Is it smart to buy a 7lb whole chicken ?!

Good for you Lauren...shopping smarter not harder! Yes, it's a good deal. Doing the math...you'll get more meals out of it that if you went out and spent $7 on one meal. So, here's a few ideas of meals that you can make/refrigerate or freeze all the while saving the bones/carcass to make soup:

Meal 1: Roasted Chicken (eating the wings, drumsticks for dinner= 7-10 oz.) Chicken cooked up with baby red potatoes, carrot, celery & onion wedges.

Meal 2: Chicken Breast Sandwich (about 3-4 oz.) w/ produce on whole wheat bread.

Meal 3: Southwest Chicken Enchiladas (about 1-2 cups shredded chicken) with shredded cheese, tortillas, onions & enchilada sauce. Or "Mole' Sauce ...my fave.

Meal 4: Chicken Salad (dice up a little chicken 3/4 C.), toss with mayo, chopped celery, shredded carrot & green onions) serve up on a fresh croissant or stuff it in a nice large hollowed out tomato or red bell pepper.

Meal 5: Chicken fried rice: dice up chicken (3/4 C.), toss in a large frying pan with precooked day old rice, diced egg, peas, green onions, toasted sesame oil and soy sauce)

Meal 6: Well, you got so burned out of chicken you decided to order out for pizza tonight...haha just kidding!! Chicken pot pie- Add diced chicken (3/4 C.) to 1/2 C. of Cream of chicken soup, mixed veg. peas/carrots, 1 little cornstarch to thicken. Pour it in an ovenproof baking dish and top off with premade pastry dough. Crimp the sides. Cut 4 small slits at the top to allow steam to exit. Brush with egg wash & bake.

Meal 7: Chicken Chow Mein: Stirfry diced chicken with snow peas, celery, baby bok choy, garlic, water chestnuts & bamboo shoots, precooked Chinese style egg noodles, sesame oil & soy sauce.

Meal 8: Wow, you made it! Now you can make that coveted chicken soup!

I'm a personal chef.

With proper use of it,you can get 8 meals of it. Just decide ahead of time what you are going to do with it,then either cook it all and make those dishes and freeze for later use or cut it up bagging each recipe's portion for freezing for later use. Do vary the chicken meals with other dishes so you don't get bored with chicken.

Seems like a good deal to me. For me I would get two 5# chickens and freeze one. There are only 2 of us to feed, so the smaller the better for me.

I always use the carcass of a chicken to make soup. It is a great way to stretch that chicken even further. If you are not in the mood for soup, just freeze the carcass in a big bag and pull it out to make soup in a few weeks. Left over soup can also be frozen in individual containers for an easy lunch dish.

Sure you can. Don't forget you can use the cold leftovers for many different meals. But don't keep it too long, if there is more than you can use over a couple of days, then just freeze the cooked meat and eat another day.

Chris

Only you can decide that............I get quite a few meals out of a chicken....So I guess it would be....

Yes, it sounds like a good idea to me if you can get it for a good price..