To Kill a CluckingBird.... (Not for the faint of heart... or people with pet chickens)

I'M NOT GOING TO KILL A CHICKEN!!!!!!!!

Yes, by being a consumer of chicken meat I am, in part, responsible for the death of lots and lots of TASTY chickens.... And so are you.. Just sayin....

I'm going to take apart a chicken...

If you live by yourself like I do and you enjoy cooking a variety of chicken pieces you can either... 

• Cook a whole chicken and have left overs...
• Buy a scary scary bag of mutilated "Chicken parts"
• Or buy a whole chicken, to your standard of quality, and cut the thing up! 

I find buying a whole chicken and cutting it up gives you more of a say on how the meat is cut and a  better variety of quality of chicken to choose from over the Grab-Bag-O-Chicken-Parts. I like getting a local bird that has had the opportunity to run around a lil... Cause they taste better!

If you've ever boiled a chicken for soup, been used as slave labor for church dinners,or eaten a whole chicken by yourself (not judging...) You probably know your way around the basic meat and bones of a chicken. This won't be too hard.

You need to be working on a surface that doesn't move, that you don't mind bleaching, and working with a bird that is completely thawed if it was ever frozen!

Remove any organs, heart, liver, what ever that really brown long thing is..... From the cavity and wash the bird with cool water til water runs clear.

To take the bird apart you need to either be really comfortable with a VERY sharp knife (like my 8inch slicer) or use shears. They do make poultery shears made for cutting through bone that are very sturdy. You don't want a blade (knife or on scissors ) that will bend on you or is dull. Its a slippery,slimy, gross bird, if you don't have a good hold on it you don't want a bad blade.

 I remove the wings and neck for stock. Some people use the organs also but they make the stock a little to dark and .... well organ tasting for my .. taste.

Pull the wing out and feel for the joint connecting it to the breast. I like to cut down the wing a little leaving more meat on the breast. Just go slow and cut the meat and skin back away from the joint it you are unsure.

This is what the breast will look like with the wing removed at the joint. It's pretty far back in there and takes some cutting. Wings are the hardest to remove so the hard part is over.

Removing the neck is rather easy since it is nothing but lots of little joints. Push back the skin, pull the neck away from the chicken and push your knife straight through it. Little graphic.. I know...

Next and last, are the thigh and leg pieces or together a "chicken quarter." Flip the chicken over and cut the skin that covers the thigh meat and joint

Keep trimming the skin and pulling the leg and thigh away from the breast. Feel for the joint connecting the thigh and breast. It will be small for how much muscle is there.

Slicing the meat away from the breast then is very straight forward. I cut as much as I can away with the thigh. Trimming skin between the breast and thigh should usually favor the breast because it drys out easier but depending on what you are making you might want more skin on the quarter, like for grilling.

This is where I leave my chicken as far as carving goes. A few more common cuts include removing leg and thigh and separating the wing pieces. You can also remove the breast meat by cutting against the bone. If you are stuffing breast I recommend this over using already separated pieces because of a very sad day with chopped up white meat I couldn't stuff as planned. 

 Now bleach your boards and cabinet tops! Chicken is gross... but Ohhh so tasty!

Curse of the teeeeny-tiny GRAIN! Dunt Dunt DUNNNNNN!

I spent 3 weeks in Colorado and the food scene out there is a foodies dream. Every little town has a little shop that has homemade, organic, local, special something out there and every coffee shop does too.

Typical convo:
-"Would you like to try our breakfast burrtios?"
-"Hmm What's in it?"
-"Farm fresh brown eggs, homemade elk chorizo, local sharp cheddar, organic red skin potatos, in a full lard homemade tortilla, and any of that you want"  (Pointing to a homemade salsa bar)
-"*SLLLLUUURRRP!* YES PLEASE!"
-"Would you like a cup of Durango roast coffee with local honey and half-n-half? Or a piece of homemade pie to go?"
-"Am I dead? Is this heaven? Will you adopt me?!?!"

While out there, a little old lady told me that women of my 'age (early twenties) and generation need natural sources of iron and calcium and not taking those evil man made supplements.' And since I totally agree and the fact that this lady look like she had never been told 'No' in her life.... I ended up buy half a pound of a very fine grain that was only a few bucks.

