Hope this hasn't been done already .... The Mumsnet Chicken!

serialreturner · 2020-10-05T08:09:49+00:00

[[https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/mum-feeds-family-entire-week-22750952]] Couldn't believe my eyes! And I apologise for the Mirror link, clickbait got me this morning!

EmbarrassedUser · 05/10/2020 09:18

I swear these things are a myth and are actually the size of an ostrich. We’re a family of three (including a 17 year old so basically 3 adults) The most we’ve got ever even with a large chicken is 1 roast dinner each plus a sandwich or two the next day. If she’s feeding them for a week then each meal must have tiny portions of meat in them.

FlatandFabulous · 05/10/2020 09:21

Family of three adults and one teen, we get a roast dinner plus carcass for soup/stock and that's it. We might have managed a couple of sandwiches the day after when the kids were younger.

AriettyHomily · 05/10/2020 09:23

By feeding them for a week I would expect seven meals, not sandwich filler!

SoupDragon · 05/10/2020 09:24

Her family is only 2 adults and a 5 year old so it's not that unlikely she could do it.

Original poster

serialreturner · 05/10/2020 09:25

@EmbarrassedUser I was thinking they might have a couple of secret turkeys out the back!

@FlatandFabulous Me, DH and DD (7). Roast dinner, plus carcass for stock plus leftovers added to pasta a couple of days later.

Why on earth do people think this is a thing? Madness.

OP posts:

Original poster

serialreturner · 05/10/2020 09:26

@SoupDragon for you too - Me, DH and DD (7). Roast dinner, plus carcass for stock plus leftovers added to pasta a couple of days later.

And I have a tiny appetite, smaller than DD. I'm very too thin and DD regularly eats me under the table.

OP posts:

sleepyhead · 05/10/2020 09:29

So, she has 2 legs, 2 wings and 2 breasts.

She freezes one of the breasts and uses the other for sandwiches for her husband.

She makes a chicken recipe using the legs and her 5 year old eats the wings without sauce.

Where are all the other meals?

Is she saying she feeds her family for a week on one chicken by making 4 of their dinners and 2 family members' lunches chicken-free?

She'll tell us she's got a recipe for stone soup next.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/10/2020 09:29

Why on earth do people think this is a thing

It's been a thing since before the internet was invented, let alone Mumsnet.

Before meat was mass produced and relatively cheap, the only meat a family would get in a week was the Sunday roast, which was stretched through leftovers for a couple of days of weekday meals. Beyond that, people would have things like egg and chips as their main meal.

But chicken was far too expensive to be affordable so people would generally have other meat like pork or beef instead. A chicken would be something people would have once or twice a year as a massive treat, it was not an expectation to eat relatively large portions, several times a week like it is today.

LadyofTheManners · 05/10/2020 09:30

I always think these people are full of it or don't eat enough.
Of a big chicken, with DD (13) who barely says any and prefers sausage with her roast, DS (12) who would eat half a chicken on his own if allowed, DH who eats enough spuds alone to feed a family of 4 (Irish as he says so not his fault) and me, we get a roast, and a stew, and I use the stew as a soup the odd time.

Akire · 05/10/2020 09:33

Had quick look already could see another story ripped off the MN page. Someone had a very lazy weekend.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 05/10/2020 09:33

'Hey, boss, have we got something for the front page yet? I thought we could probably do something about Trump and COVID.'
'Yeah, I suppose so, there's nothing... Wait, what's this? There's a woman here who made some chicken sandwiches! Team, drop everything and get down there. Take the chopper.'

movingonup20 · 05/10/2020 09:51

I can get a roast (the legs), a pie one breast, and a stirfry, other breast plus soup but only 2 of us.

FourPlasticRings · 05/10/2020 10:04

If you didn't do the roast it'd probably go further. You could do a few chicken curries/pasta sauces, pizza (other toppings required) and soup if you shredded/cubed it and boiled the bones. If you've got other meat as well you could stick it in a one pot dish like jambalaya or paella.

SoupDragon · 05/10/2020 10:15

@SoupDragon for you too - Me, DH and DD (7). Roast dinner, plus carcass for stock plus leftovers added to pasta a couple of days later

And? You couldn't, she does 🤷🏻‍♀️ People eat differently.

I have adult/teen boys. They go through a chicken like a plague of locusts.

Whatwouldscullydo · 05/10/2020 10:18

I remember watching something where someone said something along the lines of...ffs just have an omlette.

MillieEpple · 05/10/2020 10:25

Two adults and a 5 year old and only the man gets lunch.

Im pretty good at stretching a chicken with a roast, stirfry, sandwich and stock but there are 4 adult sized portions in my house

BlackeyedSusan · 05/10/2020 10:26

You can make a chicken last a long while, but, you need lots of other things on a roast dinner and you need to put it in stuff like curry so that it is not a huge part of the dinner. I was brought up by parents brought up in the war used to ration sized portions. Also who were short of money so small portions continued.

Get loads of sandwiches out of a chicken too.

Crockof · 05/10/2020 10:29

But chicken was far too expensive to be affordable so people would generally have other meat like pork or beef instead. A chicken would be something people would have once or twice a year as a massive treat

I find this hard to believe, chickens take up very little space, reproduce easily, eat scraps and hens once grown pay for themselves. Much cheaper and easier than raising cows and pigs.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/10/2020 10:40

In the 1950s, chicken was seen as an elite food and was expensive.

In the 1950s only about 1 million chickens were raised for meat in the UK, now it's more like 1 billion.

One chicken will feed a family for a few meals. Cows or pigs provide tens/hundreds of times more meat.

Crockof · 05/10/2020 10:44

As in the poultry industry I see from your link but not in backyards, same as rabbits.

chasingmytail4 · 05/10/2020 11:18

One of the breasts makes up enough sandwich filler for her husband for the week. I'm thinking that chicken must have bigger breasts than me...

ReeseWitherfork · 05/10/2020 11:22

There’s still a nutrition/calorie intake to be considered here. I’m sure anyone could make a whole chicken last a week if they paired it with endless other things, which is essentially what this article is about.

Inextremis · 05/10/2020 11:31

I remember chicken being a luxury food item, back in the 60s. We didn't have it very often.

A chicken will do two 'big dinners' for DH and me - the breasts and the legs/thighs. I usually take the wings off before roasting, and freeze them - when we have enough we have a chicken wing nibble dinner. I use the carcass - after roasting - for stock (at least that's the intention, it doesn't always happen).So - 1 chicken = 2 and a bit main meals for 2 people in this house.

FourPlasticRings · 05/10/2020 11:34

@chasingmytail4

One of the breasts makes up enough sandwich filler for her husband for the week. I'm thinking that chicken must have bigger breasts than me...

Shred or cube it, add mayo and sweetcorn. It'll go a fair distance.

whojamaflip · 05/10/2020 12:30

Family of 6 here (3 teenagers and a preteen) and I can generally stretch a chicken to 3 meals - roast on Sunday, chicken and veg pie with the meat stripped off the carcass and risotto with the chicken stock BUT its is small portions of meat with loads of veg and potatoes to bulk them out. And puddings every night to fill the gaps