FRUGAL FOOD SHOPPING - Chicken
Last week one of the grocery stores had the real nice skinless, boneless chicken breasts for $2.40 a breast. My local grocery had chicken breasts with skin & rib for 88 cents a pound. I bought two packages of the 88 cent chicken for a total of $8, including tax.
I came home and skinned and deboned the two packages I had purchased. I ended up with 8 really nice boneless, skinless chicken breasts which I wrapped individually in foil and put in the freezer. I had thrown all the skin in the garbage as I was preparing these. Then I took all the bones, with the chicken pieces that were on the bones, and put them in a pot and covered with water and boiled them. I lifted the chicken pieces out and after letting them cool enough to handle I pulled all the meat off the bones.
I put the broth in the refrigerator to cool and let the fat come to the top and then lifted off the fat.
For my $8 investment I ended up with: 8 chicken breasts, 5 cups of defatted chicken broth, and 4 cups of chicken pieces. I divided the 4 cups of chicken into 3 containers and froze them. The 8 breasts at the $2.40 a breasts would have cost me $20.90, including tax. I saved $12.90 and ended up with the 5 cups of broth and 4 cups of chicken extra. An example of the frugal lifestyle.
Sorry I didn't get any pictures of all this.......I was too busy to remember them!
14 comments:
Now that's what I call frugal. That's always wise to cool the broth so you can get the fat off. I don't prefer the breast of chicken, but this sounds like a winner.
That's a great idea! I do that only with whole chickens. I cook the whole chicken, then rather than always having a "chicken dinner", I debone, boil the bones & use the meat for casseroles, stir frys or other meals.
Yesterday, we bought a big long piece of pork loin(?) which we'll cut into a bunch of chops, cubes for stir frying, etc. The pork was about $20; right next to it was a pack of about 8 pork chops for $17. We definately bought the better deal!
Thanks for sharing!
~ Leanne
I do something very similar with the whole chicken. I usually cook the whole thing in the crock pot and then pull off the meat to freeze. Its so nice to have cooked chicken in the freezer to pull out in a flash!
Keep these coming!
That's getting the most out of that chicken and your food dollars. Just curious, but do you pay tax on food?
Here in CA, it's one of the very few things that are NOT taxed!
xo
Awesome! Any tips on deboning them? I saw LA's about just cooking the whole thing and then deboning (maybe I should try that). I have a funny thing about touching raw chicken, but 12.90 is definitely worth it! :)
Thanks for the advice.
Shirley
This is a wonderful lesson on how to get the most out of your chicken. Lately, I have been getting great deals on "reduced for quick sale" chicken thighs (we hit the jackpot when we went shopping early Saturday!!) I can't believe I used to only buy bags of boneless, skinless, breasts.
Oh goodness, your comment about using half honey for the syrup sounds DELICIOUS!!!!!
Jack and I eat a lot of chicken and are most happy if we can get breast on sale. I also prefer to make my own broth. There is so much you can do with chicken.
This is a great idea. I need to do it more often. I am guilty of buying the boneless skinless chicken because it is easier. But you way is much better.
thank you for sharing your frugal tips with us. i'll be honest, i'm not so frugal. just not the way my brain works. so i appreciate the tips.
And you'll enjoy that chicken all the more knowing it was so economical!
I am making a poster with your idea Susan. I really liked it.
"Values That Matter"
McCain/Palin"
Brilliant!
And you're right about the slow weight loss - a pound a week is a good thing.
Yay! This is a wonderful frugal deal that also left you content!!!
Simple is as simple does!
Great job on the chicken!
I just bought two whole chickens at a great price. I boiled one of them and used the broth for Tortilla soup. I had enough chicken meat for the soup and for chicken enchiladas.
I'm really not a great cook. (So I was pleased that the family liked the soup and enchiladas.)
What a great idea Susan! You don't want to know how much I spend weekly on chicken breasts! Ugh!!! I'll try to be more thrifty.
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