This one's for you Linda

I should probably clarify my blog title. My sister-in-law Linda had left a comment wanting to know how my chicken canning went when I finally tried it. So this one's for Linda.

Chicken went on sale . . . $1.79 a pound, although I had to buy 40 pounds of the stuff. I should have waited a week because Smith's had it for $1.69. I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, I'd been waiting for this chance to try canning chicken. I got 7 quarts filled up and it looked like I hadn't even made a dent in my 40 pounds of chicken. Seriously, all I did was put a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of chicken bouillon granules in the jar and put my chicken breasts in the jar, leaving about an inch of head space (I actually cut my chicken up because man were they HUGE! I was pretty sure those chickens must have been fed some kind of growth hormone.).

I didn't even put water in the jar (it may look like it, but the chicken creates its own broth as it cooks); just wiped the rim of the jar, put my lid on and I was ready to pressurize. My only mishap was when the canner started to steam, it was coming out of the side also and I knew that wasn't right. So I shut the entire process down to check the seal and started over. Second time worked like a charm. Ninety minutes later . . . 

I can't say they're the prettiest things I've seen. In fact it all looks so unappetizing to me. But I knew I just couldn't let them sit on my storage shelf; I was going to have to actually try it.

Tonight's rainy, cold weather was calling for Chicken Noodle Soup. When I opened the jar, it smelled like canned chicken I buy from Sam's Club, it shredded very nicely, and it tasted wonderful in our soup.

Canned chicken was a success and by far the easiest canning I've done yet.

Now what to do with the rest of all that chicken. I froze some and grilled some to freeze for later use.
I just put the entire cooked chicken breast in a ziploc baggie instead of cutting it up or shredding it. That way I can use it how I want. You want to know the secret ingredient to cooking most meat:

Yep, it says steak on it, but I use it to season my chicken, ground beef, homemade fries . Just sprinkle some on whatever you're cooking. Definitely one of my favorite things.

You're gonna want to stay tuned for a later post. Last week I learned how to make wheat meat. What? You know . . . for that day you're going to want some meat and have nothing but all that wheat you've been told to store. All I can say is it was some funky stuff.

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CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP for those cold, rainy days that call for it
8 c. water, divided
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 c. carrots, cut up
2 c. celery, cut up
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cut into chunks
3 to 6 ounces of egg noodles (I use the noodles called Country Pasta rather than regular egg noodles, although you could just use those. I put in about 3 big handfuls of noodles.)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (a must!)

Heat 6 cups of water and bouillon until bouillon is dissolved. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add chicken and 2 MORE cups of water. Add noodles and cook until softened. When noodles are done, add cream of chicken soup and salt and pepper to taste.