Canning Chicken, Making Chicken Stock I

Chicken has been an incredible value this week.  I found chicken breast for $.99 and I stocked up on leg quarters for $.89 a month or so ago.  In the next few posts, I will show three different methods for making chicken stock, and soup.  I am making a chicken soup base today, but I will also be making a Chicken Cacciatore, and possibly a White Chicken Chili if I have enough chicken and stock.
Now, I know that chicken stock is readily available, and of high quality, but it is extremely easy to make your own, and costs just pennies a jar.  Once you start making your own, you'll never go back to store bought.  There is a depth of flavor, that you just can't buy in a box.
I recently got a new 8 quart pressure canner/cooker, and the method I'm showing you today is made easier by using my pressure cooker to make the stock.  I could most certainly make it by simmering it slowly all day in a stock pot, and I'll show you that method next time, but it took less than an hour to get the chicken to that fall apart state needed for stock making.  I'll be using this method far more often than the cooking all day one to be sure.
I make my stock using no added salt, but you could certainly use salt in yours.  Just be sure if you plan on canning the stock instead of freezing it that you use canning and pickling salt, not table salt.  Iodized salt and canning don't mix.
So I started this batch of Chicken Soup Base with a package of leg quarters.  The dark meat in legs and thighs makes a superior stock in my opinion, but I also make stock from breasts.  The color will be a lighter lemon yellow versus a more orange brown that you get from the dark meat.

This package of meat was 5 pounds, and it was $.89/pound.  I had purchased it a while back, and stored it in the freezer for stock making day.
After browning the leg quarters well in a couple T of olive oil, I removed the chicken and placed the jar rack back in the cooker with the chicken on top of it.  This elevates the meat, while still circulating the liquid, and keeps the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Then I added 6 quarts of water, a handful of peppercorns, and about four small bay leaves.  That is all.  You will be amazed at the flavor this will render.  This processed for 35 minutes at 10 pounds of  pressure.    I let the cooker sit for five minutes off of the heat, and then ran cold water over it in the sink, and removed the weighted gauge before opening it.  Note that this method is only used when cooking in the pressure cooker, and never when it is being used as a canner.

Now it is just a matter of picking the meat off of the chicken, and straining the stock.  To the hot clean jars, I added carrots onions and celery, along with the meat from the leg quarters.  I don't fill the jars more than half way, so that there is plenty of stock to cook homemade noodles, or spaetzle, or dumplings in when I heat it up to serve it.

While I was filling the jars, I have a stockpot full of the chicken stock on to boil, and I've added the proper amount of water to my pressure canner, and the jar rack, and have that on the stove also.  I have put my lids and rings together, and they are waiting in hot water for when I need them.  If the lids are kept hot, the rubber will have a better chance to seal. I'll drain off the water at the last minute, and have them handy.
Now the chicken stock is boiling, I take great care to ladle the hot broth into the jars, leaving a 1 inch headspace.  After the jars sit for a couple minutes, I will skim off the fat at the top, and add enough broth to come up to the 1 inch headspace amount again.  With a clean towel that has been soaked in hot water and a little vinegar and rung out, I carefully wipe the rims of the jars, and place the lids and rings on.  Working with a towel over my hand, because the jars are extremely hot, I screw the lids down tight and carefully place them down in the pressure canner.  The canner lid goes on and the weight, and they process for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 15 pounds of pressure.  After processing, I will let the canner come back to normal pressure before I remove the weight, and set them on a towel to cool.  I like to remove the rings and wash the jars after pressure processing.  They leak a small amount of liquid, and should be cleaned before storage.
I prefer to store the rings back on the jar.  I am careful to place them on loosely, so I don't disturb the seal of the jar.  I don't like to have to keep all those rings elsewhere, and I feel it helps protect the jar rim if it should get bumped around.  Once they are chipped, they are no good for canning.
So, here is the finished product.  The package of three leg quarters made 8 quarts of chicken soup base. Figuring in the vegetables and the herbs and spices, and also the lids, it still only comes to $.89 cents a quart jar.  It is so worth the time and effort!

