One Chicken; Three Meals!

This month I am still working on making do with what I have in the pantry. On Sunday I thawed one of my 5 1/2 lb chickens and decided that I would use it for three meals.

The first meal we had I took the legs and thighs from Ms. Chicken and oven baked them and served them with homemade potato salad. This is so easy folks, there is no excuse for you not to know how to do this. Take a cookie sheet and cover it with foil for easy clean-up. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. Lay the chicken pieces on the foil. Season with salt and pepper or what ever seasonings you like. Pop in a 375 degree oven for 50-60 minutes until chicken is tender and cooked thoroughly. It needs to be at least 165 degrees when you stick a meat thermometer in it. Or you can poke it with a fork and if the juices run clear and don't have any blood in it, then it is done. But if you are unsure, it is best to use a thermometer. Don't have a thermometer? Get one, they are cheap and you can get one at the grocery store!

Meal number two I found in the January 10, 2010 issue of Family Circle. It was Oriental-Glazed Chicken. Delish! Highly recommend this recipe. I used the chicken breasts from Ms. Chicken for this one. Follow this link:

http://www.parents.com/recipe/chicken/oriental-glazed-chicken/

Oriental-Glazed Chicken

I have to tell you that the only reason I was able to make this recipe without going to the store was because I saw the recipe before I started my "using what I have" kick and bought the cabbage and carrots for another recipe I tried and had enough left over for this recipe. Also Dan the Man got a huge can of cashews for Christmas and still had some, so I stole some of them for the recipe. Oh yeah, I have to tell you to substitute sesame oil for the oil you add to the coleslaw mix. And I made my own coleslaw mix, just shred up some cabbage and add some grated carrots! I used half a head of a small cabbage and four carrots. Don't waste your money on the coleslaw mix!

Meal number three was homemade chicken noodle soup. I made my stock from what was left of poor Ms. Chicken, her back, neck and wings. Penny, my mother-in-law, will be so happy that I didn't throw all that stuff away like I usually do!

So there you have it, one chicken, three meals!

What? You can't find a 5 1/2 pound chicken at your store? Oh poor you, guess you'll just have to wait until this spring when you can buy one of our home grown pastured poultry!