Setting My Intention

Clearing Clutter. Finding Joy. Living Slow

  • Home
    • Privacy and Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure
  • New? Start Here!
  • Work With Me
    • Affiliates
  • At Home
    • Decluttering Your Home
    • Meal Planning
      • Recipe
    • Organizing
  • In Relationships
    • Motherhood
    • Family
    • Self Care
  • In Life
    • Blogging
    • Budgeting
    • Fitness
    • Goals
    • Slow Living
  • FREE Resources
    • Top 10 Blogging Resources
    • FREE Meal Planning Printables
    • FREE 10 Step Decluttering Process
  • SHOP
    • Terms and Conditions
You are here: Home / At Home / Meal Planning / Meal Planning Ideas: One Chicken, Three Meals

September 21, 2015 by Angela

Meal Planning Ideas: One Chicken, Three Meals

Meal Planning Monday is actually becoming a habit that I am enjoying. I started this series because I was not a meal planner. I had not developed the habit of writing down what we would be eating for dinner during the work week. This series is for you if you could use some simple meal planning ideas to help ease into weekly meal planning.

The previous Meal Planning for Beginners posts can be found here:

  • Meal Planning for Beginners Part 1
  • Meal Planning for Beginners Part 2
  • Meal Planning for Beginners Part 3

meal planning for beginners with roast chicken

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

 The Benefits of Meal Planning

We are indeed reaping the benefits of meal planning: saving money, saving time, less stress, and more variety in our meals. My sons start thinking about dinner right after school. They were always asking, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Now I actually know! The ironic thing is that now that I’ve started meal planning, they’ve stopped asking. They actually look at the weekly meal plan and that stops them from harassing  asking me daily. Want the kids to stop asking What's for dinner? Start #meal planning! Click To Tweet

Free meal planning printables

Weeknight Roast Chicken

I know people generally think roasting a chicken is wonderful and simple. I have always been intimidated by it. It may be because I associate it with the monumental and delicious task of roasting a turkey for Thanksgiving…but on a smaller scale.

I have finally overcome my fear. My sister served a delicious and moist roast chicken when we visited her and she said it was simple. I like chicken and I like simple. The roast chicken recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen. Essentially, you heat your oven proof skillet while the oven is preheating; stick the chicken in the skillet for roughly 30 minutes at 450 degrees; then turn the oven off and let the chicken finish cooking for another approximate 30 minutes.

Trussing A Chicken

Another reason I haven’t added roast chicken to our regular dinner rotation is that it frequently calls for trussing  a chicken using kitchen twine. I have never had kitchen twine in my kitchen. I didn’t have kitchen twine this time either. A quick search on the internet, however, showed me how to truss the chicken without twine. You can read about the ingenious method here.

Meal Planning ideas: Three Meals from One Chicken

Meal 1:

We enjoyed roast chicken with rice pilaf and green beans for dinner early in the week.

Meal 2:

I pulled all the leftover chicken off the bones to use for chicken enchiladas later in the week

The hardest part of chicken enchiladas is cooking and shredding the chicken, so the little bits of chicken I gathered were perfect to make a stress free chicken enchiladas dish later in the week.

Meal 3:

I put the chicken bones in the crockpot to make Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crockpot for soup sometime in the future.

I didn’t have all the ingredients that were called for in the chicken stock recipe, but I used what I had. The leafy end parts of the celery saved in the freezer were put to use in this easy recipe. I set it on low, and the next morning we had 10 cups of chicken stock to freeze for soup in the future.

The extra work I did that night might have added up to 15 additional minutes. 15 minutes gave me the foundation for two more future meals. Meal planning definitely takes a little time and thought, but it’s paying off!

Free meal planning printables
Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

You Might Also Like:

meal planning tips for beginner

Do you make roast chicken? What other meals do you make from it? I’d love to know!

 

Related

About Angela

Wife. Mom to three boys. Writer. Reader. Aspiring Minimalist. Lover of chocolate and fitness. She loves blogging about the ways she is finding success in simplifying life one step at a time. Her mantra is "Progress, not Perfection."

❮❮ Previous Post
Next Post ❯ ❯

Comments

  1. Anne Louise Bannon says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    I’ve been planning meals for years – it helps me eat healthier, too. I do all sorts of things with leftover roast chicken (BTW, trussing so not necessary – it just makes the bird look a little nicer). That’s when I can get some before my husband eats the leftovers. This week, we’ll be doing chicken sandwiches, although chicken salad is another fave. And I’m trying to think what else….

    • Angela says

      September 21, 2015 at 10:52 pm

      Hi Anne! Yes, chicken salad is a good one. I’m thinking as the weather gets cooler we will be doing more soups with chicken. I can’t wait!

  2. Abby says

    September 22, 2015 at 8:43 am

    I almost always make my baked chicken taquitos or oven-fried chimichangas with leftover chicken. Although usually I make sure we’ll have extra because we love both of those recipes so much 🙂

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:09 pm

      Hi Abby! Your baked chicken taquitos is one of the recipes I hope to make with leftover chicken!

  3. Susannah says

    September 22, 2015 at 11:11 am

    I absolutely love it when I can get multiple meals out of “one” meal! Thanks for these ideas!!! <3

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:10 pm

      Sure! Thanks for reading Susannah!

