Rotisserie Chicken Tostadas

Do you ever buy a rotisserie chicken in the deli at the grocery store or the warehouse clubs?  I make a lot of food at home from scratch, but I do buy the occasional deli rotisserie chicken for convenience. 

Today was one of those days that I needed the convenience of a deli rotisserie chicken to help get dinner on the table during a busy week of school and extra curricular activities.  (Plus I had a coupon, so that made it even better!)

The 3 year old enjoyed the chicken legs at lunchtime while I spent about 5 minutes taking the rest of the chicken off the bones when we came home from our morning errands.  I wanted to have the chicken ready at the dinner hour and needed a quick and easy meal to put on the table after picking up the oldest one from an afterschool activity and before heading out the door to our music lessons (in about a 20 minute time span).  I spotted these tostada shells a few weeks ago and thought that the rotisserie chicken would make a great topping.

Just $0.78 after sale price combined with coupon

This was our first family adventure in eating tostadas, and after eating them, the kids all thought that they should make a repeat occurrence in our regular meal schedule.  The 3 year old said, "These need to go on the blog, Mommy!"  The 8 year old said she liked the tostada better than regular crunchy taco shells because "you don't have to turn your head to the side to take a bite" and "less stuff fell out on the plate".  The 11 year old wanted me to remind you to have plenty of napkins on hand because when you add all the toppings, sometimes it can get a little messy when you take a bite!

So, there's really no recipe.  This is more like an idea post.  Instead of eating a deli rotisserie chicken the same old way, try it tostada style.  Just pile on the chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream on top of a tostada shell.  We also spread a thin layer of refried beans to kind of hold it all on there, but I'm sure they would be just as good without.  I wish we would have had a fresh avacado, but we didn't have one.  Maybe next time I'll try making my own shells.  We enjoyed a bowl of peaches (from the freezer) with our tostadas, and there's enough chicken leftover to make a nice salad for lunch in the next couple of days.

What's your favorite way to enjoy a deli rotisserie chicken?

Easy Quiche

This is an old standby recipe from the Queen's Quick and Easy Meals.  My mom first shared this quiche recipe years ago, but I have learned that it has many variations and all of them are yummy.  I love this recipe because of its versatility.  Whenever I'm caught with not exactly sure what to make for dinner, I can usually pull together these simple ingredients and whip up something yummy in no time.  I can usually scrape together enough ingredients from what is "leftover" in the frig, so it makes it economical, too.  I also love that the kids say, "Oh, I love that dinner!" when they smell it baking in the oven and eat their plates clean without complaining. 

Easy Quiche

Here's the recipe:

Easy Quiche
1/2 stick butter, melted
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (I use 1%)
1/2 cup Bisquick (generic baking mix is fine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 - 1 cup diced, cooked meat (ham, bacon, chicken, sausage) or vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, peppers, etc)
1 cup shredded cheese (swiss, cheddar, colby, or combination)

1.  Whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2.  Whisk in Bisquick.
3.  Fold in meat and cheese.
4.  Pour into greased pie plate.
5.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350.
6.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I sometimes will make 2 of these at a time.  I have not had great luck mixing a large batch and then dividing it up and getting the right proportions of liquid and solid, so I usually just make two bowls at the same time and then have one to eat and one to share.  This is a great meal to take to someone in need as it reheats nicely. 

We enjoyed our slices of quiche with a fresh tossed salad and some fruit and strawberry yogurt parfaits for dessert.

Easy Quiche

Light and fluffy eggs mixed with swiss cheese and ham baked until golden

and slightly crisp on top.  This simple supper was paired perfectly with a 

tossed salad topped with fruit and honey roasted soynuts and raspberry dressing.

What is your favorite kind of quiche?