How to stretch a pricey organic chicken!

It got cold quickly today! Wow! I love having soups and stews during the winter. They are the ultimate comfort food on a cold day. We eat homemade soup at least once a week November through February. And I recently discovered the beauty of making your own chicken stock to use for soups. Homemade chicken stock is really really tasty, not to mention economical. I'll post the recipe I use at the end of this post.

So, today Pierce and I went to the grocery store to pick up an organic chicken and a few other things so that I could make chicken and also homemade stock from the carcass. I paid $13 for an organic free-range chicken (gulp!), and that was on sale. However, I have strong opinions about not eating cannibalistic birds that are raised in little cages and injected with antibiotics and growth hormones that my kids and I will eventually ingest, so the $13 is really no big deal. Keeping our budget in mind, here's how I stretch that $13 bird!

I roasted it in the crock pot today - super easy and super delicious - using this recipe.

When it was done, I picked the meat off the bones and had enough meat for three meals: we had some of it tonight on homemade pizza dough for BBQ chicken pizzas. Yum! Then I put a bunch in a container to make chicken salad for lunch tomorrow. And the rest went in another container to make homemade chicken noodle soup tomorrow night for dinner. Then, I made stock with the remains of the bird.

Homemade chicken stock (adapted from a recipe I found in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine):
Put the carcass of a fully-cooked chicken, its juices, and skin, etc. into a large pot and cover with water. I used about 14 cups of water for my 4 lb bird (you could probably stretch it to 16). Add a celery stick, a small onion, a bay leaf, fresh rosemary and thyme if you have them (these herbs grow year-round, so they are handy for your little garden), some pepper corns (about 10) and a dash of salt. Bring it to a boil, boil for a minute, then reduce to simmer partially covered for about an hour. When you are done, strain it into another large container and measure out the stock into containers to freeze. I usually put about 4 cups per container because I find that most soup recipes call for 4-6 cups of stock. If I need 6 cups for a recipe, I add 2 cups of water to my 4 cups of frozen stock and one vegan bouillon cube (low sodium) to stretch out my homemade stock. So, tonight I got 3 full meals worth of stock plus a smaller 2-cup container that would be good for flavoring rice or risotto or something.

Ok, so when you look at the $13 bird after all we got from it, it doesn't look so bad! 3 meals and 4 "boxes" of organic chicken stock (which cost about $2.50/$3.00 per box).

I just read on another blog that chicken noodle soup is actually an immunity booster (not just a comfort food when you're already sick!), so it's time to start cooking!

Quebec City (that's in Canada!)

Brett and I just spent a long weekend in the charming (and francophone) city of Quebec to celebrate our anniversary. Every time I would tell someone I was going to Quebec, I would get a blank stare. Strange. Did they not like Quebec? Did they not understand my pronunciation? Or had they never heard of Quebec? My gut tells me it was the latter. Shame, shame. Oh, well. Most Americans don't know the first thing about our "lesser" neighbor to the North, so that's the way it goes. Anyway, it was my first trip up there, too, so I can't say I knew a whole lot about Quebec beforehand (well, except that it was located in Cananda and was French-speaking!).

We had a great weekend, in spite of the cool weather and pesky rain. The city is charming. You feel like you are in Europe, but magically you have no jet lag! We shopped, ate, toured, and visited the Montmorency Falls and a few other outlying sights. Rejuvenating and beautiful. (Don't let the photos fool you, it rained 75% of the time we were there!)


The St. Lawrence river runs along the city of Quebec.


Handsome Brett in front of the Chateau Frontenac.

Variety of art for sale.

The bright side of the rain: a rainbow several times a day!

Charming centuries-old architecture.

Feels like Brittany, France to me.

A view from the lower town up to the Chateau Frontenac (now a hotel). The walk back up was a great work-out (and a great way to burn off all those pastries and desserts!).

The powerful Montmorency Falls (higher than Niagra Falls, but not as wide). Yes, we crossed the foot-bridge above the falls. The power of the water coming over the edge was amazing from so close a perspective. Pierce asked us if we got our suits on and went down the slide! Ha!

The Chateau Frontenac (view from the water).

The massive Basillica of St. Anne (about 20 minutes outside of the city). Anne was Mary's mother, and this basillica was built in her honor. It is a major pilgrimmage site, especially for those with physical ailments who have heard of its healing powers.

Money Matters

A child’s relationship with and understanding of money is comically bizarre. Pierce thinks all plastic cards (including driver’s licenses, store loyalty cards and hotel key cards) are money. When he finds a plastic card, he smiles and says, “I got money!”

Sydney has a little money jar where she puts money she finds, is given and earns. The other day it had four dollars and some change in it. She has been begging me to take her to the dollar store to buy a few things, so since she is tracked out from school and we had some errands to run while Pierce was at preschool, I told her we could take some of her money to spend. She wanted to take all four dollars and I had to explain to her that we never spend all of our money at once and certainly not in one store. So I let her take $2. As I was closing the jar, she said, “Wait. What about the taxes? How much do I need?” Good for her for remembering our last outing to spend one dollar and how we needed a little extra for taxes! So, I started to count out 14 cents for her. Again, “Wait! I want to give her more than 14 cents so I can get change.” So, back went the dime and four pennies and out came a quarter. Satisfied child, amused mother.

At the dollar store, she only found one cheap, made-in-china, guaranteed-to-break-instantly toy. So at the check-out she handed the lady $1.25 (one bill and one coin), and smiled at her maturity. When she got back 18 cents, she was thrilled and had a huge grin on her face. Five coins in exchange for one. She must have thought she was getting paid to shop! The marvels of childhood!

Nine years!

It's been nine years since Brett and I joyfully walked down the aisle to our awesome gospel choir singing, "Oh Happy Day!" And it was a happy day! Sweaty hot, but happy!


A lot has changed in nine years, not the least of which is photography. As I was looking through my photo files for one of the many great shots our photographer took on that day to post here, I realized that I was actually looking in the wrong place. All our wedding photos are in an actual physical box in my living room, not on my computer. Back in 2002 digital photography was not where it is today, and although she shot our wedding with digital (I think!), the images were outrageously expensive to buy, so we just opted for the prints. Alas, I have not one single digital photo of the two of us to post here. Sorry! I do have one of me, alone, but still, I have a veil on. This wasn't even taken on our wedding day, but a month or so before when we were practicing with my hair! Oh well!




In nine years we have:

Lived in 5 different homes in 4 cities and 2 countries.
Had two great kids.
Gotten one PhD.
Held at least a dozen different jobs combined.
Visited 12 (maybe more?) countries on vacation.
Started lots of great family traditions.
And had a great time!


We are off to Quebec City next week to celebrate our anniversary! I am really looking forward to it. We chose it because we could feel like we were in Europe with the architecture and the French language, but not have to cross the pond and save a few thousand dollars! I'll post pictures when we get back!