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a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meat

I mentioned in Mondayโ€™s post about travel yogurt cups that I can pretty much guarantee that my husband would go all day on an apple at work if I didnโ€™t make sure there were easy lunch options available to pack ๐Ÿ˜‰

Our budget just plain doesnโ€™t afford organic, quality lunch meat, as delicious as it is! He really doesnโ€™t mind a peanut butter and jelly sandwich โ€“ and he does take those on occasion โ€“ but it is so easy and SUPER AFFORDABLE to just crockpot a whole chicken to use its meat for lunch sandwiches!

a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meat
Regular store bought lunch meat is not only expensive, it is full of other preservatives and toxins you donโ€™t want to be ingesting every day. And this is coming from a self proclaimed lunch meat ADDICT. I grew up on the stuff, loved it while I was in college (how the heck did I afford that?!?), and embraced it as an easy packing lunch at work for years. As I learned more about real food, and also had to work on cutting corners budget-wise, I have come up with this method to provide FAST and nourishing chicken sandwiches for my husband to take to work every day.

a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meat
HERE is my post on how to crockpot a whole chicken.

I donโ€™t even add the veggies most of the time. It is really just poaching/boiling the chicken in the crockpot. It takes me 2 minutes to get it in and then once itโ€™s done I just shred it up and store flat in freezer bags in your freezer. Get 2 crockpots going if you have a large family with kids in school! You really could get this all done in one shot and have 2-3 weeksโ€™ worth of lunch meat ready.ย 

a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meat

a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meatChange up the flavors of your chicken sandwich with different condiments!

  • Barbeque sauce (Watch the ingredients – No HFCS or MSG! OR try my QUICK homemade bbq sauce!)
  • Mustard (Watch ingredients โ€“ no HFCS or MSG! Or make it honey mustard with THIS recipe!)
  • Homemade mayo (store bought is full of JUNK!)
  • Sea salt/pepper/Italian seasoning blends (or try THIS Italian dressing mix and make the dressing to drizzle!)
  • Homemade ranch (store bought is full of JUNK!)

a simple real food tip :: batch cooking chicken meat for lunches :: avoiding expensive and toxic deli meatYou can also add veggies and raw cheese to your sandwich ๐Ÿ™‚

Use the shredded chicken to top a container salad for something different to bring to work or school! Here is a great ranch dressing recipe or Italian dressing recipe for your salad. Pack the dressing up in those same containers I talked about in the yogurt cup post!

Let me know if you try this out! I want to know how you make this work for your family!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, and Holistic Squid’s Party Wave Wednesday!

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  • Suzanne@FrugalOrganicMama
    June 6, 2013 at 5:41 pm

    I love the idea of using shredded chicken instead of packaged deli meat for sandwiches. I am committed to eating organic whenever possible, and we just can’t afford $7.00 for a small package of lunch meat which makes like 3 sandwiches. I’m going to try the crockpot idea too.
    Thanks!!

    • Renee
      June 6, 2013 at 9:09 pm

      Your welcome Suzanne! I can’t afford that either! Sheesh! Sometimes my greatest creative ideas come from my budget limits ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Jennifer @ Sweet Plantains
    June 4, 2013 at 7:19 am

    Great idea! I LOVE cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot – and then you have all that wonderful chicken stock…I send my husband a thermos of stock along with his lunch, which he really enjoys. His co-workers think it’s a little weird, until he let’s them taste ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Cristin
    May 22, 2013 at 12:30 pm

    So hat size crockpot do you use? How much liquid do you use? Do you use a frozen bird? Do you rinse it first or just pop in? Do you cook it in the condiment/dressing? Or just add that to the quart size bag or add it when you make the sandwich? Do you freeze what you won’t use in the next few days?

    • Renee
      May 22, 2013 at 12:52 pm

      Hi Cristin ๐Ÿ™‚ I linked up my crockpot chicken method up there – I should make that easier to see! Here is the recipe:
      https://www.thesimplemoms.com/2012/09/a-simple-real-food-recipe-weekly-chicken-crockpot-method.html

      That post should answer some of those questions ๐Ÿ™‚ I have put a half frozen bird in there before and just cooked it longer and it was fine ๐Ÿ™‚ I don’t cook in the dressing – just pour or spread it on the sandwich or pack it up on the side for a salad. I keep a week’s worth of the meat in the fridge and freeze up the rest – the pint bags in the picture are usually a weeks worth of meat for my husband so that is how I pack it up ๐Ÿ˜‰ You could do smaller bags or bigger depending on how much you think you will go through. The meat should be fine in the fridge for a week.

      • Miranda
        June 14, 2013 at 11:49 am

        Hey Renee!!! I was really excited to see this post. I absolutely LOVE lunch meat sandwiches too, but began avoiding them during my pregnancy due to the toxicity. I really haven’t had a sandwich like that since, but crave them. You’re recipe link didn’t work at the top, so thanks for including it down here in the comments ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m excited about the condiments recipes too!

  • Renee F.
    May 22, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Ive been cooking a whole chicken as a roast but never thought of doing this ! i may need to try this next time they go on sale here !

    • Renee
      May 22, 2013 at 12:08 pm

      Perfect ๐Ÿ˜‰ Let me know how it goes!