Man, I love me some chicken

So I like to buy whole chickens. They are pretty cheap. $2.49ish a pound for an almost organic one. (No antibiotics, hormones or other yucky stuff.) So for around $10, you can get a pretty good sized chicken.

"TEN dollars, you say? Wow, that's a lot."

Yes, well, hold on.

Now this works for my family. If your family is bigger, it may not work as well.

I also have a new philosophy on meat. "Eat it like a condiment." You know, like let the meat be a little tiny addition to your meal. Meat is expensive, and food is expensive. Cook some beans or other protein, and savor a taste of meat. Healthier for you too.

So back to my little bird.

I layer new potatoes and sliced up carrots in my crock a rama. Or my slow cooker, as it should be called. Then I put about 2 cups of water over that stuff. Make sure the water covers the potatoes and carrots, or they won't cook. Don't want to revisit that disastrous dinner experience. Then stick your chicken on top. I sprinkle with rosemary, but you can season how you like.

So 6-8 hours later, on high, you have dinner. Cook up some green beans with it, and you're done. Quick and so easy.

Now, take a strainer and pour the broth left in the cooker through the strainer into a bowl for the fridge. You'll need that later.

The next day, I tear up the remainder of the chicken. Half goes for the Pioneer Woman's chicken salad.

Recipe here:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/05/chicken-salad-the-way-i-like-it/
Oh yum. I mean, REALLY yum! Take all the stuff you didn't use all of - the celery and onion - and freeze in portion sizes in plastic baggies. Then the next time you want to make chicken salad, or soup, the stuff is already chopped up and ready to go. Saves money too!

Then you take the rest of the chicken you scoured off the bone, toss it back into the slow cooker with the broth from your fridge, and make some soup. Chicken noodle, chicken gumbo, oh any soup you like. I love http://allrecipes.com/
for great recipes. I love the reviews, and I love that I can make my own recipe box for future reference.

So you've made 3 dinners from one sad little chicken. I mean he's not sad anymore, but I bet when he realized the end was near, he got sad. I try really hard not to think about that.


Anyway, you've fed your family for a little more than $3 a meal for the meat part. If this won't feed your whole family, then do a dinner and soup. You can stick lots of veggies in soup to really stretch it out. That's the cheapest meal I think you can make! I always make extras for lunches too.
We did that this weekend. We aren't eating out right now, except for my Chick-fil-a keep-Mama-from-going-crazy-lunch every so often. Anyway, the slow cooker makes cooking a lot easier. Cuz I do so tire of my lovely kitchen!!!

OH and speaking of which. This is what your kitchen looks like when you're done!
That will either make you feel better or make you not want to cook! It's all clean now, thanks to my sweet hubby! (I was cleaning upstairs, not napping or anything fun.)

So don't pass up those whole chickens. Do buy as organic as possible. Find the good ones at Walmart. They carry really natural chicken now. Buy Springer Mountain Farms at Publix. Yea for chicken!