Two Chickens, 37 Meals, and Two Wishes

Today I bought two chickens on sale from my local grocery store. From these two chickens I was able to get 12 meals, two large batches of chicken stock (to be made at a later date and which will also make a dozen or so meals each), one meal for my dog, and two wish bones (my fiance and I like to make wishes on them). Here’s how I did it.

After pulling out the gizzards and necks to feed to my dog (raw of course), I brined my chicken. To do this, place it in a bowl of water with salt and let it soak for at least a couple hours and up to one day. Next I separated the skin from the meat and rubbed olive oil and herbs (I like salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence) under the skin. The last step before placing the chicken in the oven is to brush the tops with olive oil and herbs. I roasted the chickens in a 350 degree oven until the internal temp in the thickest part of the breast reached 165.

I also placed a grapefruit rind from breakfast into the cavity of each chicken for flavor.

After 30 minutes of resting, I carved the chickens and removed all the meat I could from the bones. The meat of the chicken I diced up and divided up into individual containers for lunches and dinner. I placed fresh asparagus and broccoli in the containers before I put them in the freezer.

The leftover bones and carcass (excluding the wish bones of course) I placed into two separate freezer bags and divided the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan evenly between the two bags. This will be placed into a large pot with some onion, carrot, celery, and seasonings to make a big batch of chicken stock for soup at a later date. These batches of soup can make anywhere from 6-12 meals depending on whats put in them. My last batch of soup had chicken pieces, sweet potatoes, kale, carrots, onions, and celery.

Finally, the wish bones were cleaned and set out to dry so that we could wish on them whenever we’re feeling lucky.