Stretching a Rotisserie Chicken

The beginning of chicken soup...

Rotisserie chickens from the supermarket make my life so easy sometimes. At my local Costco, the chickens are generously sized and priced right, so it's very easy when I'm there to come home with a chicken for dinner that night. With some stuffing or potatoes and a salad, it makes an easy meal.

But the best part of the chicken is trying to stretch through several meals. There's always a sandwich or two to make, and then I use the rest of it for as many meals as I can get out of it. I shred the chicken and heat with barbecue sauce for sandwiches. Make quesadillas. Chicken casseroles.

I whip up a batch of soup, just throwing anything in my fridge that seems like it would be healthy, some potatoes or pasta, and chicken stock.

The last time I even made a stir-fry with the rotisserie leftovers: frozen veggies, a can of water chestnuts, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and terriyaki sauce. Added the chicken last to warm up and get the flavors, then put it over rice and topped with chow mein noodles. Yum. Even my husband said it was good.

You can do the same thing by cooking a whole chicken and using the leftovers, which I do as well, but in a pinch, a rotisserie chicken can be a good deal for several meals.