*Food Friday* Cluck Cluck Chicken

I miss living in the same city as a Costco. I miss everything about Costco. The samples. The copious quantities of items. The liters of alcohol. Mainly, though, I miss the cheap rotisserie chickens. The big juicy rotisserie chickens. Who knew that the ocean would drive the cost up three dollars and drive the size down? It's pretty much a conspiracy to get you to eat more seafood. Conspiracy I tell you.

It's pretty easy for me to sit here and extol the virtues of the rotisserie chicken. Fully cooked and ready to go, what isn't there to love about them? A meal in themselves, they are right up there with the fish that Jesus used to feed the five thousand in that you can usually stretch them out over the week. Chop some up add some mayo, BAM! Chicken salad. I use it in recipes to cheat. Anything that calls for cooked chicken. Call me lazy, just don't call me late for dinner.  I made this recipe as a way to get dinner on the table quickly for Monkey. And yes there's spinach again. I like to think of spinach as the tofu of the leafy green world. Plus, my baby's iron levels were way up at his one year appointment, so don't expect the spinach to be going anywhere. It's good for you! Eat it!

Chicken Baked Ziti

Printable Version

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1 cup cooked chicken

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 box whole wheat penne pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare penne according to package directions. Cook spinach on medium heat in a small saucepan. Once heated through, add cooked chicken and spaghetti sauce. Combine with penne pasta and cheese. Place in ungreased 9x9 glass pan. Bake for 10-15 minute or until bubbling.

It's all going to end up on the floor anyway...

Easiest way to get a toddler to eat? Cover it in sauce. And cheese. Oh man, Monkey goes bananas (see what I did there?) when the parmesan cheese container comes out. He also really loves the tube noodles for the same reasons his father loves Bugles.

Eat This

I almost didn't sit down to write this post. Monkey has been sick for a while and today he not only woke up cranky and not feeling well, but one eye was almost swollen shut. Today is my Saturday, so I'm home with crankypants. An upset one year old is akin to a sixteen year old girl with PMS. We went from playing happily to screaming to reading quietly to screaming. If I close my eyes, I can still feel him pulling on my legs to be picked up and hear him yelling in my ear to be put down. You better believe that the second I'm done here I'm pouring myself a very very very tall glass of wine. Very tall.

One of the things that has been super challenging since becoming a domestically challenged mommy is preparing meals. Any meal. Even snacks. I've had to rely on ready made options more often than not and you know what? We're all alive and nourished. In fact, I was able to throw together a really scrumptious dinner thanks to my Ergo carrier and stuff I already had on hand. Never underestimate the power of your pantry.

  Kinda Sorta Chicken Spinach Alfredo

Printable Version

1 package precooked chicken strips

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1 jar Alfredo sauce

1 regular package spaghetti

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

**This is not a particularly sauce-y recipe. Have you cleaned Alfredo out of a toddler's hair lately. If you prefer more sauce, add an extra jar.**

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions. Cook spinach on medium heat in a small saucepan. Once heated through, add garlic. Add precooked chicken strips and jarred Alfredo sauce. Heat through. Combine with spaghetti.

The really epic thing about this? I got to eat this meal hot. 

Mommy made. Monkey approved.

Get used to seeing spinach in just about every recipe I make. Monkey had low iron at his nine month check up and one of the ways we're trying to up his levels is through his diet. Leafy greens are iron rich and spinach blends in to just about everything. It's like tofu. Just not. Now, where's that wine?