The Chicken Challenge

I walked into the grocery store yesterday and the smell of rotisserie chicken hit me like a brick wall. It smell so good and I was already so hungry that I could not resist getting a chicken of my own to roast. While I was standing there trying to find the best chicken they had that would feed us all, another woman walked up and started looking through them too. She commented on how good it smelled at the front door and how she couldn't resist wanting a chicken but she liked making it herself so she could get a big one and use the whole thing for several meals.

Not a particularly riveting conversation, I know, but it got me thinking. I have always used most of a chicken. Then the question: How many meals can I get out of one chicken? Kind of like a turkey but smaller and cheaper.

Now, keep in mind that my boys both eat like ravenous wild animals so some people could possible get more than me but I made it a mission to make as many as I could. If your kids have more reasonable appetites, or you are vegetarian, you can get more than I did. In fact, if you are a vegetarian, you could probably stop reading right about now.

First, I roasted the chicken in the oven. You could boil it and skip a stock making step later but I prefer the taste of roast chicken.

Out of the oven, the boys ate the drumsticks and T and I ate the breasts.

Then I picked the thighs clean and used half in quesadillas for dinner and the other half in a chicken casserole for another day.

The bones and skin, I boiled with an onion, some carrots and cumin to make an awesome stock. I used some of the stock to make homemade chicken and rice soup to freeze, froze some stock alone, and the rest of the broth and a few of the random bits of chicken left to make some chicken tortilla soup for today.

So, out of one mediumish sized, whole chicken, I made five big meals. Plus some stock for later. Not bad, right? I think next time, I may go for the big chicken and see if I can squeeze a few more meals out of it.

Do you have any ideas for me? Something I missed or forgot? How many meals can you think of to get out of one chicken? I challenge you to find out and then let me know!