Chicken breasts - the big cost saver

The biggest way that I have saved money this month is buying chicken breasts on the bone. It takes a little bit of extra effort, but you get way more meat for your money.  The last time I bought chicken breast, it was R29.99/kg compared to R49.99 for the pre-cut chicken breast pack.

In the past, I have always bought the pre-cut chicken breasts, preferring the convenience. Plus I really don't like touching raw mat of any kind.  But I have put this dislike aside, and made the decision to put a little extra effort in preparing the chicken breasts myself in place of the convenience of having it already cut.

In addition to saving money this way, it also forces me to prepare the chicken breasts for the meals that I am going to make - cutting it into chicken strips, cubes or whole breasts before freezing.

The chicken breasts before I get started - this is almost 1 kg of chicken, which cost me just under R30.00

 My mom would always buy chicken breasts on the bone, and she would always get me to help prepare them for dinner. Each chicken breast can yield 2 - 3 portions of chicken meat.

The chicken breasts once I am done -  each pack is worth R7.50 towards my meal budget of R20.00

From the 3 chicken breasts, I got enough meat for 8 portions - because I am only cooking for 2, that is 4 meals.  Plus because some of the meals require cubes or strips, I don't have to worry about cutting up nice portions of chicken breasts.  The chicken breasts which I did keep whole, are actually really thick, and I could probably have sliced them a bit thinner, but didn't because of what I will be using them for. 

Ready for the freezer - I have lots of little bags which I clean and reuse until they really need to be thrown away. I use masking tape to mark the bags so that I don't have to write on them.

Another thing I learned from my mom was to save the bones and skin for making chicken stock. Once I am done preparing the chicken, I usually don't have enough energy to make the stock as well, so I put it in the freezer until I am ready - there is only so much kitchen work I can do in one evening.

So yes, it does take a bit of extra effort, but remember that you don't need to do everything in one day. But for me, making this change made such a big difference budget wise and meal wise. I don't have to cut the chicken up for whatever meal I am making in the evening - all I need to do is defrost the meal pack.