Getting every last scrap of meat off of the chicken bones

Picking the meat off of bones is not one of my favorite chores. In fact, sometimes I get downright lazy about it and just figure, "oh I got enough meat off of this batch of bones", when in fact there is still more there.

But I am proud to say that I put the effort in this week, to really get these bones ready-for-science-project clean! Not that I intend to use them for a project of any sort.


Recently, I've been able to get 3 good meals from a whole chicken for our family. This time, I was able to get 4 entire family meals from this one whole chicken, two nights of chicken and gravy,

one night of very chicken-y soup,

and this Club Chicken Casserole, in the freezer right now, to be used for an easy on me, Sunday supper this week.

After slicing and pulling as much meat as I could off the carcass, I simmered the bones for a couple of hours, and was able to pick another full cup of meat off, even from the backbone area. I find that if I hold backbone pieces, loosely in my hand, the small bones fall apart from each other, revealing a small lump of meat between each pair of bones.

It wasn't pretty, and my hands smelled like chicken for hours afterward, but I was able to get an extra night's worth of meat to feed my family from this last of my whole chickens. Pretty satisfying.

I think that knowing this was the last of our chickens from the freezer, really gave me the impetus to glean as much from this one as possible. Do you feel that way about things, ever? It's the very last of something, so you try and get the most from it?

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Making a salad when it seems as if there's not enough of anything

To go with dinner the other night, I had planned to make a bowl of cole slaw, with the last of the cabbage.

When I got the head of cabbage out, I realized that there was only a small section of the cabbage left. After shredding it, I could clearly see that this would never feed the five of us.

Out to the garden I went, to see what I could possibly find to add to the cabbage. The watercress was looking good, so I picked all of the leaves big enough, washed and chopped them, and added to the cabbage.

Still not enough salad, I grated a carrot to add to the salad. Now to add some dressing. I am all out of mayo, for a creamy dressing, so I made an oil and chive blossom vinegar dressing to toss the vegetables in.

My salad bowl still looked slightly skimpy for 5 adults, so I cooked up a cup of shell pasta, to add to the salad.


What began as cole slaw managed to morph into a cabbage-y pasta salad. Not nearly what I had planned, but delicious anyways!

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Springtime gifts to make

I'm taking a brief break from grocery budget issues on my blog today, as lots goes on in my humble abode, besides cooking and budgeting.

We have several spring birthdays, plus there's Easter and Mother's Day just around the corner, too. So, I'm busy making some gifts this month. I'll show you one or two each week, until I'm done.

These first two gifts are for my daughters. They'll be turning 20 years old next Tuesday. I had noticed one daughter was pinning one of her scarves to wear as an infinity scarf. Hmmm, that must be something she's interested in.

These are spring infinity scarves. They're made from 1 yard each of lightweight fabric. I spent a grand total of 3 hours sewing them (and that includes working with a misbehaving sewing machine), and they were super easy. Straight stitches, plus a bit of hand whip-stitch at the end. Nothing more to them.

I bought new fabric, but these could also be made with fabric from a garment, cut into sections. I had very specific ideas on fabric choice -- to go with some tops that I bought for the girls at Wet Seal, for $4 per top. So coupons in hand, I went to Jo-Ann fabrics. Each scarf cost about $7.50, after coupons. And even though I bought new fabric, they were still half the price of what I saw at the mall at Claire's.

I have the scarves hanging on flocked, sectioned accessory hangers. Maybe you've seen these in stores. I saw these a while back and thought they would be great to help my daughters with a little closet organization. After Christmas, I found them on clearance at Michael's for $3 each.

While at Jo-Ann's, I saw some lovely burnt red gauzy fabric that I'm thinking of picking up, to make one of these scarves for my step-mom for Mother's Day or her birthday. They were so very easy, I suspect all of the women on my gift-giving list will be receiving one of these this year.

One of the gifts for spring, with more to come!

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