Wouldn't it be great if making dinner for the kids every night was easy rather than an uphill battle? Cassy Joy Garcia knows the struggle is real, which is why she joined New Day NW to make some easy peasy sloppy joes from her new book "Cook Once Dinner Fix" all about transforming leftovers into a new dish.

Chicken Sloppy Joes with Ginger Carrot Slaw:

Serves 4

Active time: 35 MINUTES Total time: 35 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

For the Chicken Sloppy Joes

4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the Ginger Carrot Slaw

6 to 8 medium carrots, shredded

1 bunch radishes, shredded

1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Juice of 3 limes

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 hamburger buns, toasted, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the chicken sloppy joes: Place the chicken in a large pot and add water to cover (3 to 4 cups). Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken pulls apart easily with a fork. Remove the chicken from the pot and place it in a large bowl; discard the cooking water.

2. To shred the chicken by hand, use two forks to pull the meat apart into roughly 1/2-inch pieces. To shred the chicken using a stand mixer, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for 15 to 25 seconds, until the chicken is evenly shredded. Transfer half the shredded chicken (about 4 cups) to an airtight container, let cool, and refrigerate to use for Meal 2 (it will keep for up to 5 days).

3. Transfer the remaining shredded chicken to a large pot. Add the ketchup, mustard, honey, garlic powder onion powder, and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the chicken is warmed through.

4. Meanwhile, make the slaw: In a large bowl, stir together the carrots, radishes, ginger, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper to combine.

5. To assemble the sloppy joes, spoon about 1/2 cup of the chicken onto the bottom half of each toasted bun and top with about a cup of the slaw. Add the toasted bun tops and serve.

TIPS

• The chicken breasts in this recipe yield approximately 8 cups shredded cooked chicken (enough for both Meals 1 and 2). If you have leftover cooked chicken from another meal, you can substitute it here — just shred enough to make 4 cups and mix it with the sauce as directed.

• Use your food processor's shredding blade to shred the carrots and radishes for the slaw, or buy about 3 cups pre-shredded carrots and 1 cup preshredded radishes.

• The sloppy joes can be served as an assembled sandwich or served in a bowl over the slaw, without the bun.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Never throw out your leftovers again with these delicious and healthy meals designed to transform into an entirely different dish the next night from best-selling author Cassy Joy Garcia.

As a busy mom of two, Cassy Joy Garcia, the best-selling author of "Cook Once, Eat All Week," has limited time to get food on the table. With this book, she shares a fresh approach to preparing dinner in a hurry. These 120 easy, delicious recipes are designed to use the leftovers from one recipe to quickly cook a completely different meal the next day.

While most meal-prep cookbooks require you to plan your entire week ahead of time and spend hours in the kitchen (and a small fortune on groceries), "Cook Once Dinner Fix" shows you how to utilize the leftovers from one meal to create an entirely new creation for the next. The leftover Roasted Garlic Turkey Breast transforms into Spiced Turkey Potato Soup, and Dry-Rubbed Barbecue Brisket becomes crowd-pleasing Cheesesteak-Stuffed Peppers. No matter your favorite flavor profile or dietary restrictions, this book is packed with recipes the whole family will enjoy.

"Cook Once Dinner Fix" solves the “what’s for dinner” question without requiring enormous amounts of time, energy, skill, or money. Now dinnertime can be fun, fast, affordable, and sustainable.

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KING 5's New Day Northwest is Western Washington's only local daytime talk show. Watch it weekdays at 11 AM PST on KING 5 TV and streaming live on http://www.king5.com. #newdaynw

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