Waste Not Want Not - or What To Do With That Chicken Carcass

Okay, that's the lovely chicken I cooked yesterday.
After letting it cool and carving off most of the juicy, flavorful meat I am left with a carcass full of flavor and tiny pieces of meat. I also have a roasting pan full of delicious juices. During these tough economic times I don't like to waste anything!

I am not big on gravy, so just what do I do with all that juice and that carcass with meat still clinging to the bones? Well, chicken and rice of course! My hubby absolutely loves rice.

I boiled the liver, gizzard, neck and heart and chopped them for my dog. I reserved the juices remaining from this boiling meat and added it to the juices from the pan in which I roasted the chicken. This totaled about four cups of liquid. To this liquid I added one chopped medium onion, and about a cup of finely chopped celery.
Putting all the liquid and the vegetables on to boil, I also added about 1 Tablespoon of Poultry Seasoning, 1 Tablespoon of Salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
You may also add about a Teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning to make it even more interesting. At this point, I add the carcass and boil for about 20 minutes. Remove the carcass and pick off any remaining meat before discarding the bare bones.

Measure your liquid and if you don't have 4 cups add a little water to bring it up to that amount. Add two cups rice and continue to boil until the rice has absorbed the water and all that great flavor!

This is a great winter meal served with some nice vegetables or a salad. Eat Up!

By utilizing all of the chicken in this way, you can get at least 3 meals from just one good sized roasting chicken. I do this often, and it allows me to occasionally splurge on more expensive cuts of meat or seafood.

You can also make great chicken noodle soup in the same manner; I usually add finely diced carrots or mixed vegetables for the noodle soup. And, of course, substitute egg noodles for the rice.