What can you do with a whole chicken besides roasting it? I boiled one of our larger chickens recently and made several meals from it. It is best to pull the meat from the carcass as soon as the meat is done, then simmer the bones a good while longer (my mom breaks the leg bones to make sure the marrow gets out).

When you boil the chicken, the seasoning is up to you. Many times, I keep it natural -- one of the great things about Oaklyn Plantation Free Range Chickens is they taste great just as they are.  But when you cook the bones to make your broth, you may want to add some celery (be sure to include the leafy green tops for extra flavor) or an onion or carrots.

Here's what we ate that week:

Chicken Tetrazzini -- There are many recipes for Chicken Tetrazzini.  We experiment with different noodles, including thin spaghetti (break into small pieces before cooking), wide noodles, and even macaroni sometimes.  To you white sauce, add mushrooms, or a little garlic, or even small pearl onions.  We sometimes add roasted red peppers to give a lovely kick of color. For variety, instead of adding shredded Parmesan on the casserole, serve the Tetrazzini with Italian bread that's been toasted with Oil and Parmesan. 

Chicken Pot Pie -- There's not much I like better than a good, basic pot pie made with chunks of rich Oaklyn Plantation Free Range Chicken, a thick sauce with a roux of butter and flour, plus our delicious chicken broth as stock, salt and pepper, and cream addedp, and a flaky biscuit topping.   Pot Pies are a great catch all for lots of other goodies too.  Feel free to add chunks of cooked potatoes, carrots, celery, and green peas. 

Cream of Chicken Soup -- With the remaining broth we made a delicious cream of chicken soup. Use any recipe from a cookbook but ours called for simmering sliced carrots or celery until soft, adding cooked rice and then 1/2 cup cream to about 3 cups of broth. Season as desired. Our three girls loved it.