So I buy organic chicken, because it's actually cheaper for me to buy the one that's already cooked at the store than to cook a raw one myself, plus my oven has been broken for over a year now, and that's a different story.
So I buy rotisserie organic chicken from Fairway for $12.99, and for an extra $1.00 they will throw in two sides. I get green beans and broccoli rabe. I checked with the store, and their squash has added sugar, so I can't buy that. I don't buy peppers that aren't organic, so I can't buy the regular broccoli side because it comes with pesticide-peppers, and I won't eat that.
Do I sound like a freak about sugar? The thing is that once I have some, I crave more, and on and on it goes. Sugar messes terribly with my intestinal flora, and since I have Celiac Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, I can't afford to mess around with my flora. In fact, I spend a lot of time and effort cultivating good flora (the only garden I can't show off)! So sugar is out!
So for $13.99 I get three to four meals a week, for all three of us. I mostly eat green stuff (broccoli rabe, kale, chard, spinach, brussels sprouts, etc), so the chicken is not even half my plate. I might have six to eight bites. And I love organic potatoes! Who knew the regular kind is sprayed heavily? Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) knows, and I love what they do! Check them out for which items to get organic and which to buy regular.
My son will have one drumstick and a salad and call it dinner. Sometimes he won't even touch the potatoes. My husband eats his chicken in a sandwich for lunch and goes light for dinner. He does the King-Prince-Pauper Diet where you eat a lot in the morning and then lunch and burn your calories all day... so for dinner he has a grapefruit and some almonds.
Now that it's almost winter, and we're back and forth to Vermont to ski and snowboard, we like soup, so I'll make broth with the chicken I get at Fairway today. They have a lot of flavors (plain, latin, barbecue, etc). We like the herb or the lemon garlic. They post all their ingredients, so it's easy to know what you are getting. After putting the groceries away, I bone the chicken. (I save the drums for my son, but everything else -- boned!) If there is garlic, I press it out of its skins and save that too! All the bones go into the crockpot and get covered with water and set on high. If you add a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar, the calcium in the bones will be released into the water. After four hours on high, the bones are soft.
All the chicken goes in a freezer baggie for our trip to VT. The sides go in baggies too -- easier to carry and takes up less room in the cooler.
I got home from the market around 2pm. After dinner (6pm) I turned off the slow cooker and let it cool. After an hour of cooling, I strained the chicken into mason jars (5, plus a lot spilled), and don't forget to leave a lot of room in the top of the jar if you freeze your broth. You don't want the jars to burst! I leave a finger's worth of space before the neck. Once my jars are cool, I will freeze a few and put the others in freezer bags to take to VT -- easier to carry!
So now I have two drumsticks for my son, about three pounds of chicken (out of a 5 pound chicken) for dinners and sandwiches, and five jars of broth for soup bases, plus two sides for $13.99.
Meshugunah, our dog says, thank you for the chicken skin, Mama! (She'll turn 16 next week -- that's 112 years old in human terms.)
No comments:
Post a Comment