One chicken can last for three family meals

by MICHELLE VOLLEMAERE
Crikey, chickens are expensive. Well, the free-range ones are, and those are all I buy these days.
All the media hype about the terrible conditions that intensely farmed chickens live in finally got to me, so I gave up buying cheap chicken and cheap eggs forever. And it was the best move I ever made.

Yes, they do cost more, but they also have real flavour, which only
comes from having lived a happy free-range life.
In order to justify my stand, I have had to economise somewhat and make sure I use every last skerrick of each chicken, so as not to waste a precious cent.
Getting three meals out of one chicken is a bit misleading; I can manage it, just, feeding a family of four. If you have more mouths to feed, or big eaters, you might have to cook two chickens, but you should still be able to get three meals from them.
The first meal is, of course, the good old standard roast. Before serving, I quietly set aside (before anyone noticesit has gone) one whole breast from the chicken and all those little hard-to-carve
bits underneath to use for meal number two — chicken, cranberry and
camembert picnic sandwiches.
Using a loaf of your favourite bread (mine is Vogels) and a bag of mixed lettuce leaves, a few slices of chicken and cheese will go a long way and make a perfectly adequate lunch or light dinner
for a family.
Lastly, I save the roast chicken carcass and all the bones and leftover juices and meat to make chicken stock to use as a base for soups, risottos, stews and gravies. Adding it to my trusty crockpot (which I could not live without) along with a fresh round
of celery, onion and carrot and a few other vital herbs and spices, I cook it for as long as I can — 8 to 12 hours, if possible.
I often make this chicken stock at night and, without fail, as the aromas waft through the house, everyone wakes up in the morning very, very hungry and wanting soup for their breakfast.