What do you spend on food for a week?

[SandraMort]

I'm thinking and that isn't really as farfetched as it sounds on first listen.

Quote:
Say it's a good big chicken and a quarter of a chicken is a generous meal. Each person eats a leg/thigh on day 1. Day 2, she takes all the white meat and makes a casserole, that's two breasts for a dish with other ingredients in it. Half a breast plus other things each night. Then on day 4 the carcass is used to flavor vegetable rice soup. That actually sounds about right. When I bought roasted chickens from Costco, I never ate more than a quarter and was able to stretch out a bird for a good half dozen meals plus soup.

 

[banter]

I love roast chicken and we eat everything but the cluck-wish I could figure out how to do that. If I don't make soup I make and freeze chicken broth from the carcass. I pour it through a colander and pic off all the tiny bits from the bones(NO BONES) for the dogs and cats.
We waste nothing! Sometimes I freeze some of the broth in ice cube trays with herbs so I have a little kick of flavor when I need a small amount.

 

[wishin4chicken]

Quote:
Say it's a good big chicken and a quarter of a chicken is a generous meal. Each person eats a leg/thigh on day 1. Day 2, she takes all the white meat and makes a casserole, that's two breasts for a dish with other ingredients in it. Half a breast plus other things each night. Then on day 4 the carcass is used to flavor vegetable rice soup. That actually sounds about right. When I bought roasted chickens from Costco, I never ate more than a quarter and was able to stretch out a bird for a good half dozen meals plus soup.

Sandra -- You got it!!! Michele.

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

We have a family of four and always get three meals out of a bird. We eat on the white meat and skin after it is roasted the first day, then I pick the dark meat and leftover white meat for say nachos, then I either boil the bird for broth and pick the bones immediately or throw the whole carcass in the freezer and save to add another carcass for another meal like soup. I try to make plenty of side dishes so we don't eat that much meat on a daily basis.

 

[EweSheep]

For a family of three and chicken and a cat, we spend about 300 dollars a month on good months. When hubby work hours were cut back and my SSD monthly amounts were cut back also, we ended up in the hole and had to make some drastic changes. Now we are spending about two hundred dollars and no more on food and necessites.

I had the angel ministries and the meat is OK since I was disappointed in size and flavor wise. When one wants PLAIN chicken instead of flavored, that was not an option and it was over seasoned so it went to soups and boiled to death. For the sirloin steaks, flavor was ok best if you BBQ or grill it OR make lots of beef veggie soup (it was delicious and tender when in crock pot for a whole day!). Pork tenderloins were a big disappointment, had the "tail" end of the tenderloin and gristle and fat ran in the middl eof it and wasted alot of it. The rest of it was processed meats which I am trying to avoid, its too fattening and too salty for our diets. Would I spend that much money on those, no, I can do better with butcher meats and waste very little. We do go to food pantries and they have better selections than angel ministries since you can get alot of canned goods, like stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, pastas, beans and veggies with ONE processed meat like six hot dogs, or a bag of chicken nuggets or one tray of chicken legs. I can make use of those for soups, stews and a decent pot pies.

As for the animals, the cat still gets her regular food but she doe snot eat any people food except for canned tuna very rarely. The chickens get all of our table scraps and extra canned corn and rice and cooked beans along with their usual treat of bread heels to scretch the chicken feed a bit longer. If the girls are still laying well, I scramble up store bought eggs back to the girls and eat our own fresh eggs.

Its rough out there and we had to go to food pantries three times a month and any extras, I would scout in paper to find the best deals on meat. Aldi's is our fav place to shop but compare with other stores, I have three ads in hand to compare the prices and go from there. Never had to do that before but now I do!

 

[lnm03]

I dont know if I should be asking this question some where else but I read you were making chicken broth from the carcas can someone tell me how to do it? We get two to three meals out of a chicken but if I can figure out how to get one more that would be great!

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

You can throw in the pot what you like with the carcass. There really is not a right or wrong way. Here is a simple recipe to help you along. I find this can use some salt, and sometimes leave out the ginger even though it is good.
* chicken carcasses (with some meat remaining) I usually have two in the freezer I throw them in the pot frozen
* 6 cups water (more if needed to cover chicken)
* 1 large onion, quartered
* 1 large carrot, cut into around 12 pieces
* 1 teaspoon garlic, crushed
* 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon celery seed or a cup or so of fresh
Directions
Place chicken carcass in medium sized pot and just cover with water.
Bring to boil and then simmer over a low-medium hear for one hour. You may need to keep adjusting the temperature from time to time as some liquid evaporates.
Skim fat from the top of the broth. (I do this at the end before straining)
Add onion, carrot, garlic, ginger, bay leaf and celery seeds and continue to simmer for 3 hours, stirring once or twice.
Allow stock to cool uncovered.
Strain into a storage container and either use immediately or freeze for later use.

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19119

Try this thread.

 

[cheeptrick]

I spend appoximately $700 a month for my family of five. I cringe every time I see my price chopper receipt. Last week I spent $250 on 2 meals....I was horrified. I'm planning my meals better now....

 

[SandraMort]

I was motivated by this thread and my bank account and went to hillbilly housewife. I don't know if the stuff she's talking about is hopelessly outdated or if I just live in an expensive area, but $70 a week is just impossible around here. Examples, from her $70 menu:

DAIRY
8.87 20 quarts (4 pounds) Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
2.17 3 Dozen Eggs @ 69¢/doz.
2.00 8 ounces shredded Cheese

I found 5 lbs (makes 25 quarts) of powdered milk - NOT ORGANIC - for 27 dollars. I haven't seen a giant thing in the supermarket at all.

I just cheered at finding sale eggs this week for 1.50 a dozen.

Cheese? For 2 dollars?!? I can't even get "cheese product" for 2 dollars!

Does she live on another planet?!? I actually feel a lot better about my $130 week after reading this.