Using Left-over Grill Roasted Chicken

Our Wal-mart had a sale of two whole chickens, regardless of the weight for $10 so I started stocking up.  My goal was 16 whole chickens total but when I stopped yesterday they were sold out so unfortunately I only managed to get 8.  Out of my first purchase of four chickens, one was roasted on the grill.  Half of the grill roasted chicken was for that night's dinner.  The other half was de-boned for wraps and stock.

Grill roasted chicken has a lovely, light smokey flavour.  I de-boned the chicken reserving fat, cartilage, skin and bones for the stock bag (right).  This is one time where a bit of extra fat is desirable.  It adds a richness and flavour to the stock that can't be beat.  The same is true of the chicken skin.  Since the stock is de-fatted prior to canning anyway, the end result is a lovely flavoured stock without the fat but all the flavour.

The weather has been unseasonably warm here with highs in the 70's (F) and lows in the 50's (F) which is unheard of in Ontario this early in the year.  The only difference between now and early summer is the humidity levels haven't risen.  Still, I am using summer meals to keep the heat from cooking out of the house.  I cut the remaining meat into strips to make wraps for the following night's dinner.

Wraps are a delicious, easy summer meal that can be enjoyed for any meal depending on the filling.  The grill roasted chicken strips were perfect for wraps adding a delicious flavour boost.  I added a little homemade mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes cut in half, a little Italian dressing and light sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese to complete the wraps.

Normally I tuck both ends end then wrap and cut in half on a diagonal for presentation.  This time I tucked in one end then rolled, leaving the 10 - in wraps whole, secured with a toothpick for a bit different presentation.  There was just enough chicken left over for my husband's lunch the next day.

Faux Crab Salad Wraps

We are not huge sandwich eaters and never have been even when all of our kids were at home.  We like our burgers and BLTs or an occasional power sandwich.  My husband likes the occasional grilled cheese but for the most part we certainly do not eat sandwiches in the same degree as many families.  We use wraps as many would use sandwiches so I was quite happy to find Old El Paso Smart Fiesta whole grain tortillas.

Tortillas are easily made at home but it is convenient to buy them pre-made.  I like that I can buy whole grain tortillas for the same price as regular tortillas.  Old ElPaso is a brand I trust so I really am glad they introduced whole grain tortillas!  I like visiting the Life Made Delicious website more easy recipes using these tortillas. 

A couple of days ago I posted about faux crab dip.  I had a half of a package of the left-over imitation crab meat to use up.  I made faux crab salad wraps for lunch.  This is one application where I do feel the imitation crab meat works quite nicely.  It has a nice texture quite suitable for wraps.  I won't be using the imitation crab meat again is because of the high sugar content since my husband has impaired glucose tolerance.  I will substitute with a firmer textured fish for these wraps.  Of note though is the way I put the wraps together.  I placed the salad filling on a lettuce lined tortilla then wrapped with the lettuce first and over wrapping with the tortilla.  This technique prevents the tortilla from getting soggy due to the filling. 

Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit Metro Airport

Our spring vacation began on May 8, flying out to Las Vegas.  We returned home for about 18 hours on May 14 then flew out to our vacation home in Florida where we stayed until May 25.  It was actually less expensive to do it this way than fly from Detroit to Las Vegas to Tampa to Detroit!  During our brief time home on the 14^th we hosted a games night followed by my husband being seen in emerg and still managed to catch our flight on time.  I kept things simple for the entertaining and we had no checked baggage for the Florida so that made things a lot easier.

We prefer to fly out of Detroit rather than Toronto.  Detroit is home to the Detroit Red Wings, my husband's favourite hockey team.  As such the term Hockeytown was coined to describe Detroit which is also known as Motown (Motown records) and Home of the Big Three (motor industry).

My husband prefers to get to airport and clear security with plenty of time to spare.  We have spent a few hours sitting in Hockeytown Cafe located in North Terminal of the Detroit Metro Airport near Gate D12.  This is a lovely little pub style restaurant where you can relax and enjoy free Wi-fi while waiting for your flight.  It's also a great place to people watch.  Airport food tends to be a bit higher priced but the price of missing your flight is higher.

