One of the things I found most useful is too batch cook. Buying a loss leader meat in quantity and cooking it all at one time saves money and time. You are washing the pans and kitchen once. I am always careful of raw meat. I disinfect all my surfaces and the sink after I cook. This means that I am doing it once, not three or four times. Some of this work can be done while sitting on a stool or at a kitchen table.
- Chicken. Whole chickens are the cheapest way to buy chicken. I get Foster Farms for a dollar or less a pound all the time. Never buy a chicken that is less than three pounds. Three pounds is the break even point. Your pay is much for bones as you do for meat. Most deli roasted chickens are 3 pounds or less. Even at Costco, you are paying 1.67 a pound. That's twice as much as cooking it yourself and you get more meat for your dollar.
- The easiest way, by far, to cook a whole chicken when you have no time is to put it in the slow cooker. Peel one large or two small onions. Cut them in half or quarters accordingly. Dump them in the slow cooker. Wash the chicken under cold water. Clean out the insides. Use plastic gloves if you want. Pour a couple of tablespoons of salt in the cavity. Put it in the slow cooker and put a dry rub on the skin. Use a dry rub that doesn't use sugar. I made one out of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and some pepper. Like more paprika than the rest of the spices. Cover and cook for an hour a pound on high. I take it out and reserve the broth for soup. You can easily separate the breast onto two meals. Take off the thighs, legs, and wings for another meal, and put the rest of the meat and bones on a bag for soup. Four meals for about 1.25 per meal for meat.
- Chicken pot pie
- Chicken tacos
- Roasted chicken "Sunday dinner"
- Buffalo chicken sandwiches
- BBQ chicken sandwiches
- Chicken orzo soup
- BBQ hicken thighs and legs
- And the list goes on .....check the Betty Crocker on line cookbook.
Roasting a chicken takes a little more time, not much.
Wash the chicken and clean out the insides. Salt it.
Put about anything inside the cavity that you have laying around the kitchen--
An apple, orange, lemon, onion...... Rub olive oil on the skin. Put a meat thermometer in the chicken by the thigh half way in, not touching a bone. Use a thermometer that is supposed to be left in the oven. I have a programable one that works great. It beeps when the meat is done. It was about twenty five dollars at Amazon. Cook until the temp is 180 degrees. I check several places. I cook it at 375 and turn the oven on for 1.5 hours and add time if necessary.
Sometimes I get chicken thighs for as low as .68 at Winco. I only want chicken that comes from The PNW. I bake them off in the oven and freeze them. When we are ready to eat them, I thaw them in the fridge and either shread the meat for tacos or BBQ sandwiches, or I put BBQ sauce on them and broil them until they are warm.
Frozen boneless chicken breasts are 6.99 at grocery outlet - Foster farms.
I keep one bag for emergencies.
I think the reason why a lot of people don't scratch cook is because they have stopped teaching home Ec in school. Watching some of the cooking shows, ought gove you the impression that it takes a long time in the kitchen. There are simple ways to cook that don't take hours in the kitchen and still make a flavorable meal. Knowing how to cook a good meal from scratch is key to feeding a family on a four dollar per person a day budget.
We, actually, eat on less.
