Money/Time Saving Recipe #3: Chicken Soup

We are on a tight budget in my house right now, and in an effort to save money and time I'm working on making wallet-friendly dinners that are big enough to at least make lunch the next day and, at best, also freeze for later. (Please keep in mind that I have a family of three, so you would need to increase the size of each recipe if you have a larger group to feed.)

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Thick and Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup
Time: 1-2 hours
Servings: 8+


Ingredients:
Leftover chicken and skeleton from Roasted Chicken w/Stuffing

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
2-6 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper

32-64 oz low sodium or sodium free chicken stock
water
2 bay leaves
1/2 Tbsp dried sage

4 medium/small potatoes, chopped
2-3 large carrots, chopped
1 cup white rice

1 bunch kale, finely chopped

1. Remove all chicken from skeleton; shred into bite-sized pieces, set in refrigerator until later.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in medium soup/stock pot.
3. Add onion, carrots, and celery; cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Add garlic, salt, and pepper; cook until vegetables are soft.
5. Add chicken skeleton (not meat!) to pot; add liquid(s) to cover.
6. Add bay leaves and sage; simmer over low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Remove skeleton.
8. Add potatoes, carrots, and rice; simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Add kale and shredded chicken; simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Remove from heat and serve.



This soup only gets better as it sits, so feel free to make ahead of time. Freeze leftover soup in muffin tin(s) and save in freezer bags.

Money/Time Saving Recipe #2: Roast Chicken & Stuffing

We are on a tight budget in my house right now, and in an effort to save money and time I'm working on making wallet-friendly dinners that are big enough to at least make lunch the next day and, at best, also freeze for later. (Please keep in mind that I have a family of three, so you would need to increase the size of each recipe if you have a larger group to feed.)

♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥.....♥

Roast Chicken w/Yummy Stuffing
Time: 2 hours (about 30 minutes active)
Makes: 4-6 Servings


Ingredients:

7lb Whole Roaster chicken (preferably organic and locally & humanely raised)
salt

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 large carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 tsp salt
white pepper, to taste
3/4 cup water or chicken stock
1/4 cup dried cranberries, diced
1/4 cup raisins or prunes or apricots, diced
1/4 cup walnuts, diced
Chopped fresh herbs (I like sage)
5 cups cubed stale bread


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Apply salt liberally to chicken. Let sit while you prepare stuffing.
3. In large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.
4. Add onion, carrot, celery, and salt. Cook, stirring often, until onion is clear and soft.
5. Add pepper.
6. Add water or chicken stock and dried fruit and nuts, cook until simmering.
7. Remove from heat. Add chopped herbs and bread.
8. Toss/stir until well combined.
9. Stuff chicken and place on roasting rack. (Place extra stuffing in small baking dish and set aside.)
10. Cook chicken for about 1.5 hours. When there is about 20 minutes left, put the remaining stuffing in the oven to heat and brown.
11. Once cooked, remove stuffing from chicken and stir in with the stuffing that cooked separately.
12. Carve chicken, and serve.

I served this with baked sweet potatoes and broccoli. Adding sweet potatoes is very easy. Just scrub, wrap in aluminum foil, and place in the oven with the chicken. Large sweet potatoes take just over an hour to cook.

Make sure to save all leftover chicken and the chicken skeleton for chicken soup! (Recipe coming soon)