Good to the last spoonful...

This was one of the first recipes I tried on Pinterest and it was an instant hit!  You can find the original here.  I've altered it a few times due to missing ingredients, what type of chicken was on sale, etc. Below is the recipe that I now use every single time (pretty much).

First I'll start off by saying that I cook a lot of food at one time, usually 2 but sometimes 3 meals, because it works for my family. And I'm not an extreme couponer by any sense of the means but I do plan my meals based on what types of meat are on sale. If chicken cost more than beef, we eat more beef and vice versa.  I'm lazy efficient when I cook chicken - if it has bones it's boiled - if it's boneless it's cooked in the crockpot.  The number one reason I boil chicken is for the amazing, healthy and cost effective chicken broth that I get after the fact.

Chicken Broth Recipe:
1 - large stock pot
6-10 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
1 small yellow onion, roughly sliced
3 Tbs. garlic, roughly chopped or minced
2 stalks washed celery, roughly chopped
2 large pinches of kosher salt
1 Tbs pepper (white or black)
4-5 peppercorns
1 tps thyme
1 tps rosemary

Place chicken in the pot, cover with veggies, add spices and then fill pot with just enough water to cover everything.  Cook on high until everything starts to boil, then turn down to medium for about 45 minutes.

While your waiting for the chicken to cook, you can gather all your materials to make the casserole, rice and divide up the chicken broth.

Once the chicken is cooked through, using the tongs, remove the chicken and veggies and place in the medium sized bowl. I like to pull the skin off and squeeze the chicken with the tongs, to allow the heat to release faster.  The following step involves hot liquids and is best done in the sink. Place the strainer into the large bowl and poor the broth into the strainer.  You'll have to pick up the strainer to allow all the broth to pass through the holes.  Very carefully, remove the bowl from the sink and place on the counter to cool.  Warning: do not put hot broth into the storage containers as it can burn your hands, or cause the plastic to become soft and possibly leak.

While the chicken is cooling, mix up everything needed for the casserole.

Non stick cooking spray
1 three quart casserole dish
2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick butter, melted
1 Tbs poppy seeds
2 Tbs garlic or use some from the boiled chicken
1 Tbs celery salt or you can use 1/4 stalk from the boiled chicken
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or one can chicken and one can cream of celery)

Mix up the last five ingredients and set to the side. Mix up the crackers, butter and poppy seeds - set to the side.  Stir till everything is nice and coated - set to the side. Shred 5-6 chicken thighs - more depending on number of folks eating, and add to the soup mixture. Stir until everything is evenly distributed. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray. Pour soup chicken mixture into dish and top with cracker mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the crackers are slightly browned.

While the casserole is cooking, now is a great time to cook the rice and divide up the chicken broth. I like to use half broth to half water when I make rice and always double the amount of rice so we can eat on it for a couple of days.  By now, the broth is usually cool enough to separate into bowls to freeze.  Once you've divided everything out they sill need to sit, without the lids on, for another 30-45 minutes.

Photo courtesy of this blog.

The casserole is going to smell so good when it comes out, your family will want to dive in before it cools off.  We like to serve ours over rice and sometimes, sprinkle a few french fried onions over the top for an added crunch.  There are always left overs and it's just as good the next day or cold right out of the fridge. Variations that I've tried: placing the rice in the bottom of casserole dish, adding the soup chicken mixture and topping it all off with the cracker mixture; completed the previous step but omitted the cracker mixture, stored over night in the fridge - added cracker mixture the next day before baking.

Not only do you end up with a ton of yummy food, but you now have homemade chicken broth that you can add to many future recipes.

What to do with the rest of the chicken you boiled and didn't use?  That recipe is for another day.

Bon Appetite Y'all!