Kids, Work, Now Dinner ???

There are days when I would love to exercise my gourmet chops, and then there are days when I just need food on the table…NOW! These are the days when I have been up since 5 am, worked all day, and when I get home, I have less than an hour to get dinner and help with homework, before dashing back out to cheer practice or a cub scout meeting.  Sometimes on those days, if I do not already have a meat pre-cooked, waiting for me at home, I will dash into the grocery store and pick up a rotisserie chicken. In the past, I would just grab some packaged mashed potatoes and a jar gravy…voilà, dinner! Unfortunately, the kids have gotten bored with my go-to meal, and my youngest recently declared that he no longer like mashed potatoes…ugh. Time to find a new twist on my old standby, and I did. I discovered ‘BBQ Chicken Mac’.

I make a dish called ‘Cheeseburger Mac’, so ‘BBQ Chicken Mac’ peaked my interest and I gave it a shot. We loved it and the dish could not be simpler to make.

BBQ Chicken Mac

1 pkg. macaroni & cheese

2 cups  diced cooked chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup – 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I like honey bbq)

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used pizza blend)

1 tsp. pepper

Prepare the macaroni & cheese according the package directions. Add the shredded cheese, 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through.   Toss the cooked chicken with the remaining barbecue sauce and place on top of macaroni. Serve with vegetable of your choice, or a tossed salad.

The Verdict

My younger two kids initially did not want to try my BBQ Chicken Mac, opting instead to just have macaroni and cheese with the chicken separately. After seeing their older brother and me eat, they decided to try it and they both loved it! My daughter had a helping of BBQ Chicken Mac for seconds.

Tags: Barbecue sauce, Chicken, Macaroni and cheese