1 Chicken Three Meals

I happen to be one of those weird people that like to cook but not everyday. So sometimes when I cook on the weekends I'll do several meals at once. I think since  I'm going to be at the stove anyway why not make more of a bang for my buck with what I'm cooking. So today I used one chicken to make three meals. I start off with an organic chicken. Now if you have never bought one they are pricey but the flavour is so different than a conventional chicken I have a hard time buying a regular one now. I also think since I use it in more than one way most of the time it is totally worth it.

 

To start off I filled a huge stock pot with water and added 2T grey Celtic sea salt and couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. There are a lot more minerals in Celtic sea salt. The apple cider vinegar is used to pull the minerals from the chicken bones and the flavor is pretty much gone by the time you make your soup etc. Start off with cold water and start the water heating on medium. The lower the temperature to start the better the chicken tenderness will be, also the organic chickens don't tend to get so rubbery. I let this boil at med-high for 4 to 6 hours. Start off with a lot of water and let it boil down. Remove the chicken carefully because it will start to fall off the bone and put it in a dish to cool. Taste the broth, if it's too watery let it reduce more also add more salt to taste. It takes more salt then people realize to get a nice flavorful broth. Once it gets were you like it pour half in another stock pot. Once the chicken is cool remove the breasts and set aside. Divide the rest of the chicken between the two stock pots. 

For the first stock pot I do a basic chicken vegetable soup.

1. Large onion diced

2. One to two parsnips, peeled and diced like a carrot (try to get larger ones)

3. Three large carrots

4. Four ribs of celery sliced

5. Two bay leaves

6. Two tablespoons of coconut oil (the flavor will decrease when cooking)

7. Half a cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

 

I let this cook for a couple hours more developing the flavors and adding more water as needed.

 

For the second stock pot I did a Chicken Tortilla soup.    

1. In a saucepan put 4 T olive oil and heat, add 1 large onion, saute 5 min.

2. Add 2-4 T Cumin (if you love it add 4)

3. Add 2 T Paprika and sugar

4. Add 2-3 T Chili Powder mix into onions and continue to cook 15min

5. Add couple shakes of Garlic salt and 4-6 large diced tomatoes stir and cook.

6. Put all ingredients into stock pot and add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro cook 15 minutes more. Taste an adjust garlic salt etc. Serve bowls with diced avocado and tortilla chips, top with desired shredded cheese. I use what I have on hand.

 

For the third dish I made inside out Chicken Empanadas.

1. For the empanadas use the above ingredients except use 2 onions and only two tomatoes with the shredded chicken breasts. I cook it 20-25 minutes and add a little chicken stock from the tortilla soup to make a nice sauce about 1/2 c or so.

2. Instead of making a dough I pick up some bread dough from my grocery store in the bakery dept. and I pinch off a handful and stretch it and fry it in a little oil on both sides over medium heat. Top it with the meat and shredded cheese and a little cilantro. Then use whatever other toppings you want, guacamole or sour cream. I like it with just the meat and cheese. Most empanadas have green olives but I like it without.

The left over bread dough can be fried up and topped with butter and a little sugar or stevia. My husband loves these for dessert. I add cinnamon to mine.

I usually take a quart jar and take that amount out of each soup and let it cool, refrigerate then freeze the next day for a fast meal for a night when I don't want to cook.

Homestead tip:

When using the soup from the quart jars let it thaw then remove it to pan to heat. Don't thaw and heat it in the jar in the microwave. Microwaving a canning jar changes the glass and it can not be used for canning later and can also make the glass unstable for freezing the next time you want to use it.