One of the most budget friendly foods has to be the whole chicken. Quite often they go on sale here for 69 cents a lb. I usually get a good size chicken for $2 or $3. I buy a few and put them in the freezer.

• First day roast or bake chicken. Have chicken and veggies for dinner.
• For lunch the next day pull off all meat you can and make chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.
• After that boil the bones with some broth and veggies and make stock to make chicken soup!

The days of food for $2 or $3!

Not to mention the 200-300 eggs I can get out of a chicken before eating it for meat! 

-bret

I do something similar.  I get whole chickens (usually two) and boil them down saving the broth.  I remove the skin before cooking and after they have cooked I debone the chicken and split up into several containers.  I then make at my convenience:  Chicken pot pie, chicken and noodles, chicken and biscuits,  chicken and dumplings and chicken stew/soup.  My families love these.  They are more healthier and 2 chicken can make five to eight meals.  I keep a jar in the freezer and after each meal I add the rest of the vegetables that are not sufficient in size to serve again.  Then when I make the chicken pot pie or chicken and biscuits or chicken stew/soup,  I add in the whole jar.  I freeze some of the containers so that we do not get burned out on too much chicken.  Nothing goes to waste!  I even save mashed potatoes, I use them to thicken my stews.

I kind of do the same thing with beef.  I get a large roast (3-4 pounds) and cook it in the crock pot.  We have roast beef the first night.  I take leftovers to lunch the next day.  I take a part of the roast and make poor boy sandwiches for the next day.  I take poor boys to lunch, too.  Then I take a portion and make beef stew one night. I take leftovers to work the next day.   I then make beef and noodles with what is left over. Guess what???? I take leftovers to lunch the next day.  Vegetable Beef is easy to make and uses what little I have left.  One roast feeds me for the whole week :D  My family does not have jobs that are conducive to taking lunch, so I get the honors.  There is usually something left for the weekend.

If you are not in the mood to make the meals, I just freeze in containers that are large enough to prepare each meal.

A whole chicken is part of my cooking nightmares.  I tried once.   After nearly losing my lunch when the innards slid out (I didn't know they were coming) I managed to splinter a bunch of the bones cutting it apart.

I was accused of trying to kill my roommates as they picked bone pieces out of the chicken & dumplings.  *sigh*

Another great thing to use the chicken broth with is to use that instead of just plain water when cooking rice.

I sometimes cut the chicken into pieces before putting it in the crock pot, I use the breast and thighs, 2 cups of water and add a cup of rice in the last  20mins of cooking and the meal can be served up.  You can also add some vegies with the rice.

I love chickeb and how it can be used to easily.. Thanks for the reminder:)

wow these are amazing.

When I was pregnant, I was on a super strict diet.  I would take an entire chicken and put it in a big pot and boil it for hours in a bit of chicken broth and water.  Then pull all the bones out.  Then toss in a bag of noodles, a bag of frozen peas, and a bag of frozen carrots.  It made a thick stewlike consistency, very filling, tasty, and froze really well!  I could eat off of that for an entire week.  I should really make it again......