1 Chicken, 3 meals

[Marionnette]

I think for a lot of the stretching things, you are using the meat IN a dish, not as the main dish itself. Also, keep in mind a "serving" of meat is four ounces. If I'm making a meal, I've got other dishes being served with that chicken, so eating one piece of chicken is not unreasonable if we also have a salad, and a starch, and a vegetable. If you make a chicken pot pie that has eight servings, you aren't using eight whole servings of chicken in it, because there are other things in it bulking it up. When I make chicken tenders out of two chicken breasts, there is enough for my family of three to eat dinner and then have enough for both DH and I to have some for lunch the next day, so we get five servings of chicken out of two breast-halves.

Maybe you wouldn't use 8 servings of meat for a chicken pot pie meant for 8 people, but I would. Everyone gets at least a full serving of protein at a meal regardless of whatever else is used to "bulk it up".

 

[cheer25mom]

You do realize that people eat more than JUST meat at meals, correct? A 4oz serving of meat can be sufficient for anyone, including growing teens, as long as it's paired with enough healthy plant-based sides, good fat, and/or high-protein grains. Perhaps your individual family wouldn't enjoy eating that type of diet, but that doesn't make it "strange" or wrong or "starving people" at all!

If you are serving a verg, a starch and a meat, like that poster indicated, where is the other source of protien? The point i was trying to make is that THAT MENU was not sufficient in protien, particularly if you cut the serving sizes short. Sorry, but 4oz of meat per day with no other portien to supplement is NOT adequate for a growing child. Teens require more than 50 grams of protien a day. $ oz of chicken will nto provide that.

 

[cheer25mom]

See below, according to my pediatrician and DS trainer, ( and he had the degrees to back his knowledge up) he needs way more protein that what he is getting and he his getting way more than 4 ounces.

Same for my DD. She requires much more than 1 4oz serving of meat a day.

 

[mhsjax]

If you are serving a verg, a starch and a meat, like that poster indicated, where is the other source of protien? The point i was trying to make is that THAT MENU was not sufficient in protien, particularly if you cut the serving sizes short. Sorry, but 4oz of meat per day with no other portien to supplement is NOT adequate for a growing child. Teens require more than 50 grams of protien a day. $ oz of chicken will nto provide that.

Right there with you. Not only my ever growing skinny DS but my DD cheers, all star as well. Plus being a diabetic, she needs way more protein and less carbs. My kids literally would waste away.

 

[Marionnette]

You do realize that people eat more than JUST meat at meals, correct? A 4oz serving of meat can be sufficient for anyone, including growing teens, as long as it's paired with enough healthy plant-based sides, good fat, and/or high-protein grains. Perhaps your individual family wouldn't enjoy eating that type of diet, but that doesn't make it "strange" or wrong or "starving people" at all!

A 4-oz. serving does not include the gristle, skin and bones. It is also the weight of the meat after it has been cooked. The OP used a 5-lb chicken to feed her family 3 meals. Half of that bird is inedible or lost in the cooking process (moisture escaping, fat being drained off). That leaves about 2.5 lbs of actual meat that was stretched to make at least 12 dinner servings by my count and I believe there were 2 lunches as well. That's way under the recommended 4 ounces per serving.

 

[angierae]

Meat is also not the only source of protein you can serve in a meal. I'm not suggesting anyone starve their children, I'm suggesting that plenty of people eat no meat at all and still manage to meet their children's protein needs, so eating less meat to save money (and picking up the calories/protein) from plant-based matter isn't "starving" anyone.

My other post got eaten, but I will say that Livestrong says even an active 14-18 year old boy neeeds about 52 grams of protein a day. Even rounding that up to 60, you could get 27 grams of protein in 3 ounces of chicken and another 23 grams in 3 ounces of tuna in a sandwhich at lunch. Toss in some broccoli, some beans, some brown rice, whole wheat bread with the tuna - all of those things have protein and would easily fill in the other 10 grams of protein a growing boy needs.

 

[babyrich]

Wow, that's great...

Help me out here folks.... to make the stock... I put the bones in a pot, add the veggies... how much water? just enough to cover everything?

I have to try this next week.. we get rotisserie chicken a lot but I've never made stock.... must try.....

 

[cheap traveler]

If you are serving a verg, a starch and a meat, like that poster indicated, where is the other source of protien? The point i was trying to make is that THAT MENU was not sufficient in protien, particularly if you cut the serving sizes short. Sorry, but 4oz of meat per day with no other portien to supplement is NOT adequate for a growing child. Teens require more than 50 grams of protien a day. $ oz of chicken will nto provide that.

Wow, my thread has started a debate

I think the point you are missing in this response is that a person isn't expected to have ONE 4oz serving of protien a day, isn't it 5 servings a day? These chicken meals I made had at least 4 oz each, but we all had protien throughout the day (eggs, nuts, yogurt, peanut butter, turkey sandwich - just a few examples of our normal daily protien).
When I was growing up, there is NO WAY a 5lb chicken would cut it at home, even when the 2 older kids moved out (leaving 2 adults and 3 kids.) But my children never exceed a 4oz serving of protien in one sitting.

To the poster who asked about how to make stock: Yes, just enough water to cover everything, throw the (cooked) carcass, hopefully with a bit of meat left on it, with some celery, carrots, and an onion together and simmer until it smells like chicken soup. You don't even have to do anything to the veggies - wash them, cut them in half, done. Don't peel, leave the tops on them, easy peasy. The easiest way to get rid of the fat is to leave the strained broth in the fridge overnight, and just scrape off the solid top layer.

To everyone who has been sharing their meal ideas - keep it up!! You are giving me so many good ideas!

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

After reading all the rest of the posts I have to agree with a few previous posters that a grown man eating only a chicken leg and one breast serving 4 ppl sounds a lot like starving ppl to me.

When I make a pack of only Chicken drumsticks each of my kids will eat 3 drumsticks each and my DH will eat about 6. If you pull all the meat off 3 drumsticks it still won't add up to 4 ounces. But my point is if a grown man is only eating one drumstick he is either not hungry or he is just filling up on everything else besides Protein.

And for everybody trying to figure up how much Protein is in the Chicken, Chicken breasts have 8 grams of Protein per ounce.

 

[Liberty Belle]

That's excellent! I wish I, and the rest of my family liked dark meat, but we just don't, so I'm stuck with buying chicken breasts.

I did buy a ham today that is going to stretch to four meals (casserole, ham steaks with potatoes and green beans, omelet, and hot ham and cheese sandwiches). It's not the best, but it tastes good, I think, and it was only $8.00 at Meijer.

 

[Liberty Belle]

We are a family of 6 and I get about 3 meals out a 7 pound chicken. A breast feeds my teenage daughter, her 2 younger brothers and me. Oldest ds eats a leg as does DH. That leaves another breast. If I turn it into pot pie that can last 2 meals alone if add enough veggies.

While I Love that Costco chicken I don't use it often for stock because it's loaded with sodium.

1 breast for four people?! That wouldn't fly here with my dh and two boys. They can each eat two breasts by themselves (well, my dh and oldest son can, anyway).