I just bought an entire chicken?!

[Mahraih]

Before getting prengnat I ate out a lot and didn't really cook. If I did, it was that' impressive' cooking that involved a lot of expensive ingredients.

Now, I'm home cooking and budgeting! To that end, have bought an entire chicken (half price!) with stuffing/seasoning already done.

I want to make it last three meals (just for me, DP is veggie).

How would one, erm, do that? Roast, then put in a stew or something? Anyone have a meal plan that includes this?!

Thank you!!

Yes roast it first.

Use leftovers for a curry, a chicken and vegetable pie, a caesar salad, even sandwiches. Whatever you like.

I tend to roast a chicken at the weekend and use leftovers for a curry on Monday, so it feeds five of us twice.

Five of you twice?

Right, chicken produces more meat than I thought...

is newbie

For three meals you could roast. Choose one or two pieces to each for that meal but don't eat both breasts. Then you could do a nice chicken salad or chicken sandwich with mayonnaise and vegetables for the next meal. Finally a curry or casserole with the remaining bits. Or instead of the curry/casserole you could use the carcass to make some stock, flavoured with some chillis, ginger, soy sauce and garlic and then shred the remaining chicken into it. Serve as is or with some noodles. Yum.

Pregnant* Doh.

Thanks for the advice castille and eeyore.

So, I'll roast, and then maybe do a stew, then maybe something with noodles (love noodles!) or a salad, depending on how much is left.

Depends on the size of the chicken and how much each person eats

How do 5 of you have two meals from it?
We can (2 adults, 1DC) scrape 2 out of it. We must eat gigantic portions.

One chicken will probably feed just you six or 7 times.

So, roast it, then make chicken with pasta, chicken curry, chicken sweet and sour with noodles, chicken pie, chicken sandwiches and chicken soup!

roast and then make a white chilli and a batch of chicken noodle soup with the leftover chicken and stock.

colditz oh ... dear. I'll freeze some of it!

I wish my mother had taught me this stuff, how do I not know what to do with a chicken?

Best tip is if you're squeamish use gloves to pick all the meat from the bones. I'm not in the least bit icky about that bit but hate the idea that some people cut off the legs and breasts and bin the rest . And make sure you turn it over too, there's yummy bits underneath :)

Mmmmmmmmm I've one in the fridge but too late for tonight, tomorrow it will be chicken [drool]

If the chicken is just for you, you'll have more than 3 meals worth of meat! Just for the two of us, I tend to roast the chicken, have the chicken breasts for the first meal, the thigh and legs for another meal. (Spanish chicken) and then strip the remaining meat from the carcass to make a stir fry as well as make chicken stock from the carcass which I usually use for the chicken sweet corn soup to have with the stir fry.

I tend to do either a chicken risotto or a chicken leek and carrot pie with the leftovers after roasting a chicken. A small one tends to feed me and DH for 3 meals or 2 meals plus a sandwich each.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/chicken-and-leek-pot-pie.html - I don't bother with cider and use mashed potato on top instead of pastry

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3522/roast-chicken-risotto

Coq au vin for legs and the left over bits is definitley good.

Just for you:

Meal one: Roast chicken, eat 1 breast (or to be honest, some would eat 1/2 a breast).

This leaves 1-1.5 breasts, 2 legs and meat from carcass.

Meal 2: Dice remaining chicken breast and use to make a risotto.

Meal 3: Shred leg, make white sauce with pinch of mustard added, mix with chicken. Crumble cornflakes over the top and put under the grill to brown. Chicken Mornay.

Meal 4: Shred other leg. Dice an onion and a pepper, sweat off in a pan, add rice (3oz) and a tin of tomatoes, perhaps a stock cube. Cook gently on stove or put in oven at around 160c (fan) until rice has absorbed tomato liquid and is tender. Chicken Pilaff.

Meal 5: Pick off meat from carcass, then use to make a salad.

Meal 6: Fill a large pan with cold water. Add a quartered onion, roughly chopped carrot salt & pepper. Place carcass in pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. Strain stock and reserve. Take carcass and separate bones from meat. Put stock in pan and add carrots and onions, plus some herbs. Add chicken. Cook for around 30 minutes. 15 minutes before the end add a couple of chunky potatoes. Soup.