Serves 4 | Difficulty: Easy
2 complete and delicious meals you can make using Costco rotisserie chicken as your shortcut!
This meal plan kicks off with the convenience of shredded rotisserie chicken breast, and my absolute favorite is the one from Costco.
It’s not just juicy and delicious; it’s a steal at just 5 bucks! Plus, it’s a whopping 4 lbs on average – talk about getting your money’s worth!
The beauty of this meal plan? You can scale it up or down, and you don’t have to worry too much with exact measurements. The recipe is pretty forgivable on how much meat or veggies you want to add to your portion.
Each recipe serves 4, but check out my tips in the individual meals below to see how I prep and plan the ingredients to stretch them over multiple days. When stored properly, the ingredients can last up to 5 days.
One last thing – hold on to the chicken carcass for chicken stock! Store it ia freezer-friendly Ziploc bag, being careful to press out as much air as you can before sealing it. It will last in the freezer almost indefinitely. Keep adding to it until you’re ready to whip up a massive batch of stock.
Stay tuned for the recipe coming soon!
Check out my Getting Started guide to learn how to use this meal plan.
Meal 1:
Chicken Caesar Salad
Meal 2:
Curry Laksa
Blanching vegetables serves 2 purposes: (1) It prevents loss of flavor, color, and texture—extending the “life” of the vegetable throughout the week, and (2) it gives us a head start in the cooking process for stir-fries. Stir-frying generally only takes 5 minutes. If you start from raw, some pieces won’t cook as evenly as others (especially hardy vegetables like broccoli). Blanching pre-cooks each piece of veggie so you will have a consistent tasting stir-fry every time. This is a well-known technique used in many Chinese restaurants!
Here’s how:
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge to keep maximum freshness. Use them within 7-10 days. If you suspect it has gone bad – the color has changed (e.g. turns brown), there is visible mold, the texture is mushy – toss them. Always err on the side of caution to avoid food poisoning.
Store in meal prep containers or in the bags they come with in the crisper drawer. If a vegetable has a high-water content and tends to go limp quick, wrap it with a paper towel before storing it in the fridge. The paper towel absorbs excess liquid that will prevent it from wilting or turning mushy.
As a general guideline, try to use seafood within 2 days of purchase. For this reason, I always place recipes with seafood earlier in the Meal Plan Menu. Meat can typically last 4-5 days. If you won’t be using meat and seafood, best to freeze them right away. Vacuum seal before freezing to prevent freezer burn.
Properly frozen foods are good for up to 6 months before their flavor and texture start to lessen.
If you do not have a vacuum sealer, wrap fish and meat tightly with saran wrap, then wrap tightly with aluminum foil. Store in a Ziploc bag, squeezing as much air out as possible. Date them and pop them in the freezer for later use.
When thawing vacuum sealed food, especially fish, puncture a hole or cut a slit in the bag to prevent the risk of botulism. Botulism thrives in low oxygen environment, which is what vacuum sealing does. (Note: when botulism grows, the smell and texture of the fish will not change, but the toxins it produces can be deadly.)
Use different cutting boards for your proteins and veggies. Always wash and disinfect knives when switching from meat to veggies to prevent cross-contamination. It goes without saying that you should clean your produce before consumption and preparation.
During prep, always start with food cooked at the lowest temperature first, working your way up. For example, chopped scallions are often used as garnish and will be consumed raw, so chop them before potatoes (which you will cook so the risk is lower). Likewise, you would prepare salad greens first.
The same principle applies when keeping them in the fridge. Don’t stack raw chicken above fish – any juices from the chicken that trickle into the fish would pose a risk. Should the chicken be contaminated with salmonella, the time and temperature at which you would cook fish to perfection is not enough to kill the bacteria.
As you’re preparing your first serving, take some time to portion out all the ingredients into individual containers for future meals. Store the croutons and dressing separately. I like using Ziploc bags and small airtight glass jars (e.g. jam jars). And there you have it! Grab it to-go with you for work and just shake everything up right before serving.
