Easy Chicken Tacos
These tacos are as easy as it comes because I use Holy Guacamole instead of making my own. I like that brand because it's a lot more natural and has less oil. Some of those guacamole dips are nothing but oil and insanely fattening.
This is my "I need dinner on the table in 5 minutes' meal. My daughter loves these. Dress them any way you like. It's essentially rotisserie chicken, corn tortillas and any fixings you desire.
If I have leftover bell peppers, I saute those with cumin seed and add them to the tacos.

Tacos
8 corn tortillas
2 cups chopped or sliced chicken
Refried beans
Lettuce
Tomato
Salsa
Fresh cilantro
Store bought guacamole
Cheese or any other garnishes

Heat refried beans on stove top according to directions.
If your chicken is fresh from the store, slice the meat and set it aside. If it's not, then sautee it in a teaspoon of oil with some cumin seed until heated through.

For the tacos, heat a skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Cook corn tortillas about 2 minutes per side.
Stuff each taco with desired toppings.

That's an easy dinner!

A few uses for leftover rice:
My daughter loves my chicken and rice soup, which I make with my basic chicken stock recipe and leftover rice. I just add chopped chicken and peas or carrots and serve. It's that simple.
Last week, she was sick and I had a bunch of leftover rice. I made the soup with half and fried rice with the other. It was awesome.
A few other ways you can use leftover rice is to make a rice stuffing, rice salad, rice pudding or stuffed peppers.
I hate to waste food and this will become blatantly obvious as I continue this blog. I will often offer way to use leftovers. It's my goal to help people reduce the amount of food they waste and reduce it for my family.

Chicken Pho

Chicken Pho
1 recipe of my Asian Chicken stock
Handful of dehydrated mushrooms, such as morels or shiitake
1 thinly sliced carrot
2 handfuls sugar snap peas
6 slices of dehydrated garlic
4 ounces of cooked and drained Soba noodles
1 handful of fresh spinach
1 rotisserie chicken breast, sliced
Sesame oil
Cilantro to garnish


Make Soba noodles according to package directions. Drizzle with sesame oil and set aside (these can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator). We may make the stock and noodles on Sunday and then finish off the soup on Monday.

Bring your stock to a boil and add mushrooms, carrots, sugar snap peas and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add noodles, spinach and chicken just until heated through. Use a few drops (just drops as sesame oil is strong) on the top of the soup.
Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

This is a wonderful, rich soup. It's easy, satisfying and healthy. I love it. Doesn't it look delicious? The mushrooms in both the broth and the addition of them give it a dark, rich color and flavor.

Asian Chicken Stock

1 leftover rotisserie chicken carcass
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns

12 dried shiitake mushrooms

1 teaspoon soy sauce

6-8 cups of water (you may add more as it boils)

Place chicken, celery, carrots and onion in a stock pot and add 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil. When mixture is boiling, add bay leaf, peppercorns and dried mushrooms and soy sauce

 Reduce heat but keep it going at a boiling simmer for 2 hours or more.
You may need to add a little water as it boils down. When it's done, strain and either make a soup. 

I call this Asian Chicken Stock because it's what I use to make "Asian" soup. It's kind of my version, or really my husband's version of Chicken Pho. He came up with it. 

You can use it as a basis for any Asian soup you want though. See my recipe for Chicken Pho, if you're interested.

I make chicken stock at least once a week, often two. To be healthier, I try not to eat the skin on the chicken, but I don't discard it. I toss it back in the container so I can add it to the stock when I make it later in the week. I never buy stock any more. I have a freezer full and I freeze it in different size containers for different recipes.
This week, my daughter had pneumonia and I whipped up a quick stock so I could make chicken and rice soup, which she loves. I have a couple of stock recipes I'll share, but this is just the basic one. I always try to leave a little bit of meat on the bird for the stock. I never eat the wings and leave a tiny bit of thigh meat, too.

Basic Chicken Stock
1 leftover rotisserie chicken carcass
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
Pinch of salt
1 bay leaf
2 peppercorns
6-8 cups of water (you may add more as it boils)

Place chicken, celery, carrots and onion in a stock pot and add 6 cups of water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. When mixture is boiling, add bay leaf and peppercorns. Reduce heat but keep it going at a boiling simmer for 1 hour or more (I usually let it go for 2-3 hours).
You may need to add a little water as it boils down. When it's done, strain and either make a soup or save the stock in containers,. Allow to cool before you freeze them.
I like to pre-measure the stock for recipes and note if I have 1 cup, 2 cups. I use stock in everything: rice, quinoa, couscous and more

NOTE: You will see all kinds of tips out there for skimming stock, never letting it boil, etc. True, my stock is not pristine and clear, but I don't care. It's super flavorful and I am feeding  a family, not a 4 star restaurant. And, my stock is a great way to use the leftover carcass.
Now, occasionally, I will need a quick stock. The key to quick stock is make sure you brake apart the bones and chicken add all the skin and fat and use less water (like 2 cups less). This will make a stronger stock in a shorter period. Boil it vigorously for an hour.