Poultry

When chicken goes on sale, stock up the freezer. Smaller chickens are usually more tender. Take the skin and fat off all chickens. Take advantage of store specials on large bags of leg and thigh quarters. Wash them and freeze separately in generic sandwich baggies placed inside a large freezer bag or container. It's a waste of money to buy a pre-cut chicken. Chop it up yourself. If you are stewing it, you don't need to chop it up; stew it, and then pull the meat off the bones. Turkey is a great buy, but watch the prices carefully. G round turkey can be used in any recipe that calls for hamburger. We tend to think of turkey as a dish only for big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. But if you have freezer space, roasting a big turkey can provide numerous meals at a good price. The first meal would be turkey and dressing, then you could have a turkey casserole, turkey salad for sandwiches, turkey soup (be sure to boil the bones for the soup), turkey with cheese and noodles, and etc.

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Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken -- 1 can chopped onion -- 1 cans store biscuits, or Best Biscuit recipe -- creamed corn (optional) -- frozen veggies

Cook chicken as described in Basic Foods. Take meat off bones, refrigerate or freeze half the meat (and a couple of cups of the broth) for another recipe and return the rest of the meat back to the broth, with the frozen vegetables and creamed corn. Roll biscuits into balls, reduce heat to simmer and add to broth, all at once. Increase heat to medium, cover, and cook 10 minutes. Add one cup milk with 4 tablespoons of flour thoroughly dissolved in it, cook until broth thickens.

Chicken Noodle

½ lb noodles -- cooked meat from ½ chicken -- 2 cups frozen vegetables -- 1/4 lb cheese (3-4 slices -- garlic, minced -- chopped onion -- cream of chicken soup -- cream of mushroom soup

Use leftover chicken from yesterday's Chicken and Dumplings. Place chicken in skillet, add onion, garlic, vegetables, ½ cup chicken broth. Cover and cook a few minutes. Add soups and cheese. Heat until cheese is melted and mix thoroughly. Mix with cooked noodles. Optional: put in casserole dish, top with crumbled crackers mixed with melted margarine, cook until top is browned and sauce bubbles.

Turkey Macaroni

2 boxes macaroni and cheese -- ½ lb ground turkey -- 2 cups frozen vegetables -- cream of mushroom or chicken soup -- ½ cup chicken stock -- ½ stick margarine -- ½ cup milk -- creamed corn (optional) onion, garlic

Start macaroni cooking. Cook turkey and drain fat (or use leftover turkey). Add vegetables, onion, garlic, margarine, and ½ cup chicken stock or water. Cook five minutes. Add corn, soup, milk, and cheese packets from macaroni and cheese boxes. Mix with cooked macaroni and serve. Variations are liste under the various categories of recipes, as this can be made with almost any kind of meat.

Turkey Pie

Prepare turkey as in recipe for Turkey Macaroni. Add grated cheese instead of cheese packets. Place in casserole dish and top with biscuits, or line pie pan with pie crust and fill with turkey mixture. Top the pie crust pie with more pie crust (like you were making an apple pie). Bake in 350 degree oven until biscuits are brown on top or crust is done.

Chicken and Dressing

Cooked meat from ½ chicken -- dry bread, crumbled and/or dried corn bread -- cream of mushroom soup (2 cans) -- 2-1/2 cups chicken stock -- chopped celery -- onion -- corn, peas, or green beans -- 2 cups frozen vegetables

Chicken: Place cooked chicken meat in skillet, add frozen vegetables, onion, and ½ cup broth. Simmer 3 minutes. Add 2 tbsp flour, stir and cook briefly. Add canned vegetables (if desired), cream of mushroom soup, and two cups chicken broth (more broth equals more gravy, add 1 tbsp flour for each additional cup). Dressing: You can use all bread, half bread and half corn bread, or all corn bread. The point is that it is very dry and crumbled into small pieces. Fry chopped onion and celery in some margarine and add to crumbled bread. Add poultry seasoning (or sage and thyme) to personal taste (you can start with about 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning or a teaspoon each of sage and thyme). Add salt and pepper, mix thoroughly. Add a little chicken broth to moisten the bread crumbs. It should hold together when pressed. Beat 1 egg and add to dressing. Chicken and Dressing: Put chicken mixture in casserole dish, put dressing on top, bake in 325 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Chicken Soup Enchiladas

Corn tortillas (3 or 4 per adult) -- 2 cans cream of chicken soup -- 1/3 lb cheese -- 1 can chilies and tomatoes -- garlic and onion, chopped and minced -- cooked or canned beans

