two birds

Okay, not quite two birds. But two meals, at the very least.

A few weeks ago a good friend shared an idea: roast a whole chicken in the crock pot. Awesome. I thought I was saving money by buying two whole chickens and cutting them up myself. But I certainly wasn't saving time.

Here's how it goes:

Rinse a whole chicken, place it in the crockpot with one cup of water. Add roasting veggies, i.e. onions, garlic, carrots, celery, then salt & pepper. Four hours later (if you go with the 10 hour setting and wait 8-10 hours, your chicken will turn out even more tender), you've got yourself a yummy fully-cooked chicken AND chicken stock (with a longer cook time, the stock will be richer also).

I do have my own twist: add split peas! Ooo. Of course, this means using 5 cups of water instead of 1 and a bit more sal y pimienta.  (The split peas are a bit more gooey, which I don't love, on the 8 hour setting.) After deboning, you've got two cooked chicken breasts (with the tenders, this is dinner for two and lunch the next day) and a bunch of dark meat (great for tortilla soup, or I may freeze it to use at a later date), and the split pea soup.

So three of the things on the dinner menu this week:

Roasted white meat chicken & mac & cheese (see directions below)
Tortilla soup (see below!)
Split pea soup & salad

Homemade mac & cheese:
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup of cheddar (or whatever kind of cheese you prefer)
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Sprinkle the cornstarch on the cheddar (it keeps it from getting stringy) and mix it as evenly as you can.
Melt the butter, mix in the flour evenly, toast it if you can.
Slowly whisk in the milk until it's evenly mixed with the butter/flour mix.
Melt the cheese/cornstarch in with the milk. Whisk, whisk, whisk until it's even.
Toss cheese sauce in with 1/4 box cooked pasta, salt & pepper to taste.

Tortilla soup: If you need a quick dinner or need one last thing to add to your menu, this is perfect. Just remember the 5 ingredients.

Dark meat from the roasted chicken
1 can kidney beans (or whatever your fave are)
1 can rotel
1 can creamed corn
1 can cream of chicken

All ingredients into a large pot, heat to boiling, serve with rice & a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese.