Chicken, Chicken, Chicken

I'm going to take a page from my friend Sarah's Blog and post about my Chicken from last night. I found a recipe for a whole chicken in the crock pot then using the leftover's made chicken broth. I found the recipe here.

So I seasoned the entire chicken with Garlic, Salt and Pepper. I put some butter under the skin and put it into the crock pot. No broth or anything in the crock pot with it. To me it seemed so wrong but I did it anyways. I put it on low and left it for 5 hours. My chicken was 3.5 pounds. 5 hours later, I go to take it out of the crock pot and... lol it totally fall apart. As in it came out in chunks. The kids thought I ruined it. It WAS funny getting it out of the pot! I really wish I would have taken a picture but I didn't. It was so tender I had to scoop it out onto a cookie sheet. After dinner, I separated the meat from the bones and tonight's dinner is going to be BBQ chicken in the crock pot!

To do the broth... I left all the juice in the crock pot and put all the bones, and skin back in there. Then I filled it up with plain tap water.

Then I put the crock pot on low all night while we slept. In the morning I shut it off and let it sit for a few hours to cool off. I have a mesh strainer I used to scoop out what I could and toss it. Here's my set up:

See the metal strainer? It is perfect to get all the tiny bits out of the broth. I found out that the regular muffin cups are exactly 1/3 Cup, and the mini cups are 2 Tablespoons. So that is how I am going to measurement them. Now, I used the 1 Cup as a scoop and poured it into the strainer, works perfect so my hands don't get all messy. Then I used a ladle to pour into the muffin tins. 

I'm now letting them cool on the counter for a while because they STILL are super hot! Then I'll freeze them. When they are frozen, I'll use my Food Saver to seal them up. They will keep with this method for months! If you don't have a food saver you really need one! This seals food so much better than zip lock and food keeps so much better. Not to mention things are flatter making it easier to put more stuff in the freezer! This is the one we got and you can get baggies for it at Menards!

I never actually used chicken broth as a seasoning to cook with because I would only need a small amount then the whole can would be wasted, so I am very excited to use these small cubes to cook with! The website says there is going to be a layer of fat on the top and to scrape it off, but mine is still cooling so I'll let you know later, that is IF I can edit this posting.

Let me know what you think. Have you made broth before? How did it turn out?

Edited: 

 This is what my cups looked like once they had time to cool. 3 I left the grease on and 3 I took the grease out so you can see the difference.

Then they go to the freezer. Here's what the finished product looks like:

 

So, let's see how much I have saved... I ended up with a total of 9 cups of broth.  Total of 72 Ounces. I looked on line and 32 ounces of Swanson Chicken Broth costs $2.38. SO..... Looks like I got a round about savings of 5-6 bucks! Not too shabby!

Wool Dryer Balls....

My next project is making Wool Dryer Balls.  I subscribe to DIY natural, and they recently sent me a email about these dryer balls. They are supposed to beat the close to get rid of wrinkles and dry the clothes faster using less gas, and shortening the dry time.

Here's the link to the page I viewed: Click Here

They seem very easy to make, I just need to get the right type of wool, and knowing where I live this is harder than you think. I'm even thinking that this would be a fun thing to get the kids to help me make or even make them for gifts.

I have used this DIY site to get ideas to make a bunch of different products. I highly suggest everyone check out the site and maybe save some money or learn something new! I could browse this site all day!

Dog Training

Dog training has finally started. We train in a unheated very large barn close to the house. Every week, I get out the box of collars, leashes and supplies, these dogs "Know" where they are going. They love training. The kids love training, heck, I love going to training. Sarah and Courtney are in their 6th year and Ashley is in her first year. The puppies are almost 9 months old and are doing very very well. Bella ended up with a pinch collar, and she is a totally different dog! Dozer has started out from the get go like he has done this before. Molly... well, she is Molly. I have a video section of our training, but I have to fix it, so I'll upload it later today. For some reason it is sideways. LOL When it is training day, This is our game plan. I take Ashley and 3 dogs to training. Drop off Ashley and Bella at 6, then take Dozer and Molly back with me to the school to pick up the twins. The twins then change clothes in the van on the way back to dog training. Ashley's class is over at 6:45 and then the twins start at 6:45. We end at 8pm. This past week, David was home and actually went to watch a session and he picked up the twins so I could watch Ashley and take a video. In the 6 years the kids have been in dogs, that was THE first training he has ever went to. He finally got to see what it takes to get the dogs as good as they are. The kids were so excited to have him join us.

We have THE best trainers in the state I think. They have to be in order to take Sam in his second year of dogs and turn him into a State champ in Agility. I just might be biased though, I'm sure everyone who trains dogs thinks their trainer is the best. These gals really care about the kids, and the dogs.

Courtney is in the lowest level that she can be because she has a new dog. She's already working towards moving up levels before fair. She already thinks he will take a trophy in her class. We shall see what the future holds. Sarah is just going through the motions with Molly. She just likes to have fun with training while Courtney is out there to WIN. Courtney already has eye's for someone she wants to beat at fair. LOL Ashley is working hard and wants to get Bella to do everything right, right now. She's impatient with her and wants her to be like Molly. During our second class, Courtney was getting frustrated with Dozer because he wasn't doing a "finish" like he should. I had to remind her it was the second class and she never worked him in-between classes, and that it takes time.

Busy Busy days ahead

Well, the twins are getting older and after school activities become plentiful. Between going to the orthodontist, bell choir, basketball, dog training, academic super bowl, 4-H, shooting sports and junior leaders I might as well live in my van. Last night, I got the girls at 1:45 went to portage to the orthodontist, then took them back to the school, we were 7 minutes late for basketball, then came home to check Ashley's homework, make dinner then took Ashley and 3 dogs to Dog training at 6. I picked up the twins from basketball at 6:30 with 2 dogs along for the ride, then went back to dogs for the twins to train. We didn't get home till 8pm!

My ACE business has picked way up since the new year. I have 1 bottle left, and need to order more. I got slammed the past 3 days with people interested in ordering and getting bottles. I just love hearing from people that I helped them gain energy and lose weight! Well, Short and sweet tonight! I'm off here to get dinner done!

2013

Been too long. Seems like every blog post of mine starts out this way. I'm going to try and put a stop to that.

As we roll into 2013, many of my friends share their resolutions. So, I will share mine as well. This year I plan on blogging more, not sweating the small stuff, and I will get back into running. I have missed it over the summer.

The family is doing well, The twins are in basketball. Sarah hates it but she joined so yes she will finish it. Courtney goes back and forth depending on how well she did at practice. Ashley is doing much much better with her asthma management and we go to see the asthma specialist on Friday. My Grandma lost her boyfriend of 9 years last week. Very sudden and very sad for the family. I can't help but thinking my motto that everything comes in 3's. My thought was what will happen next? AND my motto is true, there were 2 deaths that affected people in my family within the few days after Bob passed away. So, this year will be better than the last year. Dog training starts full swing tomorrow evening. 3 kids, 3 dogs in the van heading off to training. Hoping that the puppies do not puke in my van.

I have gotten back into workout mode. Today is yet another rest day because my legs are still sore. I don't want to push my running too hard and then not make it to the race in Feb that I want to do. Because of the cold, I have been training on the treadmill and quite frankly, I hate it. I would much rather be outside running. I'm not worried about the cold, because I have good gear, I am more worried about the ice and snow covered roads. There are no sidewalks out here, so I run on the side of the road. I am really scared of falling on the ice. So to the treadmill I go. This week it is supposed to warm up so I just might brave the back roads of my area and hope there is no ice waiting for me.


Well, that's all for now!