Time Saver Tuesday!

I don't know about you, but I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning. I'm way too lazy busy to spend all day dusting and polishing and scrubbing. However, my house looks much nicer clean than dirty, and I don't want my kids growing up in an unorganized nasty mess. So, although I don't like it, I clean. The same goes for cooking. I actually really like cooking, I just rarely have the time I would like to prepare creative and healthy meals. I have developed some great tips and tricks to expend as little effort as possible maximize the efficiency of my cleaning and cooking, and I thought Time Saver Tuesday would be a great way to share those with all of you, as well as learn some new tricks and time savers! This week's idea:

Rotisserie Chicken

I know, I sound totally bonkers. You're thinking, "This chick is blogging about chicken? She must be drunk at 8 am again." But alas, I am not. Rotisserie chicken is one of the most versatile, convenient, cost effective, delicious, and even healthy dinner time savers I have. Available at the grocery store hot, cooked, and ready to go for usually around $6, whether planned out in advance or a last minute fix, rotisseries are rad. I take it home, pull off all the skin, pull the chicken off the bone, and you are left with enough chicken for two, if not three meals. (Approx. 2 lbs?) I know you can get chicken for less than $3/lb, but again, how much is your time worth? In that respect, I certainly can't go to the store, buy a chicken, prepare it, cook it, and serve it for less than $3/lb, I'm sure.

As for the versatility, you can make anything with this stuff. Some of our faves are:

• Chicken enchiladas-throw some chicken in a tortilla, add cheese, chiles or jalapenos, cover with sauce and more cheese, bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Chicken quesadillas-chicken, cheese, and any garnish or veggie in between two tortillas, in a hot pan (medium heat is best, don't want to cook too fast) for approx 3-5 minutes on each side.
• Chicken noodle soup-chicken, noodles, desired veggies, chicken stock, and desired spices in crock pot on low heat all day, or medium to high heat for half a day.
• Teriyaki chicken-cook rice, lay chicken over top, add heated teriyaki sauce.
• Other ideas-fajitas, cream of chicken casserole, or as my kids prefer, just eat it plain with some rice and veggies on the side.

And I'm sure you have a million more ideas. Take a night (halfway) off! Run to your grocery store of choice, grab a ready to eat rotisserie, a bottle of wine, and have a healthy delicious meal in no time at all!

I hope you find this idea helpful as well! If you have an idea you'd like to share, please feel free to leave it in the comments or email it to me at kishamarie@hotmail.com and I'd be happy to share it in a future Time Saver Tuesday post!