Frugal Cooking with what's on sale: Chicken and Crackers
The trick to success in most things is in correct details, so I hope I have provided enough to make this easy enough to be repeated by anyone.
Here is an example of last nights successful cooking experiment, using the tools I have available and the ingredients I had in abundance or needed to use…
Last night I made chicken nuggets from some butter crackers (.50/lb because they were broken) margarine (on sale less than .10 a stick) and chicken breasts from the freezer (.99/lb). So it was about $1.12 lb for the final nuggets. I don’t normally use margarine, but if I am making something with another heavily processed ingredient, like the crackers, why waste my more expensive butter? If the alternative would be buying commercially prepared food, they won’t be using real butter either.
I had boned the chicken when I bought it. I froze the bones and skin in bags to use for chicken broth, and the meat in strips and nugget sized pieces (freeze thin and flat for use with contact grills). Some pieces I put on skewers raw and froze to take out later, thaw in a marinade and cook on the grill. For this recipe I chose a bag of nuggets and thawed in the microwave a few minutes. I looked up a recipe online, found a video and watched it for any tips. (She pointed out if the chicken was too cold, the butter would congeal and the coating not stick. Never thought of that.)
I had boned the chicken when I bought it. I froze the bones and skin in bags to use for chicken broth, and the meat in strips and nugget sized pieces (freeze thin and flat for use with contact grills). Some pieces I put on skewers raw and froze to take out later, thaw in a marinade and cook on the grill. For this recipe I chose a bag of nuggets and thawed in the microwave a few minutes. I looked up a recipe online, found a video and watched it for any tips. (She pointed out if the chicken was too cold, the butter would congeal and the coating not stick. Never thought of that.)
If I like a recipe I save it to Evernote, a free note taking program (that I now prefer to Mastercook after reading this) for recipe collection. I add tips, hints and record how well we liked it. I am planning to add my own pictures as well when I get on the ball.
She used gallon baggies to shake the chicken in, I used recycled cereal bags I had saved for microwave cooking and in place of wax paper.
I tried half on the contact grill and half in the toaster oven, just to compare. Both were fine, though the contact grill was a bit crispier and much faster. So if I need a fast dinner I would make them on the grill, if I need a lot for a group I would make them up in baking pans.
It was pretty fast to make, but a bit messy. It might be nice to make these up ahead of time, so they are ready to cook right from the freezer, but since I only buy these ingredients on sale, I don’t necessarily have them all on hand. (I’m also a be hesitant to make up too many bulk packs without testing this recipe in the freezer, because maybe the coating would get too soggy or fall off after freezing.) I am thinking of another plan to save and use the ingredients as I find them.
I already froze the on sale chicken. I don’t trust crackers to keep very long in the pantry, so I will probably go ahead and process all the crackers into crumbs and put them in a labeled ziploc in the freezer. I may even go ahead and put the stick of margarine, the pre-measured bag of crumbs and the bag of frozen chicken all together in a gallon size storage bag with the directions on the bag or on a card inside. I could even add a frozen side dish to go with it like mac n cheese or mashed potatoes. This would make it about as easy, fast and convenient as buying a frozen dinner. Though the time and ease advantages seem slight, they may add up to be worth it. By including all the ingredients in the bag, I don’t have to go “searching” through the freezer, nor do I risk contaminating or thawing that may occur if a portion were removed from one big bag. By adding the side dish, I don’t have to decide what to have with it and then find the ingredients for the side dish. (I admit I sometimes lose my cooking enthusiasm and so we end up eating just lots of one item at a time, rather than an entree, side, etc.) Also I can make these meals up a bit at a time, potatoes added one week when they are on sale, chicken when it goes on sale, etc.
I already froze the on sale chicken. I don’t trust crackers to keep very long in the pantry, so I will probably go ahead and process all the crackers into crumbs and put them in a labeled ziploc in the freezer. I may even go ahead and put the stick of margarine, the pre-measured bag of crumbs and the bag of frozen chicken all together in a gallon size storage bag with the directions on the bag or on a card inside. I could even add a frozen side dish to go with it like mac n cheese or mashed potatoes. This would make it about as easy, fast and convenient as buying a frozen dinner. Though the time and ease advantages seem slight, they may add up to be worth it. By including all the ingredients in the bag, I don’t have to go “searching” through the freezer, nor do I risk contaminating or thawing that may occur if a portion were removed from one big bag. By adding the side dish, I don’t have to decide what to have with it and then find the ingredients for the side dish. (I admit I sometimes lose my cooking enthusiasm and so we end up eating just lots of one item at a time, rather than an entree, side, etc.) Also I can make these meals up a bit at a time, potatoes added one week when they are on sale, chicken when it goes on sale, etc.
I have one child that is gluten free, for her I would substitute potato chips and/or rice cereal for the crackers.
This was fast to make, reasonably inexpensive for an entree, $.37 per 1/3 lb generous serving and approved by the picky pre and post teen. This gives it a 5 star rating in my opinion.
I wrote this 2011. It is now 2023 so 12 years later I will have to compare how much prices have changed and update the costs of this meal.
