What's for Dinner?
My life isn’t all work and leadership and helping teams reach high performance— a girl’s gotta eat too! Here’s the story of how I turned one roast chicken dinner into future family meals and staples.
I live with relatively picky eaters, and I’m up to try anything well prepared. Add to that nutty work schedule and limited time while working from home, and I have tried to make my ingredients stretch. Here’s a collection of recipes and strategies and hacks for meals that my kids know and love. It starts with a roast chicken and roasted potatoes.
Roasted Chicken. I am a big fan of the “beer can” method of roasting. I am so into it I bought this gadget from Weber and use it in my oven and grill. But you can also just rinse off a can and it works great too! Roasted Chicken - Beer Can Method. I love this recipe, but generally I change the rub and liquid. I’ll make a dry rub of garlic and onion powder, salt and thyme, and a little paprika. Then in the “can” I use white wine or salt water. Works great! My daughter is a big fan of “au jus” (step 4 covers it). So while the chicken is resting, I’ll deglaze the roasting pan with water, then transfer to a sauce pan. I sauté the onions and garlic in a bit of butter, then add in the aromatic herbs. Next I add in the giblets, then some some water, salt and a dash of white wine or lemon juice. I simmer it for 20ish minutes, strain it and serve with the carved chicken.
Roasted Potatoes. This Pillsbury recipe is good, though I am more of a fan of thyme, salt, pepper and garlic powder than rosemary—but totally up to you. I have this salad spice I got in Crete last year which is also heavenly. It’s potatoes— so hard to go wrong.
Chicken Stock + Chicken noodle soup. Look into my freezer and you’ll see a bunch of zip lock bags full of roasted chicken bones. When I get 4, I make chicken stock. This chicken stock recipe is one I do with a few variations such as adding more carrots to use for soup and pot pie. I then let the stock cool to room temperature. Strain it and set the veggies aside. I will ladle the stock into small portions and freeze for use later. To make soup I use stock, veggies and diced chicken. Then I boil salted water for the noodles and cook al dente. Once I’ve drained I add to the soup. Sometimes I freeze the leftover soup in family portions for later.
Chicken Pot Pie. To make chicken pot pie, I start with a light colored roux (darker colored roux is a good base for gumbo). Then I add chicken stock I’ve made. I personally don’t like my gravy too runny (soup like), but I also still love gravy so it’s plentiful, but holds on a spoon when you stir it. I chop up leftover chicken and potatoes from the chicken dinner. I might add some carrots from the chicken stock I made. Or grab a bag of veggies (peas and carrots, green beans, corn). Then I toss everything into the skillet with the gravy and stir until mixed and heat until warmed. I can make a homemade top and bottom pie crust, and truth be told my mom is excellent at this and would tell you how easy it is.
But I also have some Pillsbury rolled pie crust on hand in my freezer to save time. Make sure your chicken veggie filling is at room temp. Then lay out a crust in a pie plate or tin. Scoop in some filling. And then place to top on the pie. I crimp the edges together, then score the top for venting. You can either bake right away in a preheated over at 375 for 45 minutes -1 hour. Or you can wrap it in plastic wrap or foil freeze the pie (label and date it) and then bake frozen at 375 for 90 minutes or until golden brown. My grandmother used to call frozen pies “money in the bank” which I think is pretty adorable. Kids always love my chicken pot pie and it’s a great on a pinch meal.
Hopefully you were able to follow along my “dash of this and that” overview. I tried to provide recipes which can serve as a good foundation. Feel free to reach out with questions or your own recipes!
