This
weekend, in my quest for a decent price on a gallon of milk, I found a gem of a
price on a whole chicken. I wasn’t looking for chicken but flexibility is
critical in being a frugal shopper and family cook.
With skyrocketing
prices of meats, to find a whole chicken at .79/lb is a real bargain. Prices of
meat have increased so much that some message boards that I’ve been reading
indicate families are now reducing the number of times per week they eat meat.
I have two
favorite methods of cooking whole chickens. Each recipe requires the chicken be
split in half. It does not require fancy equipment. A knife and a cutting board
will do just fine.
One method
is to place the chicken with its skin removed in a crock pot with sliced onions
and BBQ sauce. From there, the recipes vary from chopped or pulled chicken on oversized
hamburger buns or as lettuce wraps. The cooked meat can be used with cheese in tortillas
for chicken and cheese quesadillas. Maybe a side dish of black beans and rice
on the side?
Another
favorite is roasting the chicken halves (freeze the other half for another dinner
or if serving a family of 4, use the entire chicken) in my toaster oven. I like
to season it with either lemon pepper and rosemary or I keep a selection of
marmalades on hand such as apricot, orange or pineapple and coat the chicken in
marmalade, season with pepper and roast at 425 degrees.
Both dinners
require little preparation and even less supervision. This will free up time
for this busy lady to move onto another household chore!
SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Multi-task. Try to find
meals to prepare that don’t require much oversight so you can spend your
valuable time on another task. Meal preparation is quickest when the recipes have
as few ingredients as possible. Chicken + marmalade+ pepper or chicken + onions
+ BBQ sauce. Not only does a recipe with fewer ingredients save you time, it
will save you money.
A PLUMP 5 LB CHICKEN
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CUT OUT THE BACKBONE AND SPREAD CHICKEN FLAT
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DIVIDE THE CHICKEN IN HALF BY CUTTING DOWN THE MIDDLE
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