Getting 3 meals out of 1 chicken
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
United States
November 7, 2012 10:53am CST
I bought a whole chicken when I went shopping. I roasted it yesterday and put it in the fridge to get cold. This morning I took the chicken all off the bone and put the bones and skin back in the pot to boil the clinging meat from the bones. I added potatoes and carrots. I also cooked up some pinto beans and added them to the soup.
I made biscuits and gravy this morning and I had a good bit of gravy left so I added it to the soup also. I divided the meat from the chicken into thirds. I added one-third of the meat to the soup and the other 2 thirds I wrapped in foil to be used for two other meals.
I will serve this soup tonight with cornbread. What is on the menu at your house tonight?
When I make a pan of stuffing, I cut it in bald for two meals. When I make meatloaf I do the same thing. I made chili the other day and put 2 containers full in the freezer. I made a stew out of it last night by adding 3 leftover baked potatoes to it. I just peeled off the jackets and cut the potatoes up and that was really good. I'm not throwing anything away that can be used.
I even save the baked potato jackets and add cheese and broil them until the cheese starts to turn brown. They are a good treat. I don't have cheese right now so I froze the jackets until I have the cheese to put on them.
6 people like this
28 responses
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
7 Nov 12
I do the same thing here. Love it when a meal goes along way. I made chicken tacos, chicken grilled salad, and chicken burritos out of one chicken. I paid like 3.00 for the chicken here. So I was really happy to eat 3 times off it. have a great day there. i sure am here.
@manleyjoe (1597)
• United States
7 Nov 12
That is what we do around here and anytime you can fix a meal for a $1.00 it has to be good. I use a slow cooker a lot and the meals seem so god and by outting a few veggies in it makes it more nutritious, I think.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
7 Nov 12
I don't know what happened to my slow cooker. It may be in the basement, or it might have been left at the other house when we moved here. Ill have to ask SIL to go down into the basement and look for it. I cook on low heat and then store in the fridge until I'm ready to heat it back up and serve it.
I have to find ways to conserve also. When SIL shops he just gets pot pies, raveoli, and those dollar meals and other stuff. We always ran out. So I'm trying to prove I can do better by cooking real meals.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157918)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Those real meals taste so satisfying and the smell is great. I hope your son in law finally grows up and gets some sense in his head. My son is marrying a girl who loves to cook and it is great.
@manleyjoe (1597)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Wow that sure does sound good. I did a pork roast a couple days ago and just finished it last night. Roast always seems good even two days old.
It sounds as if you are making good use of your limited means, no help from the high prices. You keep up the work and I'm sure you will come up with some other good ideas for leftovers.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
7 Nov 12
I get some really good ideas here. Oh I love pork roast. I like to pull it and add BBQ sauce to it too.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157918)
• United States
7 Nov 12
When we get a good buy on it we buy a pork loin roast. We cook it in the crock pot with a big can of refried beans and about 24 oz. of salsa. When it is done we pull it and use this pork dish to fill tacos or roll in tortillas or on top of potatoes, or rice or pasta. You would never guess there are beans in it and it is perfectly seasoned and tender. Of course these instructions are for a really large one. You can use a small can of beans and about 16 oz. salsa in a smaller one.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
This HAS to be one recipe I try. I know my family will love it. Thanks GG!
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
7 Nov 12
My sister has gotten me into the habit of really using a chicken. It is like a sin to her to through away a chicken carcass away on a rotisserie chicken right away. You eat the chicken one night, the next night pick some more off to make chicken salad or something similar, then you boil the carcass to make stock for chicken soup.
2 people like this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
Yep. That's one way of doing it. My daughter and I will most likely be the only ones to eat it. SIL doesn't like chicken much.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
I do believe I will get by this month much cheaper than before.
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
8 Nov 12
I used to cook like that when my kids were little. Then when they all moved out I pretty much gave up cooking. Now we are all living together again but I'm still not cooking. My daughter has taken over that chore but somehow I never taught her how to do things like that.
1 person likes this
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
9 Nov 12
My son is a picky eater too. His teeth are real bad so he finds fault with just about everything we fix. He says he can't eat it because it makes his teeth hurt. Now his wife and sister also have bad teeth and I don't have any teeth in the top of my mouth and we eat what is fixed so we think he is just making excuses. Anyway he said he wanted some soups and stuff to fix grilled cheese so I bought them for him. When something is fixed that he don't want to eat he goes and makes what he wants. I'll bet you sil makes you and his wife wait on him don't he? 
