COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 10, 2018 •
3A
Betty Kaiser’s Chatter Box: Spice up roast chicken leftovers
Betty Kaiser
Roast chicken is all the
rage these days. One night
I was watching a re-run of
Dr. Oz. He and his nutrition
experts were discussing if
already cooked supermar-
ket chickens were a healthy
choice for dinner. Th e all-
around consensus was yes,
they are healthy to eat be-
cause they are mostly chick-
en with very little other add-
ed ingredients. Yea!
I think that the most in-
teresting factoid of their
conversation was how many
chickens are sold every day
in the U.S.
Dr. Oz said that there are
more than fi ve million whole
chickens sold daily. Th en, I
read that there are 60 mil-
lion of the famous Costco
rotisserie chickens sold every
year.
Th e statistics are mind
boggling. Who knew?
Once upon a time, chick-
en was a Sunday supper
treat. Now it appears that if
you have $4.99 in your pock-
et you can eat it every day.
I don’t know why that is so
shocking to me. But it is.
Poor chickens!
Honestly, I got depressed
reading the statistics. If I
wasn’t so set in my ways I
would become a vegetarian!
However, I know that
we’re not going to change.
We eat so much chicken at
our house that I cluck when
I walk. One of the reasons,
as mentioned above, is that
chicken is a healthy protein.
Another reason is its ver-
satility. One whole chicken
can serve two to three people
at least three meals. Chicken
left overs are a good thing.
Here’s some ideas:
Meal one is a chicken din-
ner with mashed potatoes
and gravy, vegetable and fruit
salad. I either roast a whole
chicken in the oven or cook
it in a crockpot.
I season it simply with
Lawry’s salt and a little of my
favorite herbs. If cooked in a
crockpot, I always fi nish it off
by putting it under the broil-
er for a few minutes to crisp
up the skin.
Left overs are oft en a
chicken entrée for lunch. I
do get tired of eating peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches.
A chicken salad with apples,
walnuts and celery is a nice
break.
Quesadillas with a chick-
en, salsa and cream cheese
fi lling are also quick and easy
to prepare.
And I always save enough
left overs for some sort of
soup or casserole. Th e sky’s
the limit. It’s hard to beat a
simple chicken and noodles
dinner or even chicken chili.
For soup, I try and keep
the carcass in a plastic bag,
boil it up with some onions,
celery and seasonings.
I de-bone the meat, dis-
card the bones and combine
it with whatever suits my
fancy in the refrigerator.
Th e following couple of
recipes are a little spicy and
you may need to re-duce
the chili powder. Change
them up to suit your family’s
tastes. Also, remember that
soup and chili recipes are not
rocket science.
Sometimes you have to
taste and adjust spices and
add more liquid. Serve with
a favorite salad and a dinner
roll.
Enjoy!
SIMPLE MEXICAN-STYLE
CHICKEN SOUP
1 cup chopped onion
1 red pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika
5 cups chicken broth (I
use reduced sodium)
1-1/2 cups favorite squash
— winter, yellow, zucchini
1 large tomato (or 2
small), chopped
Garlic salt and pepper to
taste
2 cups chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons fresh cilan-
tro, snipped
Heat oil in soup kettle.
Add onion and pepper. Cook
about 5 minutes until tender,
stirring as needed.
Stir in cumin, chili pow-
der and paprika; cook and
stir briefl y.
Add broth, squash, toma-
to, salt and black pepper.
Bring to boil; reduce heat.
Cover and simmer about 20
min. or until squash is ten-
der.
Add water if needed. Stir
in chicken, corn and cilantro;
heat through and serve hot.
Serves 3-4.
CROCKPOT CHICKEN FAJITA CHILI
2 cups (or more) chicken,
cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fajita (or taco)
seasoning
½ teaspoon cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14-1/2 oz. cans diced to-
matoes, undrained
1 can chicken broth
1 cup yellow, green and
red sweet peppers, diced
(your choice)
1 small onion, minced
1 15-ounce white kidney
beans, rinsed and drained
In a medium bowl, com-
bine chicken, chili powder,
fajita seasoning, cumin and
garlic; toss to mix. If chick-
en is raw, spray a large skillet
with nonstick cooking spray
and heat on medium high.
Add chicken and brown
slightly.
Place chicken in a crock-
pot. Add undrained toma-
toes, chicken broth, peppers,
onions and cannellini beans.
Cover and simmer on low
heat set-ting 4-5 hours or on
high heat setting 2-3 hours.
Add more liquid as need-
ed. Can also be cooked on
stovetop.
Serves 4
Note: Th ese recipes are
adapted from Diabetic Liv-
ing Quick and Easy Meals. I
sometimes substitute canned
chili beans and add tomato
sauce and diced green chiles.
Garnish as desired.
Contact Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox at 942-1317 or
email bchatty@bettykaiser.
com
LORANE NEWS
• Th is Friday, Oct. 12,
there is no school for state-
wide in-service.
• Come out to 4-H Com-
munity Club Open House
at Crow Grange, Oct. 12, at
12:30 p.m.
Enrollment at the open
house, learn more about
projects and programs.
Groups for kids K-12.
For more information, con-
tact Jessica Colwell at 458-
315-5946.
• First Crow FFA meeting
is Oct.10, at 5:45 p.m.
• It’s fall and Rural Art
movie nights return the Sat-
urday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. at
Lorane Grange. Soup and
bread will be served plus
desserts.
Th e movie, “Bend It Like
Beckham,” starts at 7:30
p.m.
• As days are staying dark
later and getting dark earli-
er, watch for students along
the roads waiting for their
buses.
• Lorane Grange Spa-
ghetti Dinner and Bingo is
back on Friday, Oct. 19, be-
ginning with dinner at 5:30
p.m.
Bingo starts at 6:30 p.m.
Remember the blackout
amount has grown substan-
tially.
Signature gathering topic of next 912 Project meeting
Richard Burke, execu-
tive director of the Western
Liberty Network, will pro-
vide training on petition
signature gathering in Ore-
gon and how to be eff ective
in informal debates at the
next meeting of the Cottage
Grove 912 Project on Tues-
day, Oct. 16, beginning at
6:30 p.m., at Stacy's Covered
Bridge Restaurant, 401 E
Main St.
Burke was previous-
ly appointed by Oregon's
governor and confi rmed by
the state senate to serve as
a commissioner on the Or-
egon State Ethics Commis-
sion.
He has worked in the
state house and senate as a
senior legislative aide and
was a minor party nomi-
nee for Oregon governor in
1998.
Western Liberty Net-
work training helps activists
shape their communities
during coming elections
and in local governance.
Annual Great Oregon ShakeOut set for Oct. 18
Th is is a reminder that the
Great Oregon ShakeOut is al-
most here. Th e nation’s largest
earthquake drill already has
more than 500,000 Orego-
nians registered.
To learn more, visit www.
shakeout.org/oregon/index.
html. Th e ShakeOut website
also has many resources to get
registered and help spread the
word.
Millions of people world-
wide will practice how to
Drop, Cover and Hold On at
10:18 a.m. on Oct. 18, during
Great ShakeOut Earthquake
Drills.
Sign up now to participate
and be counted. If you are
not able to participate on the
day of the ShakeOut you can
schedule a drill any time be-
fore Jan. 1, 2019, to be count-
ed.
Oregonians can join today
by registering for the 2018
Great Oregon ShakeOut.
Participating is a great way
for your family or organiza-
tion to be prepared to survive
and recover quickly from big
earthquakes — wherever you
live, work or travel.
Learn tips on how to get 2
Weeks Ready and craft your
own emergency kits.
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