chicken, chicken, chicken!!!

I no longer have beef in my freezer...so sad.  I am going to be like most people and actually have to buy meat from the grocery, as opposed to raising it and knowing the calf, his mom and his habits and now in my freezer.  No more jokes about "Mongo taste good"  or "Are we having Dinner for dinner?"

With that being said frozen chicken breast was at Costco for $1.99/lb for a 10 pound package, so guess what I do have in my freezer?  you got it, chicken!!

Why I like frozen chicken breasts, besides it tasting good, is that they are individually frozen and you can take out what you need or cook ahead.

For instance, Friday night I baked 4 chicken breasts and  brown/wild rice.  I used half water and half chicken broth for the rice and put it all in the pan together with some Italian seasonings, pepper, season salt etc.  Forgot about and cooked it at 300 for a while.  I wasn't eating it then, so once it was cooled just put the whole pan in the fridge.  Now on Saturday, I had chicken breast and rice for dinner.  On Sunday, I took one breast and sliced it up.  I also fixed 2 salads in containers, put half of the chicken breast on each along with with 1/3 can of mandarin oranges, some feta cheese, an egg, some pea pods, and some banana peppers.  Like magic lunch for Monday and Tuesday.  Then I took the two other breasts and rice and put them in individual containers and froze them... so 2 more meals.  The the rest of the rice, I fed to my dogs, which made them so happy.  So did you keep track? I cooked once, and have 5 meals!  The week before I cooked chicken with onions and salsa and made chicken fajitas and then chicken tortilla soup.  Again, some is in the freezer, some to lunch.

Do you try and plan ahead like that?  I am trying to do that this week with my lunches.  While at Costco, they had a huge container of spring salad, all sorts of leafy greens for $3.68... same as the fancy bags of salad at the grocery.  So I am going to make my salads ahead to take to work, heavy on the veggies and also some protein like boiled eggs or chicken or tuna or cheese.  Just be sure to measure you dressing and try a lighter version of what you like.  Some of the spray dressings are not bad.  I am currently into the vinegar balsamics.  The other thing I picked up to munch on was the sweet pea pods... mmmmmm.  At Trader Joe's, I found frozen mango's.  So sweet and a serving of 2 pieces is 110 calories.

I also found this website  http://www.favediets.com/  They take recipes and make them lighter and also have them from restaurants  ( I can never spell that, thank God for spell check!!)  Here is one I want to try:
Cajun-Style Chicken Salad

Spice up your next picnic with this healthy chicken recipe. This quick easy chicken salad recipe is lighter than other chicken salads because it has no mayonnaise. It's a true low calorie crowd favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 ¹/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¹/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• ¹/4 teaspoon salt
• ¹/4 teaspoon pepper
• ¹/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¹/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
• ¹/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
• ¹/2 cup celery, diced
• 3 cups tomatoes, diced

Instructions

1. Combine lemon juice, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Beat in yogurt.
    
2. Gently fold chicken and onions, peppers and celery into dressing. Chill.
    
3. Just before serving, fold in tomatoes.