The Great Chicken Experiment: Review

This is the end of my adventures of taking two chickens and making them feed two adults for 7 days. I originally aimed for having one chicken feed one adult for 6 days, but I made it stretch more. If you count that I have two freezer meals in my deep freezer, then I guess I could say I used the chicken for eight meals.

Let's recap. I took two chickens, like the one above and cut it up into pieces. Each meal was made with pieces from the original birds.

Here are the meals for each day in picture form.

Day 1: Ritz cracker crusted chicken legs

Day 2: Hot and spicy fried chicken wings

Day 3: Teriyaki chicken thighs over rice

Day 4: Chicken breast broccoli Alfredo

Day 5: Chicken Fajitas

Day 6: Grilled chicken breast salad with sides

Day 7: Chicken breast enchiladas

Here are some numbers for you math-types. I bought two full chickens for $11.74. I made that chicken stretch for 7 meals. That works out to $1.68 per meal OR $0.84 for each person. That's pretty good for my budget.

$1.68 per meal for 2 adults or $0.84 for each person

So, what do you think?

Possum wants to know...

The Great Chicken Experiment Day 7

 Day 7-we made it! I made chicken enchiladas.

 Here are my ingredients:

flour tortillas (I used 6, but it depends on how thick you want them)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

1/2 cup shredded cheese for topping

2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken

1 can cream of chicken condensed soup

1 can Red or Green Enchilada sauce

optional: canned or homemade beans and rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Start by putting sour cream, 1 cup cheese, cream of chicken soup, and chicken in a bowl.

 Mix all those ingredients together to make a cream filling.

 Lay tortillas flat and put filling down the center.

I purposely didn't specify how much because that

depends on how thick you want your enchiladas.

 The next two steps are optional.

I topped my cream mixture with homemade pinto beans.

 After the beans, I put homemade spanish rice on top. 

 I rolled the enchilada like a burrito and placed in a greased pan.

I used a 8 x 8 pan, but a 9 x 13 would work too.

 I managed to make 4 huge enchiladas.

 Cover the enchiladas with enchilada sauce. I used red sauce.

 Sprinkle your extra cheese on top.

 Cover your pan with foil.

 Bake in 350 degree F for 35 minutes.

If you like a little crunch on top, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.

 

Here is dinner for day 7.

Keep in mind that the recipe did NOT make only 4 enchiladas. Mine made 6. I put the other two in individual freezer containers and intend to use them as an easy meal for another night.

Not bad for one nights work.

~Possum

The Great Chicken Experiment Day 6

 I admit I got lazy today and didn't stick to my original plan. We went out to lunch and got burritos. Having enchiladas for dinner was a bit over the top. So, I made grilled chicken salad instead. Sorry, I didn't take step by step pictures because I just tossed everything in a bowl.

So, here is the chicken salad and a side dish of oven

roasted broccoli and carrots with a bowl of sliced mangos.

I still have a large bowl of left over grilled chicken.

I will make something for dinner tomorrow with that.

~Possum

The Great Chicken Experiment Day 5

 Here we are at day 5. My how time flies.

Today I made chicken breast fajitas.

 Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (I used all of the breasts I had left)

Italian dressing (I used Wish Bone Robusto Italian- it was in the pantry)

1 sliced onion

1 large bell pepper ( I used a red one)

 I used my cool griddle pan. I sprayed it with non-stick oil.

Turn the heat on high and let the pan warm up before you start to cook.

 Here is the chicken breasts with the marinade on them.

I poured the dressing directly into the bag with them.

If you want more flavor, let the chicken sit in the marinade for some time.

 I sliced the chicken breasts lengthwise to let them cook faster.

If you don't want to do this, just cook them longer on a lower heat.

Pan fry one side of the chicken and turn when the edges start to turn white.

 Here is the chicken turned and cooking.

 I couldn't fit all of my chicken in one pan.

So, here is the rest of the chicken cooking.

 After I cooked the chicken, I washed out the pan to remove

the sticky pan grits from the chicken.

I added a little butter to help the onions and peppers cook.

I pan fried those on med-high.

 Here are the cooked peppers and onions.

 After letting the chicken sit for a few minutes while I

cooked the peppers and onions, I cut it up. I sliced a

full chicken breast for each plate for dinner. After that,

I sliced the rest of the chicken into cubes for tomorrow's dinner.

 Here is the cubed chicken for tomorrow.

Here is tonight's dinner.

Sliced chicken breast, pan fried peppers and onions, with spanish rice, slow cooked pinto beans, and some avocado. I made enough spanish rice and pinto beans for dinner tomorrow too. Just wait until you see what I do with them tomorrow.

~Possum

The Great Chicken Experiment Day 4

Here is another day of the chicken experiment. 

Today I am back on tract and making Chicken breast Alfredo with broccoli. 

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoon butter or margarine

2 Tablespoon flour

broccoli

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 box fettuccine pasta

1/2 of a chicken breast

 I cooked the pasta according to the package directions.

I admit I didn't have any fettuccine pasta, so spaghetti had to do.

 Cut up the broccoli. If you don't have fresh

broccoli, then use frozen broccoli florets.

 I boiled my broccoli for about 2 minutes.

I wanted them still a little crunchy for the pasta.

If you are using frozen-follow the package instructions.

 I cut up the half of a chicken breast into slices and pan fried it.

 I drained the broccoli and pan fried it with the chicken for a minute.

 In another pan, I melted the 2 tablespoons of butter.

 After the butter was melted, I added the flour.

 I mixed in the butter and flour. This should be like a paste.

 Pour in the milk and cook on med-high heat.

 I whisked in the butter-flour mixture with the milk.

Cook this until it starts to bubble.

It should get thick enough that it coats a spoon. 

 Remove the pan from heat. Mix in the Parmesan cheese.

Give it a minute for the cheese to melt.

 Pour in your sauce with the chicken and broccoli.

Here is a delicious chicken pasta dish.

I have to admit, this was not the best dish I have made. It was good, but not great. My husband loved it and licked his plate-no joke. I liked it too, but it wasn't my usual delicious quality. I'm still on the fence about doing this dish again. What do you think?

~Possum

The Great Chicken Experiment Day 3

I admit I took a few days off from my experiment and put the chicken meat in the freezer. Christmas came and ham was on the menu instead. That is the beauty of this experiment, I can freeze some of the meat to enjoy later.

I did stray from my original plan and made Teriyaki chicken for dinner tonight.

I found my recipe for tonight's dinner on Allrecipes HERE.

Please note: This original recipe is for 12 -yes 12 - chicken thighs

 and I made it for 4. Oops. I had lots of sauce left over.

My ingredients:

4 chicken thighs

1 Tbsp water (not pictured -he he)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F

I simply followed the recipe and put everything in a small pan.

Don't freak out-those floating things are the garlic.

Cook on Medium-High until the mixture starts to boil.

Lower your heat to low and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Sauce should be nice and syrupy-not too thick though. 

For easier clean up, line a 9x9 or whatever size pan

is needed for your amount of chicken with foil.
If you don't line your dish, spray with non-stick oil.

Place your thighs in the pan in a single layer.

Pour your sauce over the chicken. I used lots because I had it.

Cover your pan with foil.

Put your pan in the oven on the middle or high rack.

Bake 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil on top.

I flipped my chicken, but it is not necessary.

Bake additional 20-30 minutes.

Once it is done, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes.

I made white rice to go with this.

Here is my finished product. Teriyaki chicken thighs over

white rice with some snap peas and orange slices.

~Possum