Quick post just because I have a minute and can:
- For some reason I am working four night this week. This after being gone every evening the last two weeks for the older two girls’ rehearsals (they were in a local musical.) My husband misses me, the twins ask everyday when I am leaving….I am not pleased with this. Soccer starts next week, so it will be him leaving me for about 6 weeks. What goes around comes around, right? Oh, and school starts in three weeks and 4 days. Enough said.
- I have not been cooking much with the whole rehearsal and working thing, but I do have a very tasty salad I want to share with you as soon as I perfect the dressing. I took it to a reunion this weekend where it was promptly devoured. If you do not like cilantro, don’t hold your breath for this one. Right now, though, I have a huge pot of chicken stock brewing. My house smells so good it is near torture! Stock is one of those things that is so easy you wonder why more people do not just make their own. This batch has a whole chicken in it (minus head and most of the insides), the bones of another chicken, 4 feet (scrubbed and scored), carrots, bay leaves, sage from the herb garden, peppercorns, onions, and a bit of salt. I’d take a picture and share, but the toenails poking up just aren’t pretty. I hope to have 4 quarts of broth when I am done and I will have plenty of chicken to use in salads and meals.
- Running is going well. I finished week 3 of Couch to 5K and am looking forward to week four. Due to all the being out of the house this last couple weeks, the running has done little to nothing for my weight, but I can cope. On my last run, when my music told me to stop running for the last time I felt like going more and I did. That was my best run ever. I finished without gasping for breath, feeling like I had more to give, but knowing I worked my body hard. I really want to be able to run all of a 5K and every week that passes I can see that being more of a reality. On to week four which increases the running some, but also decreases the walking…that might kick me in the hind end. The music for week three had a beat that kept me at a better pace, but I wasn’t fond of the music. I hope this week’s pod-cast is better so far as the music.
A question for you, if you don’t mind. What size of pot do you need for something like that? I am getting more and more out of buying canned stuff but a chicken would not fit into any of my pots currently.
The pan I used this time around was a 9 quart pan and I filled it pretty full. It had a whole bird in it that I removed after it was done (a couple hours in, I used a meat therm. to test for done) and then shredded the meat returning all skin, bones, etc. to the pot for an additional few hours simmering. I also had in this pot the bones from two roasted chickens, herbs, garlic, peppercorns, and lots of veggie scraps. I have a container in my freezer that I put the ends of onions, bottoms of celery, and odd carrots and garlic pieces into rather than throw them away…usually a stray piece of broccoli or something else makes it in there.
With a smaller pot, that would just cover your bird (I’m guessing 5 or 6 quart depending on if it is a whole bird, cut into pieces, etc.) you could boil off your chicken for a few hours until done, return bnones and skin after picking, and then add veggies/herbs/garlic. From my experience, three or four hours on the veggies is just about all they have to offer so far as flavor so I do not see why they couldn’t be added after the meat was removed (though they wouldn’t be there to add flavor to your meat at all.) It would be worth trying, though.
You also can make a good broth from wings, necks, feet, and other odd inexpensive pieces along with the bones of a previously roasted chicken. Might help in making a smaller batch. I’ve used my oval crock pot before and have made it in the oven using a roasting pan.
Thank you so much! That was extremely helpful.