I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when Kroger puts Rotisserie Chicken on Sale for $3.99 each. That is when I totally stock up and buy anywhere from 6-8 chickens.
I am thankful that I have a husband who will sit and completely take the chickens apart. I do not like chicken on the bone and so it just kind of gives me creeps to tear it all apart. YEAH JOHN for helping me on this one.
Once he tears the chicken apart I go to work.. Freezing the meat, making stock and making chicken noodle soup!! I will not lie to you this is a lot of work. I usually spend an entire evening 6++ hours getting it all cooked, cleaned and ready for the freezer. By the time I am done I am exhausted and really could care less about the chicken.
However, the upside on this is that for a month or two I have frozen chicken, chicken stock, and chicken noodle soup ready to go in my freezer.
$24 worth of chicken!! 5 stockpots full of chicken stock and two full plates of meat!!
6 meals worth of chicken that I freeze for stews, casseroles, chicken pot pies, tacos etc.
8 Quarts of chicken stock frozen and ready for use in my recipes. We love homemade chicken stock!!I cannot say enough good things about the $3.99 Rotisserie chickens. We bought 6 chickens for $24. You can see from the pictures some of what I was able to freeze and use.
In total:
2 lunch meals for 6 using the white chicken sandwich meat for sandwiches..YUM!!
8 quarts of frozen stock
6 frozen meals of quart size chicken 3 dark 3 white
1 fresh pot of chicken noodle soup
3 frozen meals of chicken noodle soup
Chicken Stock/Chicken Noodle soup
Once the chickens are taken apart I put 1 chicken carcass/bones in water with an onion, 2-3 carrots,3 stalks of celery including the leaves, huge spoon of garlic, salt, pepper, several chicken boullion cubes, garlic salt, and 2-3 bay leaves. I bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or so. I then turn it to a lower temp and let it cook for 2 hours. Once done I strain out the large ingredients leaving just the stock. I then take a fine strainer and strain it once more. I do not discard the large bones until I go through them for any chicken that I can use for my chicken noodle soup. There is usually enough meat off of this that I get a nice amt of chicken without needing to use my dark or white meat.
When freezing my stock I use qt size bags. I wait for the stock to cool. I then pour the stock into bags that are labeled and dated and lay flat in my freezer. These are perfect for lemon chicken, soups, stews, chili, and any recipe that calls for stock.
I usually use Tupperware containers to freeze my chicken noodle soup base. I say it is a base because I only freeze the broth and chicken. Later I will add fresh noodles, carrots and peas!! This soup is perfect for a cold day, sick kids, or a quick and easy lunch/dinner!!
I use the meat that I freeze for so many things. Tacos, enchiladas, casseroles, chicken pot pie, lemon chicken etc. It freezes so well and tastes to fresh!!
In my opinion you cannot beat this deal!! If you know of a way to do it cheaper let me know?? I am always looking for ways to save!!
They say fresh stock will keep 3 days or so in your fridge or you can freeze for up to 3 months. I know I have kept it frozen longer!!
Next time you go Krogering watch for the $3.99 Rotisserie deal!!
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