One Chicken – Lots of Savings

If you’ve been following our Waste Free Wednesday tips on Facebook then you’ve learnt a thing or two on how to save money with a whole chicken. Firstly we suggested buying a whole chicken and cutting into pieces yourself.    Sure sometimes you might just want to roast some chicken legs but this is a cheaper option with the self-satisfaction of knowing you cut it up yourself.  Lots of You Tube videos to help you along the way. Tip Two suggested slow cooking a whole chicken.  This gives you beautiful poached chicken meat for dinner, soup, lunches and salads, plus a nutritious chicken broth.  Try it with both of these recipes – Slow Cooker Rosemary and Lemon Chicken and Chicken Mole. Tip Three on how to use the whole chicken.  Start with Sunday night roast dinner and then turn it into at least four meals. Start with eating the breasts on Sunday night with lots of roasted vegies.  Always eat the white breast meat first as it can dry out too much if you try and reheat it. Monday night we are using thigh & drumstick.  Add some oil to the pan and reheat skin side down.  This makes the skin even crispy doing it this way.  Serve with some brown rice and lots of greens saute with garlic and ginger.  When dinner is finished and you have all your bones, pull the rest of the meat off the chicken carcass and get your chicken stock on.  Place some carrot, celery, onion and bay leaves into the bottom of your slow cooker, add all your bones, a tbsp of apple cider vinegar, cover with water and simmer on low overnight. Tuesday and Wednesday night we are using the amazing chicken broth you made with either a soup or risotto.  For the soup you might like to try Parsnip, Bacon & Thyme Soup or Sausage, Spinach & White Bean Soup.  So many great risotto recipes to choose from but here a two simple ones Chorizo and Pea Risotto or Chicken and Mushroom. Whatever you choose to do first will depend on your families schedule that week. Don’t forget to freeze any leftover chicken stock. So you can see how one Free Range Whole Chicken can satisfy your family for the week. Enjoy