Don’t Want Leftover Chicken All Week – Turn them into these
Who doesn’t love chicken? Isn’t it great when there’s a few pieces over and now you get to have a plate the next day.
Did you make a little too much… and now its day 3. And you’re a little sick of the same flavor.
Now you could always add some sauce and power through.
But that’s only going to lead us to think about what we are going to eat the next day. And that can lead us to binge. Or get off track. And what if for some godforsaken reason, the thing on the menu for tomorrow is once again… chicken.
That’s enough to make anyone jump ship.
Now that’s the problem I see with so many people who talk about meal prepping. They might make 2-3 meals per day ahead of time. And its for the whole week, and it looks great and that’s what they are in the mood for at the time of the video.
But I want to see how they feel on day 3 and 4 of eating the same thing.
And that’s why I think people don’t like meal prepping. That’s why it never worked for me in the past. Back in those days they told me to cook the weeks chicken on Sunday and youre set.
Cook a whole bunch of rice, don’t forget the vegetables and you’re set.
I don’t know about you, but sounds like someone is trying to set me up for failure.
Come Thursday I would leave with my meal, and come home with that same container full. Because I decided to go get something to eat instead of eating the same thing for the 4th time.
When it comes to the other meals, its not so bad. I remember as long as it was a different flavor of yogurt or protein shake I would be alright.
So you see, this isn’t about discipline, or sticking to a plan. It’s about making sure you’re looking forward to what you have to eat, and that you’re not making good food the enemy.
Now for Independence day, we had made too much food. And there was a lot of grilled chicken quarters left.
These recipes below work for leftover chicken, or if you are batch cooking chicken for the week.
Now as it will be for most of the posts in this category, these aren’t full recipes. Just ideas to try out.
First up, Buffalo Chicken Dip
This is a favorite of mine. Anytime I need to bring something to a party I make sure no one called Buffalo Chicken dip.
If someone already has dibs, I just silently curse their name and make this spinach artickoke dip. Check out the full recipe here, This one is made with lump crab from a can
A couple months into keto, I asked myself why should I only make this in large quantities for other people.
I can simplify it down and change the ratios and add it to my rotation.
All you need is buffalo sauce, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ranch or blue cheese dressing.
That’s it.
To start, shred your chicken. And put into a pan over medium heat with a little oil. My choice for cooking is always avocado oil.
Then add in about 1-2oz of cream cheese and stir in. When it is no longer a tiny brick add in 1-2 tablespoon of ranch.
Note: for all these recipes I used one chicken thigh and the quantity of the ingredients are proportional to that.
Next add in the cheese of your cheese, I used this cheese that I had that was cheddar and mozzarella. Again add in about one serving. Whatever youre comfortable with, this isn’t a fat bomb.
Second note: When it comes to recipes like this and youre interested in losing weight or healthy eating in general, use the cream cheese, cheese and ranch as flavoring. You can put as much or as little as you want while sticking to your daily calories and macros.
As a general rule for dairy products, I like to look at the serving size on the back of the package and stay within 1-2 servings when all dairy products are combined together.
After everything is melted and well incorporated, put in the buffalo sauce. How much is up to your spiciness tolerance. I put in about a quarter cup.
Give it a good mix and its ready to serve. If this is meal prep, let it cool down before storing it away.
Third note: If you were making this for a party, you would put in a tray, layer it with cheese, and place it into the oven to melt and give it color. But since this is for us, it doesn’t have to be that fancy or that cheesy.
Chicken Salad
Do I need to go over this one. I think the only ingredient in this one is mayo.
What makes chicken salad is how you make it your own. A hard boiled egg, bacon, guacamole instead of chicken. Or avocado with mayo. The classic way call for celery and green onions… but I can’t stand celery.
Sometimes you don’t realize some things are already keto. I had that realization with Cobb Salad. Greens, egg, bacon, tomato, avocado, blue cheese. It’s the same thing with chicken salad.
Mac Caul ‘n’ Cheese
Macaroni/Mac…. Cauliflower/Caul… no? okay im sorry. However you call this one, this is something that has made it into my rotation and will stay there.
As you will see, I think cauliflower was meant to replace pasta, not rice or mashed potatoes.
Cut up the florets as small as possible (more surface area). Also dice up some bacon and onions. Can replace the bacon with mushrooms or add it along with it. Why not?
In a pot, heat up some heavy cream. Season with salt pepper and garlic powder. In a pan put in the bacon onions and mushrooms.
Its probably a good idea to cook these separately but iv’e found that they take about the same time to cook so I just put them together.
Once the heavy cream is hot, add in the cauliflower. If they are small they will soften in the time it takes for everything to be done.
Once the bacon and onions are a few minutes from being ready, and in the chicken. You are just looking to reheat it, not cook or burn it.
Now this part isn’t as precise as I would like it to be, but after a little while add in your cheese slowly. Too much at once will make it grainy. Stir in little by little until the sauce is thickened.
Add in the chicken bacon and onions to the pot, Mix and al together and you’re done.
Same as before plate up and enjoy, or let it cool down before storing for the week.
Truth be told, I had all three of these in one sit down. I made them all together for this post and devoured them once the last picture was taken.
But ive made each one of these as part of my prep before and each time I was looking forward to lunch time.
that is so important to sticking to any diet long term. Making sure you are enjoying what you eat so it doesn’t feel like youre even dieting.
A lot of people think meal prep only comes in two flavors; boring and repetitive or too complicated and time consuming. Then abandoning it all together.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Easy delicious low carb recipes to add to your weekday routine. That’s what we do here at ketoistheworst.
Let me know if you try any of these. Or what’s your favorite thing to do with batch or leftover chicken and I’ll be sure to try it myself.
