Thrifty Thursday

One sure way I've learned to be frugal is in the kitchen. While I love my boneless, skinless chicken breasts for ease and convenience, they don't score high on the frugal scale. If you're willing to put in a little work, buy using a whole chicken, you can get three good meals from one bird. I once heard it called "stretchy chicken" because it stretches out over days of cooking.

3 Day Chicken
(using a whole roaster... currently $.69/lb at local discount store)

Day 1: Roasted chicken
1. Roast chicken in oven with olive oil and seasonings. Serve breasts and legs with salad and fresh bread.
2. Pick all meat off the bones and separate into two containers.
3. Keep carcass for tomorrow.

Day 2: Chicken Soup
1. Boil carcass with garlic, onion, carrots, and celery to make your own stock. You could also put all ingredients in crock pot and cover with water the evening of day one and cook on low all night. When you wake up, the stock would be ready.
2. Remove bones and drain stock. Discard vegetables.
3. In bottom of dutch oven, add chopped carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to olive oil and saute.
4. Add leftover chicken and stock. Simmer for 1 hr.
5. Add cooked noodles before serving.

Day 3: Chicken and rice
1. Prepare yellow rice as directed, bring to a boil.
2. Add remaining leftover chicken and small package of frozen peas.
3. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is fluffy.


The possibilities are really endless depending upon what you're family enjoys at mealtime. You could a chicken spaghetti, tetrazzini, chicken and dumplings, etc. The main goal is to make good use of what you have!

Find more Thrifty Thursday ideas at Generation Cedar.