Chicken Packets

A huge time saver for me is to buy some whole chickens at the store, toss them in slow cookers for a few hours, then pull the meat off, separate it into containers (roughly 2-4 containers per chicken, depending on the amount of meat on the bird) and freeze it. When I need chicken in a recipe, I just thaw a container of already cooked chicken, and I've already eliminated a step from my recipe. (I sometimes even use pre-cooked chicken in stir-fry recipes to save time.)

When I've pulled all the usable meat from the chickens, I throw the carcasses back into the slow cookers and make chicken broth, which I also freeze, to be used as needed.

I use a container of chicken to make the following recipe, chicken packets, which I've adapted from a church cookbook recipe. These are great served warm or cold. Recently, I baked them ahead of time, then refrigerated them and took them with us on vacation to eat for lunch.

Chicken Packets

The "Packet"

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. fast rise yeast
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:
Place the warm water in a large measuring cup. Add the yeast, briefly stir with a whisk, then let sit for a few minutes until it begins to foam up a little. Add salt and olive oil, and stir until combined. Combine the flour with the wet ingredients in a food processor with an "S" blade and mix until the dough forms a large lump or is well combined.

Set the lump in a large bowl coated with olive oil and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let rise for 30-60 minutes, then divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece out on a floured surface, set the filling in the middle, then pull up the sides and pinch closed. Dip each packet in melted butter, then coat with the topping. Bake at 400 until slightly browned (roughly 15-20 minutes).

The Filling

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken
3 ounces softened cream cheese
1 Tbsp. chopped chives (optional)
2 Tbsp. whole milk
sea salt, to taste

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix together. This is one of those recipes where it just works better to stick your hands in there instead of trying to use a spoon.

The Topping

Ingredients:
2 slices Ezekiel bread
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

Directions:
Toast the slices of Ezekiel bread, then set them in a food processor with the "S" blade. Add the italian seasoning and parmesan cheese, and mix until the bread becomes fine crumbs.