I’ve gotten into the habit of cooking a chicken in the crock pot on Sundays. Cooking it in the crockpot is easy (and doesn’t require the oven – it is still hot in Southern California!) and creates delicious, flavorful and really easy shredded chicken.

I’ve been eating buffalo chicken salads, curried chicken salads and plain chicken in my current favorite salad: greens + cucumber + chicken + avocado + hemp seeds + balsamic vinaigrette. There are endless ways to use shredded chicken – here are some of my favorites:

• Mexican Influence: enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, tostadas
• Salads & Appetizers: pesto chicken salad, chinese chicken salad, buffalo dip, chicken satay, lettuce cups
• Soups: tortilla soup, smoked chicken chowder, creamy chicken pasta soup, spicy thai coconut soup
• Sandwiches & Wraps: BBQ sandwich, chicken caprese sandwich, chicken caesar salad wrap, chicken panini
• Pasta & Pizzas: baked pastas, lasagna, peanut noodles, bbq chicken pizza
• Casseroles: chicken & broccoli noodle casserole, chicken pot pie, bbq-stuffed potatoes 

What do you make with shredded chicken? 

What a wonderful day yesterday was – I had the day off in observance of Yom Kippur. Even though I’m not Jewish, the organization that I work for is and I’m fortunate enough to get a few extra days off this fall. It was so nice to have a slower day to catch up on errands, take a mid-morning yoga class and get a mani/pedi ($28!).

Breakfast: Ok, this is CRAZY but I had seen it a few times online and was so intrigued, I needed to try it. “Bulletproof Coffee” is a blended mix of coffee, butter (grass-fed) and coconut oil. You are supposed to use “mold -free” coffee beans, but I used my regular, old coffee beans from Trader Joe’s. Blended together, it creates a frothy latte-like drink. It was wonderful and I want to drink it every day. Obviously it is mainly fat, which my body does very well on but I’m not sure if it would be enough substance for normal days. On the weekends when I tend to eat more of a “brunch” meal than breakfast it just might work…

Workout: 75 minute yoga class. I initially wasn’t a huge fan of the yoga classes offered at the spinning/yoga studio that I belong to, but I think it might have been because they push me in ways that I’m not used to. I grew accustomed to the classes I used to take and now I’m forced into practicing headstands/handstands (which I don’t love), but know I should be doing. That was a really long way to say, I really enjoyed the class and I’ll be making more of an effort to get there on a regular basis.

Lunch: greens + olive oil + smoked trout salad (3 oz smoked trout + mayo + raw sauerkraut) + carrots. I’ve had two cans of smoked trout in the cupboard for months and finally decided to try it out. I’ve always been a little nervous for some reason, but it was a great change from tuna and I’m sure I’ll use that next can soon!

Evening Snack: olives + salami + raw gouda + red wine with a side of computer work and The Real Housewives (favorite guilty pleasure).

Dinner: chicken breast + spaghetti squash + green beans. Earlier today I saw a tweet from my local Whole Foods that they were having a 1-day sale on whole chickens for $.99/pound. Since  I’ve been obsessed with cooking whole chickens lately, I stocked up and bought one to freeze and had the butchers cut up the other one for meals for the next few days. I ate about 2/3 of the chicken breast and saved the rest for lunch.

I finished off the evening with 3 dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I. am. addicted.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!