Help, quick! Chicken is taking over my life!

LifeInTheBikeLane

Oh chicken took over my life a long time ago. We don't eat red meat except maybe once a month (if even) so that might be why. Try something new with it!!! I only ever crock pot my chickens because if I do it in the oven they come out dry. Some of my common dinners:

• Whole BBQ Chicken. Clean the chicken and use your hands or a spoon to seperate the skin from the meat. Put garlic and low fat BBQ sauce under the skin and place into the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. Put some more BBQ sauce on the top if you want before hand but def. put some on closer to dinner time. Use aluminom foil balls to keep the chicken out of its own juices.
• Whole lemon pepper chicken. Clean the chicken and use your hands or a spoon to seperate the skin from the meat. Sprinkle low sodium lemon pepper under the skin and cut up a lemon and place slices under the skin and inside the body. Spinkle more seasoning on the outside and place into the crock pot for 8-10 hours. Use aluminom foil balls to keep the chicken out of its own juices.
• Whole Roasted chicken. Clean the chicken and use your hands or a spoon to seperate the skin from the meat. Spinkle garlic under the skin and place into the crock pot for 8-10 hours. Use aluminom foil balls to keep the chicken out of its own juices.
• Whole Mexican Chicken. Clean the chicken and use your hands or a spoon to seperate the skin from the meat. Pour some hot salse or tabasco under the skin and spread it around. Add salsa onto the outside of the skin and place into a crock pot for 8-10 hours. I sometimes add garlic onto of it. Use almuniom foil balls to keep the chicken out of its own juices.

If it's just you or you and another person there will be leftover chicken. I love whole chicken BECAUSE of the leftover chicken. Some ideas for that:

• Crockpot Chicken and Egg Bake. Spray the crock pot with pam and line the bottom of it with either low calorie wheat bread or tater tots. Put a layer off frozen spinach, then a layer of the leftover chicken (doesn't matter what flavor!), and a layer of any other ideas you want. Mix 5-6 eggs lightly with a fork and pour over the layered items. Cook on low (or if your crock pot is like mine and BURNS things on low, cook it on warm) over night for 8 hours. This can also be done in the oven in a pie or cassorole pan. I do that for dinners! A lot....
• Chicken Tacos. Mix together leftover chicken, peppers and garlic on a griddle (no grease!). Add tabasco. Put salsa on a tortilla and add chicken, cheese and your choice of toppings!
• Chicken and Rice. Cook brown rice and add a can of cream of mushroom soup. Add broccoli (or spinach!) and shredded cheddar cheese and leftover chicken. Season with garlic!
• Chicke & Egg Sandwiches. Add frozen spinach and chicken to a griddle in a circular fashion. Heat. Crack and egg on top of the spinach and chicken. Toaste bread. Make a sandwich!

You can cook potatoes around the chicken as well. Amazing!

kyta32

Chicken stirfry - 1 lb chicken breasts in frying pan with 1 tbs oil. Brown and break up chicken breasts, stirring occassionally, while chopping up a medium carrot, medium onion (or 4-5 green onions), 1/2 bell pepper (colour of your choice), 1 large garlic clove, 3 kale leaves (will fill the pan when you add them, but they cook down). Add the carrot, onion and 8 oz bean sprouts to pan, when bean sprouts begin to wilt add bell pepper, garlic, and 1 heaping tsp ginger. When pepper starts to soften add 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce and 2 tbs brown sugar. Allow to boil while stirring for almost a minute and remove from heat. Divide into 5 portions. Serve each serving with 1/2 cup brown rice. Under 400 calories per serving (with rice).

Try to use the recipe builder. Import an online recipe, and update the ingredients/measurements, or pretend you are importing one, and type in the ingredients to have it match everything at once instead of matching one ingredient at a time. Double check the matches (it kept turning 1 tsp garlic into 1 cup for me). Generally you can just ignore marinades as far as calorie counts go, otherwise you can try measuring before and after if you just have to know how many calories made it into the meat (generally negligible), or just add it to the recipe builder by 1/4 the amount in the original marinade.

No food has to be completely eliminated unless that is what works for you. I find I have to seriously reduce pasta to still have it fit in my macros, but I'm not willing to give it up yet...Best wishes

stealthq

Look up the recipe for 'Perfect Pan-roasted Chicken Thighs'. Should be on epicurious, I think it was originally published in Bon appetit.

Do that, but don't add the initial oil to the pan. It's not necessary - the fat will render out of the chicken thighs and the chicken will be just as good and super crispy and flavorful. There are a couple of variations to this dish if you want a sauce - lemon and thyme, etc. Shouldn't be hard to come up with your own if you look at their variations. It's a simple preparation.

Another recipe is for broiler glazed chicken legs or wings. Lots of variations out there, but the basics are: Get bone-in chicken legs or wings. Brine for 30 min you like. Make about 1/4 cup of glaze of 50/50 jam and your favorite hot sauce/pepper paste (I like sriracha or sambal oelek). Dry off the chicken and brush with the glaze. Put them in a baking dish under a preheated broiler. Flip and brush every 5-ish minutes until chicken is cooked through and glaze is sticky, glossy, and caramelized. You'll likely have some black bits like the char you get on good barbecued chicken.