The Easiest Cheapest Way to Get A Bunch of Meals From One Source

I want to discuss with this blog the very best, cheapest way to feed a two-person household for about six to eight meals.  Of course, the first thing I must disclose is that M and I don't mind eating the same thing for five or six meals in a row.  Most of the time this is because what we make is so tasty that we enjoy getting to have it continually, but if this is not your cup of tea then I totally understand and just know that this will still feed you for as many meals, just more spread out.  The best thing about these meals, besides the price (which I was and you will be probably pretty impressed with) is that they keep for a while in the fridge and are absolutely freezable at almost every step in the process, so it's a great way to plan ahead for busier weeks.  The way to do this is a way most people have known for a very long time but I wanted to explain how M and I did it because, first of all, I think it will be useful for me to have a place to go back to to reference and second of all, duh, bragging rights.
The secret to all of this, in case you had not guessed it yet, is a soup.  Soup is a great way to make a bunch of food fast and in bulk, and it's also great to eat meal after meal because with each hour it has to steep in itself the flavors become richer and more delicious.  Soup in a crock pot, which is the way I recommend making it, is even better because after you finish chopping and pouring, all you have to do is set it and walk away.  Earlier this week I woke up and chopped up a few carrots, sticks of celery, chunks of chicken and two onions and I was set for the rest of the week's worth of meals.  It was spectacular.
To do this right you start with a whole chicken.  I used this blog as a reference for cooking it, and I highly recommend it for other recipes as well.
Wait until whole chickens go on sale, which they are wont to do for often less than a dollar a pound.  I got about a five pound chicken for under $4, which is the cheapest you'll get pretty much any edible meat.  So that's the first cost: the chicken.

Chicken: $3.80


Scoop out the insides of the chicken (gross, mine didn't come with them already in a nice little bag so that was less than fun) and rinse it inside and out.  Then season it both outside and inside the cavity.  I used garlic salt, pepper, oregano, basil and a little bit of paprika.  Then set the crock pot on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 2 and low for 4-5.  Don't add water or anything, just let the crock pot do its wonders.  This will make your first meal: juicy, falling off the bones chicken.  We had ours with vegetables and biscuits.


16 oz. Frozen Vegetables: $1
24 Homemade Biscuits: about $2

So there you have it your first meal costs at MOST less than $7 for two, or $3.50 a person.  I say at most because there is no way you are going to eat all of the chicken; in fact you will probably eat about or less than half between the two of you and in fact I'm counting on that fact.  Save all of the meat and put it in the fridge to use later.  Also be sure to SAVE ALL THE BONES and skin and other parts of the chicken you have no interest in eating (other than the giblets, which you can either throw away or use in other recipes).  After dinner is done put the chicken carcass, bones and excess pieces back in the crock pot.  You will not have gotten rid of the juices that are in the bottom and you'll leave them there.  Add enough water to cover all the chicken pieces--about 5 to 6 cups.  Set the crock pot on low and leave on overnight.  If you wish you can add seasonings like thyme and oregano in the crock pot as well.  You will wake up not only to your kitchen smelling like chicken, but an entire crock pot full of homemade chicken stock.
Because it's hard to tip a crock pot over and pour its contents into anything, first use a slotted spoon or small strainer with a handle to scoop out the biggest pieces of bone.  Then use a large ladle to scoop the rest of the broth into containers (we used big yogurt containers) with a strainer balanced on top.  There will be lots of little chunks of chicken and seasonings and you don't want to keep any of them.  Figure out the best way to strain the stock with the supplies you have.  Then put your stock in the fridge for a day.  Feel free to eat some of the leftover chicken and biscuits on this day, but don't eat too much of it; you'll want it later for soup.  (Remember we have still only spent seven bucks so far and it's day two.)
The next morning skim the fat that has gathered on top of the stock and either throw it away or save it to make more biscuits later.  Then pour back into the crock pot.  You will not need to use all of the stock you have for the soup--you should put 1/2 or 3/4 part water for ever 1 part stock.  Put the rest of the stock in the freezer, unless you have immediate plans for it.  Chop up 3-4 carrots, 1-2 onions and 3-4 stalks of celery and the rest of your chicken and put it all together in the crock pot with the stock.  Mix in whatever seasonings you'd like: I used basil, salt, pepper and thyme.  Set on low and leave it for eight hours.

Carrots: $0.65
Onions: $0.75
Celery: $0.45


If you want to make this a chicken noodle soup, add the noodles in an hour before the soup has finished cooking, or half an hour and set the crock pot to high.  We made homemade linguine to put in our soup, but I recommend if you do this cut it to about 1-2 inch lengths to make serving easier.  Re-season at this point as well because the flavors of the original seasoning will have melded into the others and grown more subtle.

Noodles: about $1.50


And, just for the heck of it, let's say you make more biscuits to eat with the soup.  Assume you're not sick of them yet (we aren't).

24 Homemade Biscuits: about $2


Enjoy your soup!  At this point we have spent about $12 on two to three meals, or 3 dollars per person, per meal.  But that's not the only the last meal this will make.  M and I have enjoyed three meals so far of the soup and we have enough for one to two more still in the fridge, PLUS the 3+ cups of stock in the freezer.

Total Cost: about $12
Total Meals: about 6
Cost per person per meal: $1


And THIS is how we can afford to live on $30 a week grocery money!