Pressure Cooking Chicken Cacciatore

My husband and I went garage sale shopping last Saturday.  I had to go get blood drawn, and we were up and out earlier than I needed to be there.  I have been trying to find a tricycle for my little kids, so we went down and copied addresses and hit six or seven sales.
We made out pretty good.  I found a folding toddler seat with a tray just exactly like the one I already have, some Disney movies for the kids to enjoy, a great Taste of Home Cookbook, and a pressure canner.

I have the exact same model of pressure canner, except mine is a 22 quart, and this one is an 8 quart. That means I can use the new one to pressure can smaller batches of food in less time, because it doesn't have to build up pressure to fill the 22 quart space.  I was SO excited to find it for three dollars.  It is in like new condition, and the rubber seal was still good, to my surprise.
I haven't used it for canning yet, but I tried it out to make supper tonight.
Pressure cooking is an excellent method for tenderizing and getting slow cooking food done quickly.  It is a wonderful way to cook dried beans, rice, stews, and fricassee type meals.
I had a little bit of trepidation about pressure cooking.  When I was growing up, my Mom used her pressure cooker often.  My father was a hunter, and fisherman, so we had lots of wild game to eat.  Instead of chicken, we ate sage grouse.  We had elk steak and roast instead of beef.  My mother was not so creative in her cooking style, so often she would pressure cook meat like elk roast for meals.  I don't think she browned the food before pressure cooking it, or used a lot of seasoning, and it always was bland, grey and tasteless.  However, that chchchchch sound was a part of my daily experience as a kid, and I decided I'd try out my "new" cooker for supper tonight, mostly just for old time's sake.
I had some chicken leg quarters thawed out for dinner, and some pasilla peppers that needed used up.  I decided to make Cacciatore, or Hunter's Stew. This is a meal that was put on the back burner before the hunters headed out to the field.  It is served over a starch like pasta or rice, and is a delicious recipe, especially with the dark meat leg pieces.  It is a slow cooker favorite of mine, but you can make it in the pressure cooker in less than an hour, prep included.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

3 T olive oil
4 Chicken leg quarters
1 diced onion
4 stalks celery diced
3 passia chili peppers diced, seeds and ribs removed
2 pkg sliced button mushrooms
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 bottle red wine (I used a petite syrah)
1 small can tomato paste
2 pints/small cans tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Season leg quarters and brown in the pressure cooker with the lid removed.  After the chicken is browned well on both sides, remove the chicken to a plate, and add the vegetables.  Saute until the onions are starting to soften.  Add the garlic and spices, and deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the browned bits with a spatula. Add the tomatoes, and season to taste.  Nestle the chicken back in the pan and put on the lid.  Cook on high heat with the weighted gauge on 10 pounds.  When the gauge starts to chitter, reduce the heat slightly and cook for 25 minutes.  This will take a little practice to know where to turn it to so that it still chitters, but doesn't get so hot it blows off too much steam.  I have pressure canned for years, so I know exactly where to set it to maintain that happy medium.  Turn off the heat, and let the cooker stand for 5 minutes on the burner.  Carefully move the closed cooker with the weighted gauge still on to the sink, and then run cold water over it.  Remove the weighted gauge.  When no more steam escapes the valve, it is safe to open the cooker.
You will be amazed how deep red the sauce is, as the tomato's natural sugars have caramelized.  It is called the Maillard Reaction, in technical terms, and it spells big flavor.  The chicken comes out moist and fall off the bone tender in this short amount of time.  The wine, tomato, herb and garlic flavors have permeated the meat because of the pressure applied.
Honestly, It took less than an hour, even with chopping vegetables and browning the chicken included. I will never cook Cacciatore in my slow cooker again!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

