another meal planning challenge.........4 pound whole chicken............

[Joanne]

I have myself, a 17 year old son, nearly 16 year old daughter, and a nearly 14 year old son.

 

How far can we make this chicken "go" and still be tasty and filling.

 

On hand:

 

box of tortillini

rice (brown, and also frozen packages of rice/veggies)

cream of chicken soup (2 small cans)

dry onion soup mix

dry golden herb and lemon soup mix

Betty Crocker Roasted garlic mashed potatoes mix (I would have to use both pouches)

 

I have other food (ground beef, hot dogs, eggs, meatballs, enough steak for a dinner, and a large package of skinless, boneless chicken breast) to fill in the week. I plan on spending about $25 at the store, but that needs to include milk, bread, tortilla chips and hot dog buns. I should probably make that $30. :001_huh:

[AK_Mom4]

If your budget can squeeze somewhere to add in a package of tortillas, I would quarter the chicken, sprinkle with the herb and lemon soup mix, and bake it. Then let it cool a bit and shred the meat from the bones. Mixed with the rice and veggies you already have, that 4lb chicken will cover 2 meals easily for four adults.

[sparrow]

If your budget can squeeze somewhere to add in a package of tortillas, I would quarter the chicken, sprinkle with the herb and lemon soup mix, and bake it. Then let it cool a bit and shred the meat from the bones. Mixed with the rice and veggies you already have, that 4lb chicken will cover 2 meals easily for four adults.

 

:iagree: Whole chickens for our family usually means:

 

Meal #1-chicken, potato, veg

 

Meal #2-taco/burrito with shredded/chopped chicken on tortillas and homemade taco seasoning

 

Meal #3-chicken noodle soup from the chicken carcass

[Stayseeliz]

With whatever you do debone the chicken first and throw the bones into a crockpot and cover with water and throw in some vinegar. Let it simmer overnight and it will make a nice stock for soups, etc.

[Impish]

I find roasted chicken just doesn't stretch very far if served as a main course. But, my family is larger than yours, I don't know your kids appetites, etc. For *me* if I was looking for stretch, I would roast the chicken, yes, but not serve it that way, if it makes any sense.

 

I'd cook it, cut it up, and turn to other recipes.

 

For example, I do a chicken pot pie that's excellent. (I can't find the flipping cookbook, or I'd post the recipe for you). You make a roux of marg and flour, add in chicken oxo, poultry seasoning, diced onion, salt, pepper, milk and water, stir til thickened, then toss in chopped up chicken, froz veggies (I steam them first), then put in a casserole dish, top w/Bisquick and bake.

 

Now, I do a flipping VAT of that stuff, b/c of how my family eats, and it feeds us 2 meals. I usually do up a pkg of chicken thighs for one meal, then use the leftovers for the pot pie.

 

In your situation, I'd get all the meat off, then make chicken broth w/the carcass, and make either chick soup or stew...here, I can make that last 2 meals as well.

 

So, I'd be able to get 4 meals out of your chicken, but not if roasted chick were one of the meals. My family would simply hoover that.

 

Looking at your list, I'd say cook the chick, chop it up, do a chick casserole w/the soup, pasta and froz veg, and then do soup/stew. Should still get 3-4 meals out of that.

[elfgivas]

:bigear:

 

if you are going for 4 ounces of meat per person, then one pound will do 4 people, so 4 pounds could theoretically do four meals. when i mix meat with other things in a casserole, i can get away with 2 ounces per person per meal.

 

meal one might be roast chicken, because we love it. the 4 ounces will look puny though if you're not used to it.

 

things we do with chicken/turkey:

 

gram's chicken buns:

in a frying pan, cook bits of chicken, onion, tomato and celery. season with poultry seasoning (or whatever you have that you like with chicken. use it to stuff hot dog buns. these are flavourful and easy. whole wheat buns make them more filling. two per person.

 

chicken and rice casserole:

use the rest of the celery, add any veggies, pieces of chicken, rice (you could use the rice with veggies for this). some folks like to add a can of soup for flavour. that would work here, as long as you don't need it for an extra meal.

 

chicken stew:

put in everything left over from meals one and two. add a package of gravy mix, and top up with two potatoes, or two sweet potatoes, or ??? add as many cheap veggies as you can. (frozen veggies work well and are cheap)

 

chicken burritoes or chicken tacos

 

chicken soup:

when everything else is said and done, boil the bones and make soup. add in any veggies that are left from anything else. break up spaghetti noodles or add some of the tortellinis

 

chicken nachos:

(these always help me feel like i'm having a treat, and stretch chicken like mad. add onion, green pepper, maybe slice a few olives if you have them, anything to add bulk and vitamins).

 

chicken pot pie:

bits of chicken, lots of carrots and peas (frozen is great and cheap), top with one package of mashed potatoes. i like to add a package of gravy, too. lots of flavour, and it helps texture a lot.

