Chicken Salad

I'm a fan of healthy eating. I'm also a fan of budgets, to-do lists, and conservation. So when I can plan menu's that use leftover ingredients I am one happy girl. My favorite thing: WHOLE CHICKEN. Do not be scared of the whole chicken. You can grab a few during a sale at the grocery store for 2-3.00 a piece. A WHOLE Chicken for less than 3 dollars. That's about four meals people. You can pop a whole chicken directly in the freezer to use for later. So simple to fix. Once you do it, you will kick yourself for not using whole chicken ALL the time.

I know some of you health nuts out there will never survive without your lean, skinless, boneless Outrageously priced cutlets but really, you know where that comes from right? A WHOLE CHICKEN. Can you imagine little boneless, skinless creatures rolling around in the dirt on a farm? ::giggles::

After rinsing and patting dry, throw a whole chicken in the crock pot (you don't have to remove the neck and innards if you are squeamish about sticking your hand in the cavities) on top of a bed of course chopped onion. Add some salt and pepper, parsley, and rosemary. Sprinkly with lemon juice and pour hot water in to cover chicken. Set the crockpot on low for 8-10 hours and off you go.

When done, dump the whole thing through a large strainer over a bowl. This seperates the good flavored broth from the chicken. Let the chicken drain and set aside. Pour your broth into multiple containers (2 cup measurements are good) and freeze for future recipes (soups, stews, stuffings, etc.)The chicken will fall apart. Literally. Just pick out your meat pieces and discard the onion, skin and bones. Now you have perfectly cooked chicken to make stews, casseroles, sandwhiches, etc from. One recipe to try:

Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
Chicken pieces from cooked chicken (both light and dark meat but more light)
Celery (2 stalks)
small-medium Onion
1 tsp celery salt
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tsp dried Rosemary
1 tbs dried Parsley

In a food processor, coursely chop one small-medium onion and two stalks of celery. Add your chicken pieces and course chop til small chuncks of veggies and meat but don't mince it. Add salt and pepper to taste, a dash of parsley and rosemary. Add Mayonaise until creamy. SIMPLE, perfect and SO delicious.

I like to serve it on warm dinner rolls with green leaf lettuce and a side of fresh cut fruit. Makes a wonderful light lunch or dinner and is great for parties.