Sorry, vegetarian and vegan Eat Drink Better readers. This tip is for the omnis! We recently made the move from a vegetarian kitchen to a sometimes-omnivorous kitchen. Without getting into the nuances of both my husband and my’s food preferences, we’re more likely to eat at home if I cook meat sometimes, and I’d rather save the money and eat at home where I can control ingredients. One thing I recently tried as part of this new arrangement was cooking a whole chicken. Why deal with a whole chicken when you can buy the convenient prepackaged boneless skinless breasts? Because you can save a ton of money by buying a whole bird. Find out how, after the jump…

A whole bird costs a fraction per pound that chicken parts. I either buy a local bird (still cheaper than store-bought breasts) at the farmers’ market, or I wait until organic chickens go on sale at the supermarket. Either way, wait until you can get a deal, then buy a few to freeze. You can get at least three meals from one chicken, four depending on the size of the bird. Here’s how:

When we’re ready for chicken, I’ll roast a whole bird (it’s much easier than you would think!) and we’ll eat that for one meal with roasted veggies. We save enough pieces for one leftover meal of chicken pieces. Then, I shred any other leftovers, plus any meat picked from the bones/carcass, and freeze for either tacos, salad, or pasta. The carcass also gets frozen and then made into stock, which can be used to make soups or risotto. Boom, four meals.

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