It was not easy growing up in South Africa during the apartheid era as a Chinese.  My family was relegated to live amongst the Coloreds and Indians since the Chinese community was small, and we were considered neither White nor Black.   My grandparents were illiterate immigrants and wanted to give their children opportunities that they didn't have.  Dad went to an Indian school and Mom went to a private school as government public schools were not open to non-whites which included the Chinese.  

My dad grew up in a "location" (shanty town) where multiple families shared communal toilets and there was no direct running water.  He often tells stories of his childhood.  The times he waited in line to get buckets of water from the communal tap at the street corner.  How he helped keep their home warm by running after the coal truck to pick up pieces of coal that fell off. How he used to stuff newspaper into his clothes to keep warm during school.  My dad was determined to improve his family's livelihood.  He worked hard at school, graduated from high school at sixteen and entered medical school.  He was one of the first Chinese to graduate medical school and the only one to have graduated at age twenty one.

After graduating and marrying my mom, he decided to become a doctor in his community.  So, I grew up in a household that did not like to waste food. Food was repurposed into different dishes.  Vegetable discards were thrown into the pigeon and chicken coop and meat discards were cooked into the dogs' food. Nothing was wasted! To this day, I don't like wasting food and am thrifty when buying groceries.

Meal Planning

 I usually plan meals and dishes around certain "anchor" ingredients.  Which ingredients?  Most of the time, I look at grocery store flyers to get inspiration by seeing what's going on sale the next week!  Unless someone in my family has a hankering for something specific, the sale "protein" and "produce" items generally become my dishes for the week.  Not only are these items cheaper, but they are also usually in season and therefore tastier, and because the sale turnover is high, they also tend to be fresher.

Grilled Rotisserie Chicken

One item that I want to write about is rotisserie chicken.  I find that a whole rotisserie chicken is one of those foods that gives you a big bang for your buck. My family can get multiple dishes out of a Costco chicken! Yes, Costco chickens are huge!

Here are a few tips and ideas on how to make use and "repurpose" the ENTIRE chicken.  Store bought rotisserie chickens come in various sizes so the number of dishes you can get out of the chicken varies by the size as well as by how many people you are feeding.  

Tips:

Picking your rotisserie chicken: Some establishments, like Costco, timestamp their chicken.  Pick the BIGGEST chicken since you are paying the same price for any chicken.  You should also look for one with the latest timestamp, because you don't want to pick a chicken that has been sitting there for a while.  I have been known to hover around the chicken area until the employee brings out the newest batch of chickens!

Freeze the chicken meat:

Rotisserie chicken can be frozen for future use.  My family usually eat slices of fresh rotisserie chicken, repurpose the chicken into different dishes and when we are completely sick of the chicken, freeze the rest of the meat.  When freezing, remove the meat from the bones and shred it.  Freeze it in appropriate meal sized portions so you only defrost what you need.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to fully utilize your entire rotisserie chicken. So, don't waste your chicken when you're sick of it, repurpose it!