2 Chickens 3 Meals 5 Mouths to Feed

In my ongoing battle of the budget in my house hubbie responsibilities, I have come up with a way to use 2 chicken to serve 5 people 3 meals. Whole chickens are sold at Costco in two packs for 89 cents a lb, so this is definitely the most inexpensive way to buy and prepare chicken if you have some extra time and good sharp knife.

I start by removing the thighs, legs, and wings (remove the wings with the little piece of breast meat that is in front of the wish bone attached). I now have 12 pieces of chicken for one meal. I made a "North African Chicken Stew" out of these pieces that I am going to post about another day.

Then I remove the chicken breasts from the frames. I now have 4 large chicken breasts. I can slice these in scallopini for chicken milanese or do chicken marsala or anything else you use chicken breasts for. Because these are larger than the chicken breast you buy boned, four is plenty to serve five. I figure each serving would be 5 to 6 ounces--more than enough. The chicken breasts go in the freezer for another day.

Finally I put the frames, the necks and gizzards in a stock pot with aromatic vegetables, cover with water and cook all day for the base of a hearty soup. After the broth is poured off and put in the fridge for defatting I pick as much meat as I can off the bones. You would be surprised how much meat is still on the chicken frames.

So if you are interested in saving some money and have maybe a 1/2 or so for preparation, follow my directions for 2 chickens, 3 meals and 5 mouths to feed.

Enjoy!

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