Hockeytown Cafe is tastfully decorated in all things Detroit Redwings!  It has a cosy, comfortable atmosphere with friendly service and good food.  I ordered the Chicken Lavesh ($10.20) while my husband had the Philly Cheese Steak ($10.50).  The Chicken Lavesh was a chicken Caesar salad wrap served with seasoned French fried potatoes.  I've eaten a lot of chicken Caesar salad wraps but this is the first time I've ever had one that had the croutons in it.  It was a lovely wrap but I'm not sure about the croutons.  I think it was more that I wasn't expecting that added crunch that isn't the norm for most wraps.

I really liked the seasoned fries.  I think the seasoning used was simple fry seasonng salt something similar to Lawry's Seasoning Salt.  These can easily be duplicated at home by making homemade French fries then sprinkling the desired seasoning over them.  When seasoning homemade French fries place the drained fries into a large bowl, sprinkle on the seasoning then use a flipping motion to distribute the seasoning evenly.

Las Vegas Here We Come

Blogger has been having a few problems but in case you hadn't figured it out we have been on a road trip to beautiful Las Vegas.  The next few posts will share some of the great foodie finds discovered there.  Keep in mind a lot of times being a true foodie home cook I am always looking for dishes tha can be easily recreated at home.  Our first foodie find did not disappoint.

Once we cleared airport security my husband and I along with our very best friends forever (seriously) stopped at one of the airport restaurants while waiting for our flight.  This is a favourite pass time for those flying.  What I noticed is a lot of the foods offered can easily be duplicated at home. 

I ordered the chicken caesar warp served with French fries and dill pickle slices.  Really it was more of a stuffed pocketless pita that would be ever so easy to duplicate at home.  The next few posts will  highlight some of the foodie finds we enjoyed.  Oh my!  They were delicious!

Spinach Wraps

If you recall a recent Frugal Kitchens 101 topic was Think Vegetarian.  The reason being anytime you eliminate meat from a dish you more than likely are going to be saving money.  Meat tends to be the most expensive ingredient in any dish.  While soups, stews, and casseroles stretch the amount of meat needed for a meal, eliminating meat occasionally simply saves on the cost of the meat.  Vegetarian dishes do not have to be expensive or complicated either,

Just look at these gorgeous, mouthwatering spinach wraps I made.  I cannot take full credit for these as I got the idea from one of our kids who made a variety of sandwiches for their little one's birthday party that included several adults.  It is always important at these types of events to not only offer a nice variety of crudites but also meatless dishes.  Some are not eating meat for whatever reason (eg. health, personal conviction) so including meatless choices in the party menu is a good idea.

Spinach wraps are extremely easy to make.  They are quite delightful with a refreshing flavour.  You can serve then cut in half as pictured or cut into quarters for smaller appetizers.  I added the alfalfa sprouts just for that extra punch of flavour. 

Spinach Wraps

whole wheat tortillas
sliced mushrooms
baby spinach
alfalfa sprouts
hummus

There are no measurements for these wraps.  Make up as many as you want.  Spread a tortilla with hummus.  Add a single layer of baby spinach on top, followed by mushrooms and alfalfa sprouts.  Roll the wraps, pressing slightly to hold the wrap together.  Cut as desired.  Secure with a toothpick for serving.

Seafood Lettuce Wraps

Ontario has been under a heat wave since Sunday and it is not predicted to end until this Friday.  Preparing a no-cook or minimal-cook meal is always important on days like this to minimize any heat in house.  If you are using air conditioning cooking taxes it more and if you don't have air condition extra heat and humidity from cooking does not help.  Tuesday (July 6) it was really too hot to even grill.  I decided on a minimal-cook meal.

Dinner consisted of seafood lettuce wraps, peeled pre-cooked frozen shrimp and deviled eggs.   The only thing that required cooking were the eggs for deviled eggs and egg salad for lunch the following day.   The method for cooking hard boiled eggs that I use requires only bringing the water to a boil with the eggs cooking to perfection it the covered pan during the sitting period.    It was a light, refreshing meal for a hot summer evening.

