Thursday, September 9, 2010

Canned Chicken

LAWKI Day 21
September 9, 2010

Today I caught a friend ‘anonymously’ dumping fruit and vegetables on the front porch. I have 2 bags of squash, a bucket of tomatoes, and a bag of apples. Michael took the last apple in his lunch today so those came just in time. I think it was just an overabundance of stuff and neighborly generosity vs. feeling sorry for us. Either way, thanks Rachael.


I cannot explain it, but I have a fear of canned chicken. I have a whole case that my grandparents gave me from when they worked in the church cannery, and I have some that I have bought from Costco and other stores on sale. The thought of using it has always turned my stomach so it sits in my storeroom and waits for me. I conquered my fears today, with mixed results.

I gathered one of each type we had (minus the really daunting case that I could not bring myself to open). We had a Kroger brand, a Sam’s Club one and a Valley Fresh can from Smiths. Only the Sam’s was white meat, the other two were white and dark. I made Katie and Ben come try them all with me. I did not like the Valley Fresh much at all. The Kroger was actually tolerable and I did not mind the dark or white meat. The Sam’s one was the superior choice of all and looked the best as well. Ben thought they were “not bad” while Katie could not get over the fact that it was not canned tuna.

I felt dumb for my previous bias and fear and then proceeded to make chicken enchiladas with them. They were not the best in the world. They were mushy and tasted off. I was using the tortillas that I made on Monday, so I cannot be sure that it was just the chicken. The same could be said for the powdered milk. In the end, I have mixed feelings about planning for this meal in a food storage situation. It would be calories and especially good protein ones, but I just did not like the combo. I think I would rather eat the chicken plain. I might try later making the sauce for the Café Rio chicken and then soak the canned chicken in it and try that with tortillas as a chicken taco thing. I still like the idea of the canned chicken in storage, but want someway to use it that doesn’t make me cringe.

Breakfast: Kids-cereal, toast, apples; S- Tuna sandwich (I was making Michael one and it looked so good!)
Lunch: Kids-school, M-tuna sandwiches, S-Bookclub lunch, yummy salad, muffins, pie
Dinner: Chicken Enchiladas, zucchini, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, peaches

I have the back of my car filled with food I bought at the Smiths case lot sale yesterday. My kids are dying for the instant oatmeal and the “little shrimpies” in the Cup of Soup. 11 more days.

4 comments:

J said...

Canned chicken tastes the same as caned tuna to me.

-A said...

I have a friend up here that used (I think) taco seasoning to season canned chicken for quesadillas. With black beans and avocados added they were really good.

She also does a tasty chicken salad on croissants which would probably work well with pitas. I haven't been able to replicate either of them, but I'm sure she'd tell me what to do if I ever got around to asking.

Nana J said...

Of all the canned chicken we have had, Costco's is the best, in our opinion. Renee made a delicious chicken salad using the canned chicken, a few scallions, mayo, fresh grapes and celery. We have also had chicken salad from a bakery that uses craisins. The sandwiches were very yummy. I have tried the church canned chicken for enchiladas, and it seems a little "dry". It does work well in chicken noddles soup, though.

Emily H said...

If you were uneasy about that canned chicken, DO NOT OPEN the church cannery chicken! They can the meat with the fat so it is very greasy. It does give it more flavor and I have used an entire case before, but would probably disgust you.
One suggestion for chicken enchiladas is to add 2 cups of rice (white or brown). It makes it much more filling and hearty, and might disguise the powdered milk and such. I add rice to mine every time. Delish!