Two 10lb bags of chicken...

One of my favorite sales at my local grocery store is the 10lb bags of leg quarters. A leg quarter, for those that don't know, is a connected drumstick and thigh. Each bag has roughly 10 drumsticks and 10 thighs. I've gotten leg quarters as cheap as 49 cents a pound. That's less than 5 bucks for a giant 10lb bag of chicken! Today,  I picked up a couple bags for 59 cents a pound which isn't bad, either. Here's what I do with two 10lb bags of chicken leg quarters.

When I get them home, I immediately start separating the quarters with a knife. Drumsticks go into a bowl for later and thighs go on a baking sheet. Today I used three baking sheets for all my thighs. Skin side up, salt/pepper/oil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour or so, until they are done. Then once they cool, I take the meat off the bone, and put the meat into quart sized bags and freeze.

The leftover chicken thigh bones go into two big stock pots. I pour enough water over the chicken to nearly come up to the top of the pot, I add a few carrots to each pot, a few celery stalks, half an onion, half a head of garlic, and some Italian seasoning. I let that boil for 3-4 hours. Once it's reduced by half, strain and refrigerate the stock. The next morning, skim the fat off the top, and pour into freezer safe plastic containers and freeze. Now you have fresh, homemade chicken stock for soups and stews. You can also freeze in muffin tins for 1/2 cup servings of stock for other recipes.

 

The drumsticks can go into freezer bags raw with various marinades. Today, I did Buttermilk Herb chicken, Creamy Mushroom chicken, Italian Vegetable chicken. Then with a bag of cooked thigh meat, I made 2 8X8 trays of Chicken Enchiladas.

 

So, to recap, two 10lb bags of chicken cost me about 12 dollars. With that chicken, I was able to make nearly two gallons of chicken stock, 1 gallon bag of cooked chicken, and 5 freezer dinners. I think I did about 2 hours worth of work total today.

I got other things today at the grocery store. 500 bucks worth of food and after sales and coupons, I paid 380 dollars. Also, keep in mind that I shop ONCE a month. So that's the total I spent for our breakfasts/lunches/dinners/snacks for a whole MONTH for a family of four. I think I did pretty darn good.

I went in to the store armed with lots of canned soup coupons. I LOVE soup and I especially love it during the fall and winter. So I stocked up on soups and canned goods on my trip today. About 60 cans total. It also comes in handy for hurricane preparedness. The only bad thing about my big shopping trip is my pantry and fridge are full to the BRIM with cans and food. At least for a few days, until I can do all my freezer cooking.

The picture I leave you with tonight is my husband and two year old on the top of the Ferris Wheel at the Carnival today. Best friends, those two.