Italian Chicken Spaghetti

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I didn't take a picture of my Italian Chicken Spaghetti and couldn't find one that looked like I wanted on line so you get this ...

I felt like I had to distinguish between the typical chicken spaghetti recipe you see online that includes Velvetta and pimentos ... mine does NOT have either of these ...

This recipe serves a crowd or could be made to freeze into several meals.  I typically can feed THIRTY people with one batch of this!  Which for me is like two dinners and a few freezer lunches for the working kids.  You will need a very large pot or a roaster for this recipe.

Italian Chicken Spaghetti

Turn roaster to 450 degrees.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 or 2 large onions, diced
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
2 lbs. mushrooms, sliced
10 lbs. chicken pieces (leg quarters or whole chickens or whatever)
1 #10 can tomatoes, diced
1 #10 can tomatoes, sauce
1 Tablespoon basil
1 Tablespoon oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 lbs. spaghetti noodles
Parmesan cheese

Drizzle oil into hot pan. Saute onions, mushrooms and garlic until tender. Place chicken on top of onions, mushrooms and garlic. Pour tomatoes over chicken. Sprinkle with herbs. Turn roaster down to 275 degrees, cover and cook for 8 hours or more. An hour before you are ready to eat take out chicken pieces and skin/debone. Put chicken pieces back into sauce and stir. Turn heat up to 400 degrees. Add 4 cups boiling water and 2 lbs. broken spaghetti pieces. Stir frequently until noodles are cooked (about 15 minutes).  Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

You may think, "Why not just use boneless chicken?"  Well, because when you cook the chicken with the bones in the sauce, the sauce has all of the vitamins and minerals from the bones just like you get in home made chicken soup. It also has the good fat from the chicken skin minus the skin. It's healthier and yummier!  I've raised ten kids with no broken bones and I attribute this miracle to the fact that we eat lots of bone broth. I frequently cook with whole chickens or at the very least chicken pieces so we get the benefits of the whole bird.  Healthy bones, healthy hair and healthy skin! I swear by it!

Crockpot Jambalaya

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

2 T minced garlic

4 stalks celery, diced

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 2 breasts

1 lb. spicy sausage (I use kielbasa), diced

2 cans diced tomates

1 can tomato sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 T hot sauce (like Tabasco ... add more if you like it spicy)

1 palmful of Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. frozen shrimp, rinse under cold water for 5-10 minutes

Turn crockpot on high.  Place oil, onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery in crockpot and cook for a several minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Place chicken and sausage on top of vegetables. Pour diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce and seasoning over meat. DO NOT ADD THE SHRIMP YET.  Cook on low all day stirring once half way through.  30 minutes before dinner add shrimp and stir. Serve over rice when shrimp is nice and pink.