Amaranth

Its a teeny tiny grain the size of poppy seed that the Ancient Central and South American empires thrived on.. Then the Spanish came... outlawed it and killed everybody off.. THE END.. Sad...

The Spanish didn't like the grain because the Aztecs considered it holy and used it in human sacrifice rituals.  Mixing it with honey and human blood making little figures out of it, then eating it. EWWWWW!

The grain is said to be CURSED to make sick any descendants of the Spanish that outlawed it.

Almost extinct, the grain has made a serious recovery in the last few years once it was recognized as a SUPER GRAIN. Loaded with butt-kicking calcium, iron, fiber, protein, magnesium and 3 essential amino acids that corn, wheat, rice and potatoes don't even have. .25 cup of amaranth has a crazy %60 percent of you daily iron! No wonder it was given to people as a cure for 'laziness' and woman after their 'monthly time' or pregnancy! Developing treatments for anemia without modern medicine!! That's amazing!

Cooking this stuff up...
No one seem to have any real instructions. Alot of 'boil it' and 'pop it and mix with honey' ... Ok How am I supposed to do that?!?!

Boiling it like couscous with about the same 1:2 grain to water ratio seems to work well. I added a little cut chicken sausage and it was really great. The consistency takes some getting used to and its kinda like oatmeal in that you feel like you have to chew but it doesn't do much and you don't really need to.

I next tried 'popping' it. I had no idea what to expect. BUT it really does pop! In to tiny little white popcorn looking beads. I tried a few methods without alot of success. Adding oil just made all the little seeds jump from the pan!

Oil burns, dry burns, water doesn't work at all.

I went for half popped half toasted and then added honey. Cooked it down slightly then poured it out on some parchment and let it cool. Instead of forming a little person to eat I went with a round ball and had it with my coffee.

Very toasty, not crazy sweet, and ultimately really good. It reminded me of some middle-eastern desserts made with sesame seeds. I'm thinking of a shortbread cookie with a thin honey and toasted amaranth mixture poured over for something different at Christmas. The little old lady in Colorado suggested toasting them and sprinkling them on salads which sounds great!

Kinda-Caribbean-Shrimp Lettuce Not-So-Wraps

GREAT FORTUNE THIS MORNING!

Do you ever look around your kitchen and get inspired by just whatcha got! Or realize you have everything for a favorite recipe without trying?! I LOVE homemade BBQ of any kind. My mother used to make BBQ chicken and Thighs in an electric skillet growing up and its still a huge favorite of mine. The range of GOOD BBQ in the culinary world is crazy wide from Sweet-celery seed-saturated KC BBQ to Spicy-smokey- Texas Pit. All ranges of fruity, sugary, smoky, vinegary, salty, spicy etc.

At the store today fresh shrimp were on super-duper sale! (Scary buying sea food in middle of the Mid-West but you have to take chances for good food) I had half of a REALLY GOOD pineapple at home and a ton of great peaches. FRUITY BBQ SHIRMP ON.... ON... on... ummm.... Sandwich? On a stick? Just on a fork out of the pan?..( it has happened before). How about the romaine hearts I have!?! Ohhhh with red peppers.. maybe some kinda cool, thick dressing ** This is what I sound like inside my head, or if the dog is on the floor sometimes out-loud to him**

I shelled and tailed (those might be technical terms.. they might be mine... not sure) 15 medium sized shrimp and set them aside. I like to do any meat prep before anything gets going then clean and set it aside so I'm not having to wash my hands and board all the time. 

Next I smashed and diced two BIG cloves of garlic, Sliced a small red onion, half a ripe peach, and an inch thick round of pineapple (core and skin removed). I like my fruit in big chucks. This all goes into a skillet with 1/2 a tbsp of EVOO. Cook on Med-High until it gets brown and starts to fall apart.

Then to make it saucy! I always have canned tomato products in the pantry (paste, sauce, diced, stewed) but today to my amazement I was clean out... Didn't even have ketchup! So I put a handful (1/2 cup)of cherry tomatoes in my mini-chopper and made my own puree. Add some light brown sugar, balsamic, apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, and a squeeze of half a lime.

