Thrifty Thursday: Stretching your Deals

Pin It I call today's Thrifty Thursday tip Stretching Your Deals. You find a great deal at the store that translates into a really inexpensive family meal. Fantastic! Over the years I've tried to take each deal a step further, thinking of ways to make that deal stretch. A simple example of this is eating leftovers for lunch the next day.

What I want to show you today is an easy way to make chicken stock, used in cooking soups, sauces and other things, out of the bone and skin (the pieces I like to call "chicken yuck") that we all normally throw away. Please forgive me- there are no measurements in this "recipe." It will depend on how many chicken pieces you start with. It's not really something that needs exact measurements though, so don't worry about messing it up!

I recently found several 2-lb packages of bone-in split chicken breasts marked down $1 each. That made them only .50 a pound! I bought 2 packages and came home and went to work.

I wanted to first remove the breast meat from the bone, so that I could freeze the breasts individually to use for meals later on. I first removed the skin. After this is done, I set the breast up on its side, to see where I should slice in order to remove most of the meat. I usually never make 1 clean cut, but I slice from different directions, trying to get it all.

In the end I was left with 4 chicken breasts and a bowl full of remains. Don't throw that "chicken yuck" away!

I lined a jelly roll pan with plastic wrap and set the breasts on it. Make sure they don't touch so that they'll be individually frozen! Stick the whole pan in the freezer and leave it at least a few hours. I always just leave mine overnight. After they're frozen, bag them up to be used for meals later on.

Now, let's make something out of that bowl full of yuck. Pull out your crock pot and dump the chicken remains inside. Some people only use the bones, but I find the skin adds so much rich flavor to the stock, I leave it in. Fill the crock pot with water, enough to cover everything, plus about 1/2 cup more. I like to add a few shakes of an herb spice blend. I use McCormick All Spice. I also add 1 yellow onion, cut into chunks.

Turn the crock pot on high and leave it for at least 6 hours. Your house smells heavenly after only a few and everyone begins to ask what's for dinner! I always let mine brew for around 10-12 hours. Turn the crock pot off and let the broth sit for a while to cool down. Some people skim the layer of fat off the top. Again, I find it adds so much rich flavor, I leave it, as it's such a small amount. After it's sufficiently cooled, use a large slotted spoon to scoop out all the bones, etc. Take cup fulls of the broth and pour it through a fine mesh strainer into another bowl. Take the strained broth and pour it into ice cube trays.

Freeze the trays and fill up a ziplock bag with all the frozen cubes. I find it takes 9-10 cubes to make 1 cup of broth. My 4lbs of split breast remains made 10 cups worth!

So in an attempt to stretch my deal, I was able to have boneless, skinless chicken for 3 dinners, plus enough broth to make another 4-5 meals- all for only $2!

Do you have a creative way you stretch deals? Please share!