Tasty Leftovers

2 Sundays ago I roasted two whole chickens.  I am still trying to gauge how much to prepare for a meal with all 5 of us home to eat.
It's amazing how out of practice you can get at fixing meals for a large crowd once your kids mostly leave home and it's just you and the spouse to cook for.

Anyway, I ended up with one whole chicken leftover after that Sunday's supper to figure out how to use up in another dinner.  I pulled out the crock pot on Monday evening and set the leftover whole chicken to simmer overnight in some of the stock I harvested from roasting them both last Sunday.
By Tuesday I had a very rich stock along with tender chicken pieces I picked off the carcass.

So I decided to try one of those copy cat recipes for the Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi Soup that are floating around on the internet.

The one I used is located Here.

It was fairly quick to prepare.  Of course you could make your own Gnocchi(I've never made gnocchi however and didn't want this dish to be my guinea pig)and it would take longer but be more homemade from scratch.

My only change was I didn't add the dried Thyme because I didn't have any and had no car yesterday to go run out for any.  It didn't seem to hurt the flavor however to leave it out.
Oh, and I just used 2% Milk and not Half and Half.  And I added a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken it up more(as I like a thick soup)instead of using more flour beyond the initial amount of that ingredient.

4 out of 5 diners approved this meal, served with some whack biscuits, if a sopping up the liquid item was needed to accompany this soup. ;-)
The only change I would make would be to put the carrot shreds in sooner rather than later so they soften more.  I didn't care for crunchy carrot bits in this.

Along with the biscuits(bought on sale and with a coupon)the cost was around $10 for 7-8 hearty servings.  We have 2 servings leftover for quick lunches.
A container of this soup To-Go at Olive Garden would run you $5.79.  Even if that container held 2 servings, you'd need to spend at least $17.37 + tax to feed a family of 5 with this soup.  And that doesn't include the cost of any bread products.
Also the OG version has 1,420 mg of sodium per serving, which is more than I want in my soup.  The recipe I used has added salt but it's to your taste and I added about 1/2 teaspoon(=1,150 mg for the whole pot of soup)which made it plenty salty.  Spread out over 7-8 servings that way less than the OG version.

Really, this is just a psuedo-Italian version of Chicken and Dumplings with added spinach and some herbs we Southerners don't put into our version.
This will be added to my recipe collection and be made again....especially since the Daughter bought me two bags of gnocchi and I only used one, so this will get made at least once more.

Now my problem is I have shredded chicken from half a roast chicken still as this soup only used 1 cup of the shreds.  And now I also have most of a bag of fresh spinach to use up as the recipe only called for 1 cup and what store sells that little spinach at a pop? lolz

I am thinking of using the chicken leftovers in a risotto.  I am not a big risotto fan but Hubs loves anything Italian and the BF loves anything Carb-y evidently so it will be eaten and go over well.
If I had more chicken left I might have prepared fajitas or quesadillas.

The spinach is slated to be used in a Spinach Salad with some boiled eggs and bacon because well, who doesn't like anything with bacon, right? 8-)

Have you got a "go to" use for leftover roasted chicken?

Sluggy

More Genealogical Discoveries......My Synchronistic Life

Well I was working on my SUBLETT lines this morning and I uncovered two more cousins you may know of.

Actually I "visited" with them Spring of 2015 on our Louisiana Road Trip while we were traveling through Western Kentucky.

If you are a longtime reader you might remember me taking a selfie in Central City KY with this memorial to two natives of that city.

You can read about that part of the trip HERE.
(The pertinent part is near the end of that post.)

Yes, Don and Phil Everly aka The Everly Brothers are my 8th cousins 1 x removed.
Their 3 x Great Grandmother was a SUBLETT by birth, Mary "Polly" Sublett.
Mary Sublett's Great Grandfather, Jacques "James" Sublett, was a brother to my 7 x Great Grandfather, Pierre Louis "Peter Lewis" Sublett.

So let's go back into our time machine and listen to some of their hits...........

Here's a strange clip from 1970.....by then they were already retro. lolz

Another clip of them late 1960's with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans......


Incidentally I am cousins with Roy Rogers(aka Leonard Slye)too, through his mother, Mattie Womack.
My blogger friend, Jay, who died last year, was cousins with him through Roy's Father, Andrew Slye, and the Slye line.

A music video they made in 1984 of one of their hits......



One of their last appearances with Simon & Garfunkel is located HERE.



And Don Everly appeared the year Phil died in this concert....


I told College Boy about his famous musical cousins, ya know, thinking he'd be impressed and enthused to be genetically related to people in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Nothing.
He had never heard of them.
8-O!

Seriously?!  The boy is into music and had no CLUE who they were/are.  Where did I go wrong and fail him that he doesn't know them.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Father's Day Weekend" Edition.............

We began Father's Day celebrating on Friday since Hubs took off that day(was suppose to be my surgery check-up appointment day).  Daughter treated him to the local brewpub(I had to pay for myself...humph!).  Then on Saturday, a gorgeous day weather wise, we headed to Berwick for his favorite brewpub there.  We sat outside in the Bier Garten overlooking the Susquehanna River.  BF even joined us there.  Afterwards we got ice cream cones and then Daughter and BF headed west to go see some dirt track racing and Hubs and I headed home to dog sit.
Sunday was spent doing little here as it was 90 degrees....a little yard work and Daughter cooked dinner(with some help)and we turned on the a/c.
Yes, we party wild, don't we? ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken w/Roasted Onions, Potatoes, Zucchini
2. Monday--Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)
3. Tuesday--Marinated London Broil & Skewer Veggies, Fettucine Alfredo Noodles
4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using leftover roast chicken from Sunday)
5. Thursday--Steak Sandwiches(using leftover marinated London Broil), leftover Collards
6. Friday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken w/Roasted Onions, Potatoes, Zucchini
2. Monday--Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)
3. Tuesday--Marinated London Broil & Skewer Veggies, Fettucine Alfredo Noodles
4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using leftover roast chicken from Sunday)
5. Thursday--Steak Sandwiches(using leftover marinated London Broil), leftover Collards
6. Friday--Panninis at the Brew Pub
7. Saturday--Leftovers(I ate some pickles.)

6 meals cooked at home, 2 of them nights of leftovers and 1 night of Eating Out.  Fish didn't happen due to Eating Out at the Brew Pub so that meal moves to this week.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $137.17 on 4 trips to the store last week(Bread Outlet, local Shursave store, 2 x Weis).

I have spent $273.58 for June and have $126.42 left of my $400 food budget with 11 days to go in the month.
We might stay under budget, we might not, only time will tell.

We had some food waste last week unfortunately.......a piece of pecan chicken, some Brussels Sprouts, and some Deviled Clams that all got pushed to the back of the fridge.  It doesn't happen much here but....oh well. 8-(

Leftovers going into this week......roast chicken and collard greens.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Ravioli w/Italian Sausage
2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Collards(we didn't eat on Sunday)
3. Tuesday--Chicken Gnocchi Soup
4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Beans, Veggie of some kind
5. Thursday--Chicken Risotto, Veggies of some kind
6. Friday--Stuffed Pork Chops, leftover Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

This week will see 6 new meals cooked of which 2 meals are planned-overs(using leftover Roast Chicken)and 1 night of leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu.....Gnocchi, Spinach.  Probably more milk as we are going through a gallon+ a week now.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Want to Buy a Tavern?

Well everything I read I seem to find ancestral connections to.
I get an email blast from a real estate company in South Central Virgina....you know, because we are looking to retire someplace and this area, So CenVA, is where my mother's people are from.  Plus is close to where my last living sibling resides.

A property popped up for sale today on my list..........

The link to the listing is HERE.

Now reduced to $320K for a 186 yr old brick home that qualifies to be on the National Historic Register(but renovated inside with all the modern conveniences) and sits on 26 acres.

It is due South of the little town my maternal grandfather was born in, Pamplin, Virginia
This area where Harvey's Tavern sits use to be known as "Chickentown".  It's now called Madisonville, Virginia.  Back in the 1800's this area was called Chickentown because cockfights were held in a pit in front of Harvey's Tavern.  Cockfights, the rock concerts and movieplexes of our 16th and 17th century ancestors.

Back in the day homes or buildings on main roads, where people traveled to the county seat, or homes at intersections of roads, often were turned into ordinaries or taverns.  A place for weary travelers to stop for food, drink or to rest and/or water their horses became public houses/inns/ordinaries/taverns.  They were the gas stations and Holiday Inns of our ancestors who traveled the roads.

Thomas Harvey(1734-1812) owned property that lay on the main road due north that led into the court house of Charlotte County in Virginia.  In 1787 a license was issued to Thomas Harvey to operate a tavern on this property.  Thomas Harvey's son, Colonel Isham Harvey(1773-1842) is credited with having the Brick Tavern pictured above built, circa. 1830.  This Tavern is not the original building Thomas Harvey operated his ordinary out of as the license was issued 40+ years before this structure was built but this Tavern house built by his son Isham is still standing.

You'll notice that the realtor is marketing this Tavern as one that Patrick Henry was thought to frequent.  This is a bit misleading on two accounts--
1-While Patrick Henry did live in this area of Charlotte County Virginia at the end of his life, Henry died in 1799, meaning Patrick Henry couldn't have frequented this Brick Tavern as it was built 30 years after he passed.  Mr. Henry may have frequented it's predecessor as the ordinary license was issued in 1787.
2-The marketing says that "Presumed stop by Patrick Henry when on his way to Charlotte Court House."
Even if you disregard that Henry was dead 30 years before it was built, Patrick Henry's home, RED HILL, was due west of the court house.  He would have had to travel what is now US Route 40 East (known locally in town as Patrick Henry Highway)to go to the county seat/court house.  Madisonville where Harvey's Tavern is located, is due North of Charlotte Court House, on US Route 47(known locally in town as Thomas Jefferson Highway).

The grey line is the direct route from Red Hill to the Brick Tavern in Madisonville VA.  Notice how Charlotte Court House is east of the route traveled.

As you can plainly see, traveling between Brookneal(Patrick Henry's estate) and Madisonville(Harvey's Tavern) does not take you through Charlotte Court House Virginia.  Using the known roads of that time Mr. Henry would have had to travel due east on 40 and then, when he arrived at Charlotte Court House, he'd have to travel north on 47 to get to Harvey's Tavern.
Patrick Henry may have lifted a tankard or two at Harvey's Tavern in his day, but he didn't do it along his route from his home to the court house....that part is pure fiction.

And if you can't believe me who can you believe?
After all my 5 x Great Grandfather sold Patrick Henry a tract of land in 1798(well the transaction wasn't completed until the month after he died the next year in 1799 by his wife, Dorothea Dandridge Henry). I blogged about that HERE.
And.......my 2 x Great Grandfather was named Patrick Henry Baker(1847-1930).
So who ya gonna believe? lolz

I got curious about this Harvey family so I decided to do a little digging and see if I could come up with an ancestral connection to them.  After all, they lived in the same area of Virginia as mother's people during the 1700's so it's entirely possible I'd find a link.

And I did. 8-)

Isham Harvey, the man who had the brick Tavern build circa 1830, and his wife, also his cousin, Druscilla Harvey Harvey married and had among their brood of offspring a daughter named Maccarina Barksdale Harvey(1806-1860).

Maccarina married William Price Baker(1802-1860).
William P. Baker is my 2nd cousin 5 x removed.
We share common ancestors in Douglas Baker Sr. and Jane Thomson Baker---William Price Baker's Great Grandparents are also my 6th Great Grandparents.

So yes, yet again, I have a connection to something from years gone by in Virginia,  the Brick Tavern.

Ancestral Sluggy

How My Week is Going So Far

Well I've been on 3 grocery shopping trips so far this week-two trips to the local grocery stores and one trip to the bread outlet.  The highest total was $29 something, the lowest $11 and I've let $50+ out of my wallet.
Not bad considering and the food budget is not blown....yet! ;-)

The meal plan is sort of working so far this week too.

Both Daughter and BF have gotten jobs already.  Daughter went out Monday and applied to 2 places and by that evening she had a job offer at one.  It's just a part time job as she will be starting back to college in August.
The BF went out yesterday to 1 place and they hired him on the spot.  It's the same work he was doing in LA and the same sort of facility.  The guy was shocked that someone walked off the street with his experience to apply for a job there.  I guess that doesn't happen much as it's specialized work that they usually have to train applicants to perform.
This was the first job BF has gotten on his own, his previous job he got through his dad so I think he's a bit chuffed over all this.  8-)
And BF started work this morning already!

I've been doing a bit of granddog sitting as Daughter and BF have been on the go almost every day since they got here.

The dog has been spending a lot of time waiting at doors and whining.....I HATE whining!! lolz
She's s big dog and Husky mix so she likes to PULL.
Grandma here is having hard time with her.  The poor dog needs more exercise than she is getting and is bored to boot.  I've got to come up with a way to occupy her a bit more.
And she needs training.......she has my Daughter trained instead of the other way around. sigh

Daughter and BF went out to buy BF some lunch foods and breakfast sandwiches for the mornings he works.
I came down this morning to this sight.......

That's a grocery receipt in my wastebasket.
This makes me sad.........

Ok, I've got to go start making my homemade enchilada sauce for tonight's chicken enchilada.
It's a process people. lolz

Then it's back to the dining room to go through the last 2 boxes of papers.

What are you up to today?

Sluggy