Chicken Scores and Chores

Those of you who have known me for a long time probably would never have imagined that I have become a devoted addict of manic couponing. I know, right?  Those of you who know me lately, probably know that I am a devoted addict of manic couponing.  Those of you,  ha ha...just kidding, I'm not going any further.  To the point, you say!  

I got really excited by this week's BiLo ad...boneless chicken breasts are "B1G1" which makes them about $2.29/lb.  That's a great deal.  Then, I checked my other grocery love, Publix.  Their chicken is $1.99/lb.  That's unheard of!  So, I got about 8 lbs, trimmed them up, cooked two (pieces, not pounds) tonight and packaged the rest up for the freezer.

That's the score.  What's the chore?

I love chicken as much as the next guy.  I've eaten it my whole life.  It's lean, low fat, versatile...what's not to love?  Well, those of you who know me know about my "thing" with meat, bones and fat.  Like the meat.  Hate the bones and fat.  So, when I buy chicken, it must be trimmed to my specs.  You see, I simply won't eat chicken with fat hanging off it, sinew still attached, bones in it or anything funky like cardiovascular tissue remaining. So, for me to trim chicken is a major chore.  I hate it so much, but I have to do it myself so I know it meets the requirements.  (Although, to be truthful, I trust Neil and my sister to prepare it to my specs.  They've proven themselves!)  I won't serve any food to you that I wouldn't eat myself. So, good news if any of you are meat freaks like me.  You can eat at my house and be confident.  

Now, see, the problem with being a chicken trimmin' freakazoid is that you have a tendancy to trim up what you want to cook tonight and throw the rest in the freezer, talking yourself into believing that when you're ready to use it, you can trim the funk easier when the meat is still partially frozen.  While this is true, most of the time it's grab a ziploc of chicken from the freezer, throw it in a sink full of water to defrost it as fast as possible so this little family can actually eat sometime soon!  At least that's how it plays out for me.  So, I'm immensely pleased with myself and happy to report that tonight, I trimmed, wrapped, bagged and froze ALL the chicken breasts with the exception of the ones I turned into (delicious) Dijon Chicken this evening for  supper.

Yea me!  You may think this is silly, but I can say with complete certainty, that I will sleep well knowing that all that "ready-to-go-Elizabeth-standard-chicken" is just lying there in the deep freeze for another day.  Sleep tight chicken lovers!

P.S.  If you're interested in learning how couponing really works, click here to go to SouthernSavers.com.  Check out the "new to SS?" area...