Three People. One Chicken. Four Different Meals

Last week, whole chickens were on sale in my town for 57 cents a pound. That's a really great price - at least here - so we stocked up, to the tune of 20 chickens. I don't want my family getting bored with chicken, so I'm challenging myself to mix it up with different flavors so that we really enjoy all this chicken.


The first thing I did was cut up the chicken. I didn't take how-to photos for a few reasons.

One - even though I've done it a million times, I'm not the world's best cutter-upper of chicken.

Two - I didn't want chicken goo on my camera.

Three - please see number two.


Anyway, here is the chicken - cut up. The bowl in the back on the left is everything you don't really want to mess with - back, breastbone, wing tips, skin, neck. That's the start of some broth I'll use later in the week. I *did* take a picture of all that stuff in the pot, in water, but honestly, it looked pretty grody, so let's just skip that pic, shall we?

The bowl on the right is skinned legs, thighs and wing segments.

On the left (on the cutting board) are the two breasts and the tenderloins. You'll notice that I cut the 'pointy part' of each boneless skinless breast off. I also shaved about a half inch of thickness off the thickest part of each breast to make the meat a more even thickness.

On the plate the front is extra breast meat. It's not a normal 'part' of chicken, but it's a good amount of meat, and we'll be using it for a really yummy something very soon.

Tonight we're using those breast pieces and tenderloins, front left, to make Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches. These are really easy - tasty too! Let's get started!


Heat the oven. Mine is on 400 because I'm roasting a pan of potatoes to go with these sandwiches. Put some breadcrumbs on a plate and coat each piece of chicken evenly. Our breadcrumbs are homemade from leftover bread ends, so basically free. I've tried different 'dips' like milk, egg, etc., but just pressing the chicken into the crumbs works fine, saves a step, and gets us that much closer to supper.




Spray a little nonstick spray in a heavy pan. If you use nonstick spray, you will need very little oil for the saute'. I don't know why it works that way, but it does, so that's how we do it. Cook the chicken on medium heat until the breadcrumbs are a medium brown, then turn to cook the other side.




While the chicken is cooking, make celery sticks and put some Red Hot Sauce on a plate. (Put any celery leaves/tops into that chicken broth that's simmering on the stove, too!)


Lay the chicken in the hot sauce, turning to coat. If you have little kids, use barbecue sauce for theirs, or leave them plain. Little Bit wanted the tenderloins tonight, and she had them with barbecue. Put all the coated chicken on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven. This will ensure that it's cooked all the way through without burning any breadcrumb. It also mellows the Red Hot Sauce some, and allows the flavors to blend.


While the chicken is in the oven with the potatoes, mix some ranch dressing mix with some sour cream. Make enough to put some on the buns and have some for the celery. Thin it with a bit of water if needed - sometimes it's really thick.


Warm the buns, slice them open if they're homemade, and put some of the ranch dip. Then put the chicken and some lettuce (I don't have any lettuce in the house, and it's already dark out, so I'm not going to the garden to get some - I'll plan better next time!).

Taadaa! Supper is ready! Not a great photo, but it's late, we're hungry, and I'm not making my sweet family wait while I figure out the lighting, hee hee.


So - there's one meal - Buffalo (or Barbecue) Chicken Sandwiches on homemade wheat buns, celery and ranch dip, roasted potatoes and onions from our garden. It was delicious! It would have been great with some cole slaw, but I ran errands, hung out two loads of laundry and mowed most of the yard today. Maybe next time.

(Psst...how-to for the roasted potatoes is here.)

Meanwhile, that bowl of chicken bones/skin/stuff was simmering on the stove with some water and celery tops. I got about 8 cups of broth and 3/4 cup of small chicken pieces. I have plans for both of them. Big plans. Yummy plans. Easy plans. For now, the broth is chilling, and I'll remove the fat tomorrow.




Stay tuned for our next chicken meal - coming soon!

Hail last night.

