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Making chicken last.

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I have found out now what you are all talking about when you refer to rubber chicken. :o But I cannot for the life of me see how to make it last for several day???:confused:

I buy a large Tesco chicken and roast it. It does one meal for 2 adults and 2 small children (just using the breasts) then my hubby will have the legs with salad for lunch the next day.

I always boil the carcass for stock for soup but that is it.

Where are you buying these enormous chickens or do you all eat like little birds? ;)
Life is too short to waste a minute of it complaining about bad luck. Find joy in the simple things, show your love for those around you and be grateful for all that you have. :)
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Comments

  • kippers
    kippers Posts: 2,063 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I'm lucky to get 1 further meal out of a chicken (i get the two chickens for £5 from tesco).
  • Addiscomber
    Addiscomber Posts: 1,010 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Well, I would make the legs and any useable meat from the carcasse to make a pie, risotto or pasta dish for 4 adults with good appetites, and then make the soup/stock. I cannot stretch a reasonable sized chicken any further than that, but I expect people can if their children are smaller. Unfortunately 2 of my family won't contemplate curry at any price, but that would be a good stretcher dish, padded out with vegetables and the rice.
  • newlywed
    newlywed Posts: 8,255 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I find it works out better for us to do two medium chickens. One we use the breast meat for roast. Then I pick off all the leg meat and all other meat and make chick leek pie.

    The other one I use some breast meat for sarnies, some breast meat for chicken pasta bake and then pick off all the leg meat and all other meat again and make chicken risotto.

    Oh and then I make soup with the carcass (usually).

    Plus if I roast two smaller chickens together then it takes less time in the oven.

    So about 3 meals with each chicken really. If you make risotto, chicken pie etc then you can usually stretch the chicken a little further without looking too mean ;)
    working on clearing the clutterDo I want the stuff or the space?
  • thriftlady_2
    thriftlady_2 Posts: 9,128 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    I only get 2 meals out of a big chicken (roast, and then hash/pilaff/pie) and maybe a sandwich for my lunch. That's for 5 people. I always make stock with the carcase and this goes into various other meals.
  • Hard to believe but I have the best part of a large chicken in the fridge, was going to use most of it tonight as a roast, but people going out to watch football have put paid to that!

    Can I put some cooked chicken in Chicken Tonight sauces and then freeze them?
  • frosty
    frosty Posts: 1,169 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    when I buy 2 chickens for £5 from tesco I freeze one,and roast one.
    With the roasted one I remove the breasts(the chickens not mine):o and slice them thinly,I find this will serve 4 people when part of a sunday lunch,then I remove the legs and chop the meat into small pieces,add chopped onions and a jar of curry sauce,I always add half a jar of water to the sauce because they tend to be very thick and its makes it go further;) (no one has noticed)serve with rice and a few low fat oven chips,this serves 5 adults.(buy smaller plates so it looks a lot more and it saves calories if you need to lose weight)
    Then I strip the carcass and use half the meat to make a big pan of stew,I use all the veg and potatoes that need to be used up,I always keep a few ladels of the stew to one side and I turn this into a meat and potato pie big enough to serve 5 adults.With any meat that is left we mix with salad cream for sandwiches.Then I boil the carcass and make chicken stock for the freezer.
  • jennybb
    jennybb Posts: 228 Forumite
    I only buy free range and preferably organic chicken - the price helps me to stretch it.;)

    We have a roast, another meal, sometimes butties and ALWAYS something with the stock. My daughter had a friend round for tea on monday so I wanted to make "nuggets" with the breast meat - I peeled back the skin on the breast, cut breast fillets out, replaced skin and roasted. We had roast chicken and salad wraps on sunday, nuggets monday, risotto with stock and some chicken on tuesday and I had some in butties today. It was a small bird, but there are only 3 of us. I've never taken off the breast like that before - but will be doing it again - if I was making curry or something I'd rather use raw than cooked leftover meat - I don't like it when it goes stringy, so this would work well.

    Personally, I could not go back to eating 2 for £5 supermarket chickens now :eek: - I'd rather eat chicken less often, but TBH I feel that I'm getting good value for money when I can get this many meals out of a chicken.

    You need to keep vultures out of the kitchen when carving, though ;)
  • angelavdavis
    angelavdavis Posts: 4,714 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    clareski wrote: »
    Hard to believe but I have the best part of a large chicken in the fridge, was going to use most of it tonight as a roast, but people going out to watch football have put paid to that!

    Can I put some cooked chicken in Chicken Tonight sauces and then freeze them?

    Yes of course. Just make sure you heat it through after defrosting.
    :D Thanks to MSE, I am mortgage free!:D
  • BusyGirl
    BusyGirl Posts: 843 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Mortgage-free Glee!
    I buy one large chicken and we usually get 4 meals from it for 2 adults and 2 children.
    We usually have it with roasties and veg and then the next night I fry some of it with onions, peppers, mushrooms and we have chicken fajitas. I also boil up the carcass and freeze the stock with the left-over pieces of chicken. I then defrost them at a later stage and add leeks, sweetcorn, onions, spices etc in a pan, cool and make 2 pies with this.
    However, after watching The BBC prog last night I think I'll be buying organic chicken from now on. Although is there any guarantee that the hygiene standards are better than they are for the cheaper ones?
  • thriftmonster
    thriftmonster Posts: 1,729 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I'm like Thriftlady on this one. One roast - using one drumstick and a slice of breast (ds1), 1 drumstick (ds2), 2 wings (me - cook's perks), 1 breast (dh) and skin (dog). I nearly always do yorkies and stuffing to stretch it a bit further. This leaves me with 2 thighs and most of a breast for a strir fry or (usually) curry. I then pick the carcass carefully to extract enough meat to make enough chicken paste for 2 butties. And then the carcass goes for stock.

    Obviously you might have to use a thigh if someone wasn't happy with just the wings but that would still leave you with enough for a curry - especially if you throw in a handful of lentil, some mushrooms etc
    “the princess jumped from the tower & she learned that she could fly all along. she never needed those wings.”
    Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in this One
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