It's Not That Far from Stewed Chicken.....

When I was first "setting up house" in my early twenties, I was sadly ignorant of how little I knew and how much growing up I had to do. Life was coming at me fast and I was bound and determined to dodge it and any self-examination that went with it. So I did exactly what my mother did, much to my horror of course. I went to college, got married, became "independent", and started playing house in an attempt to hatch my new and improved autonomous self who would never be like the adults who raised her.....right? Right.

Those days were lean in the pocket and in the spirit. I thought I had opted out of my family script (the hope and fantasy of most 20-somethings) but I had only managed to sever myself from everything that made me my-Self. In doing so, I set in motion a ten-year cycle of avoidance that would take another ten years to heal.


This hiding of Self is clear to me today in how my creativity suffered. For years I thought I had no creativity. Closing myself off the way I did, shutting down the truth, it rippled through every aspect of my being and living until I no longer recognized who I was. Although I sporadically journaled throughout those years, my writing greatly suffered. Ironically, I married a gifted and aspiring writer and supported him in his goals to be published. I lost sight of the fact that I ever even had the gift. I allowed my-Self to disappear in the shadows. Thankfully, God sent His angels, like He always does, to remind me of what He had given me. I recall a beloved Marshall University professor, Dr. Kenneth Ambrose, who always went out of his way to comment on the essays or papers I had written. He and others were beacons that didn't let me completely forget who I was.


But no where dear ones was this disparity in budget and psyche more apparent than in my lack of culinary finesse! While I still had my signature gumbo and a few other things that I could make well, some of my regular dishes still make me cringe a little! For instance there was my ramen noodle, Hillshire sausage casserole, a processed-food nightmare! Around that time, I fondly remember a comment made by one of my dearest friends Francie Hartsog Dolack who was also in her first marriage at the time. Francie and I were doing our best to be little Hope Steadmans "Thirtysomethings" seemingly all-together super-mom/wife. But like Hope, we often faltered and loved each other through all the mis-steps and victories. We wanted to be young, fun, successful in our careers and studies, perfect in our roles as wives and mother. We were young women of the 80's and we wanted everything right then. Francie observed, in that way that only a good friend can, that every recipe I ever made started out with stewed chicken! She was right!


As I was growing up and learning to cook, my grandmother, who mostly raised me, was, unknown to the family very slowly deteriorating from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. I remember the earliest sign of her leaving herself was the dinners she prepared for my mother and me. My dear Gram had raised two children, widowed, and alone, during the depression. She knew how to cook from the leanest pantry and stretch a meal. She also never fully recovered from that experience and so all times were sparse to her from that time on, both in the purse and places held more deeply. While she had been an accomplished cook and baker in her day those skills left her in the earliest portion of her mental decline. Dinners were often bland and uninviting, she had done the best she could just getting a plain stewed chicken on the table...often. I knew how to stew a chicken! And dear ones, I knew that 3 women could eat several meals from one stewed chicken.


Something in me also knew how to take that chicken and turn it in to something more inviting, cozy, comforting. Flash forward 20 some years and I lovingly laugh at Francie's observation, because my friends, it is still true! With astonishing regularity, every Thursday morning, I trek to our neighborhood QFC deli to purchase their 12 piece baked chicken. I have at least abandoned, forever I believe, stewed chicken. As a mother of two spirited children my time is precious and the time it takes for me to skin and stew a whole chicken is not very family friendly! However, more undesirable to me is handling raw chicken, in fact, I actually refuse to do it!


I spent a year as a vegetarian and another two as a vegan. During that time one of the things I loved when I cooked was the absence of handling raw meat. While I do cook and eat meat now, I draw the line with raw chicken! So I rely on my favorite Holman Road QFC where the service is friendly and fast. Go at 10:00 or right before dinner and you will find the juiciest, most flavorful baked chicken ever....and at 9.99 for 12 pieces, it is very budget friendly (more to come) (price based on having a QFC club card).


When I first started cooking again, here in Seattle, I pledged to use the very best, finest, most fresh, organic ingredients. That was a lovely time when I ate and cooked some of the best food in my life and I was able to expand my culinary education in valuable ways. However, in these current economic times it is not always budget-friendly for a family to purchase food that I now refer to as "pampered". Don't get me wrong, it's still my favorite food and it still remains an issue of social justice for me that the best food is unavailable to the people who need it. But that dear ones is another blog entry..... At QFC, my chicken may have not had a wide-open field of organic grass to nosh on but it is hormone and antibiotic-free, a concession I can accept.


I generally make one dinner from serving the chicken on the actual bone as it is intended. But the value of this chicken for me comes from cutting the meat off the bone after dinner is over and meat is still warm and moist. Once all the chicken has been removed (as well as any skin or fat) I store it in a glass container with a lid and dole it out for the rest of the week in a variety of delicious and creative ways.


There is a cornucopia of books at your local bookstore about ways to use rotisserie chickens so I can't claim to be doing anything innovative. Here are some of the ways that I regularly stretch my 12-piece chicken from QFC. These are 10 easy, quick, healthy meals that are are also family/budget friendly. I think they would make my Gram proud...

1. Southwest Chicken
*mix chicken, your favorite jarred salsa, 1 can pintos (or home-cooked 1 cup), cover w/shredded cheddar cheese or cheese blend, bake 30 minutes at 350
2. Chicken Curry
*chicken, Trader Joe's yellow or red curry sauce, frozen spinach, garbanzo beans, mix & heat serve w/rice
3. Pepper Chicken
*chicken, Trader Joe's Black Pepper sauce, green onion, Trader Joe's Rice Sticks (rice noodle), saute onion and chicken in sesame oil, add pepper sauce to taste, prepare and saute noodles in same skillet add pepper sauce to taste
4. Chicken Quesadillas
*Trader Joe's handmade corn tortillas, sliced chicken, cheddar cheese and whatever else you like to add, if you are lucky enough to have access to Trader Joe's handmade corn tortillas, you really don't need much else as they are quite tasty and filling
5. Chicken Tacos
*sky's the limit! great way to clean out the frig and use up veggies
6. Caesar Salad w/Chicken
7. Chicken Salad
*endless options...I prefer mine w/Best Foods Mayonnaise (known as Hellmann's, East of the Rocky Mountains) sliced grapes or mandarin oranges, fresh black pepper and kosher salt. My friend Linda Knight Jerrnigan used to make it with pineapple and almonds...she also introduced me to the use of scissors for cutting food while making her chicken salad. The best kitchen tip ever!
8. Chicken Fried Rice
9. Chicken Potato Hash
*this can be made w/leftover potatoes from your frig or frozen diced potatoes although I prefer the former...add whatever veggies in the frig you have and some seasoning for a hearty meal. Salsa adds a nice kick...
10. Chicken Burritos
*add whatever you like to your burrito, but your leftover Southwest chicken, chicken curry, chicken salad, Chicken Caesar, Chicken Fried Rice, or Chicken Potato Hash all make excellent fillings.


We put forth all that effort to stretch our wings and fly from the women who raised us, do our best to try to be different from them and finally come home to find out that we're not that different after all and what a wonderful thing that can be...more will be revealed.....

COMING ATTRACTIONS!!! Stay tuned for French Fry Pie!