Do Chickens Have Fingers?

Do Chickens Have Fingers?

Chicken fingers, nuggets, tenders…come on, really. These names bug the heck out of me. There are so many pseudo names for processed chicken that my daughter once asked, “What part of the chicken is the wing?” Of course we laughed at her, but I could understand her confusion. Because if a nugget isn’t  a real part on a chicken, then maybe a wing isn’t either. And I’ve never seen a chicken with a finger, yet kids order them at restaurants all the time.

This disassociation from our food supply is troubling. And no food is more hacked, spun, tumbled, reformed, injected and sold as healthy, than the chicken. We see chicken in any form and think it is a healthy alternative. But before you pat yourself on the back and reward yourself with some Ben and Jerry’s, read a label or two.

A recent sign in my local grocery store had me digging for my camera. Perfectly normal-looking chicken breasts were labeled with this big sign. Go on read the fine print...

15% Broth Enhanced.

Enhanced? You’ve added 15%  flavored liquid and called it ENHANCED? I’d call it “cheapening the product."  Throughout the ages suppliers have tried to raise their bottom line by cutting their products with inferior fillers. But because of this label, we think we’re getting something better. Forget the enhancements! Read your chicken labels and although more expensive, get natural, organic or free-range chickens. And I guarantee they don’t come with fingers.

The average American eats about 87 pounds of chicken a year! If the average rotisserie chicken at Sams Club weighs in at five pounds, picture about 17 of those birds on your dinner table. And you guessed it, those rotisserie birds are usually filled with EHANCEMENTS!

My Twelve Dollar Chicken and Three Meals

The other chickens were under $6.00, but I picked up the $12.00 bird. Her plastic wrapper proclaimed: Organic Free-Range Whole Chicken. I looked for any enhancements, broths or flavorings on her label. Nothing. Picking up a bird double in price seems indulgent. But let me tell you about the chicken.

I lovingly washed her, squeezed a lemon on top, threw the lemon, garlic and fresh thyme inside her, rubbed her with butter and popped her in the oven for a few hours. She filled the house with a delicious aroma and was lovely and brown. The kids salivated and tried to pick at the bird when the chicken came out of the oven. This one $12.00 chicken then fed my family three meals. Four chicken eaters (I don’t do meat) ate roasted chicken that night, wraps for lunch on the weeken, and main-course salads with the chicken and roasted vegetables for the third meal.  That’s twelve meals for twelve dollars. A twelve piece bucket of chicken at KFC is $13.99. That is more money than my chicken and also more fat, more chemicals, more sodium and eventually more problems. 

Roasted Chicken Fajitas

Mexican food is popular at our house. This is the conversation after the last time I made these:  

                Me: “Boys, thank you for eating all your zucchini without complaining.”

                Son #1: “That’s because you couldn’t taste it.”

                Son #2: “Wait, there was zucchini in there?”

Ahh…music to my ears. Enjoy these with a side of brown rice and beans.

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 cups left over roasted chicken (or rotisserie chicken)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small zucchini sliced in 2” pieces as thick as a pencil                                                                                      

½ red pepper sliced like the zucchini

1 large tomato, sliced into thin wedges

¼ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. cumin

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. salt and pepper

6 whole wheat tortillas

Favorite toppings: salsa, avocado, cheese

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the remaining ingredients and sauté over medium- medium/high heat for 10 minutes or until veggies are soft and tomato breaks down. While filling is cooking, prepare your toppings. Tortillas can be warmed slightly in oven, but don’t over-heat or they will get too crunchy to fold. Fill the middle of each tortilla with chicken/veggie mixture and top with favorite condiments. Roll tortilla over filling, tuck the ends in, and roll the rest of the way.