Money Saving Hint #1 Cook the whole chicken

Having packages of cooked chicken in the freezer has saved both time and money when cooking family meals. I buy whole chickens when they are on sale (currently $.89 a pound when on sale, over a $1 if not**), cut them up, and stew the pieces. Then I cool the cooked pieces and pick the meat off the bone. After chopping the meat into casserole size pieces, I freeze this cooked chicken into 1 1/2 or
2 cup packages (Ziplock freezer bags make great flat packages when the air is pressed out of them) and label with date and contents.
These packages will keep in the freezer for 3-4 months and can be used for a variety of recipes such as chicken noodle soup, tortilla soup, chicken salad or filling for sandwiches, and a variety of casseroles.
The bonus to this is the delicious homemade chicken broth which also freezes well for up to 3 months and can be used to flavor cream sauces, cook pasta, use as soup stock, or in any recipe requiring chicken broth. I never have enough of this broth. It can be frozen in Ziplock bags (always use the freezer weight to avoid freezer burn), or plastic freezer containers. I freeze these in 1 cup packages. When thawed it will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
After I remove the cooked chicken from the stock, I strain the broth using a colander and pouring it through cheesecloth or an old flour sack dish towel (rinse out the towel and launder it in a hot water and bleach solution). Next I cool the broth in the refrigerator for about 6 hours. The fat rises to the top and solidifies. Scrape this fat off and discard it in the trash (do not pour it down your drain!!); I save pickle and peanut butter jars for this. Since the broth has now jellied, I heat it up just enough to liquify it, then measure it and package it up.
One whole chicken will yield about 3 cups of chopped cooked chicken and 5 cups of broth.
I use a 6 quart Dutch oven to cook one whole chicken. A larger stock pot could stew more.
The following recipe is one I have used for years for this process. When I need to cook several chickens, I use the same batch of broth, cooking one chicken at a time in it.

STEWED CHICKEN

1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut up

3 stalks celery, cut up

2 carrots, cut up

1 large onion, quartered

2 sprigs of parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, sage, or basil, crushed

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 bay leaves

6 cups water

Wash and skin chicken. In 6 quart Dutch oven combine chicken, celery, carrots, onion, parsley, salt, thyme (or sage or basil), pepper, and bay leaves. Add water. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Remove chicken, cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; discard bones. Chop meat and package as described above.

Strain broth and follow directions above.

**A butcher told me that HEB cycles meat sales about every 6 weeks, so I buy as many as 4 chickens when they are on sale knowing it will be a while before I see the sale price again. I have found that this cycle is true of other popular meat cuts. Other meat cuts I stockpile are boneless pork chops, tenderloins, roasts, and beef roasts and sirloins. Watch your favorite store and see if you can find their sale cycles. Then plan your purchases accordingly. I have never discovered such a cycle for fish, unfortunately.