The Art of Leftovering: Chicken - Optimistic Kitchen

I find that the easiest way to cook from scratch is to prepare simple ingredients that can be enjoyed as an incorporated meal and then used as future ingredients in new meals remixed from the leftovers of the original meal. I call it simply, “Leftovering.” One of my favorite ingredients to use in leftovering is chicken, which is both inexpensive and versatile.

I love roasting a chicken and vegetables on days that I’m home to merely supervise my oven while it does most of the work (recipe at: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!). My entire house fills with the comforting smell of the browning chicken and vegetables, conjuring childhood memories of my grandmother’s kitchen, and stimulating our appetites so that our mouths are watering as we wait for dinner time.

Instead of throwing out your scraps, throw them into your stockpot and make delicious homemade chicken stock.

Both of my grandmothers taught me about food from a very young age and both considered wasting food among the worst crimes against humanity. The scraps that are created from this meal are precious. They either get bagged and dated for the freezer or go directly into my stockpot to make a delicious, healthy, aromatic stock (recipe at: Taking Stock & Making Stock to Elevate Your Dishes). Making your own stock is not only completely free but it gives you an all natural, homemade base to make any number of simple soups such as Chicken & Barley Soup or Wedding Soup. Usually I freeze what I’m not going to use that week in 1 cup servings to use later for my Secret Weapon Velouté Sauce (it’s like gravy, but easier) or a quick meal Ramen Noodle Hack!

A delicious bowl of ramen made with homemade stock and fresh ingredients

Homemade Chicken Soup made with Homemade Stock is the Ultimate Comfort Food

That chicken and vegetables from Dinner #1 has already provided a lot of tasty options, but there are still leftovers that can be chopped into bite sized pieces and made into the Easiest Chicken Pot Pie, Ever for dinner #2! I like to plan a leftover Dinner #2 like this for during the week because they are usually a lot quicker to prepare and don’t require a lot of effort (my formula for staying happy in my kitchen). Some weeks I change it up and use the leftover chicken for Quick Chicken Curry or Addictive Fried Rice. Some weeks, I may need the additional short cut of grabbing a rotisserie chicken to help with meal prep. Flexibility helps adapt the plan to the variables that can pop up and complicate the week.

The most important thing is to keep it simple to make your kitchen your happy place.