Frugal Food Ideas

[busyshrew]

I purchased a nice little chicken this week (on sale), and made the following meals from it:

roast chicken with mashed potatoes & gravy
chicken salad sandwiches
a leftover lunch with chicken, gravy and potatoes
chicken noodle soup

I'm looking for other ways to stretch multiple meals out of one piece of meat - any suggestions?

 

[pweyl36]

How do you get all those meals out of 1 small chicken? After my family eats (4) I maybe have some left over for a samwiche. I always hear how people say all the meals the get from 1 chicken. I just dont understand it?

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

How do you get all those meals out of 1 small chicken? After my family eats (4) I maybe have some left over for a samwiche. I always hear how people say all the meals the get from 1 chicken. I just dont understand it?

No kidding. We do 2 chickens every time, and do make broth from the leftover parts, but there is no way we have leftovers!Even when the whole crew isn't here, there are about 4 servings per bird, 2 quarters, and 2 breasts.

 

[hsembrick]

chicken Spaghetti
Chicken and Rice
chicken Enchiladas

These are just a few of the meals I make with leftover chicken

 

[Dizneydaz]

I do. We buy a chicken from Sam's and get 3 meals out of it. Chicken the first night, then I take off some of the meat for another meal ( chicken and mashed potatoes, chicken enchiladas, or??) and use the rest of the meat and bones for chicken and dumplings (some call it homemade chicken noodle soup). I use chicken base (from Sam's) to flavor the soup base. Used to use "Better than Bouillon" but the base from Sam's is cheaper.

But then we are only a family of 3. We'll probably eat about 1/2 the chicken the first meal. If you have a larger family I think you'll only be able to get 2 meals. First meal and something made from the carcass. You might have enough chicken bits for something like enchiladas or crepes though. We don't like a lot of chicken in our dumplings so this works for us.

My frugal tip-
Something I just did the other night had to do with saving leftovers. I made a large pot of split pea soup. We had it for a few days and still had about 1/2 left. My idea has to do with freezing the leftovers-instead of freezing it all in one container (which would have been more than one serving for the family) what I do is take the bowls that I will be serving the soup in and put a piece of cling wrap in the bowl and then but a serving of soup (or whatever) in the bowl. I fold the wrap over the top and then put the whole thing (bowl and all) in the freezer. I made 4 "bowls" of soup. Once it's frozen I take them out of the bowls and but them in a Ziploc-with the cling wrap. When it's time to defrost and heat it's easy to take out just the servings I need and but them in the same bowl. Works great!

I've done this same method with lasagna, chili, and even made up a batch of chicken crepes and froze them the same way. Enchiladas work well too!

 

[SunnieRN]

Frugal meals equal pasta or ground meat dishes at my house:

Spaghetti with homemade sauce; diced tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce. If I have leftover meat or chicken I add it. I tried it with leftover meatloaf broken apart one time and it was good also.

Enchiladas: I use leftover chicken or ground beef or turkey from tacos. I go light on the cheese to decrease some of the cost and fat.

Taquitos: Fill corn shells with a small amount of filling, roll and fry, don't use too much oil and they wont be greasy.

Pasta with jarred alfredo sauce: (Not the best for a body, but cheaper than buying take out! I add leftover chicken if I have it. Have also added leftover shrimp I got on sale.

Crockpot soup with tomato juice as the base, mixed with chicken broth.

There are tons of others, let me know if you are interested. We are a family of 5 and we get two meals from a Sams chicken. One main meal and soup or a pasta dish.

 

[pweyl36]

Really 2 meals we are a family of 4, are we the only ones eating 2nd's?

 

[worm761]

We are a family of three. We are lucky if there are any leftovers from a chicken. Though I tend to roast my own. I will use left over chicken for things posted already but also for chicken pot pie too.
When I make a roast I always do it in the crock pot. There is always meat left over and of course the juices/broth. So I take that and make a beef stew or a beef pot pie out of the left overs from that. I have also been known to thicken the broth into gravy and just serve the left overs over noodles. We don't have many leftovers in our house though. We usually eat them for lunches.

 

[jjohnson]

I alway make a chicken pot pie with the leftovers.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

I have a family of 6 and can usually spread a chicken out to three dinners.

