I love the challenge of transforming “leftovers” into a new dish. I am truly a believer of efficiency both with meal prep and weekly spending. This week, I purchased a whole chicken and used it four ways-I baked half and stewed the other half on Sunday night. I then used part of the baked chicken to make chicken salad and chicken turnovers on Monday and today. I even have enough left for a nice chicken sandwich that I can top with some fresh spinach and arugula. If making two key dishes is hard, roasting the whole chicken is certainly an option as the recipe below, which serves four, can easily be doubled. You can also cut off the chicken to make sandwiches, make chicken salad or serve it with steamed vegetables and an easy rice pilaf or mashed potatoes. I challenge you to make great use out of one key ingredient. Check out the recipe below and as always, share your thoughts!

P.S. Though this dish below takes about 30 minutes to make, you can shave off 12-15 minutes by making the chicken filling the night before (steps 1-6).

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 8oz container of crescent rolls
4oz Philadelphia cream cheese reduced fat
1/3 cup minced green onion
1/8 cup minced celery
1/8 cup sour cream (optional)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne

Directions:
1. Take out cream cheese to soften 10 minutes before you plan to start cooking. Preheat oven per instructions on crescent rolls container.
2. Pull cooked chicken from the bone until you have about 2 cups. Roughly chop the chicken into smaller pieces or chop it in a food processor.
3. Rinse green onion and celery. Cut off ends and chop into small pieces or put in the food processor to mince.
4. Cut off half of the block of cream cheese and cut it into cubes. Add chicken, celery, green onion and cream cheese to a bowl and work in the cream cheese with a fork until everything is well blended.
5. Add seasonings and mix in well.
6. Line a baking sheet with foil and open the pack of crescent rolls. You should have 4 squares (total 8 triangles). Using the slightly cut edges, break into four squares and add about 1/8 cup of the mixture to the center of each square.
7. Bring each end to the center making a circular pocket. Make sure to punch any openings close to hold in the filling.
8. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Remove and turn off oven. Serve with a side salad or vegetable of choice.
10. Enjoy!