Slow Cooker Chicken and Stock

I found a recipe online today for cooking a whole chicken in a slow cooker. The slow cooker pretty much bakes the chicken and then when it's done cooking you use the drippings, skin, and bones (with the addition of some water) to make your own stock. It's so easy, and inexpensive, and is a double duty ingredient. One thing I would advise if you like to buy chickens and then freeze them is to remove the gizzards before freezing. You can cook a frozen chicken in your slow cooker, but if the gizzards are frozen inside you have to thaw the chicken to get them out before cooking. NOT the best use of your time. So here's what I did:

Thrifty Fun

I recently returned from a visit to South Florida to see my family and co-host a baby shower for one of my oldest friends. (And by oldest, I mean longest-lasting - we've been best friends for almost 15 years.) As I was getting ready to leave for my trip, my husband quipped "Maybe you can pick up some good Housewifery tips from your sister". My sister is easily the queen of Housewives - not in a Real Housewives kind of way, but in a disgustingly creative and homemakery kind of way. She decorates, she sews, she paints, she crafts, she home-schools, she breast feeds to at least one year, she makes bread by hand, she even makes her own yogurt and crackers for goodness sake! And despite the annoyingly sarcastic way I think and say all these qualities my sister possesses, I can't help but be impressed and a little bit jealous. After all, she is my big sister - if there's one person I can love and hate (just a little bit, of course) at the same time, it'd be her. So despite myself, I managed to be inspired by her during my visit. I know I don't stand a chance in matching her creatively, but I know I could at least try to best her in the kitchen. (Even if she doesn't know I'm competing with her...) Love you Meg!