Seafood Lettuce Wraps

1 can (5 oz/142 g) solid white albacore tuna
1 can (4 oz/120 g) chunk crab meat
4 - inch piece of English cucumber, chopped
2 tbsp green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
¼ tsp celery seed
⅓ - ½ c MiracleWhip® salad dressing
1 leaf of lettuce per wrap*


Prepare cucumber, green pepper and red onion.  Place in mixing bowl.  Add celery seed.  Drain tuna and crab meat. Pour the tuna and crab meat into the vegetables mixing well.   Add the desired amount of MiracleWhip® to get a nice spoonable mixture that isn't too runny.  Cover and chill the seafood mixture for about 20 minutes.  Wash and pat dry lettuce leaves. Spoon seafood mixture into the centre of each lettuce leaf.  Roll up the lettuce wrap style.  Cut in half then serve.
Yield: 4 - 6 wraps

*Leaf lettuce is idea for wraps but iceberg lettuce works well to, giving a bit of a refreshing crunch to the wrap.

Egg Salad Wraps

Sometimes a new spin on an old family favourite is just what's needed to add a bit of spark to the dish.  When it comes to sandwiches it is quite easy to turn them into wraps.  Wraps use flour tortilla shells to form the pocket style wrap.  Flour tortilla shells now come in a variety of flavours ranging from plain to pesto to sun dried tomatoes which really adds to the kinds of wraps you can make.

One of my husband's favourite sandwich fillings is egg salad so I did a little twist on this sandwich. Pictured are the egg salad wraps I made for my husband's Father's Day lunch.  He loves egg salad!  That is a sprig of fresh parsley from the garden as well.  

I use the method for making perfect hard boiled eggs as the base for the egg salad.  Once the eggs are cooked, cooled and peeled I mash them then add finely chopped onions, fresh ground pepper and fresh ground sea salt followed by stirring in Miracle Whip® dressing to get a nice spooning consistency.  The egg salad is then ready for using in sandwiches or wraps.

Cobb Salad Wrap

We eat a lot of salads so I always appreciate finding a new spin on salads. I really enjoyed the cobb salad from Magnolia's at the Four Queen's in Las Vegas so when I saw a recipe for Classic Cobb Wraps in the Fall '09 issue of Kraft Foods What's Cooking magazine I just had to try it. Now for those who don't know this magazine is free. It does of course strongly feature Kraft® products but what is nice is a week's worth of recipes is presented and the recipes can easily be modified to use other brands or homemade versions. The recipes are always presented with gorgeous colour pictures and are quite easily duplicated. Oh and did I mention this great magazine is free? Just head over to kraft.ca and sign up for your free copy sent out quarterly.

Cobb Salad Wrap

The cobb salad I enjoyed in Las Vegas was presented nicely on an oval plate. It consisted of iceburg lettuce, bacon pieces, blue cheese, tomatoes, chopped hard boiled eggs, chicken pieces, cucumber and red onion all laid neatly in rows. The salad dressing was the customer's choice. The classic cobb wrap in What's Cooking had romaine lettuce, deli turkey, bacon, tomato, avocado, shredded cheddar cheese and ranch dressing wrapped in a four tortilla. I decided to take a few liberaties with this wrap because after all I was the one who was going to eat it.

I added a thin layer of Miracle Whip® to the flour tortilla then topped with romaine lettuce, deli turkey, bacon, tomato, avocado, red onions, shredded cheddar cheese and low calorie Thousand Island dressing. The end result was a lovely tasting and very filling wrap not identical to the cobb salad I enjoyed but with hints of that flavour. The next time I make this wrap I will add chopped eggs and cucumber.

I should bring up one important consideration. This is called a cobb salad wrap if you go by my name or classic cobb wrap if you duplicate the recipe in What's Cooking. At best you are getting a similar flavour to a cobb salad but you aren't getting a cobb salad you are getting a wrap with a similar flavour. What happens is someone will invariably say this is supposed to taste like this particular food but it isn't identical or it has different flavours. This is most notable in things like the cheeseburger pasta, cheeseburger chowder, all dressed potato soup, mock smores and so many other recipes that are meant to mimic but not replace the food they are named after. So simply enjoy them as they are :)