Two chickens, $10.00

I apologize for the late start on getting some hints and tips out to you. I woke up yesterday morning, and my laptop decided to take a dive on me; today, our second computer quit all of a sudden. A quick shout out to my dad for letting me borrow a laptop until the IT department (a.k.a. my husband) gets home tomorrow evening.

So, let's talk chicken. Chicken is inexpensive, high in lean protein, and when prepared the right way, juicy and very flavorful, even the dark meat. I recently found out that that chicken legs are just a hair better for you than plain old chicken breasts (as long as you take the skin off). I was thrilled to hear this, as I find breast meat to be much too dry, where as dark meat is much more moist and tastes much better.

I went to the store the other day and bought two roasting chickens for $10. I took them home, cleaned out the neck and innards, brushed them very lightly with peanut oil (I prefer the taste of peanut oil with chicken, but you can use any oil), and seasoned them with S&P, garlic and onion powder. By bringing them home to roast them myself, I saved $4, as rotisserie chickens were being sold for $6.99 a piece. Sure, that doesn't sound like much, but it all adds up in the end. The preparation only took about 10 minutes. They came out 2.5 hours later looking like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and smelling divine.

Out of these two chickens I was able to make the following:

*Roasted chicken and vegetables
*Chicken salad
*Thai noodles with chicken
*Chicken nachos
*Green salad with roasted chicken breast

After I had picked the bones clean, I took each carcass, including the skin, and some left over vegetable peelings, and threw them each into a separate pot and filled with cold water. I seasoned it with just some salt and a very light touch of white pepper (I used white because I didn't want little black flecks in my clear chicken broth), and brought the bones to a boil then turned it down to a low simmer for about 4 hours (occasionally skimming the foam off the top of the liquid). After simmering, I strained the broth and let it cool. At this point, I filled quart-sized bags with the cooled liquid, laid flat on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer. Make sure the bags are pre-labeled with the date so you know when the broth was made. I was able to make several quarts of broth from these two chickens as well. As you may be aware, a quart of broth at the store sells anywhere from $2.99-$3.99.

As you can see, nothing went to waste. Out of $10 worth of meat, I was able to get 5 meals and several quarts of broth. Keep your eye out for deals in the meat department. A lot of the time you can find chickens that are close to their "sell by" date that are being sold for less than $1.00 a pound. Buy them out, and throw them into your freezer. Or, cook the meat up right away, chop it up, and freeze it. Freeze the carcasses in gallon bags until you have time to render them into broth.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share with you; if I am able to recover my laptop, I can post some later.

HINT FOR THE DAY: Save all your vegetable peelings and odds and ends that don't get used (except potatoes, as they are starchy, and tend to thicken; grind those up and thrown them in your gardens or flower beds). Throw them into the freezer in gallon-sized bags with the air squeezed out. When you have a bit of free time, turn them into a wonderful vegetable broth! Toss them in a pan with a light touch of olive oil and garlic, salt, and white pepper (remember, a little WP goes a long way). After lightly braising them to bring out their flavors, toss them in a pot with cold water. Again, bring to a boil then simmer for a few hours. Skim any foam, then strain, cool, and freeze to use for a later date.

CHECK THIS OUT!: http://www.growinca.org for tips on local, sustainable, and inexpensive ways to save on produce, meat, and dairy, while supporting local farmers.