Stretching Meals.....

I've always been intrigued by the thought of cooking once a week, and making enough meals to eat throughout the week.

I've tried it a few times, but my biggest concern is our lack of freezer space. I have a Rachael Ray cookbook that shows how you can use extra food from one meal and stretch it into several meals. I've tried her recipes, but her cooking is a bit too fancy for me. I messed around with a few recipes using affordable food that is easily found at the grocery store. The chicken pocket recipe is one I found on a blog, but I've tweaked it to fit our taste.

On the menu
Night One: Grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, brown rice
Night Two: Chicken Pockets, corn on the cob
Night Three: Chicken and fusilli, veggies, garlic bread

Grocery List:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pound whole wheat fusilli pasta (or any pasta, really)
1 Package frozen broccoli
4 ears of corn
Brown rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
Sour cream
Mayo (These can be reduced fat/fat free/regular)
Cheddar cheese
1 garlic clove
1/4-1/2 onion
2 cans crescent rolls

Night One: Prep/cook time.....1 hour
-Grill all the chicken (start early!). You can do this on an actual grill, or on the stove top. Season with salt and pepper, and a dash of poultry seasoning, lemon pepper, or all purpose seasoning.
-Cook brown rice (this is only for one night, so make only what you will eat that night)
-Steam entire bag of broccoli

Refrigerate half of the broccoli and at least 3 of the chicken breasts.

Night Two: Prep/cook time.....40 minutes
-Chop reserved chicken
-Chop onion, mince garlic, and chop reserved broccoli
-Mix together the above with 1/3 cup mayo, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup cheddar, and 1 can cream of chicken soup
-Split your ears of corn in half and toss them in a pot of boiling water
-Roll out your crescent rolls on a baking stone (or sprayed cookie sheet) Pinch together seams, spread a scoop of filling on crescent roll, and fold over, again pinching seams and ends. You can make one large pocket, several medium sized pockets, or individual ones. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 15-20 minutes (check often!) until golden brown. You should have lots of mix left.
-Serve with half of the ears of corn

Refrigerate leftover mix and the rest of the corn.

Night Three: Prep/Cook time.....20 minutes
-Slice off corn from reserved cobs, add to reserved chicken mixture.
-Cook pasta according to directions, drain, return to pot.
-Add the chicken mixture, and a small splash of milk. Heat through and serve.
-For a side dish with this, you can do any veggie and garlic bread.

So yeah, it's a lot of poultry, but we like our "Kicken" around here.