Pleased as Punch!!

[suziquzie]

I'm sure everyone knows this, and I guess I did myself but never actually did it. All tolled I got 5 meals out of a 12 lb turkey I roasted 2 weeks ago!!

I've been working sunday mornings, which took away our big family sunday breakfasts, just us and the kids. So DH and I decided we'll make it Sunday dinner instead and roast some chunk of meat every Sunday. Usually when I roast I pick what I can off and throw the carcass. We've been pretty uhhhhh..... economically challenged lately, so this time I picked more thouroughly and made broth right away and froze half. We've had 2 soups and 2 meals, there is meat for 1 more meal in the freezer!

Just thought I would share! I think this Sunday will be ham...... stay tuned!

 

[Barb L.]

Way to go Suzie, good job !!!

 

[suziquzie]

Thanks!
I'm sure when the boys are bigger I will need a 25 lb turkey to do the same!

 

[Katie H]

Good job, suzi.

Here's something else you can do. I just did it last week.

I bought a 5-pound whole chicken. They were on sale for $.57 per pound, so my chicken was less than $3.00.

I put it in my big Le Creuset Dutch oven, added some carrot, celery and onion chunks and a bunch of fresh thyme. Let it all simmer until the chicken was falling off tender. Lifted the chicken out of the pot and into a large colander over a big bowl. When it was cool, I peeled off the skin and picked all the meat off the bones.

I chopped the skin and fed it to my outside kitties and roughly chopped the meat up and put it in a freezer bag. I got nearly 2 pounds of chopped meat.

Then I strained the veggies and thyme out of the broth. Separated the thyme and onions from those solids and threw them away. I used my potato masher to mash up the celery and carrots. Those were mixed with the evening food for our outside kitties.

The broth was nice and rich, so I poured it into pint jars, refrigerated it to allow the fat to solidify. When that happened, I scooped all the fat into a Tupperware container to use in dumplings, etc.

When it was all said and done, I had all that nice chopped cooked chicken to use in casseroles, pot pies, chicken salads, creamed chicken over toast for breakfast, enchiladas, etc., lots of goodies for our outside kitties, chicken fat to use in other dishes, and 9 pints of wonderful homemade chicken broth, which I put in the freezer.

A pint of commercial chicken stock is more than $1.00 here, so I'm ahead of the game there.

The other thing I like about making my own chicken broth is that I don't salt it and I can remove almost all the fat, which makes it healthier.

I save all my empty 16-ounce pickle jars to store my broth in so I don't have to tie up my canning jars.

Just thought I'd pass this on for what it's worth. That nice little chicken will feed Buck and me for a long time.

 

[kitchenelf]

Way to go suzi!!!!! Gosh, with that ham you can do scalloped ham and potatoes, ham salad (mine is a bit different if you want it), hot ham/ham & cheese sandwiches, ham/cheese omelettes, with the ham bone you can make a great pot of pintos and then have cornbread, or ham and split pea soup...........you're giving me some great inspiration here to start doing the same!

 

[suziquzie]

Katie that chicken sounds great! I've been making my own broth alot lately, I figure it's free compared to canned if I already cooked the chicken!!
I can usually only find 3.5 lb chickens at the regular store, which honestly even with the little kids we can eat in 1 sitting. However Super Wal-mart seems to have nice big ones, and usually much cheaper per lb. I haven't had a problem with them, but I always wonder..... there's that stigma I suppose about buying meat at WALMART. Same as buying from Sam's club I figure (or try to!)
Thanks for the idea I will have to grab a chicken or 2 when I go tomorrow!

Kitchenelf, I may have to skip my ham til next week, I don't think I can get out of going to my parent's house for my Dad's superbowl feast. Food is great, the game I watch for commercials! I want the split pea soup soon though for sure!

 

[AllenOK]

If you want a REALLY cheap buy on chicken, I get the 10 lb bags of leg-and-thigh quarters from Wally-World on a regular basis. They cost $4.70+tax here, so that's basically 47 cents/pound. I can feed all five kids (at least, right now, I can), plus PeppA and myself on 5 lbs of chicken, so I get two meals out of each bag. Sometimes I poach the chicken, cool, pick it, and of course, save the bones for stock. I already have one gallon zip lock baggie of chicken scraps in the freezer for the next batch of stock, and will probably have 2 1/2 - 3 of those baggies full of scraps. Oh, did I mention that I make stock in 2 gallon batches?

I can do LOTS of things with that chicken. Grill, bake, smoke (heavenly!), or poach it and use the meat for soups, stews, gumbo, jambalaya, casseroles, enchiladas, tamales, etc.

Your idea for ham is a standard for me as well. I like to get a Hormel Cure 81 spiral sliced ham, portion out the meat into 8 oz portions, and freeze it. The bone and that bit of ham that doesn't get sliced will go into a batch of beans. The portioned-out ham gets used for ALL SORTS of things. Sandwiches (probably the bulk of it right there), omelets, jambalaya, beans, breakfast (ham-egg-n-cheese muffins/bagels, MMMMM), pasta, pizza (have to dice it, PeppA likes really thin-sliced ham on pizza), etc.

I used to like roasting a chicken every now and then, but, with all the kids, I have to roast at least two chickens now. I'd rather just roast a small turkey. I may have to start doing that soon. I'd really like to smoke a turkey (KE, I keep your smoked turkey suggestions on file!). Of course, my kids love my smoked turkey legs, even if PeppA doesn't.

I like to use leftover roast beef for sandwiches, or simmer it until it falls apart (my Pot roast is already that tender), and use for enchiladas, tamales, quickie pulled beef BBQ sandwiches, etc.

Once you start learning how to plan your cooking to generate leftovers that you'll actually use, you'll find yourself thinking, "gee, that honkin' BIG roast over there is pretty cheap, per pound, and I can do all sorts of things with it." You'll also save some money this way.

Now, if I can just get PeppA to quit complaining that she can't buy chicken breasts (way to expensive per pound). I may have to cave, and buy a package, and do my duxelle-stuffed chicken breasts again. She loves that one.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Being on social security at times finds me financially challenged so I buy whole pork loins when on sale whole briskets when on sale, chicken quarters 10 # bag. The market I shop at will cut and wrap any meat you buy at no charge. I plan my meals a month at a time
and shop acordingly and now I manage to have quality meals the whole month with out breaking the bank.