It should come as no surprise that I love a good deal and sometimes that means buying in bulk. I really like doing this with meat when the price is right and then doing some quick batch “cooking”, like this ground beef session. Often times, I find really good deals for this at Smart and Final!
Recently, I found a good deal on their First Street Chicken (which I can often get for $.99 or less per pound).
I started with one package of chicken breasts and one of leg quarters–all in all, just over 10 pounds of meat for less than $10! Sweet!
Here’s what I did:
- Baked the chicken (put it into two pans with just a little sprinkle of olive oil and Italian seasonings on the chicken)
- After letting that cool for just a few minutes, I transferred all the chicken into one pan and got out a large pot. I dumped all the drippings from the now chicken-less pan into the pot. And, one piece at a time, started picking the chicken off the bone in the empty pan. All the skin and bones (and whatever bits of meat won’t come off), got thrown into the pot.
- After all the chicken was picked, I put just enough water in the pot to cover the chicken. I added a little bit of chopped onion, some garlic, and some frozen celery tops (I save them when cutting up celery to use for soups & broths like this). This simmered for about 30 minutes.
- While that simmered, I made some easy chicken enchiladas. This brings me to more First Street products I love–all the containers! There are SO many to choose from! I like having some extra aluminum containers on hand for some extra freezer meals or when taking meals to others’ houses/giving as gifts. So, the chicken enchiladas were put into a pan.
- When all was said and done, we had a pan of enchiladas, 4 containers of broth, 2 freezer bags of shredded chicken, and a BBQ chicken for dinner that night! Pretty sweet!
And, there are some pretty sweet things going on for you! If you live near a Smart and Final, you can head in this week (May 4th-10th) and snag $5 off when you buy 10 participating First Street products (and there are A LOT of options!)
Even better, how do FREE groceries sound?!
Each week this month, 5 winners will be chosen to receive a free bag of groceries and a gift card! Head on over to the Smart & Final Facebook page to enter!
Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, but all opinions are my own. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
I love cooking ahead & freezing like that so I don’t have to make things at the last minute! And the enchiladas sound amazing!