So how far DO you stretch your chicken?

[tyzer2001]

I was just laughing at Trillian's post on another thread, where she joked she could make one chicken stretch to four meals for four people.

We've all heard the 'Rubber chicken' thing from MSE I'm sure, but I'm interested in the honest truth about other people's chickens (I probably need to get out more TBH).

So - I buy one small chicken, approx £3-£3.50, and roast it...

There are 3 of us, myself, DS aged almost 20 and Dd 14. We'll have the breasts between us as 'roast dinner', then I'll pick the carcass (and I mean pick it, I learned from my mother who makes a chicken look like it's been done over by cartoon piranhas)and usually get one sandwich for myself the next day before using the rest in a korma or pasta bake.

I know I ought to make stock from the bones but every time I've done that, I've ended up throwing it in the bin three weeks later.

So how far do you stretch your chicken?

lol rannaldini! could be quite exciting!

stressedHEmum I'm amazed at how much you get from your chicken! Can I ask, though - when you're eating, how much 'chicken content' are you actually aware of IYSWIM?

5 of us

1 roast dinner

1 curry/pasta bake

bits for sandwiches/salad/wraps

carcass for soup

i hoard roast bones (as in left over from roast, not witchcraft ) in my freezer , there are at least 2 ex-chickens plus a lamb bone in there atm...

Tyzer, I don't eat it, so I can't really comment, but the children are all happy with what they get. I cut/shred the chicken up quite finely so that the flavour goes all through the food and everyone gets a fair amount of chicken pieces, iyswim. Think of it as 1 decent sized breast or one leg and some spare meat chopped up per meal. The soup only gets the little bits off the bottom of the carcass in it but has a good flavour because of the stock.

It's the most economical way to do it, eating a roast just wouldn't work in here because it would be too expensive.

omg - we seriously need to eat less

i eat the wings whilst dishing up, we eat all the white meat with a roast, the legs mey go into a sandwich. there is no way thered be a second 'meal' from it and there are 2 of us.

I was reading this thread title rather too quickly and thought it said 'How far DO you stretch your children?'.

To which the answer is, only when the clothes they get given at Christmas are far too big, otherwise I let them grow naturally.

1 roast dinner for 2 adults and 1 child
Sandwiches for DH's supper
Chicken & veg broth/casserole next night for the 3 of us
Gristly bits/skin/'oh dear, some meat has fallen off into your bowl' for the cats

mountain goat

Roast dinner
Cold cuts with salad and chips
Thats the chicken gone.

I stick the bones in the slow cooker to make a stock but use this for gravy next time we have a roast as opposed to making a meal with it.

small chicken.
Roast for 3 - using legs and some white meat.
Pick all other meat off.
Make stock from bones and skin etc, with veg tops and bits n bobs.

One other main meal for 3 with chicken meat , Risotto/ Curry/ pasta bake.
&
Soup with stock and some meat.
OR soup with stock and rest of meat goes in sandwiches.

So at 3 x 3 meals + maybe some extra stock in to freezer or a sandwich worth of meat.

Medium chicken.

Chicken soup (whole bird, carrots, leeks, unpeeled onion, allspice, peppercorns and thyme)-enough for 2 meals for 4 people plus some left to use as a stock later

Pasta or risotto

Perhaps a sandwich for DP.

So 3 meals for 4 plus a sandwich for 1 plus a coupe of glasses of stock to add to another soup.

Sometimes I roast the chicken, but then it gets eaten right away and I'm not crazy about the stock made out of bones-it has nowhere near the flavour of one made with the whole bird.

A med-large chicken probably 3 meals for 2 adults and a toddler. Stock if i can be bothered. A roast then a large curry or chicken and chorizo casserole.

1 meal for a family of 4 - and that's a medium chicken.

No way is there anything left for another meal - clearly we are all pigs.

Medium chicken on Sunday. Me, dh, dd and a friend.

Chicken risotto last night.
Sandwiches for dd yesterday, today and tomorrow. There'll still be enough to do something with tonight.
Bones etc currently becoming stock, so we'll get soup tomorrow - prob enough for two soup nights.

It depends on whether I do sage,onion & sausage stuffing with it.

Then I can stretch a medium chicken for 4 meals.

So normally - Roast
Cold meat and Jacket pots

Chicken & mushroom pie
Then stock/ soup.