Stretching Chicken

Or- how I make a Chicken last for 3+ meals.

Right now, it is just Mr. Sweet and I eating 'real' food. The baby is still only really eating banana, avocado, sweet potato, carrots, etc..
It is really nice when I can make something that will allow for leftovers. The problem is that Mr. Sweet is not really a 'leftover' kind of guy in the traditional sense. BUT, if I can change up the leftovers into someone new and exciting, well then! Now we are talking!

Right now we don't have a farm-source for free range, organic chicken. We would love to, but for now Whole Foods is our go-to place. It is SO much cheaper to buy a whole chicken than chicken breasts, and I like the flavor so much better. Don't get me wrong- there really isn't anything 'cheap' about free-range, organic chicken, but they are raised sans GMO's, and in our house that is worth the extra expense.

Making a chicken last 3 meals is pretty easy, and goes something like this:

Meal 1) Roasted Chicken
Meal 2) Casserole/Tacos/ something with chicken as an ingredient
Meal 3) Chicken Soup

This might be common knowledge to you, but I am new to this game. In the past I could afford boneless, skinless chicken breasts for every meal because I was buying my chicken breast for $1.99 a pound. The free range chicken breast at Whole Foods, however, are about $9.00 a pound. Holy Hannah! So I had to change up my game plan.

In these recipes (more like guidelines) I think it is important to buy quality chicken because you are squeezing every last nutrient and mineral out of that sucker!

Day 1- Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

1 Free Range, Organic Chicken
1 Lemon
1 bunch Parsley
1 bulb Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
3 Baking Potatoes

1) Rinse and pat your chicken dry. I hate doing this- I think it is messy and gross, but you have to do what you have to do.
2) Rub Mrs. Chicken down, inside and out, with a good tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle her with salt
3) Cut the top and bottom off the bulb of garlic, exposing the ends of the cloves. Put that in the chicken's cavity, as well as the parsley. Squeeze the lemon into the cavity and put the rinds in there too.
4) Cut the potatoes lengthwise into about 8 sections. Drizzle with a tiny but of olive oil so they don't dry out.
5) Place Mrs. Chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up, and put the potatoes in a single layer around her.
6) Bake at 375 for about 1 hour and 15 minuets. This will all depend on the size of your chicken. A good test is when you cut between the breast and the thigh, the juices run clear.
7) Eat because you have just create chicken and potato magic! The potatoes get golden brown in the juices of the chicken, and the garlic, parsley, and lemon inside the cavity give the meat a wonderful flavor.

We both eat as much roasted chicken as we can and have plenty for 2 more meals. After dinner, pick all the rest of the meat of of the bones and divide into two portions. Set aside in the fridge about 1 cup for Meal 3, and the rest for Meal 2. Put the carcass into the fridge for the next day (or start the stock now!)

Day 2 - Chicken Casserole / Tacos / etc, and start the Chicken Stock

Day 2 is pretty much for any recipe that uses already cooked chicken. We usually use Day 2's chicken on top of a big salad for dinner. In addition to making dinner for this evening, I start my stock, which I make in a crock pot. You can also add in any chicken bones from other meals you may have had. I keep a gallon sized zip lock bag in my freezer and add to it when I can.

Crock Pot Stock:

1 Chicken, picked clean
2 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Water

1) Put the chicken in a crock pot. I usually start this around noon or so
2) Add the vinegar and cover with as much water as possible
3) Set on low and leave for 24 hours

EASY!

Day 3- Chicken Soup

Okay- so now you have a crock pot full of Chicken Stock all ready to go and using only leftovers! I strain it into a pot using a fine mesh sieve and throw away the bones. I have been told you can re-use these bones and make another pot of stock, but I haven't tried that before.
Because there is only 2 of us eating, I pour some stock into a large mason jar to keep in the fridge for other recipes, instead of making soup of all of the stock.

Chicken and Rice Soup:

3/4 recipe of Crock Pot Stock
1 cup reserved chicken
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup basmati rice
2 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Boil rice in 2 cups of water until almost cooked. Drain
2) Boil the carrots and celery in the stock until tender
3) Add drained rice and chicken
4) Simmer another 5-10 minutes until rice is fully cooked
5) Season with salt and pepper. The original stock does not have any salt, so we usually use quite a bit to get the taste correct.

I like to serve this with homemade no-knead bread. I will post that recipe next week.

There you go! 3 days of different meals with 1 chicken! Next time I will have pictures... I swear!