Making it S-T-R-E-T-C-H …. (Part 1)

This time it was two chickens!! I cooked 2 chickens and stretched them into 3 meals and had 3 quarts of chicken stock to put in the freezer! I ended up with a lot of pictures so I am dividing this into two blog posts. 

This is what I made:

First Night: Roasted chicken, Spanish rice (recipe at end of blog post), cornbread (
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/cornbread1.htm), salad
Second Night: Chicken enchiladas, cornbread, salad
Third Night: Chicken noodle soup, dinner rolls (or you could serve biscuits or crackers), salad


Here is how I did it…



Day 1
I had 2 chickens and their combined weight was a little over 10lbs. I always look for the biggest chickens when I buy them; 5lbs each is always my goal. The bigger the chicken the more meat to work with.



The first day I decided we would have roasted chicken, Spanish rice, cornbread and a salad. I started off by washing my chickens and removing the giblets. I put the giblets in a bowl and put them in the fridge. I will be using those when I make chicken stock.




I put salt, pepper, garlic salt and seasoning salt all over the chickens and inside the cavity. I rubbed this on them well. I chopped up one large onion and used this to stuff the chickens. I then covered the pan and put them in the oven to bake at 325. I let them bake for about 3 hours.












While they baked I made Spanish rice ( recipe follows ) and cornbread (http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/cornbread1.htm )   and I made a salad. We ate about ¾ of one chicken that night.

The next day I deboned the rest of the chicken.



I chopped up the meat and had about 6 cups left…




I took the bones and liquid from the chicken and put them, along with the saved giblets, into a large pot to make chicken stock. I added 1 ½ gallons of water.





I put this on the stove to cook. I brought it to a boil and reduced the heat to low, covered it and let it simmer. My stock simmered for about 20 hours. When making stock it is best to let it cook for a long time to bring out the most flavor and nutrition. In the end, mine cooked for 20 hours. You can cook it anywhere from 12 to 36 hours.


Once the stock was started it was time to turn my attention to making chicken enchiladas…

****************************************************
Spanish Rice

2 cups brown rice
2 to 3 T olive oil
4 cups plus 2T water
1 heaping T of tomato paste (you can save the rest of the can and use it another recipe)
2T chili powder
2t cumin
2t salt

In a large stock pot heat olive oil and brown rice. Stir and cook the rice until it starts to brown slightly. Add water, tomato paste and seasonings and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat slowly over the first 5 minutes and then put the lid on (this helps to prevent your pot from boiling over when you put the lid on ). Turn the burner on low and let it cook for another 55 minutes.


To Be Continued…..

Comments

  1. Crystal,
    I have found your blog to be very helpful. I have read many of your articles on homemaking and saving money on groceries. Thank you for sharing.
    Jodi

    ReplyDelete
  2. You make everything look so easy :) ): I LOVE that!! I haven't attempted cooking a whole chicken yet!!! Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had no idea stock took that long, I think I've only let mine simmer 3 or 4 hours. I'll try it longer, and I'm definitely going to run out and buy two 5 pounders tomorrow and try!

    Michelle Wood
    Holland, MI

    ReplyDelete
  4. I also did not know that stock took that long to simmer. I need to do some catching up here on the last few posts. Your posts are so helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I never knew to cook stock that long either, could I do it in my large crock pot? I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the stove on and going to bed.

    I also put veggies in the cavity but I never chop them up I just halve or quarter onions and cut celery stalks in to managable pieces and stuff them in till the cavity is full. I love the flavor it puts out!!

    I love the stretchy meals though, we do alot of that here, always using up everything in order to save money!!

    Dana

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  6. Dana, I have never made stock in the crockpot. It would never hold the amount of stock I end up with. For the batch I made here in the blog post I ended up with 6 quarts of finished stock and a large amount of bones and leftovers from the stock making.

    I have never had a problem leaving my pot of stock simmering on low for up to 36 hours at a time. I put the burner on "low" and my stock pot has a good tight fitting lid so there is not much evaporation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I make stock in one of those electric turkey roasters, it holds a lot, and it's just like a super large crock pot. I have no problem leaving it on overnight, either.

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    Replies
    1. Love this idea!! I think I'm going to give it a try.. Thank you!! :)

      Delete

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