Buy a whole chook

I used to be a breast girl...you know, I used to buy 2 chicken breasts from the supermarket to throw in my curry/stir fry/etc etc that night and pay $15 for the privilege.  No longer!  We now buy a whole chicken...which costs me just as much and gives me 2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 wings and STOCK!  How's that for 14 bucks.  Deboning a chook is pretty easy...deboning a chook *properly* is probably more difficult.  Just take a sharp knife, pull each leg away from the body and cut it off...same with the wing.  The breasts come off remarkably easy if you just follow the contours of the bones with your knife.  After  removing the legs, wings and breasts, huck the remainder of the bird into a freezer bag or use right away for stock.

Stock (like everything else) takes infinitely better when home made.  And it's ridiculously easy.  Just throw the remaining bones (with some meat attached for flavour - I remove the fat too) into a large pot and almost cover with water.  Throw in a roughly sliced up carrot, onion and some celery tops if you have them.  I like to put in a couple of bay leaves and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  If you have fresh herbs...toss them in!  If not, you can use the dried italian herb mix just as well.

Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 4 hours.  Skim the fat off the top, pour it into some recycled jars (almost full but not quite), cap and put in the freezer.  Now you've got fresh home made stock on demand...Alternatively you can freeze in ice cube trays and just pop one or two in your rice to give it that extra burst of flavour.

I hope you see how buying a whole chook can save you money and make your cooking a whole lot tastier.  It takes a bit of extra time...but just a bit.  But, it's totally worth it :)

Enjoy,
Kat