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
My mom also cooked like I am now. My son in law is picky so if I have something like chicken I try to have an alternative for him. I gave him the left over meatloaf. He didn't even know it was leftovers. I just fixed some instant mashed potatoes with it and he had his favorite supper.
@leeandrew (1225)
• Philippines
8 Nov 12
Wow. that is a whole lot recipes or dish you made for a whole chicken. I wish I could do that too. A whole chicken is just good for one eating in my family co's there are 7 mouths who eats. Plus my family don't like soup, they're more of fried stuff. I am thinking of going shopping again actually, but my only problem is I can't do it alone, I need hubby to accompany me. Shopping center is just too many rides for me.
Glad your enjoying your time as the cook in the family. I love it to be mom and the kitchen in-charge. :))
@leeandrew (1225)
• Philippines
9 Nov 12
Actually yes. But whats a gumbo is? I'm quite interested to learn what that is. That I do too, but this people in the house is just picky eater that bogs me a lot. We do chicken stew here too but just a little bit different form how you guys do it. But what's everyone likes about chicken is when it's fried. hahaha
@sylvia13 (1850)
• Nelson Bay, Australia
8 Nov 12
I must congratulate you, as you seem to be very creative! These are not pointless questions, but useful ones for people like me, who has to cook a few meals a day, as we are three at the moment! Chicken seems to go a long way, doesn't it?
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
My son in law won't earmt chicken, but my daughter and I will. It's really great that we can eat for days. The chicken soup I made will last us 3 days. I just froze the remainder to have another day or two.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
I have my son in law the rest of the meatloaf and my daughter and I had my home made chicken stew.
@Youreyes4Today (2356)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Oh that all sounds so good. Closes eyes and can smell the flavors.. lol
I use to cook like that all the time. It was away to make sure the food money could last the month. The meals we would come up with, now the kids ask me, mom how did you make this soup or that soup. I have to tell them, most of those were made of left overs from the foods that wasn't eaten days before. The flavors from the different items makes the soup unique.
So I tell them, get yourself a nice slow cooker. After a few days of meals cooked, use the left overs for stock in a soup. Place items in slow cooker and let it cook on low for a few hours.. Your home is going to have such a good smell through out the whole home. Then the family will enjoy what you cooked so much more..
They have done this.. 
and have great response from families.
and have great response from families. 1 person likes this
@Youreyes4Today (2356)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Make the foods you are making into those types of dinners.. lol
You can make homemade pot pies, with left overs to.
Fries can be made from potatoes and one can take and mix different things into the burger to make different ones. How do you thing they are coming up with the new flavors at these fast food places..lol
All saves and makes happy faces..
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Yup! I hope to make the food last a lot better than before. My daughter loves my cooking. My SIL likes some stuff I make but he likes a lot of junk food out of a can and burgers and fries. He likes those dollar pot pies and those dollar frozen entrees. I'm trying to break us of that habit.
@much2say (53941)
• Los Angeles, California
8 Nov 12
A whole chicken can go a long way - sounds like you got some good meals outta this one! Our first night with the whole chicken ends up being just chicken pieces to eat along with 2 sides (usually a veggie thing and either rice or pasta). The rest becomes "something" - wherever it fits in during the week. Some become part of soup, some become part of a salad, some might be part of a quick stir fry. You almost can't go wrong with leftover chicken, huh?!
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
You have a good way of making good meals from chicken also. My chicken soup will last us 2 more days. I froze it.
@courtknee525 (3742)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Your soup sounds really yummy! I love the colder weather because my mom will make stews and soups and make cornbread or biscuits to go with it. I'm a huge bread fanatic so anything with biscuits is great to me lol. Your dinner plans are making me hungry already!
Tonight I have to work from 4:30-10:30 so I'm not sure what I'll do for dinner yet. Sometimes I just bring a sandwich and a few snacks with me to eat on break. But for dinner I usually prefer to have something warm. I have some frozen chicken in the freezer so maybe I'll bring that. I'm still not sure yet
1 person likes this
@courtknee525 (3742)
• United States
8 Nov 12
Yummy! I add hot sauce sometimes too, especially in chili. There are a few things my mom makes that are some of my favorites. It's always a good night whenever she makes the dishes I love.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
It is really good soup. I added hot sauce to mine. You are really lucky to have a mom at home that cooks. My daughter lives when I cook.