Fry onion and garlic in small amount of oil, add cream of chicken soup, chilies and tomatoes and cheese. Cook until warm and cheese is melted, mix thoroughly. Heat corn tortillas by this method: if you have a gas stove, place them directly on top of a low flame (on the metal pot holders), turn over so they are toasted on both sides. If you have an electric stove, heat the tortillas on a griddle or skillet. Pour a cup of sauce in the bottom of a casserole pan. Place some chopped uncooked onion and some beans inside each tortilla, roll it up and put it in the casserole pan. Fill casserole pan (or cast iron skillet) with enchiladas and pour remaining sauce over top. Heat about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Variation: These enchiladas are a good place to put leftovers, including meatloaf, roast, turkey, chicken, and fried hamburger. Sauteed zucchini and shredded carrot can be used as a vegetation variation.

Chicken Pie

Prepare chicken as described in Chicken and Dressing above. Instead of covering with chicken dressing, cover with biscuits. Bake until biscuits are brown, about ten minutes, 400 degree oven. Variation: line pie pan with pie crust, pour in chicken mixture, top with more pie crust. This bakes at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until crust is done.

Turkey Chili Enchiladas

½ lb ground turkey -- onion and garlic -- 2 cans cream of tomato soup -- can of beans -- can of hot dog chili sauce -- ½ cup uncooked rice -- chicken stock -- cheese -- chili powder, red pepper, salt

Cook rice in one cup chicken stock. Fry turkey, drain, add onion and garlic. Add spices, beans, cooked rice. In a separate bowl, mix cream of tomato sop with the hot dog chili sauce, put one cup in bottom of casserole pan. Meanwhile, heat tortillas as described in Chicken Soup Enchiladas. Place two heaping tablespoons of this mixture, plus a little cheese, inside each heated tortillas, roll up. Place in pan, add any remaining filling to the tomato soup mixture, pour over enchiladas, bake in 350 degree oven about 20 minutes. Variations: substitute shredded carrots and zucchini or yellow squash for turkey. Add some peanuts to the filling mixture. Substitute a can of chilies and tomatoes for the chili sauce. Substitute hamburger for turkey.

Chicken and Rice

2 tbsp margarine -- chicken legs and thighs -- 4 cups chicken stock -- 2 cups uncooked rice -- frozen broccoli

Brown rice in margarine and put in casserole dish, add four cups chicken stock. Add broccoli. Place chicken pieces (this is a good place for leg/thigh quarters) on top of rice and broccoli. Cook in 325 degree oven for one hour. Variations: add a can of cream of mushroom soup, or cream of tomato soup, add other vegetables. Use curry powder (if you like that taste) or season with poultry seasonings (sage, thyme, rosemary).

Escalloped Chicken

1-2 cups cooked chicken, diced and chopped -- 1-1/2 cups dry bread cubes -- 1-1/2 cup chicken broth -- 1/3 cup margarine -- 1-1/2 cup milk -- ½ cup flour -- salt and pepper -- 3/4 cup cracker crumbs

Cut cooked chicken into small pieces, mix with bread. M+++++++++ix the broth, milk, and flour together and cook over medium heat until thickened. Add to the chicken and bread mixture. Place in a casserole dish. Mix the 1/3 cup melted margarine and the 3/4 cup cracker crumbs together and spread over casserole. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Variation: add 1 cup frozen vegetables.

Creamed Chicken or Turkey

2 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken -- 3 tbsp milk -- 1 cup gravy or broth

Combine meat and gravy, heat, stirring until sauce bubbles, turn off heat, stir in milk. Add cooked vegetables as desired (such as peas or green beans). If you are using broth instead of gravy, add 1 tbsp flour to thicken. Serve on toast, rice, and/or potatoes.

Creamed Chicken (II)

4 tbsp oil or margarine, melted -- 4 tbsp flour -- 1-1/2 cups chicken broth -- 1 cup milk -- cooked chicken

Melt margarine in skillet, add flour, salt, pepper, cook over low heat until bubbly, remove from heat and add broth and milk. Bring to a boil and cook one minutes, stirring constantly, stir in cooked chicken. Variations: For Chicken a la King, add 1 cup sauteed sliced mushrooms, ½ cup sliced/chopped into small piece sauteed green peppers, an 1/4 cup chopped pimento (if you have it). Add some ham with the chicken, or instead of the chicken for Creamed Ham.

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