  4. Barbara Hammond says

    September 22, 2015 at 11:17 am

    Mario Batali, who is one of my fave chefs, said if you make a chicken every Sunday you’ll have 3 good meals for the week. He and you are exactly right. I started doing it last winter and continued by using the slow cooker this summer.
    The other meal that I often make on Sunday for 3 meals during the week is pot roast. I love Ree Drummond’s (The Pioneer Woman) recipe for pot roast! You can find it on her website. And it works in the summer as well as winter.
    b

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:11 pm

      Hi Barbara! Thanks for that tip – I’ll check out her pot roast recipe! I ❤️ my slow cooker!

  5. Danielle says

    September 22, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    I love this! I always pick up a chicken every week and it saves us so much time. I have never made enchiladas before but I have a partial chicken in the fridge now, so thanks for the idea!

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:12 pm

      Hi Danielle! It’s definitely going on my rotation now as well. Thanks for reading and commenting!

  6. Nichole aka CuppaGeek says

    September 22, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    Awesome! Love this! I roast chickens all the time and use them throughout the week for different meals. Anything I can add a bit of chicken into I will 🙂 Fajitas, chicken parm, ranch chicken for salads, chicken noodle soup. With having a family of 6- I have to get creative.

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:14 pm

      You sound very creative Nichole – and well versed in meal planning! Fajitas are a great idea too – I’ll have to add that to my list as well. Thanks for dropping by!

  7. Susannah says

    September 22, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I’m eating leftover chicken pot pie for lunch as I post this that I made with our leftover roast chicken! I used a Trader Joe’s pie crust for the top (they come frozen and you have to thaw a little bit to get it to un-roll without breaking too much), so it was pretty dang easy. I also made chicken stock too. I have been known to put the carcass in the freezer for when I have time to make the stock. (I also like to keep all of my onion skins and ends, etc, in the freezer to stick in the broth). Roasting chicken still isn’t a weeknight dinner for us, since I mostly need something that can just be thrown on a plate like a salad or quickly sauteed during the week. I might try your ATK method though. But you can always pick up a rotisserie chicken in most supermarkets if you didn’t plan ahead! We used to have a corner place that roasted them nearby and would sell sides too, so I would sometimes make a few meals out of that too.

    • Angela says

      September 22, 2015 at 5:17 pm

      Hi Susannah! I love chicken pot pie but the kiddos don’t like it as much. That’s a good idea about onion skins – do you wash them first before freezing? I was hesitant before to put some ends in because of the dirt factor. We have definitely done the rotisserie chicken thing in the past.

  8. Ann says

    September 22, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    I adore meal planning! I love the idea that I can use one chicken for 3 ways.

    • Angela says

      September 23, 2015 at 1:23 pm

      Thanks for reading and commenting Ann!

  9. Melinda says

    September 22, 2015 at 10:44 pm

    This is great. I’ve always been too lazy to make soup. But in the crockpot, I can do that! Thanks for the idea!

    • Angela says

      September 23, 2015 at 1:24 pm

      Your welcome! Thanks Melinda – I love my crockpot!

  10. Danita Carr says

    September 23, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    Thanks for sharing at Small Victories Sunday Linkup!

    • Angela says

      September 24, 2015 at 11:32 am

      Thanks for hosting a great party!

  11. Jessica says

    September 24, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    I love how you stretched this chicken into so many meals!

    • Angela says

      September 25, 2015 at 7:37 pm

      Thanks Jessica!

  12. Suzanna @ One Hoolie Mama says

    September 25, 2015 at 10:09 am

    I hadn’t thought of using the chicken bones for stock – what a great tip! Thanks for linking up with Small Victories Sunday 🙂

    • Angela says

      September 25, 2015 at 7:41 pm

      Thanks Suzanna! I know you make a mean roast chicken – you should try the stock next time!

  13. Anne says

    September 25, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    Once you get in the groove, meal planning becomes automatic. Roasting a chicken is a great way to make a few meals out of one ingredient! I love the chicken broth in a crock pot, I’ve not see that. Thanks for sharing on the healthy living link party!

    • Angela says

      September 25, 2015 at 7:52 pm

      Thanks Anne. Yes I agree – I think I’m actually getting into the groove of meal planning!

Hi Friend! I’m Angela

Welcome to my blog where I write about simplifying life in small, manageable steps and creating healthy habits. You'll find inspiration, practical tips and community here for the decluttering you're doing in your own life. (whether that's physical, mental, or emotional clutter) Thanks so much for stopping by! Read More…

Courtney Carver’s Soulful Simplicity Course

Let’s Connect!

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

How to Start Making Changes in 5 Important Areas

FREE Step by Step Instructions!

You feel overwhelmed by your space and you don't know where to start. Here is a 1 page guide that will walk you step by step through decluttering any space in your home.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list. Your 1 page "cheatsheet" is on the way!

Top Posts & Pages

  • 7 Steps to Start Hand Lettering
    7 Steps to Start Hand Lettering
  • Basement Clutter Tour
    Basement Clutter Tour
  • How to Start Swedish Death Cleaning
    How to Start Swedish Death Cleaning
  • Basement Clutter Reveal
    Basement Clutter Reveal
  • Decluttering the Basement: One Corner at a Time
    Decluttering the Basement: One Corner at a Time

Affiliate Disclosure

This website may include affiliate links. These companies pay a small commission to me for sharing their products and services at no additional cost to you.

Disclosure

All information on this blog is from the author’s experience and is not intended to be professional advice. When using ideas from this blog, readers should use common sense and caution.

Amazon Associates

Setting My Intention participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate ad program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Copyright

Copyright Setting My Intention 2018. All rights reserved. Please feel free to share content from this website with a reference to the website and link back to the original page or post.

 

Copyright 2016 Pretty Chic Theme By: Pretty Darn Cute Design On Genesis Framework