Stretching A Chicken

We haven't been able to grill at all lately due to the weather and when I say "we" I mean Number One. He does all the grilling at our home. I do most of the prep work and all of the clean-up. I laid out a whole chicken to thaw a few days ago and this was the first day Number One was able to fire up the grill.

I cut the chicken into three sections. I used the back and giblet portions with some veggies that I really needed to use up to make a rich broth. Number One grilled the rest with a few potatoes and a couple of hamburger patties.

When the chicken came off the grill I felt like a cave woman eating that delicious chicken. I used salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to season the chicken.

To make the broth, I boiled the chicken pieces (that were not grilled0 with the veggies that needed to be used up for about an hour. (snow peas, carrots and onions). I seasoned the broth with salt, pepper and bay leaves.

Once the chicken and vegetables had cooked for a while, I strained the broth, picked the bones clean and added the meat back into the broth. I made some homemade egg noodles, dropped them into the broth and continued cooking for an additional forty minutes.

The dogs and I ate the vegetables...

Egg noodles: 1 c flour, 1 egg, pinch of salt and enough water to
make a stiff dough.

Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.

I use a pizza cutter to cut the noodles.

Drop into boiling broth a few at a time to keep the noodles
from sticking together.

Cook until noodles are done.

Enjoy...

While I enjoyed my cup of coffee this morning on the porch I decided to stretch that chicken a little more, so I made Smoked Chicken Enchiladas. I frequently change the ingredients of this recipe depending on what I have on hand. This time I used corn tortillas instead of flour, cheddar cheese and jalapenos instead of pepper jack. You can also freeze these with or without baking. They freeze wonderfully.

I used some of the smoked meat from the chicken Number One grilled yesterday to make these yummy enchiladas. I like to buy whole chickens because you can make so many different meals from just one. I still have a large breast and wing to put into a pasta salad. 

Ingredients: Chopped smoked chicken, chopped jalapenos
24 oz sour cream, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, tortillas and 2 cups
shredded cheese.

Add all ingredients(except tortillas and cheese) into a pot,
heat on medium until hot.

Fill tortillas with mixture, add some cheese and roll. You will use about
half of the chicken mixture and cheese on the top of the enchiladas, so plan accordingly.

I rolled eleven, that's all that would fit in my pan.

Spread the rest of the chicken mixture and cheese on top of tortillas
and garnish with jalapenos. Bake at 350* until cheese begins to brown.

While I was preparing the enchiladas, I also decided to make a Creamy Chicken Pasta Salad. Simple and easy to make. If I can't get a box of Suddenly Salad at the Dollar store for $1, I just boil some pasta(drain and rinse), add spices (your choice) to a cup of mayonnaise, chop some chicken and veggies, throw everything in a large bowl and viola!

Now that's a lot of different meals with a lot of servings in each meal. I know that chicken went a long way to feed us this week. If you have more ways to stretch a chicken, won't you please share them here?

Just Thinking...

Church Program

I returned home from church shortly after noon today. It was a powerful sermon about being called into service by God. I visited for a short time after the service with some of the ladies, then headed home. I took the scenic route home. (Ha! Ha, it's all scenic in the Rockies)I wanted to find a shorter route home that didn't require a four wheel drive. It was a mile farther, but a different kind of scenery than on the usual route. I didn't mind, since I was in awe of God's handywork. What an awesome God we have!

I thawed out some chicken breasts last night to cook for our Sunday evening dinner, so when I got home from church I started cooking.  I turned on the oven, seasoned the breasts and baked them with a couple of baking(pre-cooked) potatoes. I also baked a small boneless ham for next week's lunches. While all that was baking, I whipped up a potato salad to go with the ham next week. I boil potatoes every week and store them in the refrigerator to use for hash browns or things like potato salad. Potatoes take forever to cook at this altitude, so boiling them first saves time and energy.  It's going to be a busy week, so I'm planning ahead for some of our meals.

Baked chicken breasts seasoned with homemade garlic salt,
fresh ground peppercorns and cayenne pepper.

I will slice the ham to make sandwiches for our lunches.

I will serve the potato salad as a side dish
for the ham sandwiches.

While I was at it, I made some gravy out
of the chicken drippings for our breakfast in
the morning.

I cooked all of this food, cleaned up and worked on this post. It only took an hour to cook and clean. The post takes longer depending how off track I wonder. It is worth it to have meals on hand, since Number One is a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of guy. This is part of being prepared for unplanned excursions that frequently occur at our home. There is not a Micky D's on any of the corners where we live. Even if there was, we would not spend money on it, unless we had no other choice. What would you rather eat? Me? We travel so often that if I do not ever eat out at a fast food restaurant again, that would be fine with me.
 We carry most of our meals with us to save money and to save our health. Last time we traveled, we had fried chicken, pasta salad and chili cheese baked potatoes with sour cream and butter( plus snacks). We ate out twice, at LJS and BK for under $16. LJS had their meals on sale(2 for $10).  Number One loves that stuff. If I eat out, I want Chinese or Mexican. I can't cook either of those worth a hoot. I like the real deal...