Recipes

Back to School Time Savers for Willow Tree Moms

With the first day of school creeping up on us faster than we would like, busy moms everywhere are looking for ways to make their hectic schedules easier. Here are a few ideas to squeeze more time out of your days, while taking your family where they need to be – and keeping them well-fed! 

Fall Sports Schedules Require Easy Dinners 

As your fall sports stars get into the swing of practice and game schedules, a family dinner becomes more challenging. The great thing about Willow Tree Farm pies is how much you can accomplish while they are cooking in the oven. We’ve heard from Willow Tree Moms who like to use this time to do things like help their kids with homework, do laundry, prepare the next day’s lunches, or catch up on their own email or work that didn’t quite get finished earlier. 

Here is how one family does it:

“I take care of the kids and put the pie in the oven so it’s ready when their parents come home. Then they go to hockey or baseball. That’s the convenient thing about Willow Tree pies: they work whether you need an early dinner or a late dinner, based on the kids’ activities.”

 – Sheila from Maine

Alternatively you can prepare your Willow Tree Chicken or Turkey Pie farther in advance. You may have already noticed that because of the gravy, it re-heats very well either in the microwave or the oven while staying moist. Willow Tree leftovers are some of the freshest tasting you can serve. This is also convenient for parents who can take last night’s chicken pie to work for lunch the next day. (Remember, chicken pies were originally invented as an easy on-the-go meal!)  

You’ve heard of cold pizza for breakfast. There are actually Willow Tree fans out there who eat cold chicken pie leftovers for breakfast – but we’re not sure how that will fly with your family. 

 

WillowTree Goes Well with Easy Side Dishes  

Some families like to round-out their Willow Tree pie with easy-to-make side dishes, like a green salad. Others are content with the pie alone. Or to save even more time, you can buy the pies with the side dishes baked right in, like Willow Tree with Red Bliss Potato or Willow Tree Classic Vegetables varieties. 

Looking for new ideas for vegetable side dishes? We have a variety of green ones pinned for you right here: Willow Tree Green Side Dishes Pinterest Board.

 

Prepared Meals – The Ultimate Time Saver for Willow Tree Locals 

If you are driving distance from Attleboro, MA, you can simply stop by our retail store for a complete menu of prepared lunch and dinner options. Many visitors are amazed to find how far beyond our classic poultry pies and chicken salad that we go. We carry everything from rotisserie chickens (including our popular BBQ chicken) to over 20 different kinds of salads and a fully-stocked deli. Download a pdf of our menu here, and keep it handy if you’d like to know the daily hot deli specials that you can bring home to your family. We do change our menu, so visit our website for the latest version

Click here for our directions and hours

Some of the biggest surprises at our retail store include the following (options sometimes vary by day of week): 

  • Lasagna
  • Meatballs
  • Grilled Chicken Romano
  • Swedish Meatballs
  • Extreme Clam Chowder
  • “Thanksgiving Everyday” Soup
  • Steak Tips Portobello
  • Sweet and Sour Chicken
  • Stuffed Peppers
  • Vermont Cheddar Bake 

And more…not to mention Party Platters if you are hosting a meal for an entire sports team or school club! 

 

No Easy Access to Willow Tree Foods? 

If you live in an area where Willow Tree is not sold, you can order many of our products at our online store. Unfortunately, shipping fees do apply.

Good luck to all of you busy families out there. We hope you have a fantastic school year!

Tips for Throwing the Tastiest Labor Day Party Around

As moms and dads “labor” to get their kids ready for school (or yikes, college!) it can leave little time to attend, much less host a great Labor Day Weekend Party. But as we know, this is a great time of year to enjoy a gathering of friends and family. So don’t let your hectic schedules stop you from putting together some of the best, crowd-pleasing foods around for this celebration.

Tortilla Willow Tree Chicken Salad is easy to prepare and sure to be a crowd pleaser at Labor Day parties. Look for it on our recipes page.

The Most “Flexible” Party Food: Willow Tree Chicken Salad  

One of the greatest things about chicken salad is its flexibility. It can be rolled, wrapped, scooped, spread, stacked, and dolloped. This means you can team it with a number of different breads, rolls, wraps, and crackers, and you can prepare these sandwiches or appetizers in advance of your party. As always, we encourage you to review our safe handling guidelines for our chicken salad. 

One of our favorite party ideas is to make a chicken salad sandwich on a large round of foccacia. You can then slice it up to feed a number of guests from that one sandwich. You can also apply this idea to a long sub roll, French, or Italian bread. Make sure you have enough room in your refrigerator if you need to store them for a while. 
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No time to assemble your own party platter? If you live in the Attleboro, MA area, you can order a party platter in advance, not to mention all of the other fine salads, barbecue chicken, and other foods you’ll find on our retail store menu

If you are a Willow Tree fan who is now living in a state where our products are not sold, you can always use our online shipping option. Keep in mind shipping costs will apply.

 

New Chicken Salad Recipe Ideas 

The other great thing about Willow Tree Chicken Salad is that it goes so well with an endless list of seasonings and foods that can be mixed into it. On our facebook page, we hear from fans who have their own delicious ideas, and we are always on the look out for new chicken salad recipes. 

  1. Catherine likes hers on a finger roll
  2. John likes his plain on wheat with bread and butter pickles on the side
  3. Christine likes hers straight out of the container (most popular answer)
  4. Rich likes his on a toasted salt bagel for a sweet and salty treat (great idea Rich!)
  5. Michelle likes hers on a whole wheat wrap with baby spinach and sweet potato chips
  6. Laurie sometimes mixes hers with curry powder, or walnuts and grapes over mixed greens (very gourmet!)
  7. Marnie spoons hers onto a saltine cracker and adds a drop of tabasco
  8. Georgiana puts hers on a salad
  9. Allyson likes hers on a bulkie roll with chips on the side
  10. Michael likes his in a wrap with lettuce, tomato, onion and black olives
  11. Stephanie likes hers on a bed or lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and carrots
  12. Nancy likes hers with fresh-picked garden tomatoes 

In addition to our own recipes page, including more “how-to” videos, we have also pinned more chicken salad recipe ideas on Pinterest. If you make adjustments to the recipe, most can be used with Willow Tree Chicken Salad to make them less time consuming. 

If you live in an area where grocery stores carry Willow Tree Chicken Pie (but not the salads), such as New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – you’ve got Labor Day Party options too. Our 8 oz. single serving pies are great for parties. Especially if you’ve got hungry guests hanging out at the end of a long day in the pool. Or they can share a 52 oz. family size. 

We hope that you have a lot of fun with family and friends over the long weekend.  And we thank you for making Willow Tree part of your celebrations.

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