One of the questions I get asked often is why do I bother to cook for myself since I live alone. “Isn’t it too much trouble?”
Well, luckily I love to cook, but now that I am not cooking for a family, it doesn’t mean that I have to eat oatmeal for dinner.
I am a meal planner and a frugal grocery store shopper, so each week I check my papers sale flyers and pick a protein to use that week. It just so happened whole chickens were on sale for .99 cents a pound, so I quickly picked up a 5 pound chicken for $5. Score!
If you have an air fryer, did you know that you can make your own rotisserie chicken? Simply wash the chicken, pat dry, and brush on a tablespoon of melted butter. Cook in an air fryer for approximately 55 minutes, flipping once, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Since I will be using this chicken throughout the week for different dishes (chicken enchiladas, chicken and apple panini, etc.), I only seasoned with salt and pepper.
Soups are also a great way to utilize veggies at the end of the week that may be about to go bad. I found that I had a package of buckwheat noodles in my pantry (found in the Asian aisle of most grocery stores) and I also had red curry paste. I love my condiments! This came together in no time using some of my rotisserie chicken.
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Serves: 1
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 ounces buckwheat noodles (weighed dry)
Lime juice from 1/2 lime
Zest of one lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
3 ounces cooked chicken breast, chopped
1. Add broth, curry paste, carrots and celery to a stock pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until carrots are almost fork tender. Bring to a boil. Add buckwheat noodles and cook for 7 minutes, or according to package instructions.
2. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, zest, spinach and cooked chicken.
Tip: If you were to make this soup ahead of time, cook and store the buckwheat noodles separately and just add to the soup when reheating.
I’d love to hear your grocery shopping tips and tricks! Leave them in the comments.
Don’t forget to check out The Chopping Block's virtual cooking classes, including a great demonstration on utilizing winter squash for soups. Learn How to Cook Winter Squash on Thursday, October 29 at 6pm CST and you'll learn how to make: