This is Excellent: Chicken Stew with Biscuits 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on 3 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade 2 chicken bouillon cubes 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions) 3/4 cup flour 1/4 cup heavy cream 2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes 1 10-ounce package frozen peas (2 cups) 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley For the biscuits: 2 cups flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced 3/4 cup half-and-half 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken. In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley. Mix well. Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter. Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly. Note: To make in advance, refrigerate the chicken stew and biscuits separately. Bake the stew for 25 minutes, then place the biscuits on top, and bake for another 30 minutes, until done.

David, I'm so sorry for the loss of your friends. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your friend's family. As hot as it is, and we're feeling it here in Dallas as well, what about something along the lines of a cold soup like Gazpacho or avocado soup or something like that? Here's a recipe for Mexican Gazpacho that I have used as a starting point many times, although it's been a while since I've made it this way. I usually just start with canned tomatoes, a cucumber, a bell pepper, and go from there. In any case, here's the recipe I started out using years ago. Mexican Gazpacho from Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet Makes 6 servings (It could be easily doubled if necessary) 2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (I usually used canned unless I have homegrown tomatoes on hand.) 1/2 cup 1/4-inch cubes cucumber 1/4 cup chopped red onion 1/4 cup chopped red onion 1/4 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped sweet green pepper 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional) 3 tablespoons chopped scallions 2 tablespoons minced green chilies or jalapenos 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 large cloves) 1 cup tomato juice 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) Freshly ground pepper to taste Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Chill the gazpacho thoroughly before serving it. The nice thing about this soup is it gets better the next day. I think it might go well with Nancy's corn bread salad. Sally

I have a great 9 cf freezer. It was really handy to stock up on things when there were good deals and for a long time I did the convenience foods mostly. But after a while I started to factor in the cost of running the freezer. Even my little one is probably about $4/mo in electricity. Large freezers are 2-3 times that. So I decided if I couldn't get by with the freezer on the frig, then something is wrong anyway. There is a problem though when the turkey breasts would be on sale because of the size and I used to buy 3-4 when they were 70¢ a pound and I'd have good eats for a long time. Cook one up every couple months for a great meal. But then some of the other problems happened. The bogo roasts. I got lazy and wouldn't rewrap them before freezing so they didn't last long in the freezer. And so much would be freezer burned that it was just a waste. Finally decided it was pretty stupid to pay to run a freezer to overbuy food, then have it go bad and have to throw it out. I have friends that grocery shop daily. Now that's the other extreme. To me, grocery shopping, well all shopping for that matter is more wasted time than productive time. Do I need to spend time and gas going to the store more often when I can buy several cans of corn at one time? And since I still have to do things at home, like wash clothes, shopping time takes away from other things like naptime, TV time, internet time, or doing household chores. The trick is to find the happy medium. I've gone overboard in either direction. But I do have food in the house so I don't HAVE to run to the store. OK, maybe I don't have a specialty item for a special recipe, but I still have something here that I can make a casserole, soup, or something if weather and roads are bad. Or if there's a ton of people in the stores. I always try to avoid stores whenever there's crowds. Waiting in line is MORE non-productive time, and it is often frustrating time too.

caavonldy- That's a great plan... It took me 18-months to get a full year of food in storage on a $200/month food budget, plus I have 3-years worth of the "Seven Survival Foods". Now my food budget is $125/month, so that's one of the benefits from having home food storage (this amount is for two adults). I talked with my best friend about this very subject just last night because she's diabetic and very carb sensitive and can't eat soy either. These are sources of protein I have in storage. You probably already have many of them. 1. Protein powders, especially whey protein. Whey has the highest BV (Biological Value) and you will assimilate more protein from whey than any other source of protein. The next highest are eggs, then beef, chicken, fish and legumes - on down the scale. 2. Powdered whole eggs. I get mine from Honeyville Grain in #10 cans. When powdered eggs are less expensive per egg than shell eggs I use powdered eggs. About the only shell eggs I use these days are when the store sends me a coupon for a dozen eggs - free. There are approximately 80-90 eggs per #10 can. I love powdered eggs when I want to make 6-muffins and I need 1/2 an egg. Many foods we make don't need a whole egg, so using 1/2 an egg in pancakes, for instance, it also saves some money. 3. If you have a pressure canner you can home-can all kinds of meat. (see link below) 4. Canned meat from the store. When I was a child back in the mid-50's we had a refrigerator that had a freezer about 12-inches square, and for a family of 6 who only got groceries once-a-month, there wasn't enough room for much meat in it, so mom served all kinds of canned salmon, tuna, Chicken A la King, Spam, Ham Spread, Chunk Ham, Roast Beef, Chicken, Dried Beef for you-know-what on a shingle....;-) I remember whole stewed chickens coming in cans and made wonderful chicken noodle soup. Now I make White Chili with a 10-oz. can of chicken, can of white beans (or home-cooked beans), cup of water and some McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix - all are pantry foods. I have many of those same foods in storage and most of them have very long storage times. When you start looking at the store you'll find a good assortment of meat in cans. I even have Yoder Bacon in cans. 5. Most expensive... Freeze-dried meats which reconstitute in a few minutes in hot water. I have freeze-dried ground beef, sausage crumbles, white turkey, chicken, beef roast, and diced ham (I've also noticed freeze-dried shrimp and pork chops recently...). Check Mountain House, Emergency Essentials, Honeyville Grain, Nitro-Pak, Augason Farms. There is freeze-dried cheese and cheese powder in storage. Shredded Colby or Mozzarella will rehydrate in a few minutes in warm water and will feel, taste, and melt just like freshly-grated cheese. 6. I also keep Vital Wheat Gluten in #10 cans in storage to use as a meat extender or meat substitute and make "wheat meat" (aka fake meat, seitan or gluten) with it. There is nearly as much protein in ground "wheat meat" as there is in ground beef. I mix it 50/50 with any kind of ground meat I'm using to get more protein for my money - I also cut fat and cholesterol. I can make this from whole wheat flour, but it's easier to make it from Vital Wheat Gluten. Ground gluten can also be used as a high-protein granola-like "cereal". For more information: "The Amazing Wheat Book" by LeArta Moulton or http://www.livingwithbasics.com/documents/awb-recipes/pdf/wheatgluten.pdf 7. Lesser amounts of protein from powdered milk, peanut butter, beans/seeds/grains/nuts. The bulk of the milk in storage is a whey-based milk substitute - Morning Moo's - www.augasonfarms.com. And I also use another non-fat dry milk product - Country Cream - http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/ Morning Moo's is less expensive and makes 22-quarts per #10 can while Country Cream makes 20-quarts. Both of these milk products come in bulk amounts for a real savings on milk if you are going to use it on a regular basis, or for storage - #10 cans. Both taste as good as regular store bought milk. We only use powdered milk. Good luck. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation