Chicken, Chicken: Who's Got the Chicken?

As I prepared to type this post, the title came to mind. It is reminiscent of childhood games. Of course, thinking of childhood leads me to think of favorite foods. One of my favorites is chicken noodle soup. Well, it is one of my favorites now that I have mastered it on my own. Of course the most important ingredient is: chicken! For today, let's talk about how to make a dollar stretch in preparation of chicken dishes. Stretching our dollars is a way to guard the light of our homes. (When I am careful about where I spend my money, I feel better about not letting it go to waste.)

When I shop, I am a frugal shopper. This means to find the best bargains for the least amount of money. Sometimes, that takes planning. Other times, you are blessed to stumble across great deals. This was the case last week when I found 10 lbs. of frozen chicken leg quarters for $4.50 total! That was only 45 cents per pound!! Although I wished we had room in our freezer for more, we grabbed one bag. I put it in the fridge to defrost it a bit, then the next day put it in the crockpot. Just dump it in, even frozen. There is no need to add any water, unless you want a broth (which I will share later in this post.)

Cooking in the crockpot

Because there was too much chicken for my 7-quart crockpot, I put a few pieces on the stove, added 1/2 cup of water, covered, and simmered on med-low for several hours. Once the chicken was cooked, I put it on a plate to cool. Then, I took off the skin and took out the bones. A nice benefit to cooking it in the CP for several hours is usually you can just pull the bones right out and the meat falls right off. 

Cooked chicken

After taking the meat off the bones, I put the bones back in the pan, covered with water, and let it simmer for another hour or so. 

Making bone broth

Bone broth has many health benefits so I did not want to miss out on this opportunity to make something so delicious and for practically nothing. 

When that was done simmering, I removed the bones and am left with more than 2 quarts of chicken bone broth. At this point, let it cool and store in the fridge, or freeze it in a freezer bag or freezer bowl, or can it with a pressure canner. Any way you store it, make sure you enjoy it! Now you have delicious meat and broth for several upcoming meals. [Note: I ended up with 10 cups of shredded chicken plus 3 quarts of bone broth. Yum!]

Eating well-

Mama Dragon