I need to do a tiny vent!
My DH, wonderful man that he is has a little quirk that is going to be the death of me!
He loves to be adventurous in the the kitchen, but he doesn't often actually have the TIME to take over as chef. When he does, he generally makes something quick and easy or follows the meal plan I have so painstakingly made.
BUT, when we go grocery shopping together (something which I go to great lengths to avoid) he always adds these exotic ingredients to the cart.
The problem is that he seldom (if ever) actually gets around to making the things he buys all this crap for. Eventually, the expiration dates pass and I finally toss the stuff out. (He'd leave them in there until they walked out of their own accord, but that's a different rant!
)
I HATE food waste. And I'm not always in the mood to try and find ways to use up "his" items taking up space in my fridge, freezer and pantry.
However, at the end of December we went to the local butcher shop to buy a freezer pack. Instead of getting boneless chicken breasts, he wanted to get chicken thighs for some Tandoori recipe he had in mind. He wanted to make a big batch of it and bring it to work for his lunches. I said, okay.
He told the man, chicken legs...not chicken thighs. His ardor for this recipe cooled significantly once we realized the mistake...unfortunately (for me) not until AFTER we had bought the plain yogurt and necessary spices.
Now, I HATE chicken legs and NEVER cook with them or eat them. And we got 13 of them with our freezer pack.
I had a feeling that using them up was going to fall to me.
A week before the yogurt was to expire (which was about three weeks after we had purchased it), I reminded him about his plan. He said he would make the recipe up that weekend. Nothing happened. Two days before it was going to expire, I decided to find a way to use it up myself.
I made a butter chicken crock pot recipe and peeled the skin off of the chicken legs before putting them in the crock. I let it cook for the required amount of time, took the meat out, removed it from the bones, shredded it with two forks and then added it back to the sauce.
That took care of four of the legs...I still have 9 left. And he has absolutely no plans to use them up.
Okay, so that's my rant!
On a positive note...I have five of them going in the crock (just in water) and 4 roasting in the oven. I plan to separate the meat from the bones, skin and fat and refreeze it for things like enchiladas, soups, chilis, pizzas and wraps.
If anyone has anymore ideas on how to use up this cooked, shredded chicken please feel free to make suggestions. I just want it gone!