(I know I'm on a bit of a food kick here lately... I think it's because of all the good fresh food we've been having. Not to mention that I just love food. A lot.)
When Davey and I first married, I freaked him out a little when I boiled and deboned various cuts of chicken to make a pot of soup for dinner. He had never seen it done before, and thought it was strange (he has since become a fan). I thought it was strange that he thought it was strange. I’ve been deboning cooked chicken for chicken and dumplings, soup, etc, since I was old enough to pull up a chair to the counter. In fact, as a kid, it was a job that I really disliked. As I got older though, and had to pay for my own grocery bill, I understood why my frugal mother cooked this way. I know that for a lot of people the only chicken they use is the boneless/skinless tenderloins/breasts, or maybe those precooked strips in the freezer section. I love me some tenderloins, and there are some meals I make that practically require that particular cut of chicken. But when you think about it, that's like the filet mignon of chicken. When we started raising chickens of our own, I really started to consider the whole bird in terms of food. Do you know how many chickens have to die to make one package of tenderloins or breasts? (hint: there's only 2 per bird) What about all the rest of the chicken? Cheaper cuts of chicken or beef can have a huge impact on both the quality and quantity of food I can cook for our family each week. And with only one income, and 2 kids in diapers, well… that’s pretty darn important.
Last week at the store I found a 6 and a half pound whole chicken on for a little over 4 dollars. You can bet I snatched that baby up. When I got it home and got ready to cook it, I was all prepared to throw it in the stock pot and get a few meals out of it… but then I realized how big this bird was. It seemed a waste to only boil it. So, in a fit of culinary frenzy, I decided to stuff it, roast it, and make all the trimmings. It was like Thanksgiving in May! I only had box stuffing, which was a little disappointing, but still pretty good. I greased the bird lightly with shortening, seasoned it with garlic, thyme and paprika, and cooked it for about 3 and a half hours. Along with gravy, (real) mashed potatoes, and green beans (and of course homemade biscuits!), this fed us VERY well for 3 days. Today I boiled what was left into a gorgeous broth and deboned what chicken was left and wound up with enough to make 2 more meals, both of which will most likely last us at least 2 days each. So that’s 7 days of eating out of 1 chicken. Not too shabby! Not to mention delicious!
I know that cooking is quite a challenge for some, and I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who cooked regularly and well – mostly due to my wonderful great-grandmother, who, hands down made the best fried chicken on the planet – but learning to cook can be a real budget saver. Not to mention tasty and nutritious. The simple fact is this: good food doesn’t have to be expensive!
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