We have been using audible for a few years now and have some tried and true much loved books that the kids have listened to many times over.
Ralph Moody has always been a winner. I have a feeling it will forever be a family favorite. We are almost through the whole series with Otto. He loves them.
Boxcar Children are easy ones that the kids enjoy listening too. I don’t hate having them on in the background either.
I have started the Harry Potter series. I found someone on Instagram who said they do the first 3 books as a family and then you can read the rest when you can read them by yourself and I love that idea. So that’s what we are going to do. The kids haven’t gotten into them yet so mainly I listen to them for myself at this point.
Chronicles on Narnia are great, we run through them every so often. Kids haven’t fallen in love with them yet.
Back again for another whole chicken inspiration? This time we are going to start by spatchcocking it, aka take the backbone out. Take some kitchen shears and just go down both sides of the backbone, through the ribs. Flop it over and smash it flat on a sheet tray, dizzle with oil and smear on a mixing of any fresh herbs you have. Onto the BBQ at 400 until internal temp is 165. Side salad, bread… you really don’t need anything else.
Then pick the chicken and start your stock, add in that backbone you took off of the chicken.
The next day take your stock and leftover chicken and make gravy, serve over mashed potatoes or… rice cooked in the stock. This is seriously one of my favorite comfort meals. I can’t make this often because i can eat my weight in it. If you cook the rice in your stock then you may not have a ton of stock left but if you serve this with potatoes you’ll have enough stock to make a good, hearty soup. If you don’t use all your chicken in the gravy you could do a chicken noodle or dumpling.
And there you go again, 2 or 3 meals from 1 little chicken. You might just have to trust me on the rice & gravy. But it’s similar to rice and chicken casserole with that cream of mushroom soup, just better. Promise.
It’s come to my attention that some people could use some help a) stretching their food budgets and b) knowing what to do with a whole chicken. Because, guess what?! it’s the cheapest way to buy chicken because it’s the least labor intensive way to sell them.
For the last 2 years we have only had whole chickens. We have been raising and processing out own birds and haven’t decided to learn how to break them down yet so i’ve become an somewhat of an expert in making the most of a whole bird. I can usually have one chicken be a part of at least 3 meals in the week that I make it.
For the first day you have a few options, all easy and all wonderful. (I’m going to stick with one per blog post here). I love to roast it in the oven just throw on some oil & seasonings/herbs and 375 until it hits 165 internal temp. I like to serve this meal with a side of somethings green (salad, broccoli, green beans) and a loaf of bread. That is almost as simple as it gets.
Once it cools you can pick all the wonderful leftover meat off the bones and set them aside for another meal. Today it’ll be chicken salad sandwiches, with the leftover bread too. This can be as simple as adding mayo, salt, pepper and a slice of cheese or you can go “all out” and add pecans, grapes, celery, apples… so many good recipes out there.
So then once you’ve picked the bones clean you are going to add them to a pot, I love my Instant Pot but a stock pot works too. Then if you keep scraps from onions, carrots, celery, fennel, etc. add them to the pot. some peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley, whatever you have. I have been known to do just the chicken bones and water…. it works just as well. I IP for 4 hours pressure and then leave it on keep warm for 10 hours, overnight normally. The you strain out the bones and can put the stock in the fridge, the fat will float to the top and solidify, congradulations you just made shmaltz. Use it instead of oil to sauté in.
Stock is easy to use, I cook all my rice in stock instead of water now. The little fat that is left keeps the grains from sticking together and it just makes a nicer rice. So use it to make rice! Then that rice you can make fried rice with and add any leftovers from the week.
3 meals, from 1 chicken. I love, love, love doing this. We work hard to raise and process these birds so I definitely want to use them to their fullest potential.
Come back for more chicken inspiration. I have lots more meal ideas to come. Whole chickens are where it’s at! Even if you don’t raise them yourself, they’re the cheapest to buy.
matt & hannah fogarty 