Over the years, I’ve cut my grocery budget from over $1000/month for 6 people (2 adults and 4 kids under 6) to where it is now at $300/month for 6 people (2 adults, 4 hungry kids ages 6-12)

So when a friend asked a while back for some recipes that would allow her to cook more frugally and cut down her budget, I almost went into overload, because there are so many ways. 

But one of our favorite ways is to cook whole chicken and make multiple meals of  it.

As I’ve mentioned before I buy meat when it’s on sale and freeze it for when I need it. So usually I pick up whole chickens on sale for between $.59 to $.79 a pound, so one chicken costs about $3.  

So, to start, I pull one or two chickens out of the freezer and defrost it. For the sake of this example, let’s assume I’m doing 2 chickens so I can make multiple meals out of it.

Meal 1: Roast chicken, rice, and vegetables

I roast the chickens, covered in the oven for about an hour at 425 degrees. One chicken is used as the meat for that night’s meal.

Then I pick off all the meat from both chickens and separate into 3 zip lock freezer bags. Any chicken broth drippings from the pan I roasted the chicken in are spooned into the three bags, as chicken freezes better and is moister with some broth.

The carcasses are then put into gallon size zip lock bags and saved (in the freezer) to make chicken broth later.

Now I have three bags of chicken to work with – sometimes these are frozen, sometimes held for the rest of the week’s meals. But basically here are what I make out of them.

Meal 2: Chicken and Dumplings over rice or quinoa

Since we’re really on a tight grocery budget now, I try to work in as much nutrition as possible, so I use homemade chicken broth, throw in potatoes, lentils, and some barley, as well as grated carrots and chopped cauliflower if I have it. This way the meal is nutritious and filling.

Meal 3: Chicken pot pie filling served over rice or as a chicken pot pie

The chicken pot pie filling recipe that I use calls for lots of veggies (whatever you have on hand), so again it’s nutritious and filling. And I’m using homemade chicken broth for this as well.  The recipe I use also makes a double batch, so there’s always left overs for either another dinner meal or for lunches.

Meal 4: Chicken Tacos

These I make in my small crockpot. Just throw in the chicken, a little chicken broth, and some taco seasoning and let it simmer until it is warm and seasoned.

I serve these on whole wheat tortillas, with rice, salsa, cheese, and sliced spinach (my crew won’t eat lettuce but they do eat fresh spinach – go figure!). Sometimes I’ll pull some pinto beans out of the freezer and add those in as well, to make it extra filling and nutritious.

The Bonus: Homemade Chicken Broth

All chicken carcasses are saved for a day when I feel like making broth. Broth is super easy to make, I can’t believe I was afraid of it for so long. But basically I do this in my large crockpot overnight.

At the bottom of the crockpot I put a roughly chopped onion, some celery if I have it, and a couple chopped up carrots (these are thrown out at the end so it doesn’t matter how neat they are). Sometimes I throw in a clove of garlic or two as well. 

Then on top of that I put in as much chicken carcass and trimmings from the freezer as will fit. Cover it all with water. (but leaving at least a 1/2 inch for the broth to fill in – believe me if you fill it all the way, it will overflow and make a huge mess!)

Then splash in about a tablespoon of vinegar (helps draw the nutrition out of the bones).

Cover and cook on low all night. (Warning: about 3am the house smells really really good and may wake you up.)

The next day, strain the broth out from the vegetables, meat, and bones. I give the meat and bones to the cats and then throw it away afterwards.  Place the broth in a bowl in the refrigerator for a day or so.

When the broth gets cold, the fat rises to the top. Then you can just use a spoon to scrape it off and dump the fat in the garbage.  What you are left with is yummy, fat-free homemade chicken broth and it cost you less than a $1 for the onion & carrots.

Now, it may look more like jello, but that’s because it contains more nutrition from the bones than store-bought chicken broth does. But believe me it cooks up great.

I freeze the chicken broth in pint canning jars and fill an ice cube tray with broth for those recipes that only call for a tablespoon or two of broth. Then when I need broth, I just pull it out of the freezer and microwave it and it’s all ready to go.

Sometimes I also just pull out a jar, heat it up with some onions and vegetables and have a yummy hot soup in less than 20 minutes.

So if you do all that, you have at least 4 if not 6 meals from just 2 whole chickens.

This method also works great with Turkey, only you get more meals. Just last night I made turkey broth from our christmas turkey, and we’re on meal 4 out of 7 I think of dinners with left over turkey. Definitely an easy way to stretch the grocery budget and cook frugally

Enjoy!

…Shannon

P.S. For more ideas on how to cook frugally, I recommend checking out the Hillbilly Housewife website. This is THE site where I learned a great deal on how to stretch my grocery budget just by cooking frugally.

I’ve purposely avoided talking about the holidays here this year. Not because I couldn’t come up with any ideas, (on the contrary – I had over a page full), but more because this last month has been a time of quiet reflection for me.

A time to reflect on where I am at personally and professionally, and where I want to be, and a time to seek God’s wisdom as to which path to continue on.

At one point, I even contemplated shutting down this blog, but then within two days had more complements on the blog than I’ve ever had, so I guess you are stuck with me (thank you dear friends!!)

Each year I take the time to reflect, set goals, figure out what I should work on for the next year, but this year is a little different.

I took a look at all the things that I want to accomplish and asked myself, which would make the biggest difference in my life, in my family’s life. 

And it came down to two things. 

Accomplishing these two items – and they are big ones – would signficantly affect (positively) my relationship with my husband, with my children, and my health. 

 To accomplish such big things requires a strength and will that is much greater than my own, and I really needed this time to look within and confer with God on whether I could do this, whether I should.

