One Chicken = 2 crockpot meals

As a stay at homer I am constantly trying to cut back my grocery bill.  While I am not always successful, buying a whole chicken when on sale is by far the best frugal purchase I can make.
Whenever I see a chicken on sale for .99 or under I buy it.  I sometimes buy 2 or 3 and freeze them.  Just note that it does take about 2 full days to defrost in the fridge so plan accordingly.  Since I am trying to use the trusty crock pot (slow cooker) more often, I decided to give this a try.  I went into this understanding that the skin will not be a nice golden crunch skin but it came out better than I expected, also we don't eat the skin so it really wasn't an issue for us.  I suggest checking the temp on the chicken depending on how quick your crock pot cooks.  Mine cooks very fast for some reason so I am forever adjusting recipes.  Anything that calls for 8 hours I do in 6.

RECIPE #1

You will need:

1 (4-5 lb) oven roaster chicken
1 tsp of each
     garlic salt
     onion powder
     paprika
     thyme
     black pepper

To make the chicken:

• Remove neck and organ packets from inside chicken.  Rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels and place in (non stick sprayed) crock pot.  (I always line mine with a liner for easy clean up)
• Rub all spices over and inside chicken.
• Cook on low heat 6-8 hours until temperature reaches 180 and meat is falling from the bone.

***Reserve all broth from the bottom of crockpot for soup recipe.  Put in fridge over night***

RECPIE #2
  (Can be made in crockpot or stove top)

You will need:

Broth from above recipe
2 C store bought vegetable or chicken broth (optional)
reserved chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 C pearl barley
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

• Using broth from the crockpot chicken recipe, remove the fat that has settled to the top after having it in the fridge overnight.  Add broth to crockpot (if not enough add some store bought broth as well)
• Add carrots, celery, onion, chicken and thyme.
• Cook in slow cooker 2-3 hours on low. 
• Add barley and continue to cook 1-2 hours until barley is cooked through.
• Season with additional salt and pepper if desired

If preparing on the stove top, add all ingredients except barley and simmer about an hour and then add barley and cook an additional hour on simmer.