Chicken in the bag Lunches

No secret to those who really know me but I grew up the granddaughter of a chiropractor…aka I never ate anything white or processed (except for the fish my mom made, that would be under the white category- but that’s for another day) we also never ate pork, and obviously, no, I am not Jewish, but was asked that a lot growing up and never knew why… so I don’t eat lunch meat, and if I do it’s some kind of organic oven roasted turkey and on rare occasion I may throw a slice of organic roast beef in…and that’s only if I can make the sandwich and eat it promptly, please don’t make me pack it and eat it later -ack!  So as the kids grew and I needed to make them lunches that needed more protein then our standby peanut butter and honey could offer, I started checking into my options.  On a tight budget I can’t afford to feed them that organic lunch meat daily, it’s over $10/lb and that’s for the store brand, and we would need at least a pound a day.  So I stood looking at a club pack of chicken one day and it hit me – grill the chicken…alas for $6 something a pound… a better option and my grocery store’s club pack of non-organic is $1.99 – no-brainer!

So on Sunday I tear into that big pack-o-chicken and start my process – I lay long sheets on plastic wrap on my counter and lay all the boneless skinless chicken breasts down then cover them with another layer of plastic wrap…what happens next is nothing more then a brutal attack on the already dead meat – I pound it…and I did so with a rolling pin until I recently splurged on some kind of kitchen mallet type hammer thing.  I pound it pretty thin, somewhere between 1/4″ and 1/2″.  I then unveil it and sprinkle it with organic garlic salt and some fresh ground black pepper…if I’m feeling jazzy, I may squeeze a lemon over it before I sprinkle it, but I keep it pretty simple.

I transfer it to a hot grill (yes I do this year round, in the snow and everything, I love to grill – and I don’t let the hubby touch it! Again another story for another time)  I place it all down and grill it for about 5 min on medium-high with the grill lid closed – I open and flip and finish it off for about another 5 min.  I transfer it all to a big cutting board and let it set for 15 min covered in foil – kinda like getting highlights, just a little different.  Then I just slice it up and store it in an airtight container and freezer bags – one into the fridge the rest into the freezer for the second half of the week – I usually grill between 5-8lbs at a time.

Here’s the great news – you now have chicken to throw on salads for lunches.  One of our lunch faves are wraps, we use the chicken and Creamy Bean Dip-Spread  with freshly sliced veggies -red peppers, spinach or arugula, thin sliced cucumbers, sprouts…really whatever you have that you love.  Sometimes I just toss the chicken into the wrap with romaine lettuce and a little Cesar dressing – chicken Cesar wrap!  Really the ideas are endless in how you use your ‘meat in a bag’ – hope this makes your lunch and dinner time less of a hassle and a little more fun!