Paradise Ridge Vanners: Cheap and GOOD casserole.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Cheap and GOOD casserole.

so back to eating...

We can still get cheap food IF you watch for it! case in point.... When I go to the grocery I watch for the expiration dates. I stop back by on that date and get great deals like this... Now please note, I did not always have the ability to be driving by a grocery store each day... but I drive past two on my way to the barn at least twice a day. So it pays off to watch the dates and stop back by early on that date.

As you can see I got 5lbs of chicken thighs for less than three dollars. I took them directly home and dropped them in a pot of water.

This is where I don't understand what the big deal is... I still had chicken left over in the freezer from the pot pie day and had it in the fridge defrosting so this goes directly into the freezer with no questions.

But from the pot with all my herbs, I don't salt or pepper the chicken at this stage because I never know what I am going to use it for AND salt can make things more dry coming out of the freezer.

You can see the rosemary, thyme and I put some dry sage in it because dry is all I have (but I dried it from the garden... it hangs on the rack in my dinning room) during the winter.

Yes it is greasy on top but that is easily solved!!!! besides you want all the flavor you can get from your money.

After everything has cooked till it is falling off the bone... drain as much of the juice as you can, if for no other reason than to just get it out of your way!

I use my trusty old strainer to get out all the bits and pieces... but make sure you are not throwing away any meat at this point!

Look at this beautiful tasty Juice, better than any can, carton, concentrate you will ever purchase! And that alone just saved you money for chicken stock!

Yes it still has the grease on it for now... but we will get to that!

Just cover this stock, get it out of the way, and put it in your fridge so we can get ALL that fat off later.

We still have the chicken, herbs and what knots in the pot to take care of ...

Pour the remaining contents of the pot into a bowl WITH a strainer...

Yes it looks strange, but as much as Money is something I save so is Time... so I left all the bones, the fat, and the herbs in there and this is where we take the time to seperate it all.

Note... the strainer... is there due to more glorious juices to be saved, as well as tiny pieces of meat that will have fallen off the bone while in the pot.

While this picture looks groose you will see I have seperated the bone, cartlidge, and fat from the tender meat, I have my bags ready and labeled to speed up the process.

More Chicken Stock below all the meat is normal... just put it in the fridge with the other...

I Lay all my zip lock bags as thin as I can EXCEPT my chicken stock! I lay most thin so they thaw out more quickly and evenly. I keep the stocks thick so they fit into my stock pots when I throw a chunk of "ice" frozen stock into the pot. Otherwise laid thin like the meat, they are too wide at the top and I loose some of my juices as they melt. I just have to plan ahead.