 

hth,

ann

[myfunnybunch]

If your budget can squeeze somewhere to add in a package of tortillas, I would quarter the chicken, sprinkle with the herb and lemon soup mix, and bake it. Then let it cool a bit and shred the meat from the bones. Mixed with the rice and veggies you already have, that 4lb chicken will cover 2 meals easily for four adults.

 

:iagree: Plus make stock with the bones.

 

I see three meals from the chicken, easy, with what you have on hand: Diced chicken with the tortellini and a simple sauce (maybe based on your onion soup mix, since you've got that on hand); shred the rest of the chicken and serve with rice and some veggies, in a tortilla; chicken broth for a simple soup. If you want chicken in the soup and there's none left over, you can use the chicken breast, but I often use chicken broth for a simple vegetable-based soup, like potato soup or squash soup or bean soup. I wonder if you could make a creamy garlic-potato soup with the chicken broth and the mashed potato mix?

 

Cat

[Matryoshka]

:iagree: Whole chickens for our family usually means:

 

Meal #1-chicken, potato, veg

 

Meal #2-taco/burrito with shredded/chopped chicken on tortillas and homemade taco seasoning

 

Meal #3-chicken noodle soup from the chicken carcass

 

:iagree: This exactly. Meal #1 I roast the chicken, make baked potatoes right in the same oven, and gravy, with veggies on the side. And for meal #2 I often make noodles with shredded/chopped chicken with the leftover gravy poured over it, and peas or other veggies mixed in.

 

And the soup often becomes meals #3 and 4 - I add beans/barley/greens/sweet potatoes/celery/carrots/whatever else in the fridge needs to be used up, which extends it quite a bit.

[Soror]

I didn't read previous posts but I was thinking.

 

1- 1 chopped breast sauteed w/ lemon, salt and pepper and serve with tortelline

2- one leg quarter boiled and chopped mixed with your rice, some veggies and cream of chicken soup and topped w/ some bread crumbs for rice and chicken casserole

3- other breast chopped and sauteed w/ some veggies and homemade white sauce (using some homemade stock) and topped with mashed potatoes for a chicken pot pie-ish dish- canned mixed veggies work well and are cheap and easy

4- other leg quarter w/ broth made from back and rest of carcass- w/ veggies and some rice for chicken and rice soup

[lailasmum]

Meal one would be roast chicken with the garlic mashed potato mix and veg

Meal two stir fry of veg with left over chicken and rice

Meal three would be soup made from the stock of the chicken bones made with watever veg you have on hand and you could throw in the tortillini.

 

For the stir fry and soup you would have to buy some veg, Our supermarket does family sized packs of pre cut stir fry veg for a £1 and then a fresh sauce is about a £1.

[Mergath]

I would do:

 

Meal #1: Roasted chicken. Save all the bones, and the next day, make stock.

Meal #2: Chop up some leftover chicken, mix with water or milk and the cream of mushroom soup, pour over the potatoes.

Meal #3: Use the stock. tortellini, and any remaining chicken to make soup.

[justamouse]

We do this weekly.

 

Meal lone is roasted with starch and veggie.

 

meal two is a clean the carcass, add white sauce and veggies and throw it over macaroni, bake.

 

Meal three is soup, boil the carcass , add veggies and tortellini.

 

lol, apparently we all do this the same way.

[OnTheBrink]

If you buy a large stack of corn tortillas, you can make chips yourself and then have the tortillas for other meals. I would guess tortillas would be cheaper and go further than a bag of chips would.

 

I just cut the tortillas into quarters, and fry in oil. Or you could spray them with olive oil and bake them.

[FaithManor]

If you buy a large stack of corn tortillas, you can make chips yourself and then have the tortillas for other meals. I would guess tortillas would be cheaper and go further than a bag of chips would.

 

I just cut the tortillas into quarters, and fry in oil. Or you could spray them with olive oil and bake them.

 

 

Teens can make the tortilla chips. I don't know what prices are like in Joanne's area, but in ours, there is always a brand of corn tortillas for 99cents and many times, that is for 20 tortillas. If you cut the tortillas in 8ths, you get a lot of chips for that, and when I make homemade tortilla chips, I do ration them since it's a lot of work. But, the kids love them!

 

My children, doing fine imitations of industrial vacuum sweepers, would suck up a roasted chicken like a black hole swallows stars...no vestiges would be left! :glare:

 

So, when I want to make one stretch, I slow roast it, cool, and tear apart, bag, and freeze in small quantities, put the broth in the fridge, and then use a small bag in a stir fry, to make a crock pot soup, or to mix with beans and salsa and serve on those homemade tortillas. I also mix chopped chicken, finely chopped broccoli and red peppers, and brown rice together, top with salsa and a sprinkle of cheese, and bake. This would work well with any seasoning package or sauce for the most part. I'm a huge fan of the liberal use of garlic or cumin to make something simple seem gourment without a lot of work. :001_smile:

 

I would not serve that chicken whole if you have teenagers in the house. They'll make mincemeat of it faster than an entire flock of turkey vultures on a roadkill! :lol:

 

Faith

[Pink Fairy]

I don't serve whole roasted chicken because we'd need two.