Meal number 1: Roast chicken. I make LOTS of side dishes. Each person only gets about 2 ounces of the meat. I have this with mashed potatoes, salad, broccoli, and usually one other veggie or a starch. We fill up on the veggies mostly.

Meal number 2: Chicken salad. I cut up a LOT of veggies to put in the salad. Onion, celery, carrots, lettuce, cranberries, spinach, apples, grapes - all cut up VERY small. Stick it on pita and you have a meal! We can usually get a lunch out of this as well.

Meal number 3: Chicken soup. I serve it with a salad and fresh bread. I stick beans in it as the protein instead of the meat. Throw in leftover veggies and a pasta or dumplings and you have a full meal. This usually lasts for lunch the next day too.

Another meal I stretch into two:

Meal 1: Tacos.

Meal 2: Taco meat over pasta. Put out the toppings and everyone has their own personalized meal.

 

[bookgirl]

1 chicken small to med


Meal 1: meat and veg/potatoe This is for two people

Meal 2: chop up chicken and make chicken enchiladas filling Freeze for later This is half a dinner for three people either enchiladas or quesadillas

Meal 3: I make soup. This will make 5-6 individual servings that I freeze and use for lunches. Or sometimes creamy chicken for dumplings or noodles.

1 pound of hamburger meat

Brown then

Meal 1: Use half for spagetti and sauce This is for three but I don't like ground beef much so I use just a little We have different sauce preferences so meat is on the side.

Meal: 2: cook with taco seasing and make beef enchilada filling freeze for later this is for the other half of the chicken enchilada/quesadilla dinner

1 roast pork or beef med to large (like 3+ pounds)

Meal 1: meat veg/potato Dinner for three

Meal 2: sliced or shredded meat w/bbq for sandwiches lunches for 2-3

Meal 3: shred last of meat freeze for later. Make gravy add meat serve over mashed potatoes or noodles

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I have a family of 6 and can usually spread a chicken out to three dinners.

Meal number 1: Roast chicken. I make LOTS of side dishes. Each person only gets about 2 ounces of the meat. I have this with mashed potatoes, salad, broccoli, and usually one other veggie or a starch. We fill up on the veggies mostly.

Meal number 2: Chicken salad. I cut up a LOT of veggies to put in the salad. Onion, celery, carrots, lettuce, cranberries, spinach, apples, grapes - all cut up VERY small. Stick it on pita and you have a meal! We can usually get a lunch out of this as well.

Meal number 3: Chicken soup. I serve it with a salad and fresh bread. I stick beans in it as the protein instead of the meat. Throw in leftover veggies and a pasta or dumplings and you have a full meal. This usually lasts for lunch the next day too.

Another meal I stretch into two:

Meal 1: Tacos.

Meal 2: Taco meat over pasta. Put out the toppings and everyone has their own personalized meal.

Do you allow more proteins elsewhere in their diet? Mine would never have survived on 2 oz. in a meal.

 

[pweyl36]

Do you allow more proteins elsewhere in their diet? Mine would never have survived on 2 oz. in a meal.

I know thats like a slice of chicken? My family would laugh at me. I still dont know how they can make 1 chicken go so far?

 

[TiffanyK]

I have a list of recipes for low-cost meals on my site. We don't usually plan for leftovers. We're a family of 6 and eat up the little bit of leftovers for lunch. But I do love to freeze cooked chicken. I can usually get 2 meals from a large chicken. I just freeze the meat to use in enchiladas, casseroles, soups etc.

I also like to brown out a package of hamburger and freeze it in about 1 lb. quantities or sometimes less. It's great to have it already cooked for Nachos, tacos, spaghetti, etc.

 

[DeirdreTours]

Although we are too piggy to do it consistently, I admire the poster who limits the meat servings to 2oz each. Everything I read says we Americans consume far more meat that is healthy for us. We try hard to limit meat consumption (more for health than for budget), but my husban can easily eat a pound of salmon or good steak in a single meal.

