In case you aren't already aware (and I'm sure you are), Memorial day is a great time of year to get deals on meat. As a result of that fact, yesterday I bought 4 whole chickens at Aldi for .69 lb. That's a good price here. I'm thinking of going back for more, but not sure because I also got a good deal on boneless chicken breast, also at Aldi, for 1.49lb. I froze the breasts on two cookie sheets so I can store them and remove them individually as needed. The whole chickens were cooked and have now been de-boned. I still have to put the meat in the freezer bags/containers, and make a batch of chicken broth to go in the freezer. Here is the broth recipe I use:
Left over chicken parts, bones, gizzards, neck, etc
1 gallon of water (or enough to cover everything you will put in)
2 TBS vinegar
2 whole carrots washed well, but un-peeled
1 large onion peeled and quartered
3 stalks of celery washed and roughly chopped
Bunch of Parsley (fresh is you have it, but you can instead use 3-4 TBS dry)
Put everything but the parsley in the pot/crock pot and cook on low (very low) for 6-24 hours. Remove from heat and add parsley. Let cool and strain the broth into a container large enough to hold it all,and put in the refrigerator. Let stay in the fridge over night. Next day skim off the solid fat. Then put in 2 cup containers to freeze.
I have to admit I've gotten away from making broth because we just weren't using it due to Rubic being vegetarian. Makes dinner prep more complicated. Thankfully, it only lasted about a year and a half. Now he has seen the error of his ways(smile) and has come over to the dark(meat)side. So today I'm getting back to making our broth. We are seriously considering, next spring, investing in meat birds for the purpose of filling the freezer. Still in the "Can we do it" phase of planning.
Also on the "have to " list is to chop up Bananas for the freezer, make sun tea, and make a batch or two of cookies.
On my "I have to, but it will also help me exercise"list is weeding. Lots of weeding, but my "Have to if I don't want to do the step" list is turning the compost piles. Fun fun. I'll also clean out the coops for this joyous adventure. How bad is it that I would rather clean and turn chicken poo than do a structured workout? Anyway, I also am removing the grass from around the base of my fruit trees so they don't have to compete from food. I will also put down, you guessed it, chicken poo. Oct- Feb I will have to focus on the step, but for now, I will make every bit count!
4 hours later.....
Well I'm tired. Bananas (check), Broth (check), weeding (check for now), compost pile(check). Cookies still need to be made, but I will wait til sundown to bake them. I had some help turning the compost pile. I got a wild hair and decided to let the older chickens free range while outside. I had to shoo them away a few times from areas I didn't want them to go, but all in all not too bad. They found the compost pile and have spent the vast majority of their time there.
Two are now back in the coop and when Dh gets home he will help me round up the last three. In addition I found more volunteers; a watermelon (i think) and tomatoes (of course). I bought 16 tomato plants to start my garden, with the addition of volunteers I am now over twice that. STOP THE MIRACLES! Here are the tomato volunteers so far
You can't get away without seeing the latest pics from the garden. Pretty pleased with it.
S0 there you have it! The latest goings on in my little corner of heaven. What's going on with you?
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