 

My idea: roast, remove meat, boil bones/skin/etc. for broth, make a pot of soup with 2/3 of the chicken meat and the frozen vegies. Add cooked rice, but in individual bowls so it won't absorb all the broth over night. That would last us two days.

 

The third day I'd make the chicken pot pie Ann (elfgivas@yahoo.com) posted--yum!

[ErinE]

If you have flour and a fat (veggie oil or butter/margarine), I would stretch the chicken by making chicken gravy and rice. Use the bones from the chicken to make stock (crock pot is good for this). My go-to gravy is 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour sautéed together for a few minutes and then add 1 cup stock. For your teens and you, I would double or triple the recipe. You can also stretch it by adding the cream-of-chicken soup.

 

Chicken and dumplings/noodles is also a good meal.

 

You can add more chicken to the lemon soup and add eggs to make a lemon egg-drop soup.

 

Agreed with FaithManor. Don't serve the chicken whole. My dd6 demolished half a chicken by herself and she's not a teen.

[justasque]

1. Roast the chicken. Cut off the meat and divide into 3 parts. Use the bones to make stock, using a crock pot - leave it going 24 hours to get the stock good and brown.

 

2. With one part, make a fruity chicken curry. Saute red onion and finely chopped celery in 3 tbsp fat. Add chicken and 3 tbsp flour, stir well, cook for a minute or two. Gradually add 2 cups of stock. Add 1 peeled, cubed apple, 3/4 cup raisins, and about 1 tsp of curry powder. Cook until broth thickens and raisins plump up. (The raisins will plump up into "grapes" and absorb the curry flavor. Yum!) Serve over rice.

 

3. With another part, make chicken cottage pie. Saute onion in 3 tbsp fat, and then whatever veggies you have on hand (or add bag of frozen veg). Add chicken. Stir in 3 tbsp flour, stir well, cook until broth thickens. Pour into casserole dish, cover with mashed potatoes. Bake until top browns nicely.

 

4. Make puree'd veggie soup with the rest of broth. Saute onion in a bit of broth. Add in 4 cups broth, 1/2 cup red lentils, 2 potatoes, and whatever veg you have around - carrots are nice. Cook until veg are soft. Puree with stick blender. Comes out different every time; always delish!

 

For the future:

I know you've got zero time, but some ideas to work towards (or to help your teens work towards) - these can stretch your budget:

--Nix the soup mix and make soup from scratch. Get your teens to help you chop the veg.

 

--Nix the "cream of" soup and learn to rock a white sauce instead. Once you have the basics, you can improvise all kinds of soups and sauces with what you have on hand.

 

--Nix the potato mix and learn how to do potatoes in the microwave. Just as fast, but better and cheaper. Basically nuke them and mash them.

 

--Less meat, more beans and lentils. One way to do this is to stretch your dishes by making more one-pot meals (simpler cooking!) and adding lots of veg and/or beans. Make meat the accent rather than the main focus. Red lentils can hide in anything!

 

--Keep a bag of veg trimmings in your freezer for stock-making. Stock is then FREE, and you can get 6-10 cups from a decent-sized chicken. I freeze mine in 1- and 2-cup re-used containers.

[Excelsior! Academy]

If you plan to make a soup/stock an easier method is to put the bones in a crock pot (if you have one) and cover with water. Let that go all night and strain out the bones the next day. Then you don't have to worry about a pot boiling away on the stove.

 

:iagree:

 

Also add any cut vegetable pieces like celery ends and onion skins and 2tbsp vinegar. Strain over a large pot or bowl and toss the bones and vegetable pieces. This makes a yummy stock!

 

I usually make a white chicken chili this way. Just soak the white beans overnight and toss uncooked into strained broth. Cook until beans are tender then add chilis, chicken, oregano, cumin, and salt. Serve with shredded cheese and chips. Mmmm.

[KungFuPanda]

With a chicken that size, and the ages of your kids, I wouldn't have a roasted chicken meal. It would just be gone too quickly.

 

I'd roast the chicken in the lemon herb mix. Then debone and divide the meat into two large portions and one smaller one.

 

With one large portion, I'd make a chicken, cheese, rice, and brocolli casserole using the rice and cream of chicken soup. (just a little cheese on top)

 

Using the onion soup mix, tortellini, and smaller portion of meat, I'd make soup with the bones. First make stock, then once you have broth, season with onion soup mix and add any veggies you like, plus the cooked chicken and tortellini.

 

For the third meal, I'd do burritos/enchiladas . . .whatever you like with the remaining large portion of chicken. Use rice to bulk it up and assemble them yourself so some turkey doesn't make an all-meat and cheese burrito while your back is turned.

 

That's potentially 5 meals since the casserole and burritos will likely make two meals.

[Puma Mom]

I would not serve that chicken whole if you have teenagers in the house. They'll make mincemeat of it faster than an entire flock of turkey vultures on a roadkill! :lol:

:iagree: