4 meals for a family of 5 for $4.99

Okay, I'm sold.
Last week I purchased and tried my very first Costco Rotisserie Chicken.  My friends and neighbors kept telling me how great it was and that it only cost $4.99 and I could get at least 2 meals out of it.  2 meals for a family of 5 for $4.99!??!!  I HAD to give it a try.  My husband and I have 3 boys all under 11, so our "family meals" might be different sizes then yours. :)

Our first meal was straight from the store and reheated in the microwave.  We had some Betty Crocker instant potatoes with our meal, and we only ate 1/2 of the chicken. I was really shocked because the chicken did not seem that large.  It was moist, tender and tasted great.  My boys are not rotisserie chicken fans, but they had 2nd and 3rd servings of this one.

Meal #2 was Chicken Enchiladas.  I pulled the rest of the meat off the carcass and mixed with with some Philadelphia Cooking Cream (Southwest flavor) and some instant Minute Rice I had in the closet that I cooked in a minute. (ha ha) I wrapped them in tortillas I had in the fridge, poured some Enchilada Sauce (from a can) over the top with some grated cheddar cheese and they are sitting in my fridge ready to be heated and served.

After adding the rice to the mix I actually had enough left over that I was able to freeze the remainder and we will turn that into meal #3 in the future.

Then I even went as far as boiling the rest of the chicken (bones, skin, fat...) in a bit of water and made chicken stock.  I freeze my chicken stock in "pucks" and freeze them in a gallon size bag so I can use them to flavor rice, or make chicken soup or whatever I might want some chicken stock for.  If you are playing along at home......that would make meal #4.

So we will get 4 meals for a family of 5 for $4.99 plus the stuff I had on hand at home.  Now I think THAT is pretty Thrifty!