“This is a recipe?” you may ask. Well, no, but it’s a favorite technique of mine to tackle a few things simultaneously on a leisurely Sunday, my happy cooking day.
Chicken parts were a very good price this week, frugal friends. Sunday morning, I threw two pounds of them into the crockpot with two bay leaves, half teaspoon of salt, fresh cracked pepper, and enough water to reach an inch below the rim. Turned it to HIGH. Just after lunch, I scooped the chicken pieces out with a slotted spoon to a plate. Using two forks, the fall-off-the-bone meat came away easily. The carcass and remains then went back into the crockpot stock. Put the shredded chicken into a container in the fridge. Turned the crockpot to LOW and we decided to hit a late afternoon movie.
Back home, first I dealt with the 9 cups of fresh stock by scooping it into a colander over a large bowl to catch the scraps, then portioned the liquid into storage containers and put in the fridge (the next morning, scraped off the fat and froze). Well-cooked scraps were then tossed.
For dinner, burritos! In a small sauté pan with a lid, heated 1/4 cup green salsa, 2 Tbsp. water and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded chicken. Whole wheat tortillas, cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream and avocado.
Remaining shredded chicken was parceled into storage containers in two-portion sizes for soup, sandwiches, salads. Do you make your chicken this way?
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You’ve got more than a darn good technique for chicken here… you’ve got a darn good menu planning lesson.
Planning ahead, cooking a basic ingredient like chicken, and preparing it to use in several dishes is a great way to save time AND money. Especially,like you said, you found a good price on chicken. So, a person is smart to cook up a batch and spread it out between several good meals like you did.
I think this is a part of our fast paced lives that seems to get missed. In modern homes we just don’t see the concentrated meal planning like we used to in the “good ol’ days.” My Grandma and Mom always planned the shopping and menu for at least a week at a time. We knew if there was a big chicken roasting in the oven, that we would have chicken soup later that week made from the carcass and leftovers.
Thanks for the clear and concise illustration about cooking smart and frugal!