Too much chicken on my hands!

[Fern]

OK, this was dumb, but when i saw chicken quarters on sale at .79/lb., i picked up a package. It was a relly big package, maybe 5 pounds? Anyway, i was tired when i came home from grocery shopping and just put the chicken in the freezer, thinking i would deivide it up into smaller increments later, but i never did.

So i figured i need to cook it up, all at once. It's dethawing in the fridge now and will be ready tonight. I was thinking of cooking it on the grill.

My question is, is it possible for one person to consumer all that chicken a) before it goes 'bad' and 2) without getting sick of it?

Hot roasted chicken
Chicken sandwiches
chicken soup

Any other ideas?

[threebeansalad]

You correct that you cannot safely re-freeze thawed, raw chicken. But, you can re-freeze the chicken once it's been cooked. Rather than eat yourself silly, I'd freeze the soup and some other combination dishes. They will be delight if things get busy in the Fall or winter.

[snafu]

Your fz chicken isn't a problem...it's an opportunity! Just use the most convenient way to cook that lump of bargain chicken bake, grill, slow cooker/crock pot etc.

Strip the meat off the bones and packaged the cooked meat in 1 cup segments. These can be used with cooked potatoes or pasta or rice, or cous cous or even added to fz pie shell, or whatever you wish to serve. Dinner can get to table in less than 15 minutes for heat and eat.

If your family will eat casseroles, add chicken to whatever carb + sauce [often just any cream soup] and any veggies that need using up.Bake @ 350F 30 minutes.

I pitch the bones in a lg. pot adding water, an onion and carrot. That broth can be used as the base for any soup or sauce if frozen in 4 cup containers.

[Fern]

just to follow up, i cooked up all that chicken last night on the grill. Mind you, i grill about once a year, usually leaving it to someone else. I kept having to pour on that charcoal starter. Anyway, the fat dripping on the coals kept making the flames leap up and sear the chicken parts, so by the time it was done, it wasmostly black and inedible. Sigh. I'm not much of a griller.

[Aleta]

Like some of the others, I debone mine, and pound it into thin cutlets. If there is any meat on the bones, I leave a little and use it for soup. Like you said, you can bbq it with sauce. If I have left over chicken, I slice it up like you would turkey breast and make sandwiches. I also, chip it up and make chicken salad. You can also keep some of the fried cutlets and cut them into strips and add greens, croutons, for a great salad.

[Ima saver]

I don't grill either, fern, but my husband is good at it!

[momof1in150]

You could have refrozen the chicken if it was defrosted in the refrigerator.

Focus On: Chicken

About 1/2 way down it talks about defrosting & refreezing chicken.

[DebbieL]

I guess this is too late to be of any help, but one of my favorite things to do with a lot of chicken is to boil it in a large pot until cooked through. It is extremely tender this way. I let it cool a bit, then pull the meat off the bones (or if using boneless chicken breast, I just pull it apart by hand or with a fork). It is very tender and juicy this way. I use it for chicken quesadillas, chicken casseroles, chicken salad, etc. You could easily portion it out in freezer bags and refreeze it for later use.

[Broken Arrow]

My question is, is it possible for one person to consumer all that chicken a) before it goes 'bad' and 2) without getting sick of it?

Hot roasted chicken
Chicken sandwiches
chicken soup

Any other ideas?

Do you need help? Do you need someone to come over?

No, really, can I come over?

[Fern]

BA, you wouldn't want to eat my chicken anymore, it's all black and charred!

Really, tho, i'm a good cook!

[My English Castle]

Charred Chicken

Yuck--my very frugal husband bought a similar bag of chicken legs thinking they'd be a nice bargain. He did the exact same thing--incincerating them.

I poached a few for soup before he started, but this was a fool-hardy non-bargain for him!

I think chicken legs are a lot of trouble unless you bake or poach them.

[Hot dog]

I do the same when I grill I just tell the kids it is blackened chicken It is a running joke that when mom cooks on the grill it will be blackened

[lynclarke]

Fern- I had to laugh when I read your title. I always buy 20 or 30 lbs of chicken legs at a time when the price hits my critical point 39¢.! I bake or boil the legs and foodsaver them for quick meals later on. But, for chicken quarters, where you went wrong is- parboil the chicken! If you stick the quarters in a pot of boiling water for maybe 15 minutes, then drag them out, pat "em dry, and toss them on the bbq- you will have perfect chicken every time! I learned this years ago when all I have was a tiny habachi to cook on. Add the bbq sauce at the very end.

[lisad71]

Crockpot chicken is always good. Just throw a can of mushroom soup over it and turn it on. Serve over rice or with mashies.

You can make awesome chicken & rice soup in a crockpot too.

My favorite chicken casserole is Chicken Tetrazinni. When we have leftover rotisserie chicken I pull it off the bone and prep a casserole.