Chicken On The Cheap

tim_fitbuilt4life

Healthy Recipe Doctor
with Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

From low fat recipes, to recipes designed for diabetics, Elaine Magee RD, MPH shares recipes and advice to create healthy meals that are guaranteed to please.

Friday, May 16, 2008
Frugal Friday: Chicken On The Cheap

Do those “extreme value” or “value pack” trays or bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast really save you money?

Why pay for the chicken skin when you are just going to throw it away, right? The best way to judge the best deal with chicken is to consider the price per pound instead of the cost per chicken breast because some chicken breasts are bigger or smaller than others. Two small chicken breasts can weigh the same as one extra large chicken breast.

In my neighborhood grocery store the “value pack” of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is $3.49 per pound while a package of “boneless, skinless Breast Fillets” will run you $6.49 per pound.

But you only need 4 chicken breasts for dinner and the value pack of chicken contains anywhere from 6 to 8 breasts. So what do you do with the extra 2 to 4 breasts? The way I see it you have two good options:

Option #1
If you are roasting or grilling the chicken, you might as well throw on the extra breasts. You can use the extra cooked breasts for lunch or dinner the next day (chicken enchiladas, chicken quesadillas, chicken pot pie, chicken salad sandwiches, chicken Caesar salad, etc…)

Option #2
You can wrap the extra-uncooked chicken breasts in a freezer bag (make sure you have pressed out any air in the bag) then keep it in the freezer. The next time you are making chicken for dinner, you can just defrost the frozen chicken breasts by placing them in the refrigerator the night before.

The savings add up!
If you have chicken a couple of times a week and use about 1 pound of chicken each time, you could potentially save around $24 each month!

blueelephant1212

great idea! i use leftover chicken all the time

mccorml

i bought the boneless skinless tho and they are nasty as hell

tim_fitbuilt4life

The boneless skinless chicken breast is dry so you have to season it and marinate good. If you don't know how to prepare then get the boneless skinless chicken with the rib meat, that has more natural flavor.

bonnienm

I love boneless skinless breasts. They're on sale right now at my local store for $1.59 lb and at Smith's Food for $1.69. I trim any fat off, cut some into chunks and slice the remaining ones into thinner pieces then wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them in a ziplock bag. This way I can take out only as many as I want to and it makes it quicker to use if I'm in a hurry. I usually fry them in some kind of dressing (one of my favorite's is light balsalmic vinegar). It's even better if you carmelize the dressing. Then serve with either potatoes or add some veggies to the pan to cook. Yummy.

tim_fitbuilt4life

Now that sounds yummy!