One way I save money when buying meat, is by buying the cheapest package. The meat is priced per pound. This chicken was $1.99/lb. Now some of the packages had way more poundage, therefore making them cost more. I sifted through the packages of chicken (some cost upwards of $12 for the same size package) to find the lowest priced package. Some people might say that yes I paid less, but I also got less meat. Duh. Well, not duh because most recipes call for a number of chicken breasts. No one will know if your chicken breast was larger or smaller than another package. By purchasing the smaller breasts I am consuming less meat without even trying. And lets be honest, the bigger breasts are probably just pumped up with more water anyways.
Tonight for dinner I made spicy Cajun pasta with 2 chicken breasts. We loved it and will be eating the rest for dinner tomorrow (Hubby will take some to lunch as well). I plan on making soup later this week and using the celery along with some potatoes we have that are starting to sprout.
One of the ways I've learned to stretch out the chicken breasts is to simmer them on the stove. You can add in your celery, carrots, onions and garlic to the water too. I'm doing this with frozen chicken breasts and its my way of defrosting them as well as cooking them. You can take the cooked broth after the chicken breasts are cooked and put into a bottle and store in frig for a week or so if you know you're going to need chicken broth for a recipe. I then take the cooked breasts (I usually do two for my family of three, two of those grown men) and shred the meat. I can use the shredded chicken in most all recipes and the guys feel like they are getting enough meat when they're actually getting less.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I will have to try that! Thanks for sharing!
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