3 for 1 deal – AMAZING

Ok so you may think I went on a shopping spree but I didn’t. I managed to make 3 different meals out of 1.  You may be asking how in the heck did I manage that, and how can you do that. Well I will tell you what I did and how it worked for my family. Remember we are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids (3 kids if you count littlest monkey - but he isn't eating solids just yet).

Wednesday night I took one of the whole chickens I got from Costco out of the freezer and stuck it in the fridge to defrost. On Thursday morning I washed it off (I have a habit for washing all of my meat before I use it), buttered and seasoned it up and stuck it in the crock pot with about 1 cup of water.  We served this with rice and green beans and it was a BIG hit with my kids and my husband. After we had our fill I saw I had a good amount of chicken left and a whole carcass that I could do something with.

Well I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the drippings from the crock pot – make chicken broth to freeze for later use.  I make a lot of things that require chicken broth. Why not have my own to use, and the best part is I know what is in it because I put it there.

Friday afternoon I took that drippings out of the fridge, added some water and boiled for about an hour. After this I decided I should just make chicken noodle soup instead of pure chicken broth. That would be a good dinner during the summer months and I wouldn’t even have to turn the stove on. So I pulled out all of the chicken and the carcass (that still had plenty of chicken attached to the bones) and plopped it into the boiling broth mixture. I also added another 6 cups of water and let it boil for another hour.  I then strained the meat and broth mixture – putting the broth into a huge bowl and the chicken/bones into a strainer. I picked out the bones and dumped the chicken back into broth and put it back into the pan where I let it heat once again. I cut up my veggies and put those (along with healthy wheat noodles) into the broth and let it cook for another 30 minutes.  I served with homemade bread (thanks to my new bread machine) and we had our second meal from the 1 whole chicken.

How you must be wondering how I got a 3^rd meal from this one meal. Well I have a HUGE pot leftover of all chicken noodle soup. I can’t can the noodle soup because of the noodles, they would just suck up all the broth and I would have canned noodles and chicken but no soup. I am letting the soup cool down some and then I will put them into loaf pans to place in the freezer to freeze. Once they are frozen I will take them out of the loaf pans and place into freezer bags and put back into the freezer for use another time.

I could have taken the chicken soup mixture and canned it before I placed the noodles into the mixture but I am still new to the whole canning thing and I wasn’t confident enough in my canning skills to can this item. You have to be very careful when canning soups (and other things) because if you don’t do it correctly you can risk your life or the lives of those who eat your preserved food. Botulism is a very dangerous bacterium that is completely invisible and odorless so you wouldn’t know if it was in your food because you didn’t can it properly. So till I know more about my pressure canner I will stick with the freezing for later use.

So that is how I got 3 full meals from one $5.00 whole chicken. Let’s take into consideration the rice and green beans I served the first meal with, and the homemade bread I made with the second meal (and the veggies in the soup) the total cost came to about $15 – or $5 per meal (or $1.25 a person).  Honestly I think I can get a 4^th meal out of the soup because there is so much left over. If I can get a 4^th meal out of it that will take the cost down to $3.75 a meal or $0.93 a person. WOW, WHAT A DEAL. =)

Below you will find the recipes to the above meals.  This is how I cook my food and you can easily substitute one seasoning for another or add a little more or less. Do what works with for your family. This is just a general guide on how I do things.

CROCK POT CHICKEN

1 whole fryer chicken

Butter (about 3 tablespoons)

Seasons you like (I use salt and pepper, Johnny’s seasoning salt, and Mrs. Dash Chicken seasoning)

1 cup of water

Rinse off chicken and coat with butter and place seasoning over butter. Dump 1 cup of water into the crock pot and place the whole chicken over it. Replace the lid and turn the crock pot onto low. Let cook for 8 to 10 hours.  Save the drippings from the crock pot for the chicken noodle soup.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Leftover chicken from the crock pot chicken

Whole chicken carcass (bones)

3 cups cut celery

3 cups cut carrots

4 sliced potatoes (peeled)

1 onion

Salt and Pepper and other seasonings you like

About 16 cups water

Take the drippings you saved from the crock pot chicken from the fridge and skim the top layer of fat from the drippings. Pour the drippings into a large pot (I used a 10qt pot) and about 16 cups of water into the pan and let boil for about an hour. Take the chicken and carcass from the fridge and put it into the boiling water. You can use this time to cut your veggies (or do as I do and pre-cut them and place them into the freezer for later use). Lower the heat to medium and after another hour you will want to strain the broth and chicken mixture so you can pick out all of the bones. Once you pulled all the bones out of the mixture combine the chicken and the broth back into your pot with your veggies. Then season the soup to taste with whatever seasonings you like (I used Johnny’s and Salt and Pepper). After about 30 minutes (still on a medium/low heat so not to boil over)you want to add your noodles (we used rotini wheat noodles) and let the mixture simmer/boil for about another 30 minutes. Once the noodles are soft your soup is ready to eat.

Let the soup cool and place into loaf pans (large muffin tins work too) and place the pan into the freezer – make sure the pan is level. Once the soup is frozen remove from the pan and place into freezer bags (I use the vacuum-seal bags by Ziplock.  When you are ready to use take the frozen items out of the freezer and you can defrost during the day or you can place the frozen mixture into a pot and let it defrost while you heat on low.

I hope you enjoy today's blog. If you have any questions just post a comment and I will get back to you.

Step in the right direction =)

On Sunday Hubby and I went grocery shopping and let me tell you we did great. We went to Costco and purchased bulk meats, I am sure it will feed the family for a few months. If you shop at Costco (Sam's Club, BJ's or any warehouse type place) you will know the deals are good but you sure don't want to freeze 12 pork chops or 6 pounds of ground hamburger all together (unless you are feeding a family of 10). So what can I do to make things easier for me later - split it up and freeze it in individual bags. My two freezer bags of choice are the Vacuum-Seal Bags by Ziplock and the Seal-a-Meal vacuum system. I am also a fan of Tupperware Vent n' Serve for my leftover.

After sorting out all of the meats into more reasonable family sizes I put them in my chest freezer (if possible you really should look into getting one).  However, I left out a few pounds of hamburger to cook up and season before freezing. Once you cook and season your meat to your liking make sure you drain the meat and let it cool down, then you want to place it into your freezer container and freeze for later use. This will save you time when you want to have a good home cooked meal but you are short on time. This is a good option for Taco nights, just cook the hamburger up with taco seasoning and freeze. Just put the container in the fridge to defrost the morning (or night before) you want Tacos, heat it up before dinner and you have a yummy taco dinner in 1/2 the time.  Below you will find a recipe for an easy meal that is a favorite in my house.

2lbs season ground beef
1 10 oz can of cream of mushroom soup
1 1/4 cup of milk
3 cups of dry rice

You should have already precooked your hamburger so defrost it the morning you use it and warm up in a skillet with the mushroom soup and milk. If you don't want a thick mixture add a little more cream of mushroom and milk.

Cook your 3 cups of rice according to the directions on the package.

Serve the meat and mushroom mixture over the cooked rice. This feeds my family of 4 and like I said it is a favorite in our house.

On our same shopping trip to Costco we purchased some onions and other veggies that we use all of the time. We cut up a few onions and sealed them in a freezer bag and placed in the freezer. This way when I need onions all I have to do it pull them out of the freezer and add to my dish.

I know it doesn't sound like much of a start but hey a city girl has to start somewhere.

New Frugal Mom - this will be fun.

Our family has gone through so many (amazing) changes in the 3 years. We have moved from Washington State to Virginia, Derick and I got married, and the biggest change of all (as if a cross country move wasn't big enough) Derick is no longer in the Army, and we had a baby 5 months ago. With all of these new changes in our life why not make a few more - healthy, simple, frugal living.

I am learning to can some of our food. I am going to start freezing meals ahead of time, and this spring I am going to start a garden. Who would have though I would ever start a garden. I guess the biggest question is will it actually grow and will I get anything from it? I do not have the best green thumb, I am more skilled at killing all things plant related. 

I am starting this blog for everyone who is just like me and would like to learn how to can, freeze, garden, or get a good laugh at a city girl trying to live simple and frugal. =)  So stay tunes, check back in, and enjoy learning how to live frugal through my mistakes (and I am sure there will be plenty of them). I also love to cook yummy meals for my family, so I will try and have recipes that work for our family, but do not break the bank to make.