkle with salt and pepper and you have a light and easy lunch.

2. DINNER – Chicken with Pasta and Tomato Sauce – This is one of our go-to weekday meals. It’s super quick to grab some pasta, throw it in a boiling pot, heat up some sauce and toss a handful of chicken in. Shred some mozzarella and mix it all in and you have a quick and easy dinner on the table.

3. LUNCH – Chicken Salad – An oldie, but a goodie. Mayo, salt, pepper and chicken sandwiched between fresh baked bread and accompanied by some grapes and we are good to go for lunch.

4. DINNER – Cheesy Chicken and Squash – This is a great way to use up summer squash when it seems to be coming in the house in droves. The original recipe was from Marissa McClellan of Food in Jars, but we adapted it to fit in some rotisserie chicken.

5. DINNER – Chicken, Onions and Mushrooms with a Mushroom Gravy over Rice – This is our new favorite for meal planning. We made it for the first time the other night and it was a huge hit! I schedule it with the Chicken with Pasta and Tomato Sauce from above so that I can cut up mushrooms for the sauce and use them all before they go bad. So, without further ado, our newest family recipe.

Chicken, Onions and Mushrooms (serves 2)

1.5 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken

1/2 large organic onion chopped

1 cup diced organic white mushrooms

1 cup of organic white rice

1 package of Simply Organic Mushroom Gravy

butter

1. Chop the onions and dice the mushrooms.

2. Put 1 pad of butter in a pan and saute onions and mushrooms until tender.

3. Cook rice according to package directions. We tend to follow the 2 to 1 rule with water to rice.

4. In the same pan as the onions and mushrooms, add 1 cup of water and the gravy packet. Stir and let simmer.

5. Once the gravy is at the right thickness, add the chicken and stir to mix.

6. Serve the gravy, chicken, onions and mushroom mix over rice and enjoy!

What are some of your best ways to stretch your food dollar? Do you have any good rotisserie chicken recipes to recommend?

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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• German Red Cabbage: A Family Tradition — At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy shares her favorite dish and a part of her family’s history.
• Rotisserie Chicken Recipes for Meal Planning — Becky at Crafty Garden Mama shares a new recipe that is in her family’s meal-planning rotation. Check out how she uses a rotisserie chicken to get through the week.
• Grandma Wicken’s Sugar Cookies — Jana Falls at Jananas talks about how special her Grandma’s sugar cookies made her feel.
• Recipe: Seed and Bean Burgers — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings shares one of her favourite frugal recipes that is also super-healthy and totally delicious.
• PULLING Dinner Together For the Kids – Crockpot Pulled Pork — Lisa at The Squishable Baby PULLS dinner together for the kids.
• The Best Banana Muffin Recipe (Gluten Free & Vegan) — Dionna of Code Name: Mama’s adventures in gluten free baking have not been 100% successful. But today she is guest posting at Fine and Fair to share a banana muffin recipe that will knock your socks off!
• The Pierogie Mama Whips Up Strawberry Pierogies! — Bianca at The Pierogie Mama shares her family’s recipe for strawberry pierogies…a sweet, summery version of the Polish dumplings that she affectionately named her daughter after.
• Mom’s Cookbook — Tree at Mom Grooves digs into the big book her mom created for her six daughters and shares a favorite family recipe.
• Crispy Duck Confit — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama takes the liberty of starting a family recipe tradition with this super simple, totally delicious crispy duck confit.
• Stovetop BBQ Chicken — Amy at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work shares a yummy BBQ chicken recipe that you can make on the stovetop in less than 25 minutes, fridge to table!
• Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Casserole w/Bacon — Martine at Whey Beyond the Naked Truth shares a naked food twist on an old family favorite!
• Strawberry Panna Cotta — KerryAnn at CookingTF.com shows you her favorite dessert, a quick and easy Strawberry Panna Cotta that she enjoys so much, she had it instead of a birthday cake this year.
• Special crepes for a special day — Mikko at Hobo Mama is learning to cook his grandma’s signature holiday meal alongside his dad.
• Three Favorite Family Recipes: To Eat, To Wash, To Play — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings is back with three family favorites: gluten-free vanilla orange sugar cookies, DIY powdered laundry detergent, and something fun for the kids: homemade “Flubber”!
• Black Bean Soup Forever — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot shares a soup recipe that’s been around forever.
• Do you want to know a secret? — SRB at Little Chicken Nuggets lets go of her mac and cheese recipe, a comfort food favourite for friends and family for years.
• Creating Our Own Family Recipes — Emily at S.A.H.M. i AM shares how she’s trying to create meals that her girls will want to pass down to their own children some day.
• Vranameer Chicken: A Family Recipe — Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares a recipe that reminds her of childhood and more specifically, of her mother. It’s a South African take on sweet and sour chicken and what it lacks in healthy it makes up for in tantalising to the taste buds.
• One Recipe, Three Uses: Dishwasher Liquid Detergent, Dish Soap, and Hand Soap — If you love saving money and time, you’ll love this green recipe from Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama, guest posting at Natural Parents Network.
• Our Family’s Favorite Pies — Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter shares recipes and tutorials for the quintessential American dessert.
• Deliciously Easy Crock Pot Chili — Lactating Girl shares her crock pot chili that is not only quick and easy, but awesome.
• All-Purpose Crock Pot Pork — Crunchy Con Mommy‘s simple “recipe” for cooking perfect pork in the crock pot is for whatever mood her family is in!
• Family Rules: A Recipe for Harmony — Cooped-up kids + winter weather + frazzled parents can all blend together into a recipe for disaster. Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares what brought back the peace in her house.
• Favorite Healthy Family Recipes — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares her family’s healthy eating experiences along with links to free printable vegetarian recipes that her family has created with love.
• Grandma’s Banana Bread — Megan at The Boho Mama has early and fond memories of her grandma’s banana bread. It’s love in a loaf!
• Family Comfort Food — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares a recipe handed down that moms have made for their kids, for regular meals as well as to comfort.