Feminine Friday~ 9/29/17

I'm joining in with my blogging buddy Renee in Feminine Friday's. This is my first one. I'm heading out to a breakfast date with hubby before running errands for the day. I'm wearing a pink shear blouse with that comes as a set with a pink undershirt. I love wearing maxi skirts and dresses so this skirt is one I have. It went well with my blouse. I love how the colors compliment my skin tone :)

***Feminine Friday is about women showing how to be beautiful in Christ.

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What to do with unused chicken skin & bones?

As promised in yesterday’s batch cooking with chicken quarters post, I’m back with part 2. Today I want to share with y’all what I do with all that liquid left over from cooking the chicken. I will also share what I did with those skin and bones I didn’t throw away so be sure to read to the bottom.

I had mentioned how I seasoned the chicken before cooking it. This was so that the liquid (that is now turned into broth) would have a little flavor added to it. Using the meat, skin, and bones is mainly how that canned chicken broth we see on the store shelves is made. This is why I don’t throw that cooking liquid away. I’m saving money by having my own already made up and it’s healthier because I know what I put in it. After straining the liquid through a big mesh strainer I’m left with a whole lot of broth to use in future meals (see below). I refrigerate it overnight to let the fat rise. You'll want to remove (throw out) that top layer of fat before using your broth.




As for the bones and skin I put all of that into a gallon Ziploc bag and keep in the freezer until it gets full of bones (ones from future meals we eat). Once the bag gets full I use it to make chicken stock A.K.A. bone broth. I have shared how I make my chicken stock here on the blog so be sure to check that out. Now what can I use all this chicken broth (or stock) for? To amp up the flavor in a meal I prepare. It can replace using plain water in many meals. Use the broth to make anything requiring broth as well as:

* Mashed Potatoes (boil potatoes in broth instead of water)

* Rice (cook rice in broth instead of water)

* Soups

* Chowders

* Stews

* Skillet meals

* Casseroles

* Sauces, ect.

Now you can see why having cooked up a lot of chicken for meals, and having several cups of homemade broth is time saving and economical. If you were wondering, this can be done with bone-in skin-on chicken breasts as well. Next time they are on sale go ahead and stock up on a few packs and give this a try. I will be back next week to share another cooking session with you.

Batch {Bulk} Cooking with Chicken

I’m back with another batch cooking session to share with y’all. This week I’m sharing what can be done with whole fryer/roaster chickens, family packs of chicken parts, or even a 10 lb. bag of leg quarters. First off I thoroughly wash my chicken before I start cooking it. Next, I either put the whole fryer in the crockpot (you can cut it up into parts if you prefer to) or cut my leg quarters into halves. If all my pieces can’t fit into my 6-quart slow cooker at once, I put the rest in a pressure cooker (this is the fastest way to get the job done). For this cooking session, I used a family pack of bone-in skin-on chicken legs and a family pack of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs.

I put a little lemon pepper and seasoned salt on the chicken (this is a little added flavor for the broth. I’ll talk about this later on). In my slow cooker, I add to the chicken about 6 cups of water, a big chopped carrot, a bay leaf, and a big onion I quartered to it (if I had a celery stalk that would have went in too). In my pressure cooker, I added to the chicken the same veggies but only 3 cups of water. I programmed the slow cooker to cook for 3 hours on High, and selected the chicken setting on my pressure cooker. Before I continue let me say that this post will be done in 2 parts with this being part 1.



Since the thighs in the pressure cooker are the first to be ready I go ahead and work with those. I carefully take out the thighs and lay them on a platter to cool a bit. I put on disposable gloves, and get to work pulling off the skin and separating the meat from the bones on each piece. It’s best to have separate containers set out to keep the meat in and collect your bones/skin. I don’t throw away the cooking liquid, skin, or the bones (I will talk about that tomorrow.). I cover the container with the meat and put in the refrigerator to work with after it is fully cold. I proceed to do the same with the chicken legs once they are finished cooking in the slow cooker. Once the meat is completely cold I take it out and do two things. First I take some pieces of meat, place on a cutting board, and carefully cut into bite-size cubes. I set those aside in the container while I work on the rest of the chicken. The rest is the pieces that are easy to pull apart (shred up). Once all of that has been shredded I sit it aside in a separate container. I separated the cubes and shredded chicken into 2.5 cup portions each and put into quart-size Ziploc bags.

As you can see I got 2 bags of each that I pre-labeled, squeezed all the air out of them before closing, and placed in a flat single layer on a baking sheet to freeze. Once it was stiff enough I take the baking sheet out and stack the bags on top of one another in the freezer. Remember I explained before about the need to save on space to put other things in there. Now, what can I use these bags of cooked chicken for? I have a list for each type here.

Cubed Chicken ideas:

* Chicken Helper (I do a homemade version)

* Chicken Fried Rice

*Chicken Lo Mein

* Chicken Pot Pie

* Chicken Alfredo

* Chicken and Noodle/Rice Soup

*Chicken and Corn Chowder

* Chicken Stew

* Chicken Wraps

* Chicken Fajitas

* Chicken Salad/sandwiches

Shredded Chicken ideas:

* Pulled Chicken (ex: BBQ sandwiches)

* Buffalo Chicken Dip

* Chicken, Spinach, and Artichoke Dip

* Any type of Chicken Sliders

* Any type of Chicken Casserole (ex: Chicken and Stuffing)

* Chicken Pizza (ex: BBQ or Chicken Alfredo)

* Chicken Tortilla Soup

* Chicken Chili

* Chicken spaghetti

* Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Lasagna Rolls, or Shells (ex: chicken and broccoli)

* Tacos, burritos, or Taquitos

* Loaded Nachos

* Enchiladas, Tostadas, or Quesadillas

These are just examples of the many things you can do. If any other things come to mind, I may come back to add them to this list later. Some may wonder why cook up all this chicken at once and then freeze it. Think about how in some meals you have to cut up and cook the chicken before you add it to the rest of the ingredients in a dish. This is one step or two you won't have to worry about. You just add in the cooked chicken to make the process of getting the meal cooked quicker. What can you think of that I haven’t added to the lists? Please feel free to let me know in the comments below. I will be back with you tomorrow to share part 2 of this post.