While your shrimp cook let's make up a thick creamy FAT FREE sauce. I love Fage yogurt but in this mayo could work to. (I'm anti-mayo by personal opinion). A 1/3 of a cup of fage in a bowl with a sprinkle of Cayenne pepper, Thyme, and Garlic Salt makes a wonderful tasty thick spread.

I picked the biggest, blemish free leaves off of my head of romaine and they weren't that big... so instead of wraps they will be not-so-wraps. I topped the leaves with thin sliced red bell peppers and our thick and creamy thyme spread. There is enough shrimp to top 4 leaves really heavy.

When your shrimp are cooked through and the sauce as thick or saucy as you like it, add your shrimp to your leaves and dig right in! I dug in so quick I forgot to take a finished picture til after my side of roasted cauliflower was done.

Kinda-Caribbean-Shrimp Lettuce Not-So-Wraps   350 calories for ENTIRE recipe. NOM NOM NOM
Filling 

15 medium sized shrimp
1 inch round fresh pineapple
half a peach
Small red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup cherry tomatos (before blending) blended
about a tbsp of Balsamic, Apple cider vinegar, yellow or honey mustard, and lime juice.
Spread
1/3 cup Fage greek yogurt, Cayenne pepper, thyme, and garlic salt.
Lettuce leaves and sliced red bell peppers.

Sweeeett Ohhhh-taaaa-sssss

Balsamic-Honey Oatmeal with Cranberries 189 calories!

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/3 cup halved cranberries
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla 

 Making Oatmeal

Add the vinegar and honey to the pan and simmer slowly til slightly thickened. It will burn if you aren't careful so don't walk away from it!!!

Chop and add your cranberries and water. I like biting through big pieces of tart cranberry but if you aren't up to that shock put them in a food processor for a bit! 

Boil the cranberries for a bit to flavor up the water before adding your oats







Add your oats and stir stir stir. Scraping the sides and bottom of the pan keeps your oats creamy and awesome!

Your oats will be a lovely dark red! This is a really low cal filling amazing breakfast! OR.. poor it hot over some full fat ice cream! I topped mine with a dollop of Cool Whip Free and it was amazing!

This is a single serve recipe but its really easy to multiply for multiple people or people who wanna pig out on oats!! (Which is totally acceptable) If you want the oats sweeter add a tsp or two of brown sugar to the vinegar and honey when you add the water.

Oohhhh-Ta-sssss!

 I love oats, they are like the fruit of the fields. You can bake with 'em, boil 'em, make oatmeal cookies, granola with oats, oatmeal, rolled oats, quick oats, sweet oats, savory oats, use 'em in meatballs...  Sorry Forrest Gump moment...

I've always thought maple and brown sugar when I think oatmeal. Mainly because that is what my mother always ate. Now I've discovered the AWESOMENESS that is Old Fashion Rolled Oats. If you cook them 2x as long with 2x the liquid you get a HUGE bowl of yum for a baseline of 150 calories.

I usually spike my oats with any fresh fruit I have around the house. One of my favorite oat-concoctions was oats, fresh pineapple, unsweetened coconut milk, and dash of almond extract! Anything goes into oatmeal and its so cheap and quick that if you don't like it just pitch it and start over!

For Lunch: Savory  White Cheddar Oats with Turkey, Caramelized Onions
 

• 1/2 a medium onion
• 1/8 cup pecans
• 2-3 ounces chopped turkey
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 tbsp dry  white cheddar soup mix 
• 1 tsp parsley

I am very very calorie conscious when I cook for myself and I'm always looking for new ways to cut fat out without cutting flavor. WHICH IS HARD! Because fat carried flavor! Fat absorbs salt and spices and sugar and keeps it on your tongue longer than its thinner water like cousins (broth, vinegar.. etc) (Its why light blue cheese will never taste good, sad but true!)One way to cut out fat is using non-stick pans and broth to caramelize onions instead of insane amounts of oil like most recipes would have you do.

