100% living on food storage... last trip to the grocery store was in November, 2023. Today is January 23, 2024.
Tonight we had homemade Chicken Soup for dinner but the afternoon was spent doing this... simmering a smoked turkey to get food sealed bags of cooked turkey to use for future meals and broth for the same.
This was a great deal at the store after last Thanksgiving - a whole smoked turkey that went down to about $5. It went into the deep freezer at the time. I brought it out at some point and roasted it to heat it through (because they are already precooked by the smoking process) and we had it for a meal but it was wrapped tightly and put back into the deep freezer until I had time to do exactly what I did today.
I filled a pot with water and put the whole turkey in. Brought it to a boil and then reduced heat to let it simmer a few hours until it was completely heated through again and falling apart. Removing the turkey to a large pan, I strained the broth, saved about 4 cups for our soup and bagged up 12 cups into food sealed bags for the deep freezer.
I de-boned the meat, used some for the soup and food sealed the rest and froze them for future meals.
I've posted the soup recipe before but it's quick and simple so here it is again...
Homemade Chicken Soup with Noodles
2 chicken breasts, or equivalent (dice, cube, shred, etc. uncooked is fine if you have time to cook the soup longer)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cans water
1/2 a stick of butter (4 oz)
pepper to taste
Pasta (noodles) of choice, uncooked
In a crockpot or soup pot place the chicken and water along with the can of soup, butter and pepper. Cook for about 5-6 hours on low in a crock pot slow cooker or about 2-3 hours on high; or cover and cook on the stove until your chicken is done and you can shred/cut it. Add the noodles about an hour before serving time in the slow cooker or about 15-20 minutes prior to serving if cooking on the stove. If you had the pasta too early it will get huge and mushy.
I've tried 'doctoring' this up and honestly it's really good just as it is. If you must add 'something' a little parsley for color or some tiny diced bits of carrot but I don't like any of the typical herbs or spices added to this one. It seems perfect just how it is.
