Cyber Adventskalendar-Day 20

Good afternoon friends, 

I had a witty post planned that included funny pics from my childhood, my thoughts on Wham! and glimpses ahead to New Years resolutions.  But you know what?  It's one of those days and we are rolling with the shenanigans which included a new awesome-sauce stunt I came up with and, if I may have my moment of glory, it will make you look oh so cool under fire and you will have a tasty lunch and dinner to please all (except maybe your vegetarian friends and family members-sorry folks).  All you need is a slow cooker (aka Red Maiden) and a whole chicken including giblets & neck.

In the morning post breakfast remove the giblets and place in a small pot with some water and boil for 1-2 hours.  Feel free to add any extra spices because the goal is yummy, quick chicken stock.  If the water boils down too much feel free to add more or let your stock get super concentrated knowing that you can add more water later when you turn it into yummy soup.

Take your chicken and place it in an oiled Red Maiden and sprinkle with preferred spices.  Set it on low and forget about it for the rest of the day.

Once your stock has sufficiently boiled discard giblets & neck and strain.  Set in the freezer so the fat settles to the top and you can easily remove it.  In the meantime chop up some veggies that you have on hand and saute in a small to medium sized pot.  I used onion, garlic, baby carrots and celery.  Add your stock and any desired spices and boil for an hour or so.  Add rice or pasta and cook until soft.  Add water if you feel like it's getting too thick.  Serve with bread, or olives or any salad you have on hand.  We always add a scoop of yogurt to our soups to give it that nice Turkish tang.  Presto.  You have an easy lunch that will impress anyone.  When it's time for supper cook up whatever side dishes you can whip up with ingredients on hand and serve it with your juicy, falling off the bone chicken.  This is the perfect, cost effective solution if you are expecting company, experiencing Christmas crazy fallout or you are sick of Chinese takeout and they already know your order by heart............

Buon Tuesday and onward darlings!

Yummy, homemade soup complete with sleeping toddler in the background.