Curry laksa is a Singaporean version of laksa. While not superior to my fave (Sarawak laksa), this is still a very delicious laksa in its own right.
You’d typically find this dish made with fresh egg noodles, but for the sake of convenience, dried rice noodles work for this dish. In fact, I prefer it over egg noodles.
Step 4 is tricky if not done right, so you might find that your noodles only last up to 2 days. I generally skip this step since I can make the noodles fresh as I reheat the laksa soup.
Other common additions to this laksa are tofu puffs and bean sprouts. The former I’ve omitted to stick to minimizing waste in this meal plan, and the latter simply because I hate beansprouts (fun fact)!
But if you want to add some bulk and fiber to this meal, go for it!
As for me, I justify the lack of bean sprouts with the Caesar salad I’m eating along with this plan, ha!
Use Maesri’s brand of red curry paste. This is the next best brand of curry paste that I like, but it is milder in flavor. You will need to adjust either with more paste or fish sauce to kick up the flavor. Subsitute the shrimp with either tofu puffs, more eggs, or more chicken!
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| check | ingredient | quantity | unit | category | notes | list type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fish sauce | 3 | Tbsp | condiments and spices | pantry | ||
| sugar | 2 | tsp | condiments and spices | pantry | ||
| worcestershire sauce | 1 | tsp | condiments and spices | pantry | ||
| kewpie mayo or regular mayo | 0.25 | cup | condiments and spices | pantry | ||
| chicken bouillon | 2 | tsp | condiments and spices | (omit if using salted chicken stock) | pantry | |
| crouton | 1 | cup | bread and bakery | or homemade | shopping | |
| full fat coconut milk | 13.5 | oz | canned or jarred | Chaokoh brand | shopping | |
| thai red curry paste | 3 | Tbsp | canned or jarred | mae ploy brand | shopping | |
| curry powder | 3 | Tbsp | condiments and spices | shopping | ||
| egg | 4 | large | dairy and misc. refrigerated items | shopping | ||
| parmesan cheese | 0.33 | cup | dairy and misc. refrigerated items | parmigiano reggiano | shopping | |
| shrimp | 12 | large | meat and seafood | shopping | ||
| rotisserie chicken | 2.5 | cup | meat and seafood | shredded chicken breast | shopping | |
| dried thin rice noodles | 400 | g | noodles | 3 ladies brand | shopping | |
| avocado | 1 | large | produce | shopping | ||
| cherry tomatoes | 1 | cup | produce | shopping | ||
| cilantro | 5 | stalk | produce | shopping | ||
| garlic | 3 | clove | produce | shopping | ||
| fresh lemon juice | 1 | Tbsp | produce | around 1/2 small lemon | shopping | |
| romaine lettuce | 1 | head | produce | shopping | ||
| unsalted shrimp stock or chicken stock | 3 | cup | stock or broth | shopping |
I’m a foodie with a simple philosophy: why should amazing food be reserved for the weekends alone? I’m all about making every meal delicious because, let’s face it, we only have so many meals in our lifetime.
My mission? To take the stress out of cooking with easy-to-use meal plans so you can enjoy mouthwatering recipes any day of week. Join me on this tasty journey and let’s savor “more taste, less waste” in every bite!
Meal Plan Maniac
Aww! Glad you enjoyed it and hope it’s a hit at the dinner party!
3 years ago
I’m a foodie with a simple philosophy: why should amazing food be reserved for the weekends alone? I’m all about making every meal delicious because, let’s face it, we only have so many meals in our lifetime.
My mission? To take the stress out of cooking with easy-to-use meal plans so you can enjoy mouthwatering recipes any day of week. Join me on this tasty journey and let’s savor “more taste, less waste” in every bite!
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Melanie K
Loved the simplicity of this recipe! I’d been so discouraged by other laksa recipes that had so many ingredients. This time I didn’t have to spend a long time hunting for ingredients. Cooking the dish was quick and easy. And it was delicious! Excited to share at our next dinner party
3 years ago