Chicken AGAIN?...Oh yeah!!!

How many of you are SICK of eating chicken for dinner? I am totally raising my hand right now. The thing is it's an inevitable you're going to use this meat in the next 7 days - why? Primarily because it's affordable, readily available and a healthy choice relatively speaking to other meat options. What is is not usually, is convenient. I want to share 2 chicken cheats with you that will make meal prep a BREEZE! One is an easy item to purchase and the other is an easy item to prep in your own home. I'm also including one of my favorite recipes utilizing either prep method of chicken.

First up: Already Prepped Rotisserie Chicken from Costco. 
It comes with over 2.5# of chicken. Can I repeat this beautiful phrase: already prepped rotisserie chicken! This means, you don't have to open the gross plastic clamshell or bag to get your greasy chicken out, remove the skin, remove the chicken and still have an appetite to eat it. Instead, you buy the package at Costco. Once you're home, you open it, remove the amount of chicken you would like to use for whatever purpose and VOILA, you're done handling chicken.

Simplicity is a beautiful thing!

The package isn't much to behold, in fact, it looks quite gross and I would have never found it myself in the store, except that my uncle recommended it to me. Do note though that after you have opened the package, you have 6 days to use it before it spoils. If you're worried you can't use that much that quickly, freeze what you don't use before the 6 days pass.

Second Up: Prepping a large package of chicken for the week by precooking it. 

I had never tried this method until last fall and it is SO easy! The only true work you have to do is take it out of the package (which is always a little gross, chicken juice...ICK!). All you have to do are these easy steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a jelly roll sheet pan (that's the cookie sheet with the edges on it) with foil
3. Spray the foil with cooking spray - I use the olive oil kind, then sprinkle with fresh ground sea salt and pepper
4. Place chicken breasts on the foil
5. Spray the chicken with cooking spray (or brush with olive oil) and then sprinkle with your choice of herbs - I do an everything seasoning (Trader Joe's!) and then sea salt and pepper
6. Cover the chicken loosely with foil & bake for 1 hour

I guarantee this cooking method is the best and easiest way to cook chicken and for it to be moist and ready for almost any recipe!

I used my oven baked chicken in Chicken Poppyseed Casserole last night - so easy - here is the recipe:

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

1.5 - 2 Lb of cooked and diced chicken (or more if you prefer!)

8oz sour cream

8oz Plain Greek Yogurt (I use this instead of only sour cream, lightens teh recipe and gives you a higher protein content)

2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup (I swear using Campbell's makes it have more flavor!)

2 cups of precooked rice (I cheat and use Uncle Ben's 90 second rice pouches, such a time saver)

Topping below (the best part!!! :)

Mix all of the above together and place in a 9x13 pan. We can't eat this whole casserole in one sitting, so I split it into 2 casseroles. One for this week and then freeze one for later. This casserole reheats beautifully.

Ritz Cracker Topping

1 T poppyseeds

60 Ritz crackers (2 sleeves)

1 stick of butter (melted)

Place crackers in a large ziplock bag, then crush them into small pieces. Add poppyseeds and butter to thoroughly mix together. Top casserole with the cracker topping. Freezing tip: I place the cracker topping in a sandwich bag and freeze with the casserole, this way when it's thawing, the crackers don't get soggy. You can freshly top them like normal, when you're ready to heat the casserole. 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes covered and 5 more minutes uncovered. Your casserole should be bubbling with deliciousness when it's ready to take out of the oven.