I boil onions in a small amount of water and let them boil dry and caramelize slightly, add a few tablespoons of water and stir letting the onions unstick. Keep letting the onions burn and add water to unstick until you get the right amount of brown that you want.

Instead of water using broth, vinegar, wine, rum, etc gives the onions more flavor but it will also make them burn quicker so you'll need to watch more closely.

A shake of the Hooded- Moose or two makes salty caramelly onions. (Pepper doesn't have his hood up lol)

If I wasn't putting them in my oatmeal and they were headed to the top of a pizza or a sandwich I would add a spray or drizzle of the OO to give them more flavor.

I weigh everything if I'm counting calories. This is a few ounces of turkey breast that I'll chop and add to my onions and broth

Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring,Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring,Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring,Just keep stirring, Just keep stirring.

Simple things!

My favorite foods are the simple things! Sticky short-grain brown cooked in broth, fatty slow, roasted meat, pungent cheeses, and really great bread... (If you say .. yeah...I eat bread.. sandwiches and toast... then you've never had great bread)

My banner is an example of one of my favorites lately. (I'm very fickle with my whims and favorites) Perfectly pouched egg over pan browned zucchini with fresh clove of crushed garlic. Sprinkle with sea salt and its 100 calories of love!
I love the color of yolk! Soo golden yellow and taste like butter! Especially my fresh brown eggs that come from the farmers market from the little old guy with the beard and overalls! Just who you expect to buy fresh eggs and radishes from!

 I'm very proud of my poached eggs! It took some practice and experimenting before I figured out the right temperature. Instructions say the water needs to bubble but not boil, put salt, put vinegar, use a plastic bag, pour it in with a measuring cup, etc... Crazy people trying to make things complicated. 

How to:

To poach an egg use a non-stick pan, heat water until bubbles get 2-4 mm across, wack you egg really good on something so its good and cracked, then get close to the water (without burning yourself) and slowly crack the egg straight into the water in the middle of the pan. Let the egg cook for a few minutes without the water boiling any harder. Use a slotted spoon to scoop it out! Little salt or some herbs, over brown rice or veggies, on toast or pasta. YUM YUM YUM

Menu-Over 30 Amazing Gourmet Caramel Apples

GracieMade ♥ Menu!

Each delicious apple weighs about 1lb and can easily be dessert for 3-4 people!!! Dipped in homemade caramel, covered in your choice of toppings from classic to wild, then individually packaged and tied with a ribbon. Apples will last around a week on the counter but are best eaten within 2-3 days.

Classics - $6

Just Caramel Lovin'- Back to the basics! A time tested caramel so good the recipe was supposed to be just eaten plain! Added to a hand selected and small farm grown Granny Smith apple
Chocolate Covered Lovin'- Caramel apple dipped in your choice of Milk, Dark, or White Chocolate. Pipped and decorated with the remaining kinds of chocolate. Each one is unique!

Triple Chocolate- Just chocolate?! No way! Hand pipped with Milk, Dark, and White Chocolate. Dusted with crushed almonds.

Salted Peanut- Like the state fair apples you remember! Totally dipped in caramel and then chopped peanuts halfway up! Perfect!

Choco Sliced Almond- Out of the caramel and into the chocolate. Finally finished in slightly toasted sliced almonds. Beautiful.

Black&White- Like my favorite shortbread cookie! Dipped on the slant first in white chocolate then in milk chocolate!

Bit-o-Color - Sprinkles make everything more fun! Dipped in Milk Chocolate and then rolled in sprinkles! Perfect for kiddos or the young at heart 

 Holiday- $7

Peppermint Wow!- Just like your favorite Peppermint bark with an applely caramel twist! A base layer of dark chocolate peaks out under a coat of white chocolate and rolled in peppermint pieces!

CandyCane- Dipped in milk chocolate and rolled in candycane pieces! Like Peppermint Wow's more classic sibling! ha!

Snowflakes- A tasteful pretty! Dipped in milk chocolate and hand pipped with white chocolate snowflakes! Just like the really thing, these apples are like nothing else!

Icicle- Starting from the stick of the apple pretty icicles of white and all ranges of blue pipped down the apple. Finished with clear and blue sugar!

