Thrifty Meal Planning

It was recently said to me that it seems that all I do it eat cake, based on my saying that at the start of a few blog posts. The best time for me to blog is when all is quiet and I'm never going to pass up the opportunity for a cuppa and something sweet. So, from the comfy new wing chair where I'm sitting with a cup of tea and yummy shortbread biscuit (naughty) I have logged in to tell you all about my thrifty meal planning.

I've realised for a while that although we are very good at cooking in batches and freezing home cooked meals, there is probably (definitely) room for improvement. With ever rising food bills and soon 4 mouths to feed I had a think about the best way to do this. I'm not coming to you with a ready made meal plan but my intentions following a fairly successful day on the food front.

Having decided that there is most certainly something in the concept of having a roast and using the meat through the week, I headed off to the supermarket to purchase a chicken. Now, my issues with this are a) it wasn't free range and b) I didn't go to a butcher. Like a lot of people I have a reason behind both of these things but I will put this on my list of things to do better. I really don't like buying not free range and I much prefer the idea of using a local butchers.

I used the whole chicken (which cost £5) to make a roast dinner for the three of us (two adults and a 2yo) which consisted of roast chicken, (stuffed with garlic and onion and seasoned with sage) honey roasted parsnips, carrots, broccoli and roast potatoes. I removed the remainder of the meat from the chicken (pictured in a large dinner plate sized bowl) which will be enough to make at least two more meals this week and possibly a chicken sandwich or two for lunch.

At this point I decided that you must like chicken to cook like this!

I then put the chicken carcass with the garlic and onions in a crock pot with a carrot and onion, meat juices, water left over from the vegetables and water to fill to pan and brought it to boiling point. I the left it to simmer until it had a nice colour. I think it was on a low heat with a lid on for 1.5 hours. once strained, I filled up three old plastic soup pots with stock. I will freeze two of these and use another on Thursday to make a soup. We usually eat a light tea on Thursday after Hubby B has finished at tennis.

I don't yet have any particular plans for the chicken which I'm aware isn't very good planning but I'll keep a note as I go along. My intention is to total up the ingredients and create a relatively cheap shopping list. Wish me luck! Oh and please comment with any simple chicken recipe ideas!

Mrs Crafty B