Snap, Crackle, Pop - YUCK!

I finally did it - I bought a whole chicken (on sale) and cooked it. I've been out of my parents' house for nine years now...I figured it was time.

Why the wait, you ask? Because I can't STAND to eat chicken off a bone. Even as I type this entry I have goosebumps and am dry-heaving. Excuse me...

Hu-WAH!

Okay, I'm back, and I'm getting to the point.

A few months ago Matt and I bought part of a cow (fabulous!). And over the summer, Meijer has GREAT deals on frozen fish. But chicken...that fine piece of white meat stays just out of my price range. Sure, it goes on sale, but we eat it so quickly because we haven't had it in such a long time. That's because I would only buy the boneless, skinless variety. That has changed.

The local grocery chain had whole chickens on sale (not a HUGE markdown, but on sale). I decided to pick some up. As I generally don't like to hover in the kitchen, I found a nice crock pot recipe. I got all of the veggies and spices ready to go. Then I picked up the chicken. The slimy, slippery, wiggles-like-a-cold-dead-baby chicken. EH! I put it in the pot.

Several hours later - viola! A chicken. I decided to make some risotto to go with it, so I enlisted the hubby to slice the bird. Since neither of us knows how to cut a chicken, and since we don't care about presentation, I told him to just pull the thing apart and grab what he wanted.

Snap (ick), pop (ooph), crack (Ahhh!!)

He ripped the thing apart - it was great! Matt got his dark meat, I got my white meat, and the rest of the chicken was ready for sandwiches/soup/etc.

Now you know that I cooked the bird...but how did it turn out?

I served the chicken with the veggies from the pot (carrots, celery, onion) and with an alfredo risotto. I also decided to make gravy (my 2nd attempt) by pouring the chicken water into a pan and adding flour. Woo hoo!! It WORKED! (Disclaimer: I suffer from a genetic disorder that doesn't make good gravy...after the first attempt I thought it had me, but I have overcome!)

I served up the meal and am happy to report that Matt loved it SO much that he got a spoon to make sure he got all of the sauces off of the plate :)

Now that I know Matt will draw and quarter the carcass, I'm going to look for more recipes!