Festive Colors- Dipped in White, Milk, or Dark chocolate then drizzled with red and green. Finished with red and green sugar!

Candy Lovin' -$6

 A big caramel apple rolled in you favorite candy or combination of candies of your choice! Finished with white and milk chocolate. (About any candy can be used but some work better than others! These candies below turn out beautifully!)

Butterfinger

M&M

Reeses Pieces

York Pieces

AlmondJoy Pieces

F&F (Fun and Flavor!!) $7.50

Worms & Dirt- Covered in crushed Oreo and Rocks (the tasty chocolate kind!) drizzled in white chocolate and topped with WORMS (...also the tasty kind!)!

Totally Joyful Almond- Rolled in toasted coconut, sliced almonds, and mini choco chips. Finished with chocolate swirls!

Nuts over CrazyCrasin- My personal FAV! My perfectly mixed blend of dried cranberries, almonds, cashews, and my favorite seeds! Topped with a chocolate drizzle for that perfect not over the top sweetness.

Nuts-a-plenty!- Putting mixed nuts to good use! Roughly chopped for big bites!

Ninja Turtle- Not your average Turtle! Straight from the caramel into rough chopped pecans. There is no better smell than warming pecans on hot caramel!! I use a large tipped pipping bag to put the chocolate on this apple so there is plenty with every bite!
Sweet and Kickin'- Our Ninja Turtles evil twin! My own recipe for candied pecans with a bit of heat are course chopped, and then hugged with dark chocolate!

Mountain Stylin'- Made with everyone's favorite hiking snack! A blend of chocolate candy, dried fruit, and nuts! Its sweet with a lil salty!

Caramel Cheesecake- Coated in a smooth white vanilla confection and rolled in a fine graham cracker crust!
S'more of that!- My best seller of the F&F! Crushed Graham Crackers, Mini 'Mallows, and Mini ChocoChips! Finished with a fine drizzle of white chocolate.

Sea Salt of the Earth- After letting the caramel cool these apples go into a dark chocolate coat then are sprinkled with course sea salt! All the rage in chocolate shops!

Hint-o-Heat- Dipped in milk chocolate then lightly dusted with bright red cayenne pepper. Its an apple that bites back! But just a little!

So Cruncha Cruncha- Rolled in pretzel pieces and then given a large helping of milk chocolate. Its a sweet and salty combination with all the right textures! 

BlackTieAffair- Like the trendy "formal" chocolate dipped strawberries this apple wears a tux! With a milk chocolate tux, white chocolate shirt, and dark chocolate tie and buttons this apple is dressed to impress! Maybe with a ring tied to its stick ;)

Luau Love- Dried pineapple, toasted coconut, and macadamia nuts with a with a white chocolate drizzle!

Tastebud's Buddy- A fine mix of candied ginger, dried cranberries, and almonds blended with a touch of honey and sugar in the raw. Truly gourmet.

Custom Apples 

Anything Goes! I can work with you to match colors for party favors, work around allergies, or find something you or that special someone will love! Most apples above can have ingredients swapped or removed without any price alteration!


Platters and Baskets! - Ask about having your apples wrapped up on a platter or tucked in a basket! Prices depend on the size needed for the number of apples.

Free Cards! Would you like to send a special note to someone with their apple? Just let me know what you would like to say and I will attach a special greeting for your loved one or co-worker!

Free Delivery!! 

I will deliver in the Manhattan, Ft.Riley, and Junction City area for FREE  Shipping charges will be exactly what the Post Office charges for the apple(s) to be shipped. Apples to be shipped will be made the day of shipping and sent overnight mail.

Ordering and Questions  

Email orders and/or questions to graciemade@live.com using the order form below. Day of and next day deliveries may be possible but please order at  least two days in advance. Most email responses will come within an hour. Accepting cash and check at this time.

Name:
Phone number:
Delivery date:
Apple Order: (#) (Name of Apple)
Comments or special request for apples:
Delivery or Shipped:
Billing address: (Or pay on delivery)
Recipient's Address:
Gift: (Yes/ No)
Would you like a note or a [To: & From:] card?
Card Message:
Questions?: