Chicken stretching

After a sweaty tough workout, the best thing for a chicken to do is stretch! Into about 6 meals that is :)
Yesterday I plum lucked out at Kroger and found 2 whole chickens for $0.64 a lb! That meant that for the 5.78 lb chicken I cooked today, I paid $3.70. This is under what I would pay for 1 package of boneless chicken breasts. I decided to stretch this yummy little chick to its fullest by following a few steps from Heavenly Homemakers and their advice on stretching a chicken to make 6 meals. We will be shooting for 6 between 2 adults (not 6 like them...we like our protein!). Here is the way I've done this. Lather, rinse, repeat....I mean use as you see fit.

Tuesday-7:00 am-Put the chicken in the crockpot with 1 cup of water and poultry seasoning and turned on low. Arrived home from work smelling the lovely chicken all ready to go. I took the chicken out on a platter and took off ALL the chicken from the bones (we do not discriminate in our house...we like the light and dark meat equally) and put it in a bowl.
Put all the bones, skin, and any additional scraps back into the crockpot with all the stuff that had initially fallen off the chicken before I pulled it out and filled the crockpot to the top with water. Add a few bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic, and half an onion. Leave on low for 12 hours. Refridgerate during time I'm at work to allow fat to rise so I can scrape it off. Then pour through strainer into another pot to catch the bones/scraps.
Bam! All chicken and broth are ready to go!

Now for the good stuff! The meal plans...links are included for all the recipes :)
Our chicken provided about 3.5 lbs of meat and about 6 quarts of broth.
Tuesday-Chicken alfredo pizzas-1/2 lb meat
Wednesday Dinner-Chicken and Gnocchi soup-3 quarts of broth and no meat (the soup has the bits left from making the stock in it which is more than enough)
Thursday Lunch-Chicken and Gnocchi soup-repeat :)
Thursday Dinner-Chicken fajitas-1.5 lbs of meat since I'll be using some for the chicken salad tomorrow
Friday Lunch-Chicken taco salad-some of the meat from last night's meal
Friday Dinner-Chicken Tortilla Soup-1/2 lb of meat and 3 quarts of stock
Sunday Dinner-Cheesy Chicken, Rice, and Brocolli casserole-1 lb of meat

That uses all 3.5 lbs of meat and 6 quarts of stock in one week. Sure we'll be chickened out, but what better way to use in a variety of recipes throughout the week. All for the low low cost of $.16 per serving of the dish with meat. Sure can't beat the price on that!

Ice Ice Baby

It has been an interesting week here in Indy! We are covered in ICE!!!! About 2-6 inches of ice has completely covered every surface in sight...which also means snow/ice days. We've been off school since Monday!! Although I am excited to have this unexpected vacation for my birthday, I am also starting to get stir crazy! I'm hoping to be able to go out tonight with my family for my birthday dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (SALAD BAR....HOLLA!!!!).

On to the real reason I am posting from inside my ice shelter...savings! I am one of the intelligent people who made the decision to go to the grocery store the weekend prior to what is being called Snowmagedon 2011...instead of the night before. I have weeks worth of food and a good most of it I got for free or under $1 thanks to some great sales at Kroger and coupons. I am linking up with Cait @theblessedlife to participate in her How much can I save in a year link up. I do not have the kind of planning or patience to be able to calculate how much I can save in a year....needless to say my response of "a lot" will suffice for the time being. I will however be participating every month by posting some of the best deals I've gotten for the month and a savings tip I find valuable. So here goes January!

All of these were part of the Mega Event Sale that gave you $5 off instantly when you bought 10 items (You must by in sets of 10....I bought 20)

(9) Honest Tea $.75 each- (9) $.50/1 coupons (my store doubles)=9 free +$2.25 overage

(2) Birdseye Steamfresh veggies -$1.49 each-$.50/2 coupon (doubled)=$.99 each

(1) Lean Pockets $1.60-$.50/1 coupon (doubles)=$.60 each

Silk Pure Almond Milk $1.99-$1/1 coupon=$.99

(3) Kraft 2% Milk Singles $1.49 each- (3) $1/1 coupons=$.49 each

Other sales

Wholey Guacamole $1.99-$1/1 coupon=$.99

(2) Helper products (chicken and hamburger) $1 each - (2) $.50/1 coupons (double)=2 FREE

(3) Tyson Anytizers $5.99 each -(3) $1/1 coupons=$4.99 each (Thats a $5 savings each off regular price!)

(9) Yoplait yogurts $.50 each -(2) $.50/4 coupons (double) and (1) Free cup coupon=about $.22 a cup

Plus: Free chocolate milk WYB Gallon of white milk

Ok now for a savings tip from the single girl. In order to maximize my budget at the grocery, I only buy marked down meat or poultry (or extremely good sales). In August, I found ground beef on markdown for about $.50/lb. What a great price! So I bought 20 lbs of it....$10. I came home and broke it up into 3 different size packages (1/2 lb, 3/4 lb, and 1 lb). I just finished my last package last week. I do the same with chicken and pork too. A few weeks ago I found boneless chicken thighs marked down to $.75/lb. I bought 5 packages for about $10. Just think of the stews, soups, and baked chicken dishes I can make with these. Yes I can't always predict what meat is going to be marked down, but I can plan all my meals around it. I might go a couple dollars over my grocery budget, but like the ground beef, I won't have to buy it again for several months. That kind of savings really adds up for me over the long run! It has allowed me to cut my grocery budget down to $10 or less some weeks. I am also planning on trying to spend $40 for the month of March by using stockpile stuff up and only buying fresh produce and dairy products. Hopefully I'll be able to do it!

Works for Me Wednesday

Yet another week of simple works for me Wednesdays! Today's work...crock pot cooking!

This is my crock pot...ie my life saver! I love making soups, stews, slow cooked meats in this buddy. I figured I would share my favorite crock pot recipe with you today since it's worked for me many times. Share your favorite crock pot recipes in the comments!

Easy Crock Pot Lasagna

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
32 oz jar pasta sauce of choice
8 oz bag egg noodles, cooked and drained
16 oz cottage cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Mix beef and pasta sauce. Mix noodles, cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese. Layer 1/3 of the beef mixture, follow with 1/2 the noodle mixture in crock pot. Repeat layers, ending with beef mixture. Sprinkle as much parmesan as you want. Cover crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours. This tastes great with a green salad and garlic bread!

I also want to wish a very happy birthday to my mom! I'm lucky to have such a wonderful woman in my life! Happy birthday Mom!

Mark down Madness!

I stopped at Kroger today on my way home to pick up some chicken tenders so I could make boneless wings for the Colts game tonight. I ended up coming out with about $12 in extremely good mark downs!

2 half gallons of egg nog-$.40 each

2 organic Caesar salad kits-$1.49 each

2 packages of huge portabella mushroom caps-$1.49 each

Mozzarella cheese-$1.99

4 pack of chibatta bread $1.19

Lays Garden Tomato and Basil chips $1.99 on sale through Wednesday (THESE ARE THE MOST DELICIOUS CHIPS I'VE EVER HAD!!!!)

All in all my extra purchases cost me $11.93, but probably saved me quite a bit in the long run. Here is my plan to incorporate these into meals.

Freeze the egg nog and use during winter break.

Take the salad for lunch tomorrow and Wednesday and add some of the leftover chicken from my baked whole chicken last week for some protein.

I will marinate the mushrooms since their sell by date isn't until the 4th in some balsamic vinegar and grill them with some chicken later this week.

Add some sliced tomatoes and basil from the garden to the cheese to make some caprese salad as an after school snack a couple days this week.

Bread for sandwiches tomorrow night for dinner (with soup) and on Thursday and Friday at school.

My plan is for the chips to make it throughout the week as a salty addition to my lunch, but the Colts game is on tonight so I'm not going to hold my breath. I'll probably go get another bag to be perfectly honest.

Be on the lookout for markdowns on your next shopping trip!

Quick cooking

Hello lovely readers! I have to admit that amidst all of the hectic days lately, I've been wanting to share some struggles I'm having. Busy does not even begin to describe how life gets during soccer season. I'm eating horribly or not at all (well cereal counts right...) because I'm getting home so late from soccer. I have tried freezer meals (homemade and store bought), but even that seems to be a struggle at times. When my life is normal, I tend to take my leftovers as my lunch the next day. I have bought the fixings for some delicious sandwiches, which have unfortunately remained in my refrigerator since I NEVER wake up early enough to tackle this in the morning. I've resulted to taking soup for lunch or making the quick trip to the Subway right around the corner from school for a scrumptious $5 foot long. With saving so much more for retirement this year, I cannot afford to do the Jared diet too often. I've been getting some great deals at the store lately (when I actually have time to go) and I want to take advantage of my creativity to incorporate fall veggies into meals! I just can't seem to figure out healthy options that take limited amounts of cooking time for maximum flavor. So today I decided while watching football to tackle all the resources that I have for advice. Here are just a few of my solutions. Feel free to share some other ideas for healthy eating with limited time and money.
1. Crock pot meals-my quick fixes for the next 2 weeks will be 2 different chicken recipes and one for pot roast. One chicken breast, 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup teriaki, and 1 cup mixed stir fry veggies. One chicken breast, 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous, 1/3 cup water, 3 cloves garlic (smashed), 2 sprigs of rosemary, 6 mushrooms, sliced. 1 pot roast, 1/2 cup water, 1 potato in chunks, 1 carrot, sliced, 1 onion, chunked. All can be cooked on low for 6 hours.
2. Macaroni Grill and Bird's Eye Voila frozen meals-I personally love the Chicken Florentine(MG) and shrimp scampi (Voila). Both are delicious! I used $1.50 off coupons to get the MG ones for about $4.00 each. I used $1 off coupons to get the Voila ones for about $2.50 each. I can definitely get dinner and a lunch out of 1 of these.
3. Weekend cooking-Over make weekend meals then package them up in individual portions for the whole week. Throw some yogurt, string cheese, or a fruit cup in the lunch bag for a well balanced meal.
4. Quick cook recipes from cookbooks and my Food TV magazines. I love Rachael Ray....that being said, I have a number of her 30 minute meal cookbooks. I've used post it flags to mark some of my favorite recipes that I can make in 30 minutes or less. I was also fortunate enough to receive a one year subscription to Food TV magazine using points from My Coke Rewards. I am about to extend this as a paid subscription because it is such a wonderful magazine...plus I got an offer to get the whole year for just $5 that I couldn't pass up. Food Network also has a database of all their recipes online. You can just enter the ingredients you have on hand and it will find a meal for you.

What resources do you use to try new meals with limited time and a limited budget?