Whole chicken for more than 1 meal?

[Pea_inthepod]

I normal grocery store chicken only lasts us one meal.

I get chickens from my sister who raises them, tho, and sometimes they are 8-10lbs, and those I can get 3 meals out of (and we are paleo, so we eat a lot of meat!) I also take the carcass and make chicken stock...my last 9lbs bird made me 2 gallons of stock! That really makes it worth it!

[jbug_4]

Originally Posted by mommyofhjm I dont think bf and the kids would like the chicken & noodles or chicken and dumplings without a ton of chicken. Maybe I just need to try it and see?

Try it. If its bulked up with veggies they might not even notice. We have a fair amount of chicken still ours. You have chicken broth that adds to the meaty flavor. Just try it and see what happens- you never know. I made vegetarian enchiladas for dh for 4 years before he realized they were vegetarian and he is a big meat eater. And i didn't try to hide that it didn't have meat- they were bean enchiladas. He liked them so he didn't miss the meat.

[keen1981]

Originally Posted by Pea_inthepod I normal grocery store chicken only lasts us one meal. I get chickens from my sister who raises them, tho, and sometimes they are 8-10lbs, and those I can get 3 meals out of (and we are paleo, so we eat a lot of meat!) I also take the carcass and make chicken stock...my last 9lbs bird made me 2 gallons of stock! That really makes it worth it!

I want your stock recipe!

[ProudMomma]

I don't know if it counts, but first, we take our chicken and make stock out of it. I think the ones I buy are usually only 5-6 pounds. We follow the Nourishing Traditions recipe for stock so the chicken only cooks about 2 hours before I pull it out and take all the meat off. The bones and all veggies will simmer and cook for around 36 hours. I'm limited by pot size but can usually fill around 10-12 16 oz jars with stock to freeze. The broth/stock will last for around a week. The meat is then cooked/made into something else: stir fry, sandwich meat, fried rice or just eaten as is with some sort of dip on the side. I'm far from creative so my kids get the same food rotated =)

[dressagemom]

Family of 7, and here is how it works for us. I usually get at least a 5# bird (depends on where I get it, my local farmer usually has bigger birds, but not always). I almost always roast the whole bird for the first meal. We have chicken, lots of veggies, and maybe some fresh bread (depending on how motivated I was that day). After that meal, I remove all the meat from the bones, and set it aside for another meal. I cook the carcass in the crockpot for a loooong time for stock. I usually have about 2 cups of chicken left over, which isn't a lot, but it is enough for many things: enchiladas, quesadillas, chicken pot pie, chicken and dumplings, chicken noodle soup, etc. While I don't plan on getting more than one more meal out of that chicken, sometimes there is enough left from Meal 2 for someone to have lunch the next day.

I used to be able to get three or four meals out of that one chicken, but our family has grown and they all like to eat. I only plan on two meals now, and anything else is a blessing. I second adding more veggies to your meals; I find that adding another package of frozen veggies to the dumplings or more carrots to the soup bulks up the meal without complaint. Using your homemade broth adds significant flavor, which helps a lot when the meat is a bit stretched. Sometimes, I just cook two chickens so that there is lots of meat leftover for all the dishes we like with cooked chicken.

[mommabritt]

A whole chicken lasts one meal only here. My kids love chicken and eat a huge amount of it. I am not interested in cutting them off if they're still saying they're hungry so I allow them as much mear and veggie as they want. Usually two servings of whatever starch there is is the limit. I prefer they full up on protein and vegetables.

[rumblepurr]

To start off, we have a first course of salad with a cup of milk or water. That takes the edge off of everyone's hunger. Then we have the meat (portioned out), a side veggie and quinoa or rice. Even then we usually only have a breast and a wing or two left over on a 4 lber.. That goes into a soup with beans to fill it out the next night or thinly sliced/chopped for lunch the next day. We can only stretch it to three meals if we divide the meat up to begin with and use part for chicken fajitas (refried beans extend the chicken here), chicken soup of some kind: noodle, rice, bean etc., and diced up on salad for lunch the next day with a boiled egg to extend it.