Roasted Chicken Dinner Deal

Meat is expensive, y'all.  And the prices here are a little higher than Memphis making meat seem even more expensive.  But the deals are possibly better. Allow me to tell you a little story about some chicken...

There aren't any Krogers here so my go-to for groceries is HyVee.  At Kroger, the "manager's special" was my jam & I'd scoop up great meat deals that I'd immediately freeze for, you know, whenever.

I thought those days were behind me.  So imagine my excitement when I saw this:

$3.32 for 3 huge chicken breasts?  Whuuuut?  I bought 2 packs & stuck them in the freezer.

We usually do the skinless, boneless thing around the lil house.  But I thought this was a nice change & a good excuse to eat that tasty, crispy chicken skin.

I defrosted the chicken & then, while I was grocery shopping, tried to decide what I wanted to do with those big ole chickens.  I was wandering by the dairy section & thought of this wonderful buttermilk chicken recipe from the smitten kitchen.

Yes.  Buttermilk.  Boom.  Done.

When I got home, I dumped the chicken in the buttermilk & marinaded it in the fridge for a couple hours.

This was so simple.  At dinner time, I pre-heated the oven to 425º & pulled the chicken out of the marinade.  Placed the chickens in the pan & sprinkled them with Emeril's blackened seasoning & little bit of kosher salt.  I had some extra lemons so I tossed them in too.  Cooked the chicken for 45 minutes & voila!

I trimmed the chicken breast off the bone.  (The husband has a bone aversion.) And served with spicy steamed broccoli & pasta from a box. (Don't judge.  You know that boxed pasta is good.)



But here's where this meal was the gift that kept on giving...  The leftovers.  I am a leftovers for lunch fan.  And this repurposed nicely for a roasted chicken & broccoli pasta the next day.  Thus being tasty as well as not a direct repeat of the prior night's dinner.

Chicken $3.32
Buttermilk $1.25
Broccoli $5.98
Pasta Roni $1.25
Total Meal $11.80
$2.95 per serving