We are in the thick of lambing.  Nobody is doing much since yesterday morning, but you still have to check.  We don't live where our farm lease is, so it requires us to travel fifteen miles to check.  I'm burning up all the savings I got at the pump from buying groceries!  It's OK, I love lambing.  There is not a more beautiful thing than watching a new life come into the world.
I was fairly well prepared this year, having lots of homemade soups, and prepared dishes made ahead, so we won't be rushing to eat a meal, and have to resort to eating out. We gave up eating out for Lent, so that gives me extra incentive to have meals I can heat to eat ready.
We have noticed that when we do eat out, and eat junk food, we have no energy and feel yucky anyway.  All that fast food is not good at giving energy and providing what our bodies need to thrive.
I had some time here at the house day before yesterday, and so I fixed a big pot of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.  It was so cold outside, and the hot thick Gumbo served over steamy white rice really tasted good after spending time in the lambing barn.
We had it again yesterday for lunch, and it got a mixed review from the daycare kids.  Bridger got a woody piece of okra, and so he was not too keen on eating more of it.  It happens occasionally, and I tried to convince him that the rest was tender and tasty.  He got really motivated to finish when he saw the other kids getting raspberry sherbet and homemade cookies for dessert.  Bridger told me that the soup was pretty good except for that straw piece that was in it.
I like to put both okra and file powder in my gumbo.  Okra thickens it if you leave it simmer for a long time, but I like to add the okra close to the end of cooking to keep it more tender.  Traditionally, gumbo was made with okra during it's growing season, and file powder when fresh okra wasn't available.
I can readily get frozen okra, and andouille sausage at my local grocery store, so this is a meal I can put together from my freezer and pantry without having to go to the store for ingredients.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
4-5 Andouille sausage sliced
4-5 skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
2 T olive oil
1 yellow onion diced
1 C diced celery and it's leaves
1 large green pepper diced
2 quarts/large cans diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen okra slices
1 quart/box chicken stock
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Frank's hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
file powder

In a large stockpot, sweat onions, celery, green pepper and adouille sausage and chicken in oil.  When onions become opaque, add garlic, tomatoes, chicken stock, hot sauce and Worcestershire.  Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer two hours covered.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add in frozen okra and bring to a boil.  Add 1-2 tsp file powder and boil until thickened.  Serve over hot white rice.
Gumbo is always better the second day, and it freezes beautifully.

Oregon Butte- A Chicken, Sundried Tomato and Artichoke Pizza with Basil Whole Wheat Crust

Homemade Pizza is a slice of my childhood on a plate.  My mother used to make a Bisquick pizza for us.  This is that pizza's upscale cousin.  The dough is half and half white and whole wheat flour, and the pizza is our home version of a local resteraunt favorite called the Oregano Trail. This pizza features grilled chicken strips.  These are great for pizza, as you can use them frozen, and they come out perfect as the pizza bakes.

Basil Whole Wheat Crust
1 1/2 C lukewarm water
1 T olive oil
1 tsp melted butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil
2 C  whole wheat flour
2 C white flour

In a mixer with a dough hook, mix together all ingredients.  Knead for five minutes.  You may need to adjust dough by adding a little more water, or flour to get the desired consistency.  It should be a sticky dough that cleans the bowl.  In a bowl with 1 T olive oil, turn dough out and turn over to coat all the sides in oil.  Let rise 30 minutes.  Punch down dough, and cut in half.  Makes two large rectangular pizzas on baking sheets with sides.  You can bag half and refridgerate for 24 hours. 
Press the dough in the bottom and up the sides of the baking sheet, using a rolling pin if necessary. Ladle on homemade sauce:

Homemade Pizza Sauce
1 pint/can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste
In a saucepan, combine the above ingredients and simmer.  Ladle over two pizza crusts, and add toppings:

Oregon Butte Toppings for Pizza
2 C frozen grilled chicken strips
1 can drained artichoke hearts quartered
1/2 onion halved and thinly sliced
1 C smoked sun dried tomato strips 
2 pieces cooked bacon crumbled
2 C Shredded Mozarella Cheese
1 tsp oregano
Mrs. Dash original, or salt and pepper to taste

Place pizzas in the upper part of the oven on 400*F for close to 1 hour.  Loosen with a spatula, and slide out onto a cutting board to slice. 

Mandarin Chicken Salad

The last of this week's rotisserie chicken chopped and made into a low fat salad with fresh Cuties (that needed used up) some celery(also needed used) and other ingredients to make a delicious meal for lunchtime.
I always have a pot of stock going it seems.  I save the carcass when I buy rotisserie chickens, or turkey breasts from our grocery store's deli.  I happen to have a whole turkey carcass this time, because I cooked turkey for the holidays, so I have that cooling, ready to be picked, and soup made for supper, plus several quarts of stock for the freezer, or to be pressure canned if I have time. 
In another stock pot, is the carcass of the chicken mentioned above.  I gleaned all I could from the chicken, and put all the skin and bones, along with a couple bay leaves, and a handful of peppercorns in and covered it with water. I have a simmer burner on my stove, and it's bubbling away back there while life happens, and I don't have to worry about it.
The best part of making your own stock is that it makes your house smell like you are busy cooking, even if you are not! 