We had a pretty big hailstorm last night. I have photos on my other blog, if you want to see what can happen, rather quickly, to a lot of food.

This is why I think it's important to have several strategies - not just one. You never know when your 'plans' are going to change.

Day 22

Once again, no shopping today. We did, however, harvest some garden. We dug some potatoes, pulled some carrots and onions, and even rutabaga. We saved some for us to eat at home, but we also shared some with neighbors. We wanted to thank one family for the horse manure they gave us for our garden. Without them, we wouldn't have so much growing. Also, another neighbor plows our driveway in the winter, so we thank him with some garden produce in the warmer months.

We are also getting a few blueberries, but this is the first year, so it won't be a big harvest. We're planning blueberry pancakes for the weekend. :)

Today's meals:

B: cereal, fruit and milk

L: green beans, potatoes and onions from the garden with assorted protein sources - Little Bit had PBJ on wheat for her protein, I had a quesedilla made with corn tortillas.

S: Garden burgers on homemade buns, veggie sticks, tortilla chips and tea.

Snacks: applesauce, frosted mini wheats (we pretend they are cookies) with milk, pretzels and soda.

Day 20

We had a really busy day today, but never left home - so no spending! I made six half-pints of cherry pit jelly. We'll probably eat some and use some as gifts - it's so pretty, I may save back a jar to enter at the county fair next year!


The pantry is filling up for the year - I'm stoked! The garden is producing well, and our apple trees look good too. The peaches are getting big on the tree - we're going to net that tree tomorrow to keep the birds out of them.

Today we ate:

B: Cereal with milk.

L: Assorted leftovers, like baked beans, brown rice, veggie sticks, etc. I had a hot dog, Little Bit had PBJ on wheat, and hubby had some Portuguese sausage.

S: Tongkatsu Chicken, brown rice, green beans with new potatoes. Ice cream for dessert.

Snacks: Raw veggie sticks, cheese and crackers, cookies.

I've got to menu plan for the upcoming week, and I think we may run to the store for a few items tomorrow. More soon - thanks for reading! :)

Day 19

This is going up a day late - yesterday was super busy!

I didn't do any shopping. Instead I canned 11 pints and 3 quarts of cherry pie filling and 7 quarts of green beans. I also pitted the remainin cherries and froze them - 2 quarts and one half-pint. The green beans were from our garden, and the cherries were from a friend. I thanked her with some eggs from our hens - yay for barter!

Our meals were:

B - Oatmeal with apples, raisins and peanut butter, milk.

L - Hotdogs on homemade wheat buns, homemade baked beans, carrot and raisin salad, water.

S - Buffalo chicken wings, panfried potatoes and onions, ranch dip with carrots, celery and lightly steamed snowpeas. Butter pecan ice cream for dessert.

Snacks - PBJ on wheat (Little Bit), leftover pear crisp.

Day 8

Today was Baking Day (at least most of the baking got done!) I made things in quantity and put some into the freezer for use over the next week or two. With the garden starting to produce more heavily, we'll be busy with harvesting, canning and freezing, etc. It will be nice to have some things that are at the ready for quick meals.

Today I made bread sticks, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk scones, muffins and a cherry pie (the cherries were from our tree!). I also made some Chinese barbecued pork for the lo mein we're having later this week.

I didn't have a lot of whole wheat flour left after all that, so I milled more wheat berries this evening, and I'll likely make our bread tomorrow.

We ate rather simply today:

B - cereal, fruit, milk

L - hot dogs (on homemade buns!), potato chips, veggie sticks and pickles, assorted condiments

S - pan fried spam, steamed potatoes and corn-meal coated zucchini. I didn't have any meat, and I ate some leftover green beans. The potatoes, zucchini and green beans were all from our garden. We had some of the cherry pie for dessert.

Snacks - We nibbled scones, muffins, fresh cherries and carrots.

A few days ago I picked the first handful of fresh green beans. Yesterday I got a 'healthy' handful - more than the time before! I didn't really think I'd need to pick them tonight, but I had watered them well last night, so I thought I'd check them. I got about a gallon of fresh green beans. It looks like I'd better start preparing canning jars, lids, all that, because I'll be canning some green beans very soon!

