How many meals from 2 chickens? Suggestions please...

[AuntieMaggie]

I'm trying to spend a lot less money on food as we're skint. I've got two whole chickens - how many meals do you think I can get out of them for 2 adults (one low carbing) and a toddler?

How big are they?

I had one large whole chicken the other day. Between two adults I split it into:

Breast meat for a roast dinner
Breast meat for chicken mayo jacket
Potatoes
Breast meat for chicken and chorizo jambalaya (only need a bit for flavour)
Dark meat in a chicken pie (fill pie with veg and gravy so don't need much chicken)
Dark meat in chicken and pork fried rice
Dark meat in chicken curry (bulk out with mushrooms, peppers etc)
Dark meat for chicken and vegetable soup (hardly any needed, more for flavouring)

I Mumsnetted a chicken recently
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2568385-My-Mnetted-chicken

Sorry forgot to add you could replace the rice in the rice dishes with cauliflower rice and use sweet potato or root veg or cauliflower mashed instead of pastry for the pie if low carbing

Personally I'd have them over 2 or 3 meals and just eat veggie the rest of the week . Id rather a few very nice meat meals than a hint of chicken over seven days.

Could also do fajitas but have the filling with salad if you don't want the carby wraps. Chicken stew is another good one that doesn't require much chicken, just give bread/dumplings a miss for low carb. You could put some chicken in an omelette for low carb, do some kind of chicken in sauce to go over courgetti, a crustless quiche, chicken salad, chicken sandwiches using vegetables as bread (a grilled pepper cut to halves is a good bread replacement or a cucumber or lettuce used as a wrap. Can also use cabbage leaves as lasagne sheets and make a chicken lasagne.

Are they the sort of chicken you could braise? If so, do one as a Nigella Praised Chicken (use stock instead of wine for economy, not quite as good but still very good.) That's two meals from one and amazing stock for soup for lunch. Then I'd roast the other one, and take all the meat off, and make fajitas, a stir fry, a curry and more soup- lentil this time.

Loads of vegetables with each menu.

So 5 dinners with plenty of variety and 5 lunches.

Oh, I know. Self esteem through the roof, darling!

But it is sooooo good.

Praised chicken

Brilliant ideas thanks!

IHaveBrilloHair I've seen your other threads but not the chicken one... the gammon one really impressed me as we're lucky if a joint makes two meals herr!

Thanks, I'm currently working my way through a pork leg joint.

IHaveBrilloHair please link when you've done

I will, I prefer to wait until all meals are done and start a new thread as it makes it easier to follow.
I'm currently making fried rice with some though, and we've had pulled pork too, meatballs made for tomorrow and still more in the freezer.

Fab, I do enjoy them and pinch many an idea,

I need new ideas of what joint to do next!

Hair I've just bought ten llbs of mince and 5 ham hocks for £20, just saying......................

Oh no, not the mince, people on here seem to get a tad carried away and put one grain of mince into a dish for 20 people, I'm avoiding the mince for now.
I'm tempted to try fish because I've not seen that done before.

I can do fish, salmon side quite expensive, or maybe offal? Depending if you like it or not