Anyway, I made this salad for me, because I love Mandarin Chicken Salad.  I may hide it in the back so Don doesn't take it in his lunch. 

Mandarin Chicken Salad

2 C cooked diced chicken
1 C diced celery
1 bunch scallions diced
1 T roasted black sesame seeds
3 Mandarin oranges (Cuties) peeled and broke up into sections
a handful of chopped almonds

Asian Dressing
1/4 C Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Juice of 2 Meyer lemons
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 T sugar or splenda
pinch of red pepper flake
2 dashes of sesame oil

Note:  sesame oil can be overpowering.  Use sparingly
Mix all salad ingredients.  Pour on dressing, and toss to coat.  Store in an airtight container.

Chicken and Artichoke Soup

It's a chinook wind here today.  It is blowing straight from the mountians, making it so warm out that it is melting.  The below zero cold air inversion that we've been living in is blown clean away.  The warm air can now get across the mountain and down into our valley.  Although we are grateful for the reprieve from the cold, we know this warm wind will drag with it a storm front, so we are getting prepared for that.  We are bringing in extra wood for the stove, and going to do chores early before it hits. 
On days like these, I like to have something warm for supper.  Tonight it will be Chicken and Artichoke Soup.  This is a version of my mother in law's soup.  She knows we like it, so she always makes it when we visit. I usually make it with chicken, but since we had turkey left over from the holidays, I'll be using that today. 
My pantry "star" in this recipe is canned artichokes.  I like to keep them on hand in my pantry for just such occasions.  I do enjoy the frozen artichokes, but for some reason, we have a hard time getting them here in Wyoming.  I like to buy the cans of quarters, just because I don't use them for any recipes that require them to be whole, and whenever the pieces of food are small, you get more of them.  It is a little cheaper to buy quarters.  I use artichokes in dips for quick entertaining of unexpected company, and also in pasta sauces, but the best way is in this soup. 
Besides the fresh onion, carrot celery, the rest of the ingredients are things I always have in the pantry, so this is an easy go to for lunch or dinner at our house. I don't like the salty slimy liquid that comes in cans of chickpeas, so I pour them out into a sieve, and rinse them well before adding them to this soup. 

Chicken and Artichoke Soup

2 T olive oil
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots chopped and diced
1 small can/pint of diced tomatoes and their juice
1 can artichoke quarters chopped and their juice
1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 box/quart chicken stock
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
pinch red pepper flake
salt and pepper to taste

In a stockpot, brown off chicken pieces in oil.  Remove chicken to a plate to add in later.  Add onion celery and diced carrots and cook until onion is translucent.  Add remaining ingredients, and scrape off browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add chicken back in an bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer for twenty minutes. 

Coq Au Vin

Believe it or not, it's snowing here today.  So we are burning soggy wood in the fire, and I am making Coq Au Vin for supper.  You will love this recipe, it's wonderful comfort food, and smells so good while it cooks!  This is a super easy recipe.  One of the first chicken recipes I mastered as a new bride.  The recipe calls for Burgundy wine, but any red will do.  I have a Shiraz on hand, so I will use it.

Coq Au Vin
2 lbs chicken cut in peices (I have boneless skinless thighs as this is what we like)
4 slices bacon diced
1/2 yellow onion diced
1 lb sliced mushrooms (crimini is best, but we have button, so I'll use them today)
1 C celery diced (use the leaves if you can in this dish)
1 bag frozen pearl onions
1 tsp thyme
2 T garlic
2 bay leaves
2 C burgundy wine
In a dutch oven on medium heat, sweat diced onion with the bacon pieces until the onion is translucent.  Turn up flame to hot brown the mushrooms.  Remove vegetables and bacon with a slotted spoon, and brown chicken thighs. Remove thighs and add a couple T flour.  Whisk flour into bacon fat until it becomes browned and smells nutty.  Deglaze pan with wine, add back in vegetables, garlic and herbs.  Salt and pepper to taste, and cover with a tight fitting lid.  Place in a 350*F oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Serve with hot rice, or boiled potatoes. 

