Chicken and Rice

This meal is one of my family's favorite meals.  My daughter will eat just about anything as long as it is mixed with rice.  Broccoli is the most common veggie I put in my chicken and rice, and my daughter doesn't seem to notice.  It is a cheap, inexpensive meal that is filling and tasty!

  
Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chicken, shredded
1 cup veggies

Directions

1. Cook rice and veggies in the chicken broth and butter until tender.  
2. Add chicken and stir.
3. Eat hot!

Notes
One recipe feeds about 3 people.

For the chicken broth recipe, click HERE

One cup of chicken is about the amount you get off a chicken leg.  I normally use dark meat for this recipe.

Make too much? Chicken and rice can be saved and heated the next day for a quick meal.
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How much does this meal cost?

1 cup rice = $.50
2 cups chicken broth = $.75
1 tablespoon butter = $.07
1 cup chicken = $.44
1 cup veggies = $.50

One recipe costs $2.26.  That is less than one dollar per person if you cook this for 3 people. 

Chicken and Rice Casserole

This is another dish I never ate growing up.  My father did not eat it, so my mother did not cook it.  This casserole is one of my husband's favorites.  I do not cook it often as it takes a lot of time.  I usually only make it when I have left over rice and chicken already cooked.  

 
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
2 chicken breast cooked and chopped   
2 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup       
½ small onion chopped fine      
½ Tablespoon butter
Crushed potato chips

Directions

1. Saute the onion in a small amount of butter.
2. Mix chicken, rice, soup and onion and pour in a greased casserole dish.  
3. Put chips on top.  
4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Notes
For added flavor to the dish, cook the rice in the chicken broth made by cooking the chicken breast.

One recipe will feed 6 people easily. 

You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate.  Allow for 45 minutes to an hour cook time if you do so.

The chips will get soggy if left covered after cooked.  To make them crispy again, stick back in a heated oven for a few minutes.

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How much does it cost?

2 chicken breast cooked and chopped = $1.00
2 cups cooked rice = $1.00
1 can cream of mushroom soup = $1.00       
½ small onion chopped fine = $.30
½ Tablespoon butter = $.03
Crushed potato chips = $1.00

One recipe costs $4.33.  This makes this meal cost less than $1 per person!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup is just one of those foods that I never liked out of a can. The texture of the noodles, carrots and chicken was never appealing.  I never really ate it until I started making it myself.  I created this recipe myself, using my experiments with chicken broth and knowing the basic concept of what chicken noodle soup was.  The only thing I omit from this soup that is traditionally found in chicken noodle soup is celery chunks.  I do not care to bite into them, but I like the flavor they add, so I put celery salt in the broth to make up for it.  You most certainly can add celery if you so wish, but just omit the celery salt from the broth when you make it.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup chicken, shredded
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
2 cups egg noodles

Directions

1. Combine broth and water in a pot on the stove and put on medium heat.  
2. Add the chicken and carrots and let them sit in the water until it begins to bubble lightly.
3. Add the noodles and allow them to cook until done.  This time will vary depending on how large your noodles are.
4. Once noodles are done, it is ready to serve!

Notes
This recipe makes enough for 4 people.

To find the chicken broth recipe, click HERE

I do not normally measure my noodles.  I just put 2-3 handfuls in.  It is roughly 2 cups of noodles.  I have small hands.

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Is homemade worth it?

2 cups chicken broth = $.75
1/2 cup carrots = $.25
2 cups egg noodles = $.45

I have omitted the cost of the shredded chicken since the cost of the chicken is calculated in the cost of the broth.

This recipe costs $1.45 to make.  Keep in mind it makes 4 servings, so 1 serving costs $.36.

You will pay $1.00 or more for one serving of canned chicken noodle soup at the store, so homemade is definitely cheaper!

Chicken Broth

Chicken broth is a recent addition to my meals.  I've only been making my own for about a year now.  I have thrown in all kinds of spices and finally came up with a combination I love.  This particular broth recipe is the one I use when making soups or to cook rice or noodles in.  

Chicken Broth
Ingredients
1 chicken leg-quarter
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 Tablespoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a pot and place cook on low so that the water does not actually boil but still thoroughly cooks the chicken.
2. Remove chicken from the water and strain out any chicken that have come off the bone so the broth will be clear.
3. It is now ready for your favorite dish.

Notes
It depends on the size of the chicken on how long to cook.  I normally pull a leg quarter out of the freezer and put it directly into the water and cook it about 5-6 hours on low.  If you do not have that time, you and defrost or use fresh chicken and cut the time almost in half.

It is important not to boil the broth as it will become cloudy and some of the good proteins will be destroyed.

Sometimes, when I need a lot of broth, after I remove the chicken from the bone, I put the bones and skin and fat back in the pot and continue to cook on low until the bones are soft.  This allows all the minerals to leach out of the bones and makes your broth healthier.  I also add some more water and spices to get more broth to freeze. 

I freeze my broth in 2 cup containers/freezer bags.  This is the exact amount I use in most of my recipes.  I use 2 cups of broth to cook my rice and two cups when I make soup.

You most certainly can add veggies to your broth, like onions, carrots or celery, but I like to add the veggies into the actual recipes when I cook them.  
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Is homemade worth it?

1 chicken leg-quarter = $.50
1 teaspoon pepper = $.01
1/2 Tablespoon salt = $.02
1/2 Tablespoon garlic = $.045
1/2 teaspoon onion powder = $.01
1/2 teaspoon celery salt = $.11

One recipe of chicken broth costs $.75.

Keep in mind, you have around the equivalent of 2 cans of broth, already seasoned.

One can of broth costs around $1, so you will save $.25 making it yourself and get twice as much. 

Recipes that use chicken broth

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken and Rice

                                                                          

 

Fried Chicken Strips

Who does not love fried chicken?  This is my own recipe that I came up with after playing around with the spices in my cabinet.  It is still simple and easy and only uses spices that most people commonly keep in their pantries.

I made this for my family when they came to visit.  I seriously fed seven people off of 2 chicken breast... Five adults and two children.  We even had some left over, enough for another person.   That really helps when you are on a budget and needing to feed a crowd!

Fried Chicken Strips
Ingredients
2 chicken breast, cut in strips
1 cup self rising flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Sprinkle 1/2 Tablespoon of salt over the chicken.
2. Place in a container and cover with buttermilk at least 30 minutes before cooking.
3. Mix the flour and spices together.
4. Take the chicken strips and let the excess buttermilk drip off.  
5. Place in four and coat well.
6. Fry in oil that is preheated to 350 degrees.

Notes
You can either deep fry or pan fry these.  The picture shows pan fried chicken strips.  I put one inch of oil in my frying pan and flip the chicken half way through cooking.

You can also cut the chicken up smaller and make chicken nuggets.  I do this for my daughter who likes bite sized meat chunks more than the strips.

Want a quick meal in the future?  Freeze them!  If you want to freeze chicken fingers for later use, just partially cook the chicken in the oil.  Once they have cooled, place in a freezer bag.  To cook frozen chicken,  preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cook fingers 8-10 minutes on each side.  You can do this straight from the freezer without thawing.

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Is homemade worth it?

2 chicken breast = $1.00
1 cup self rising flour = $.10
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt = $.03
1 Tablespoon garlic = $.09
1 teaspoon onion powder = $.02
1 teaspoon pepper = $.01
1 cup buttermilk = $.25

So, one recipe of chicken strips costs $1.50 to make.  If you buy chicken by the pound, this could be $3.00 a pound.

Where we live, we can buy frozen chicken fingers for $1.40 a pound, already breaded and ready to cook at a discount/overstock store.  They do not taste as good as the homemade ones, but they are a lot cheaper. 

If you buy Tyson or another frozen brand at the grocery store, you will pay $6.99 for 1 1/2 pounds of chicken.  So one pound of Tyson chicken fingers costs $4.66.  It is cheaper to make homemade than to buy these.

Summery
Tyson chicken fingers = $4.66/lb
Homemade chicken fingers = $3.00/lb
Discount chicken fingers = $1.40/lb

Taste wise, however, I like the homemade ones much better than the frozen ones.