Batch {Bulk} Cooking with Taco Meat

Last week I shared with you part 1 of my ground beef bulk cooking. This week I'm back with part 2. First let me remind you that: Each time I buy any type of meat in bulk and have a cooking session, I’ll come on here to share with you what I batch/bulk cooked as well as some ideas of different uses for it. Now moving on to what I did with the other half of that 5lbs. ground beef.

Just like last time I took this half of it and browned it up with a whole chopped onion. I put 1/4 cup of water in the skillet to help it break up a little easier and cook off some (not all) fat. I cooked it until completely done and drained it well. I put it back into skillet with 1/4 cup water, a few tablespoons of my homemade taco seasoning, stirred to combine well, and let cook for 10 minutes on low. I separated the meat into two cup portions (1 lb. ground beef) to put into quart size Ziploc bags.

As you can see I got 3 bags out of it that I pre-labeled, squeezed all the air out them before closing, let meat finish cooling off, and placed in a flat single layer on a baking sheet to freeze. Once it was stiff enough I take the baking sheet out, and stack the bags on top of one another in the freezer. This is so you save on space to put other things in there.

 Now what can I use these bags of cooked taco meat for? Here’s a list:

* Tacos
* Taco Soup
* Taco or Tamale Pie
* Taco Casserole
* Taco Pizza
* Taco Salad or Lettuce Wraps
* Loaded Nachos or Tots
* Mexican Dip (ex: 7 layer)
* Stuffed Bell Peppers/Potatoes/Shells
* Chili Mac ( homemade version of Hamburger Helper)
* "Cincinnati" Style Chili
* Burritos, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, or Empanadas (hand pies)

These are just examples of the many things you can do. I may come back to add to this list later as other things come to mind. What can you think of that I haven’t added to the list? Please fee free to let me know. That concludes my session with a 5lb. chub of ground beef. These things can be done with ground turkey too. I will be back next week to share with you another type of batch/bulk cooking session.

Batch {Bulk} Cooking with Ground Beef

I love the idea of having meals in my freezer that are already prepped, and ready to be used for dinner in the days to come. Let’s face it, we all have moments where we don’t want to spend lots of time each night in the kitchen preparing a meal for our families. Sometimes you’re just too tired, too busy, or just plain don’t know what to fix when it’s near dinner time and everyone is sitting around hungry.

To help with that problem I learned about freezer cooking years ago. I have done this off and on.
With much planning ahead it is doable, and so worth the time and effort you put into it. To be honest I do slack off and get lazy when it comes to freezer cooking. It is a tiring task, and I don’t always have time for it. One minute I’m all amped up, and can get a couple of weeks worth of crockpot dinners prepped and ready to freeze. Whenever I need something for dinner the next day I can go look in my freezer and take out an already prepped meal to thaw over night, and put it the crockpot the next morning. This is so easy because I don’t have to worry about “what’s for dinner?”. Other times it may be something I already cooked, froze, and just need to thaw and reheat. I have also just made plans for an easy skillet meal that doesn’t take much time because I did all the side prep work before hand, and stored it with directions when time to prepare it. My problem starts when after a few months I get side tracked, knocked off my meal planning groove, and no pre-planned meals are put together for months at a time. I just get plain “stuck in a rut”.

 I’ve learned (been reading up on it for a few years) of another way to prepare meals that may get me back motivated and hopefully stay there. It’s called “batch” or “bulk” cooking. This is were you make a double, triple, ect. batch of a single meal item/dish and freeze what you won’t use right away for later meals. I’m now on a journey to see where this goes, and I thought it would be great to share it with my readers in case someone else out there needed some ideas too. Each time I have a cooking session I’ll come on here to share with you what I batch/bulk cooked as well as some ideas of different uses for it. First up in this series is ground beef. This will be done in 2 parts so this is part 1.

I bought a 5lb. chub of ground beef while it was on sale for a very good price. In the past I would normally cut it into 1 or 2lb. sections and put into Ziploc bags to freeze for a future meal. This time I went ahead and cooked up the whole thing. I took half of it and browned it up with a whole chopped onion. I put 1/4 cup of water in the skillet to help it break up a little easier and cook off some (not all) fat. I cooked it until completely done, drained it well, and let separated it into two cup portions (1 lb. ground beef) to put into quart size Ziploc bags.

As you can see I got 3 bags out of it that I pre-labeled, squeezed all the air out them before closing, let meat finish cooling off, and placed in a flat single layer on a baking sheet to freeze. Once it was stiff enough I take the baking sheet out, and stack the bags on top of one another in the freezer. This is so you save on space to put other things in there. Now what can I use these bags of cooked beef for? Here’s a list:

* Hamburger Helper (I do homemade version)
* Spaghetti meat sauce
* Sloppy Joes
* Stuffed Bell Peppers
* Soups
* Chili
* Rice Bowls (ex: “Korean” Beef Bowls)
* Casseroles, Baked Ziti
* Loaded Tots
* Stuffed shells
* Hamburger Gravy
* Tacos, burritos, or nachos
* Enchiladas, Empanadas, or Quesadillas

These are just examples of the many things you can do. I may come back to add to this list later as other things come to mind. What can you think of that I haven’t added to the list? Please fee free to let me know. Stay tuned for part 2 where I shared what I did with the other half of my 5 lb. chub of ground beef.