Chicken Cheep!

I had a couple chicken carcasses left from eating roast chicken this week, so I put them on to make stock on Thursday.  All that was left was the meat left after carving, and the wings from two carcasses, and I ended up with five extra quarts of stock for my freezer, and this wonderful supper for last night. 
If you have not tried the Gnocchi hermetically sealed in packages and found in the pasta isle, you really should.  This is a wonderful product, fluffy light pillows of potato dumpling goodness!  They only take a second to make, so can be a ten minute meal when you drop them in some boiling stock, or as a great side dish cooked in boiling water just until they float, and then toasted with butter and sage in a frying pan. 
Life is what happens when you are making other plans, and Thursday I had the chance to go with my Don to Thermopolis last minute.  Well, as last minute as you can be with two babies, and the need to get supper going in the crockpot! 
I quickly put my chicken and vegetables in the crockpot, and grabbed fruit and yogurt and sandwich supplies, and we headed out the door.  We had a wonderful picnic in Hot Springs State Park, and got to visit with our good friends at The White Horse Country Store.  The kids had great fun sliding and climbing in the park.

Chicken and Gnocchi
1 C cooked chicken, shredded
1 yellow onion diced
1 C celery diced including leaves
4 large carrots peeled and diced
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
2 bay leaves
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 quarts/boxes of chicken stock
Place all ingredients into a cold crock pot,  then make the gravy.
Chicken Gravy:
2 T butter melted
2 T flour
2 tsp chicken and tomato soup base
2 T garlic
cook butter, flour, garlic and soup base in a skillet until it smells nutty and foam subsides.  Add slowly while whisking: about 1 quart of chicken or beef stock, or until a thick pudding like consistency is achieved.  Add 1 C milk, whisk and remove from heat.  Stir gravy into crockpot, and cook on low 10-12 hours.  Add gnocchi during last 1/2 hour of cooking, and right before serving top with chopped parsley. 

Our leftover beef for sandwiches will make a great hot lunch today!

Hot Beef Sandwiches
6-8 slices leftover roast beef
2 T butter and flour browned in a skillet
1 quart/box of beef broth
Toasted Day Old Bread

In a large skillet, brown the butter and flour until they smell nutty.  With a whisk, add the broth a little at a time until a medium gravy is achieved.  Slide the beef into the gravy and heat on medium high until warmed through.  Toast bread, and top with beef and gravy.  I will serve this with steamed green beans, and sliced vine ripe tomatoes with balsamic and oil on them.  A ten minute lunch, and my husband gets his favorite food- GRAVY!

and my husband says, "Chicken...again!"

Some people say they eat seasonally, and to some extent we do that.  We eat fruits and vegetables in season for the most part, but since we are such a global marketplace any more, we do eat fruit out of season as long as it is cheap. 
Actually, the cost of things is my great motivator.  I love to try to get by on the smallest food budget I can.  I am very competitive by nature, and am always thinking how to do it cheaper and better than I did it before. 
When there is a sale on items like meats and fish, I buy in bulk, repackage and freeze, or turbo cook many meals at once to use it up. 
I got a great sale on boneless, skinless chicken on my last shopping trip.  A huge package of ten oversized breasts.  Normally, I would have repackaged most of them for the freezer, but we just butchered, so freezer space for meat is limited.

Chicken Tenders
I took all the breasts and removed the tenderloin strips from the backside of the breasts.  These will get dipped in buttermilk, an egg and Frank's hot sauce; rolled in breadcrumbs and baked in the oven for another day's lunch of chicken tenders.

Chicken breast is not my husband's favorite, but he really liked this dish.  It is my version of Tortilla Soup, and afforded me an opportunity to use up my homemade chips!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
3 chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 chipotle pepper diced finely
2 quarts/boxes chicken stock
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 C uncooked rice
fresh cilantro
2 avocados diced
lime wedges
In a large stock pot, brown onion in 2 T olive oil.  Add chicken, carrots, and the chipotle pepper, and brown.  Deglaze pan with stock, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and add cumin, salt and pepper.  When the soup comes to a boil, add rice, and bring back to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for thirty minutes.(At this point, I could freeze this, or cool it and save in the refrigerator for later in the week.)  When rice is done, ladle into bowls and top with cilantro, avocado and lime juice.  Serve with tortilla chips on top.

