How to Make A Rubber Chicken, Or the Meal That Keeps On Giving

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Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

No, that’s not rubber-Y chicken, it’s rubber chicken.

I love this term, coined by Leann Ely. It basically means cooking one chicken and making it stretch into meals for days — it keeps bouncing back (hence the rubber).

I have my own version of what I do with a chicken that stretches into four days. Here it is:

Day 1: Crockpot chicken. I remove the bag of goodies from the chicken, wash it, pat it dry, and put one chopped onion and two chopped celery stalks in its cavity. Then I put it in the crock pot, sprinkle it with salt, pepper and a smidgen of basil, and cook it on low for 8 to 10 hours. For dinner we remove the chicken, take off the drumsticks and wings, and a few slices of breast meat.

After dinner we pull the rest of the chicken off the bones (which is very easy), and put the extra meat and the bones in the fridge.

Day 2: Chicken Pot Pie. I take half of the leftover chicken, combine it with frozen peas and carrots, add some chicken gravy and pop it into a pie shell. Cooked at 350 for 30 minutes or so, and you have a lovely pot pie.

Day 3: Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells. Mixing the remaining leftover chicken with mozzarella, some Parmesan, and chopped broccoli, I fill pre-cooked jumbo shells with the mixture and put it in a pan. I then dump a jar of Alfredo sauce over it. Bake, covered at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Day 4: Chicken soup. I take the chicken bones and put them in a stock pot. I add celery, onions and carrot and enough water, then simmer slowly for a few hours. I remove the bones and add some egg noodles, boil it, and voila, chicken noodle soup.

This type of cooking is not only simple, but it is also inexpensive. There are many other types of meals that can be stretched as well. With holiday leftovers fast approaching, this may be something to think about. Any suggestions?

Photo by indichick7