Baked Chicken Plus

Grocery stores have found the perfect gimmick for busy families! Rotisserie chickens! They smell amazing when you walk in the door and it's pretty easy to fix a small salad and toss some veggies on your family's plates and call it dinner.  And, it works well. We all need a break sometimes! I used them myself when I want to whip up a chicken chili in a hurry.
But, there is a better way, but it takes a bit of planning. The recipe is easy and takes very little effort. 

Ingredients:

• 2 - organic or at least hormone/preservative-free chicken
• 1 lemon or 1 onion, halved 
• 2 sprigs of rosemary (everyone should have a rosemary bush in their yard!)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Turn oven to 450 degrees.
2. Prepare the chickens by removing the giblets (save them!)
3. Stuff a half lemon or onion in the cavity.
4. Drizzle some olive oil on the chicken.
   
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Stuff a sprig of rosemary in the cavity.
7. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes,  then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees, then cover and cook until the leg feel loose when you shake it or when it reaches 160 degrees in the fattest part of the chicken.
8. Allow to cool until okay to handle.
9. Remove the skin, set it aside in a large pot.
10. Remove the meat from the carcass, set aside.
11. Put the carcass in the large pot with the chicken fat/skin and set aside.
12. Use the chicken for dinner and then you'll have leftovers for salads, soups, casseroles, or whatever you want.
13. You can freeze the chicken meat for future use.

Bonus!! Chicken Broth

1. Take the large pot with the chicken fat/skin and carcass and add some carrot ends, chopped celery including some leaves, a small onion or two, salt, pepper, some fresh sage, if you have some or powdered will do, a couple cloves of garlic. 
   
2. Cover with water, bring to a boil.
   
3. Turn to simmer with the top slightly off to allow steam to escape, allow to simmer all day or at least several hours until the liquid has reduced somewhat.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Using a large slotted spoon, remove everything from the pot leaving the broth behind. You can also put a large colander in a large pot and pour. This will remove all the soup debris and when you lift the colander only broth will remain.
6. At this point, you can make soup or put in Mason jars for future use. 
7. Refrigerate for about a week or freeze.

Double Bonus! Chicken  Soup

1. Using the broth you just made, add: diced onion and celery, a can of diced tomatoes, and whatever vegetables your family enjoys. I can recommend zucchini and/or yellow squash, peas, carrots, green beans. You can also add brown rice, cooked pasta, diced potatoes, thinly sliced cabbage, etc.