 I love the peppery sharp taste of lemongrass and fresh ginger.  I often can't find fresh lemongrass, but I can always get a tube of prepared lemongrass in the produce section of my grocery store.  It saves a lot of pounding and chopping, too! 

Asian Chicken and Lemongrass Soup with Udon 
3 Chicken Breasts diced in 1 inch pieces
1/2 yellow onion
1 C diced celery
2 quarts/boxes chicken stock
1 C Napa Cabbage
1 carrot peeled and sliced thinly
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
2 heaping T lemongrass in a tube
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp thyme
2 T Nam Pla or fish sauce
1 pkg Udon Noodles, or you can substitute with pasta
Cilantro for garnish
Brown onion and celery in oil until translucent.  Add chicken and carrot and brown.  Deglaze with stock, and add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil and cover and simmer for one hour.  (I could freeze the soup at this point.) Bring back to a boil, and add three portions of Udon Noodles.  Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Chicken Enchiladas
4 chicken breasts poached:
In 1 quart of water, place chicken with a handful of peppercorns and two bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, and cover and simmer.  Discard bay leaves and pepper, and save broth for another use.  Shred chicken with two forks for this recipe. You could also use roasted chicken shredded.
1 pkg cream cheese softened
1 can store bought cream of chicken soup  (the exception to the rule that homemade soup is better.  The canned works best in this recipe)
1 small can of diced green chiles
1 pkg corn or flour tortillas
4 C red enchilada sauce
4 scallions chopped
Queso Blanco crumbled 
Add softened cream cheese, condensed soup and green chiles and their juice to the shredded chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Fill tortillas with mixture, and place seam side down in a greased jelly roll pan.  Top with enchilada sauce, green onions and queso.  Cover with foil, and bake at 375 F for forty five minutes, or until filling is hot, and cheese is melty.  Serve over rice.   



 

Spend Time to Make Time

Life is a little more hectic at our house than usual.  I have a new three month old baby, which has totally changed the dynamic of life with the almost three year old, and the ten month old that I am day nanny for.  They are having a hard time with the sharing of attention with the new little one.  She is a little blessing, and such a mellow, easy going baby, so that has helped me.
Also, I am backlogged on my bookkeeping, and housekeeping after being punky before and after surgery in November.  I am glad to report, I feel SO much better, and am getting stronger every day.  It's been a long hard haul, though.
We are just on the cusp of our lambing, so we've started checking ewes.  That is logistically challenging, as they are in the sheep pasture five miles from our home.  As things start to heat up in the lambing corrals, my life will be "foot feeder to the floor" so to speak.  I have to plan a little to make it manageable.  Turbo cooking can really save me at this time of the year.
I am a huge fan of rotisserie chicken at the grocery store.  I discovered at a local grocery store, that once the chickens are pulled from the heated case, they are drastically discounted, and in the cold case.  For less than the price per pound for raw chicken, I can get tender and moist roasted chicken already cooled and ready for meal preparation.  Now, I am not big on already prepared foods, but I love this one.
So, on Thursday, my son Joel and I turbo cooked several meals from the two roast chickens we bought on our last shopping day.  We produced food for three lunches and a dinner, and put away two more meals in the freezer.

Chicken Stock
is freezer and refrigerator star.  It can easily be made from the carcass left from harvesting the chicken meat.  Bones that have been roasted with the meat on are the best for stock, so don't throw that chicken carcass away!  I cover the carcasses with water an inch above them, and add a half an onion, some celery chopped, and a couple chunked up carrots.  The only seasoning for me at this point is a hand full of peppercorns, three bay leaves, and a tsp of thyme or poultry seasoning.  I cover the pot, and bring it to a boil.  It then goes covered on the simmer burner on low for several hours, until the carcass falls apart and gives up the last of it's meaty bits.  I then pour the contents into another large pot that has a colander in it.  After it cools a bit, I sift through the contents of the colander, removing the last of the meat, and throw the rest away.  The vegetables used to flavor the stock have given their all, and are too soft to use.  I now have several quarts of stock to store in my fridge or put in the freezer.