Day 7 - One week already?

Goodness, times does fly, doesn't it? Hope everyone is doing well with the challenge.

We went out for 'lupper' today. We had a late breakfast, then had a meal about 3pm that counted for lunch and supper - so, 'lupper'!

Hubby had gotten an email from a restaurant for a free bithday meal. It was a large meal, so we shared it, and all of us had plenty. Afterward, we went to the frozen custard place. Little Bit had a coupon for a free cone that she got from the library's summer reading program. Hubby and I shared a cone too, so the entire cost of eating out today was $2.30 for 3 people. The coupons for the meal and the cone saved us $12.87 Best of all, I didn't have to cook or clean up!

This evening I traded with a friend - some of our eggs for some of their gooseberries. Later this week the same friend is getting sand cherries and plums from someone, and since it will be more than she can use, she'll be passing on the extras to us. Truly, we are blessed.

Meanwhile, the garden is giving us zucchini, green beans, and tonight I side-dug a few potatoes. I also pulled up the peas and the Chinese cabbage, so I can plant some things for fall. I'll be planting more Chinese cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and spinach.

Tomorrow is a big baking day. I'll be making bread, biscuits, muffins, a cherry pie, and if we have time, home made dog treats! I'm looking forward to week 2!

Day 3

I started the day picking peas and lettuces. Once I got the English peas shelled and the sugar snaps prepped, I froze 6 pints for future use, plus we have some to use right now. Gardening saves us a lot of money in the summer because we have so many foods fresh from our garden. Canning and freezing the extras helps us year-round.

We still haven't been to the store. We may go tomorrow, as hubby saw a sale on chips and wants those for his lunch.

Breakfast today was cereal with milk for Little Bit and green smoothies for both of us. Hubby had cereal this morning as well (he was up very early to leave for work.) I made clean-out-the-crisper smoothies, consisting of canteloupe, watermelon, frozen pineapple, frozen strawberries, a little juice and greens from our garden (romaine and cos lettuces). It was tasty, healthy, and it helped de-clutter the fridge!

In the spirit of making even more space in the fridge, we foraged for leftovers, and decided to make fried rice (which will also be leftovers) tomorrow. Today, Little Bit had half a PBJ she had saved, carrots and celery, fresh cherries and juice. I had leftover macaroni and cheese with ham, a green salad and ice water. Hubby was at work - they had a meeting today, so they provided lunch. He took some fresh cherries (from our tree!) to share with his co-workers.

Supper was all things Mexican. I made some taco 'meat' (we buy a dried soy product that is flavored - it's one of the things we get from the co-op), refried beans (again, dried, from the co-op) and then shredded lettuce from our garden. I chopped a tomato that our neighbor gave us when they went on vacation (they didn't want it going icky in their fridge), got out some shredded cheese and made some really yummy salsa from pantry items and cilantro and onions from the garden. I sliced olives for Hubby and Little Bit, put out taco shells, tostada shells and tortilla chips, and we all made different things. Hubby had a nacho plate, I had bean-lettuce-salsa-tomato tostadas and Little Bit had a meat-cheese-lettuce-olive taco.

Her bedtime snack was apple, graham cracker and milk. Through the day we nibbled at cherries, raw peas and we had an ice cream cone in the afternoon.

I'm thawing some cooked dark meat turkey to combine with some leftover pork roast - I'll add some sauce and we'll have BBQ sandwiches, homemade slaw and frozen pineapple chunks for tomorrow's supper. This is one of those times when having a menu really helps - if I didn't know what we had planned, I wouldn't know that there's not enough pork for the BBQ...and so I wouldn't know to thaw the turkey (when you combine them, add the sauce, you really would never know!).

Also, I have a quart of buttermilk in the fridge. If it's cold tomorrow, I may do some baking: biscuits, scones, who knows what else!