What do you do when meat goes on sale?

You have a baking day of course!

I went to the commissary the other day and they had there Tyson whole chickens with a $1.50 off coupon on them. Usually when I see those, I stock up because there prices are cheaper than most even without the coupon. The coupon sweetens the deal even more!! I end up getting 6 for around $3 each. When I get home I have no other choice but to cook them because my freezers are full on that particular day. So the cooking begins.........

I spend the week cooking each one in the crock pot. I cooked the chicken during the day and the broth at night. I thought I would share this process with you for those of you who may not know how. Per request, I will also include the homemade condensed cream of chicken soup recipe.

Take your chicken and empty out all the nastiness( I throw mine away). Next, rinse the inside and outside with water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place your chicken in the crock pot( I like to sprinkle a little paprika on mine), turn on low and walk away for 8 hours. Once it is done it should look like this.

See the liquid from the chicken....don't throw it away......its time to make broth. Take all the chicken off the bones and put what is left (bones, skin, fat) back into the crock pot. Pour 5 cups of water in with the everything else, put the lid back on and cook overnight. Side Note:
I thought I would let you in on a little secret I experimented with. The pot below is from Pampered Chef. It is one of there stoneware bakers. I have cooked a pork loin in less than 14 minutes in it so I thought I would give chicken a try....hey I had 6 so I thought I could make one the guinea pig(or chicken). RESULTS: It cooked in 20 minutes and left enough juices to make broth in 14 minutes. AMAZING!!!!

So back to the chicken in the crock pot. Here is what it will look like once it has simmered overnight, liquid drained and cooled. Next step, pour into containers. I like to use sour cream, butter, frosting or Rubbermaid containers. Place them in the fridge for a couple of days.

This is what you will see after a couple of days. The fat rises to the top(ohh! if this could only happen to me. Hehehe!). Take a spoon and scrape the fat off. Now you can either freeze it for when you need some or you can make..........

Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken
makes 3 cups( 2 cans)

1 1/2 c chicken broth 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning 1/4 tsp parsley

1/4 tsp onion powder dash paprika

1/4 garlic powder 1 1/2 c milk

1/8 black pepper 3/4 c flour

In a saucepan boil chicken broth, 1/2 c milk and seasonings for a minute or two( longer if fresh onions and garlic). In a separate bowl whisk the remaining 1 c milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue to whisk until it boils and thickens. Compared to cans it is so much cheaper and tastes better.

I have to confess something. I know you can not tell in the picture but I wanted you to know that the recipe does not make this much. When I began making it I looked at the wrong measurement for the broth( I was looking at how much the recipe made instead of the amount of broth I needed) Long story short.........I ended up multiplying it by nine. Yes, you heard me right........nine( I don't think I have ever done that). It all worked out because I was making several casseroles to freeze. The little I had left I froze.

I also made granola. I have recently become a fanatic of vanilla yogurt, fruit and granola.

Here is the granola recipe:

3 c dry oatmeal

1/2 c butter

1/2 c honey

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c wheat germ

Melt butter in a 3 quart pot over medium heat. Add honey and salt and briefly heat with butter. Turn off the heat and add oatmeal and wheat. Stir and pour on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

YUMMO!!!

Here is what I got done:

2 - Broccoli, cheese, chicken, rice casserole
2 - Spinach, cheese, chicken, rice casserole

2 - Chicken Tetrazinni

1 - chicken casserole

1 - Sausage pasta
1 - Spaghetti bake
1- Fiesta roll ups

turkey meatballs

double batch - granola bars

double batch - granola

Hopefully, I can get to the breads, muffins, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls and slice and bake cookies sometime this week.

I am loving the baking days that moneysavingmom.com and lifeasmom.com host each month. I get so many great recipes including the ones in this post. They are getting ready to fill up there freezer again for the month of March.

So stay tuned for Part 2 of my baking day.