@squallming (1775)
• Malaysia
8 Nov 12
That is not bad for being able to divide the chicken into accommodating three meals. Maybe you should mention how many person is eating from those meals? As for me, I managed to divide a chicken into five meals. I literally chop the chicken into four parts exclude the neck and the head. The head and the neck is always used to make chicken soups for our fifth meal. So that is like not even two dollars per meal for the whole family as one whole chicken would cost us around six dollars.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
There are 3 in my family but one of my family members doesn't eat chicken. So I give him an alternative which is also going to be leftovers or already was leftovers.
@gpldeguzman (168)
• Qatar
8 Nov 12
This is a great idea on savings and good food. Thanks for sharing. Nowadays, we sholud think on how to spend less for a nutritious yet delicious foods.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
Thanks Gifts. I'm doing pretty good at making the food stretch v
@Mickzrodge1116 (61)
• Philippines
8 Nov 12
We Filipinos, especially the ILOCANO ones are known for being thrifty. With one food, we usually make lots of dishes with it and serve it for the whole day and even keep it for tomorrow so as not to put anything to waste.. Hahahahaha...
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
I do the same. We sometimes eat soup or stew for a whole day.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
Yes I am saving. For me, this is freedom! I want to see how many days I can make the food that I have last. It will be great if $350 can last us a month. I'm trying hard to make that last.
@GardenGerty (157918)
• United States
7 Nov 12
You are coming up with some great ideas for extending your meals. I hate to ever throw anything away. This week for lunches we are eating a soup that we made from leftovers at the end of the summer. It is tasty and filling and nutritious. I like you putting the gravy into the soup it will make it richer tasting. When I was growing up we almost never seemed to have enough food so we used gravy and bread as a filler. I have supper in the crock pot right now. I cut up an onion, then a kielbasa type sausage, on top of that I cut up some apples that I got from the clearance bin and some potatoes from the same source. I have made this before and added a sweet potato. I have roasted it in the oven, but today I wanted something to smell good and cook itself. The three of us should eat at least twice from this.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
I also am not throwing anything away. This will be a habit I keep.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
8 Nov 12
that is what I meant by buying a turkey it is bigger and you can have it even longer.
Tonight was spaghetti home made
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
8 Nov 12
I have a friend in the US that has a family of six and she is so thrifty. She saves money by buying the biggest turkey that she can afford and then gets it cut into two halves. One half is used at Thanksgiving and the other half is kept for Christmas. She swears that it saves so much money as the larger the turkey the cheaper is the price per pound. I think that we all practise different economies that help us to be economical
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
I may buy a turkey but only my daughter and I would eat it. My SIL doesn't like turkey or chicken. He is primarily a beef man.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
8 Nov 12
That's the best way to be frugal these days. I even wash and dry my aluminum foil and use each piece till it falls apart.
@allknowing (130292)
• India
8 Nov 12
With the number in a household shrinking to two or three these days a whole chicken is not necessary for one meal. We all do that. I do it too. I divide the raw chicken, make packets and put them in the freezer. I do that even to cooked food specially when there are guests and I have cooked far too much for that day. Frozen food can be consumed without its quality deteriorating.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
9 Nov 12
Right. I can make a chicken last for a few days because of leftovers for everything I make.
@CookingIsMyPassion (653)
• United States
7 Nov 12
A lot of times I use chicken parts when making soup and boil it bones and all. Then remove everything and use the chicken flavored water as my soup stock starter. Have done the same with a roasted chicken too.
I usually let it sit out for 20 minutes to cool and remove the meat from the bones when it is still warm. It slips off the bones faster.
Can only split a chicken in half around here. Too many big eaters at my table. I do the same with meatloaf too. I always add in any extra gravy I might have to the stock. It is full of flavor and thickens up the soup too. Plus I add in a hand full of small pasta to stretch it out even further and bulk it up a bit more.
I fried up two eggplants and made a pot of tomato sauce the other day. Tonight we are going to have angel hair pasta with a side of eggplant parmigiana. I am going to layer everything later on and put it in the oven to warm up.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
7 Nov 12
Wow! Sounds so good. I like fried eggplant. I don't like it any other way. My dad made it some way that was awful but he liked it.