I’m still in a reflection, planning mode, but am easing out of it, ready with God’s help to do what is necessary to break free and deal with these two areas of my life.

Please pray for me, for direction, for wisdom, and for strength. 

52 weeks to accomplish big things – it’s a short time, but with God’s help all things are possible. I believe that He wants me to move forward, to break free this year. But with belief must come action. For our favorite saying during times of intense effort is “Faith is an action word”.

As you contemplate your year, please celebrate your successes and then I hope you’ll take some time to spend with God and learn what areas will most impact your path going forward.

2010 is a good year. I can feel it. Can you?

Recording artist Matthew West is giving away a beautiful recording of the Christmas Story. 

The Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2 is beautifully interweaved with a recording of “Away in the Manger”.

You can listen to the recording directly on The Christ of Christmas website.

Or, you can download a zip file containing the mp3 from The Parable Christ of Christmas website. The link is directly below the video. You’ll also have the option to download a zip file with the MP3 of the Gospel of John as well.

The mp3 files can then be download to your mp3 player, to your (or your child’s) iPod, or using iTunes (which is free) can be burned directly to a cd that can be played on any cd player.

Personally, I’ll be burning a copy to CD so we can listen to on Christmas Eve while out doing last minute Christmas shopping. And I’m sure it will find it’s way onto my iPod too.

Might even make a good stocking stuffer.

Enjoy!

As part of the “Over the Top” Blog Award that Tonya honored me with, I am passing the award on to six blogs that I feel are “Over the Top”.  I posted the first three yesterday, so it’s time now to reveal the next three.

And frankly this was a hard one, because there are so many wonderful blogs out there. But here are three more that I repeatedly come back to to learn, to get refreshed, and to just make my life at home easier. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

First goes to work-at-home, homeschooling mom (of 2) Crystal Paine over at Money Saving Mom. Crystal generously shares her insights and tips on saving money at home, grocery deals, how to coupon shop, you name it.

She also shares insights into homeschooling, working-from-home, and my favorite – her baking/freezer cooking days. If you are at all interested in saving money, Crystal’s blog is a great one to follow.

Next up is another fellow work-at-home, homeschooling mom (to 3), Nancy Carter at Lesson from the Farm.

You may have read Nancy column in The Homeschool Minute, but her blog shows her heart even more. She blogs about homeschooling her 3 boys, life on their farm, and God’s blessings through her battle with fibromyalgia. 

For a little dose of country, a lot of inspiration as a mom, a dose of perspective when you are feeling down or tired, I recommend heading over to Nancy’s blog.

And lastly, but definitely not least, is yet another work-at-home, homeschooling mom (to 4), Lori Seaborg at Just Pure Lovely.com. 

Lori shares her beautiful photography, reflections, little bits of her life, and other thoughts on striving to mediate on those things that are Just, Pure, and Lovely.

I can sit and and get absorbed in the pictures and thoughts on Lori’s blog, losing track of time, and come away feeling soft, and centered, thinking about the beautiful parts of life that sometimes I overlook in my busy-ness. And for that I thank you Lori!

Also, Lori’s other blog FreelyEducate.com is a great place to find free homeschooling resources, if you are on a tight homeschooling budget.

So, that’s my 6 picks for the “Over the Top” blog award. I now pass it on to these ladies, and can’t wait to see who they pick.

Enjoy!

…Shannon

Crystal, Nancy, and Lori: If you are up to it, please share your answers to the 35 questions on your blog and pass the award on to 6  blogs you feel are “Over the Top”.  Here’s the example of how Tonya did it, and here’s my post of my answers to the questions.

Since Tonya awarded me with the “Over the Top” blog award, it’s now my responsibility (and honor) to pass it on to six blogs that I think are “Over the Top”.

And you know what? This is harder than one would think. So many of my readers and friends have such wonderful blogs, to pull out just six is well… difficult. But here goes…

Drum roll please….

First is fellow work-at-home, homeschooling mom (of 2), Elizabeth (aka FrazzledMom) over at Frazzled Mom’s Blog. Elizabeth shares beautiful pictures of her home decorating, garden, and yummy recipes, and shares her thoughts on being a mom, wife, and homemaker.

I was recently at Elizabeth’s house for a tea party and can attest first hand that she is as gracious as she appears on the blog and her home reflects it.

Elizabeth also has a homeschooling blog (you can find the link in her side bar.) which is worth visiting as well.

Next up is my friend and fellow homeschooling mom (of 5), Melissa over at SageGarden.org. Her tagline sums up her perspective, “Planting Scripture, Growing Wisdom”. 

Melissa blogs about what she’s reading, homeschooling, her thoughts and perspective, and little stories that reflect her heart.

In real life Melissa and I get together about once a month for 3 hours for coffee and sanity and I always feel refreshed afterwards. When I need a pick-me up in between, I head over to her blog for a bit of encouragement and perspective.

And third is another fellow work-at-home homeschooling mom (to 2), Jennifer Sikora at For Such A Time As This . Jennifer blogs about homeschooling, being a mom, and a wife; and shares wonderful photos of her family and yummy recipes.

She recently moved her recipes off to another blog, so that’s worth checking out too! Jennfier’s insights into marriage and being a wife always make me think and help me be accountable to my own goals as a wife.

So that’s the first three!  And Click here the post for the next three

….Shannon

Elizabeth, Melissa, and Jennifer: If you are up to it, please share your answers to the 35 questions on your blog and pass the award on to 6  blogs you feel are “Over the Top”.  Here’s the example of how Tonya did it, and here’s my post of my answers to the questions.