Saturday, November 14, 2009

Chicken Four Ways

I have been finding ways to make my grocery dollar go further, and so I thought I'd share a fairly simple one. The other day, I roasted a chicken. It cost about $5. It was enough meat for one meal for our family of four, with some left over for one more meal. I made a casserole later in the week with the leftovers. I took the drippings from the roast and made about 2 pints of gravy, which I saved in the freezer. I boiled the bones in water with onion, celery, carrot and crushed garlic, along with some vinegar and seasonings, for most of the day, and made a half gallon of rich delicious broth. This can be strained and used immediately for a soup, or frozen or canned. I used some for soup, and the rest for a delicious risotto later in the week. Altogether, I used the chicken as a main dish twice, I used the broth for two hearty side dishes, and I have a supply of gravy on hand for open faced sandwiches for a lunch or quick dinner.
Here's a quick cost comparison:

My cost for the chicken: $5.

Cost of a half gallon of broth in a box: at least $6.
Cost of two chicken dinners for a family of four: $30-$40.
Cost of 2 pints of gravy: $8.

Savings: about $49

Hope this inspires you to make that roast! It goes a long way!

1 comment:

  1. Sounds delicious! I will definitely try to make that broth... but please let me know which seasonings to use because if it's not salt, pepper, or curry... I'm clueless. Laura

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