Homemade Chicken Stock

Over the last few months, I have begun to make my own chicken stock. All I keep thinking is “Why didn’t I try this sooner?” Homemade chicken stock taste amazing, is easy to make and freeze, and so much cheaper than buying it. Every time that I buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco, I make one or two dinners with the meat, and then I make about 18 cups of chicken stock to freeze. And the best part, the chicken only cost me $5.00!

15-20 cups of water
1 rotisserie chicken, with most of the meat removed
Handful of baby carrots or regular carrots, chopped
3-5 celery stocks (you can include the leaves)
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of Paula Deen’s House Seasoning (recipe below)

In a large stock pot, add your chicken (just throw the whole chicken in there, no need to remove the skin), carrots, celery and onion. Fill the pot with water until it is almost full. Add the house seasoning, and mix. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 3-4 hours. The longer you let it cook, the more flavor you will have. Once cooked, remove from heat, and strain chicken stock through a colander to remove the chicken and vegetables. Cool the broth for a for a few hours before freezing. Store in freezer safe containers (I usually freeze with 4 cups of broth per container). (AW)

Paula Deen’s House Seasoning
1 cup salt
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Grilled Chicken Fajita Salad

Happy Cinco de Mayo, Fellow Food Nerds! To paraphrase my favorite Salt-n-Pepa song, Let's Talk About Salad.

Salads are always exciting for me, because I feel like if I'm ever going to be healthy, salad is the Magical Gateway thru which it will happen. Then I eat too much of it and feel sick.

Amy thought this up with her amazing Food Brain. She seriously blows my mind with her imagination. This is a nice diversion from the typical taco salad one would serve when in the mood for something mexican and light. (DW)

2 chicken breasts
Fajita seasoning (I use Wildtree Fajita Seasoning)
Green bell pepper
Onion
Mushrooms
Lettuce, torn into pieces
Carrots, chopped or shredded
Cucumber, chopped
Avocado (We didn't put avocado on our salad, instead we made guacamole out of it, but I think avocado would be good on the salad)
Ranch Dressing (I mixed in a teaspoon of fajita mix with the ranch, to give it a little extra flavor)

Marinate chicken breast with the fajita seasoning for at least 1 hour. Grill chicken breast, bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms until cooked. Cut cooked chicken, bell pepper, and onion into slices. Serve chicken and vegetables over a bed of lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and avocado. Top with ranch dressing before serving. (AW)

Hawaiian Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I have this thing about messing with classic recipes. My thing is this: don't do it. Comfort food is called that because it doesn't change - it's always there, in the exact form you had it last time, and the time before, etc. Not everything has to be adventurous, so thank you, California Pizza Kitchen, but I'm fine without peanut sauce or avocado on my pizza.

But every once in a while, Amy will lovingly challenge my need for rigid ingredient guidelines with something like this chicken salad, and it blows my face off, because I wasn't expecting it to be, well, good.

At this point in my marriage, you'd think I'd just expect some things from her cooking.

One more note - I'm very particular about how I make chicken salad sandwiches, and I won't apologize for it. I like my bread lightly toasted. I want tons of lettuce. And I want, no, need, DELI MUSTARD. I know what you're thinking - "how does your need for deli mustard interact with the pineapple in the salad?" Well, it interacts beautifully, thanks for asking.

So, I was adventurous, almost by accident, and I walked away with a new favorite sandwich. I am a champion at eating food. (DW)

My Aunt Rhonda made this chicken salad for my sister's Hawaiian themed wedding shower several years ago. Since then, it has been a favorite lunch of mine. I like the sweetness of the pineapple and the crunch the celery and macadamia nuts add to the chicken salad. I don't have any measurements for this recipe, so just add the amounts that you like of each ingredient.

Chicken breast, cooked and shredded (I usually use Costco's rotisserie chicken, but you can use canned chicken as well)
Mayonnaise
Celery, chopped
Crushed pineapple, with juice reserved
Chopped macadamia nuts
Salt & pepper, to taste

Mix chicken, mayonnaise, celery, pineapple, a little bit of the pineapple juice, and macadamia nuts in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve on toasted sourdough bread or a croissant. (AW)

Baked Chimichangas

I don't think I've ever been one for authentic, honest-to-God Mexican food. You see, I like it fake. I like burritos and taquitos and enchiladas. When people try and get me to eat authentic, I like it, but i always find my ADHD-infected mind wandering to thoughts of Taco Bell. (This may be a sickness, yes; but, it's MY sickness.)

So, Amy put this before me - not the most authentic dish, but one I hadn't ever paid much mind to. One that used cabbage, of all things - an ingredient I've never been wild about, but one that played a starring role in a tasty, thoughtful dish. And you know what? It felt authentic to me.

This meal, for me, is all about texture. Let these little wonders bake an extra minute or two in the oven - you want that crispy crunch, trust me. These chimichangas were hearty, above all else - after eating two, I felt like I could wrestle a bull, or something like that.

For added effects, we listened to Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis while we ate. OK, we didn't, but now I kind of wish we would've. They were that good. (DW)

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 can pinto or black beans
1 cup salsa
2 chicken breast, cooked and cubed or shredded
Olives
Green onions
Monterey Jack cheese
Flour tortillas

Mix all ingredients (except tortillas) together in a bowl. Wrap filling in tortillas so all ends are closed. Place in a 13X9" glass pan. Bake for 15 -20 minutes in oven @ 350 degrees.

Serve with sour cream and salsa over the top.

This recipe is courtesy of my Aunt Rhonda and my cousin Crystal. (AW)

Lemon Chicken with Capers

Chicken is such a versatile concept - you can do like 10 million things to it. So it's always a worthwhile treat when you eat chicken prepared in a way that you've never really had before.

Take this lemon chicken recipe, which Amy busted out on me 2 weeks ago. I was flabbergasted, because it's not in my nature to like lemon, plus capers look weird.

But I overcame my initial prejudice, because this dish was light and tasty. Plus, it's pasta-based, and I am staunchly in favor of taking chicken, preparing it in new and interesting ways, and dumping it over a big pile of pasta. (DW)

This recipe is a light, and flavorful dish. I hardly ever make lemon chicken, but when I do, I am reminded of just how much I enjoy it.

Olive oil
2 boneless chicken breast, cut into thin slices
Lemon pepper (to season chicken breast)
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh parsley

Heat oil in pan. Season chicken breast with lemon pepper on both sides. Add to saute pan and cook until no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside. In a small bowl, add the cold water and cornstarch, and mix until smooth. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, butter, and cornstarch mixture to the sauté pan you just cooked your chicken in. While stirring sauce, bring it to a boil, and reduce heat. Cook on a simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken. Add capers and chicken back to pan. Heat thoroughly. Add fresh parsley right before serving. Serve over whole wheat pasta. (AW)