Cream of _?__ Soup
I am not a big fan of canned soup.  I know most people use it for casseroles, but I don't like the flavor, the salt content, or the price of it.  I can make a cream soup in about ten minutes on my stove, so I choose to do that instead.  If you can make gravy, you can make cream soup.  The only difference in the two is that you don't add as much liquid to gravy.
For instance, I made cream of chicken soup from chicken stock (see above) and milk- no cream for the chicken pot pie.  It is silky and lovely, and if I wished could be lunch on it's own.  I start with a half a stick of butter melted in my skillet cooked with a couple heaping tablespoons of flour, and cooked until it is foamy, turns golden brown and smells nutty.  With a wire whisk, I start adding chicken stock, adding small additions, and smoothing out the gravy/soup before adding more.  After a quart has been added, I'll add in 2 cups of milk, and stir on the heat until it bubbles.  I will season to taste with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of poultry seasoning, and adjust the consistency at this point by adding more stock as necessary.  For pot pie I stop at a medium bodied gravy.  I have potatoes in this dish, and they will tighten up the liquid during cooking.  If you wish to use canned soups for my recipes, just substitute one can of soup, and a half a can of water or milk.  

MEAL NUMBER ONE-  
Chicken Pot Pie
1 1/2 C pulled chicken
3 Carrots diced in one inch chunks
2 Potatoes diced in one inch chunks
1/2 yellow onion diced
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1 C diced celery
salt and pepper to taste, or I use Mrs. Dash regular
Homemade cream of chicken soup (see above)
In a greased 9x13 pan, put all the ingredients above, and pour over the chicken soup.  Cover with foil, and bake at 350 F for one hour.  At this point, you can cool the pan, and freeze it for later use.  On the day you use it, place it in the oven until it is hot and bubbly at 350 F, and then top with your favorite biscuits.  Return to the oven and cook until biscuits are golden brown, about ten minutes. 
We ate ours the same day, so I just took off the foil and added buttermilk biscuits  to the top after the one hour cooking time.  This made awesome lunch for two more days, and was even better reheated.
MEAL NUMBER TWO- 

Chicken Noodle Soup
2 quarts/boxes chicken stock
1 quart water
2 T chicken soup base, or two bullion cubes
2 carrots diced
1/2 yellow onion
2 T oil
2 stalks of celery diced
1 bay leaf
1 C pulled chicken meat
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 bag whole wheat egg noodles
In a large pot, brown onions in oil.  Add in remaining ingredients except noodles.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer until vegetables are tender.  Bring back to a boil, and add noodles.
This made a great lunch, and also put two quarts of soup in the freezer.
Cream Soup Cont...
For meal number three, I made cream of mushroom soup.  I browned two packages of sliced button mushrooms in 2 T butter.  I removed them from the pan, started my rue of butter and flour, and then added mushroom stock.  (This was made from soaking dried mushrooms in boiling water.  I reserved the mushrooms for another meal, and carefully poured off the broth, leaving the gritty bits in the bowl.) I add two cups of milk, and adjust with more broth or water to get the desired medium bodied gravy thickness, and season with salt and pepper.  You can certainly substitute with canned soup and a half a can of water for this recipe.  
MEAL NUMBER THREE-

Chicken Casserole with Mushrooms, Artichokes and Asparagus
1 pkg whole wheat pasta shells, cooked and drained
1 pkg frozen artichoke hearts
2 bunches of asparagus, with bottom ends removed (DON'T throw these away, I boiled them in 1 1/2 quarts water and blended them with my hand blender to make broth for cream of asparagus soup we'll eat later in the week)
2 pkgs sliced button mushrooms
2 C pulled cooked chicken
homemade mushroom soup (see above)
Cook pasta and drain into a colander in which you have placed the frozen artichokes to defrost them quickly.  Fill the same pot with water again, and bring to a boil.  Salt water and blanch asparagus until it turns bright green.  Drain into the colander with pasta and artichokes.
In a greased roaster pan, add chicken, pasta and vegetables, and pour over mushroom gravy.  At this point, I cooled it, and it went into the refrigerator for Sunday dinner.  I could also freeze it.  On the day I serve it, I'll top it with 1 C seasoned breadcrumbs mixed with 1/3 C Parmesan cheese and cook it uncovered in a 350F oven until it is bubbly, about twenty minutes.  The vegetables are all cooked, so it is just a matter of heating it through and browning the top.