Meat and Potatoes

Has anyone else noticed the increasingly high prices of meat these days? Obviously grocery prices are increasing across the board, but meat and dairy seem to have taken a hard hit. Over the past several grocery trips, I have seriously scrapped entire recipes from my meal plan simply because I cannot bring myself to pay $7 for the smallest package of chicken breasts. Now, I would pay $7 for free-range, organic chicken breasts from a local farmer at the farmer's market, but not for the hormone-injected, antibiotic laden stuff at Super Target.

So the Poe family has become somewhat vegetarian these days. We are only eating meat a couple of times a week, and the rest of the week we are enjoying meatless meals. Eggplant, beans, soups, and eggs are our new best friends, and our grocery bill is lower for it. I've also been trying to find recipes for cheaper cuts of meat, like round steak, and for canned fish (crab and salmon cakes, tuna pasta salads, etc.). I can't imagine how families with multiple children are handling this change in our economic situation!

I'll try to post a few of my favorite budget meals and ideas over the next few weeks, but let me start with my favorite: a basic roasted chicken. You can purchase a whole chicken for under $4 and really get your money's worth. I'll share my basic recipe and then give you a few suggestions for how to make it last:

BASIC ROAST CHICKEN
1 whole chicken (it's easy to do 2 at a time if you want to have even more meat)
butter or olive oil
1 bulb of garlic
1 lemon
kosher salt and pepper
sprigs of thyme, if you have it (optional)

Remove the chicken from its wrapping and feel inside the cavity to make sure that it is free of the little plastic bag that contains the neck and giblets (not many companies include this these days, but better to check than have melted plastic inside your dinner!).

Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat it dry with paper towels. This is what gives the skin that good crispy texture.

Place the chicken (breast side up, which means that the legs will be sticking up at you) in a roasting pan on a rack, or in a shallow baking dish. You could even do it on a cookie sheet with a high edge. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil or softened butter (a couple of tablespoons). Sprinkle the outside and inside of the chicken with salt and pepper (at least 2 t. salt and 1 t. pepper). Cut the lemon in half and the garlic bulb in half horizontally. Stuff them inside the cavity of the chicken. Add herbs if you have them (rosemary, thyme, and sage are great...you can also rub these dried herbs on the skin and inside for more flavor).

Bake the chicken in a 425 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours or until the skin is golden brown, the inside measures 160 degrees with a meat thermometer, or until juices run clear. You don't want to overcook it and dry it out. I find that 1 1/2 hours is perfect for most grocery store chickens. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for about 30 minutes in order for the juices to soak back into the chicken. If you cut it immediately, the juices will all run out and the meat won't be as moist.

IDEAS FOR USE:

• Jonathan and I like to split one of the chicken breasts for dinner, then I can pick the rest of the meat off of the chicken (be ruthless...there is tons of meat on there if you really get in there!) and use it for other things, such as...
• Chicken salad, enchilada filling, chicken soup, casseroles, sandwiches, etc.
• Save the bones and any meat clinging to them to make chicken stock/broth. If you make broth and save it in your freezer in baggies, you will save a good chunk of money by not having to buy canned/boxed chicken broth for recipes. I usually just stick the bones in a big baggie and leave it in the freezer until I am ready to make stock, usually on Sunday afternoons.

CHICKEN STOCK:

In the largest pot you have, combine the chicken bones, 2 carrots (roughly chopped), 2 celery stalks (roughly chopped), one onion (roughly chopped), a handful of parsley and/or thyme (optional), and some salt and pepper. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 hours. While it is cooking, you can do whatever the heck you want! Those are my favorite kind of recipes.

Allow to cool and strain through a colander into a big bowl. Use a measuring cup to measure small amounts (I like to do 2, 4, and 6 cup increments) into freezer bags. Label bags with the cup amount. I like to lay the baggies flat in the freezer so that once their frozen you can fit them in little nooks and crannies in your freezer without taking up much room. Then, when you are ready to make soup or you need some broth for a recipe, just thaw out a baggie under warm water and its ready to use!