In Which I Discovered Something Incredible

I learned a new word.

"Columbus"

Meg said it means when you think you discovered something that everybody else already knows.  And I think it might fit just perfectly with what happened to me.

Do you remember years back when I was working through cooking whole chickens and turkeys?  Renee and I were learning this together and neither of us were impressed.  But whole chickens save money.  And you can boil the bones to make broth.  And they are versatile.  And did I mention they save money?  And I'm all about the saving money.

And then there was that year when turkeys hit their all-time low and went on sale for super cheap and I bought 12.

Well times haven't changed all that much, except that I'll never buy 12 turkeys again.  I still hate cooking whole chickens.

1. They come in a bag with chicken juice that always leaks.

2. You have to open the bag in the sink because if you puncture that bag in the wrong place, chicken juice will squirt out on you....with force!

3.  You have to pick up that chicken with your bare hands.

4.  There is that bag of guts you have to contend with.

5.  You have to super clean everything because of chicken juice.  The sink, the faucet, the outside of the seasoning jar, your hands, the utensils, everything.

6.  After you do whatever you are going to do with the chicken, you have to pick all the meat off the bones for later.  Again, with your bare hands.

7.  It always puts Momma in a bad mood.

So see?  It all adds up to be a pain in the butt.

But when I was going to bed one night, I had a fantastic idea.  You see, you don't have to buy whole chickens OR boneless skinless chicken pieces.  There's another option.  You can buy chicken pieces that have bones that are not the whole chicken but only the pieces you actually want!  There's a whole section of chicken choices in the grocery store that I have never bothered with!!  You still get the bones for broth but you don't get bags of guts.  Plus it comes on a nice styrofoam tray that contains the chicken juice a little better and you can use TONGS to pick it up.

As for the extra expense, it turns out it's only about ten cents a pound more.  And I'd happily pay that for family peace and less chicken juice.

I know!!

I single-handedly discovered a culinary secret that will change the whole game.  Or in other words, I  columbus-ed it.... and I'm mighty proud of myself.