Mixed winter greens salad w/ beet, goat cheese & almonds.
All veg from the garden. In behind is chicken parmesan.
Mashed potatoes with spinach & chard from the garden.In behind is chicken & dumplings, the dumplings are made
from frozen biscuit scrapes.
Here is some chicken soup, above is my veg that went into it. Theatomic red carrots turned much redder in storage as you can see.
In the soup is homemade stock, chicken, carrots, parsnips, celery,
onion, cauliflower & brown rice.
All the meals above were made with one chicken, garden & store veg and a few odds and ends. Overall the meals came in at less then a dollar per serving. I cut the breasts off for the chicken parm first. The carcass, legs & wings were made into stock with mixed veg. Then the chicken and dumplings was made with one leg, stock & biscuit scrapes. The other leg, wings & carcass meat combined with veg and the left over stock for the soup. Why I am on this topic is, I recently watched 'food inc' and they interviewed some folks who eat crap food because they say food costs to much. To them I say, you're full of it!
I always make soup from my chicken carcasses too. I hate wasting things and it is so much better than canned.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love the color of Atomic Red in soups? I thought it so pretty in minestrone. I just wish it would grow better in the garden. It was the worst grower out of all my varieties.
Oh wow not that looks really tasty. I am amazed at how much you can still harvest in Winter. My Atomic Red carrots never looked that good, maybe I was doing something wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou and Granny make the most wonderful meals! Where do you find the time?
ReplyDeleteDaphne - I think I have some more atomic red seed, maybe I will grow a few more this year. Maybe it was just a bad carrot year.
ReplyDeletePrue - I am surprised to at what lives through the winter. The carrots & parsnips were harvested a while back though and have been in the crisper.
Ribbit - All these meals really did not take much time at all. The chicken parm was about 45minutes, prep and cook time. The stock I made Saturday evening and took about 1.5 hrs but prep time for it was only 10 minutes. The soup I prepped last night and cooked today, took about 10 minutes to prep the soup, 30 minutes to cook today. If I have everything unthawed I can cook food faster then going to, through and back from the drive thru.
I too am mystified by people who say that real food costs too much. It seems to be an excuse for not learning how to cook. I never buy chicken parts, always whole ones and get many meals from the one bird, just as you did. That's interesting how the Atomic Reds developed more color in storage. The ones I grew last year weren't very red. Hmm, I wonder if I still have one in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteMaster carpenter and gourmet chef too..............
ReplyDeleteWell done! Each meal looks totally yummy and what a great example of using the garden and efficient cooking skills to get good value AND good nutrition AND good taste!
ReplyDeleteNice looking meals...I really appreciate people who cook "real" food. It really doesn't take much time...just a bit of planning. And you are right on about the cost especially if you can buy in bulk. I purchased some atomic red carrot seeds recently and glad I did after I saw the pics of yours....hopefully mine turn out as nice.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't get any better than that ! Looks delish and you've certainly stretched the buck. The Atomic Reds are beautiful !
ReplyDeleteThey say you are what you eat - so why not be 'quality'?
ReplyDeleteI find that 'real' food not only tastes better but is far more satisfying - so it does work out cheaper.
Yours is making me salivate!
Great job! I totally agree that it doesn't cost much to eat well. If all you buy is ingredients, you can buy the best and eat quite well. Throw in a garden and you can eat like a king!
ReplyDeleteGidday Dan - I love reading your blog. The Mom put me on to you ... You are very inspirational! It is amazing what you are doing with so little!!! I will be visiting you regularly. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDan, these meals look awesome! You seem quite the chef. Those atomic red carrots look really interesting. Also, that salad looks simply delicious. I love beets with young greens.
ReplyDeleteYummy looking food. Good for you, using the chicken bones to make soup. We do that too. Waste not, want not. Your Atomic Red carrots are so beautiful that I may try them. I am only growing Danvers Half-longs now. Also just planted some parsnips, my first ever. It's fun to experiment in the garden and kitchen.
ReplyDeleteAlways making me hungry! :)
ReplyDeletemmmm. I can almost taste those carrots. They look amazing as does the rest. Oh how I wish I had more than cabbages in the garden.
ReplyDeleteThose carrots are strawberry red! Wow! You know, Dan, I tend to agree with you about how good food doesn't have to be expensive. But there are 2 caveats. 1) Some people don't have space to grow their own and therefore must pay retail. 2) Many people today do not know how to cook resourcefully, like their grandmothers did. Somehow it got lost. And there's also talk of people in some urban areas not having access to actual grocery stores nearby...I have no idea if this is really true, though.
ReplyDeleteThat dinner looks wonderful, especially the salad!
ReplyDeleteWow, that looks great! You've also just helped me decide on Atomic Reds for carrots! The novelty of strange vegetable colors thrills me to no end.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know what you're talking about from "Food Inc." There's no way fast food costs less than homemade stuff if you do it right!