 

[jacksmomma]

Go meat free! I am the only veggie in my family, but I still make all of our dinners meat free. Not only does it save us a ton of money, but we are healthier too. The carnivore in the family gets his meat fix at lunch and everyone respects my choices.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

Do you allow more proteins elsewhere in their diet? Mine would never have survived on 2 oz. in a meal.

Of course!! My kids eat eggs every day (at least two). They are welcome to eat nuts (cashews, walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds) as snacks. We also have a lot of nut butters - peanut butter, sunflower butter, etc. They dip veggies and fruit in those. They are welcome to have a slice or two of cheese. I make yogurt and they are welcome to that. Cream cheese on celery is another favorite. Hummus on veggies is GREAT!!

I should mention that we eat leftovers for lunch every day. So, if we eat meat for dinner, we will have meat for lunch the next day (1 - 2 ounce servings for lunch).

But, I don't believe people NEED meat to survive! We eat vegetarian about 4 or 5 nights/week. We eat a lot of beans.

It sure helps our budget and I believe we are healthier in the long run for it!!

 

[PinkRhombus]

I get the deli chickens from Sam's.

DH, Me, DD7, DD5

We will eat just plain chicken one night. But we'll have at least enough left to chop up and make chicken and cheese quesadillas one night.

Or I'll shred it up and use part to make chicken, cheese and bean enchiladas (the beans stretches it). The other part, I'll stir in some bbq sauce and we'll have bbq chicken sandwiches one night.

There are some dry soup mixes at the grocery...not Lipton Cup a Soup. These are bags. There is a tortilla soup one. Chop the leftover chicken and put it in the soup. This only takes 15 minutes of simmering.

It goes well with alfredo sauce and pasta!

 

[busyshrew]

I really liked the pork-stretching suggestion. Must try that!

To answer some of the pps' question, here's how the chicken worked out for our family. Please remember we are a family of 3 - 2 adults and one child. (but the child LOVES chicken).

Roast chicken: 2 thighs for DH, 1 drumstick for DD, 1 drumstick for Mum (and I also get to pick all the meat off the carcass - cook's privilege). We served this meal with lots of: mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, gravy, and a bit of bread & butter (to soak up the extra gravy with).

Chicken salad sandwiches : used 1 chicken breast, diced, mixed with celery, onion, grated carrot, sweet pickle relish, mustard and mayo. We tend to make our sandwiches fully loaded with a good 12-grain bread, lettuce and tomatoes, cheese slice for DH and pickle slices and hot peppers for me, so we don't load on the chicken-salad part.

Chicken leftover lunch (this was only for DH to take to work): 1 chicken breast with leftover mashed potatoes, gravy and corn, to heat up in the zapper.

Chicken noodle soup : I always boil up the bones and scraps with spices and aromatic veggies to make up a nice rich broth. Then I drop in egg noodles or leftover rice, some peas and carrots, and voila it's the chicken's last supper for us.

We do usually get three full meals out of a chicken, but as another pp mentioned, we don't eat large portions of meat in one meal. I always try to serve at least two vegetable sides and that really does fill up the corners, so to speak.

I'd also love to hear more - anybody with suggestions on how to stretch those big pieces of beef that I see in the store? I've always just wound up cooking it as a roast and then we live with leftover roast.... and more leftover roast....

 

[apnep]

I have a family of 6 and can usually spread a chicken out to three dinners.

MeWe fill up on the veggies mostly.

I'm with you Jennifer. I try to portion control everything. We're a family of 5. Everyone usually gets heaping portions of veggies and salad and then a palm sized portion of meat depending of the size of the palm I'm serving.

With chicken breasts, I have been pounding them out lately not only to make sure they cook evenly, but to cut down on how many I need to cook. I can usually get 5 servings out of 2 nice breasts this way. (But I have a 6 year old and a 9 year old who don't need much yet.)

I try to serve everyone and then put the rest away so we can't go back for seconds.

My oldest boy's appetite is really growing right now though and I can't keep enough food in him lately so if he REALLY enjoys the menu on a particular night he's welcomed to seconds.

DINNER IDEAS:
Chicken curry over rice.
Chicken burrito wraps stuffed with lots of salad.
Shredding chicken over a bed of salad with leftover veggies like green beans, brocolli, or even peas and carrots.

Ang