i’ve successfully avoided meat with bones in it for most of the 30 years of my life. i’ve had exactly two chicken wings and that was for my 12th grade lit project when i had to construct a diorama of grendel’s lair for beowulf. real bones got me that extra half a grade point, i’m sure of it.
anyway, i’ve been putting off the fact that if i’m not going to go vegetarian then getting a whole rotisserie chicken and putting that to use in our household makes the most economical and ecological sense. i had a coupon this week and thought “if you’re scared of it then that’s how you know you should do it.” so i got it and now know that i find a great deal of delight from picking chicken meat off the bone.
economical sense: this sucker cost me $3.99. so far i’ve made chicken salad, a dumbed down version of chicken schwarma on hummus, and chicken tacos. there is still plenty of meat left so i think i’ll be trying a chicken + bacon pizza and of course using the ‘pickins’ for making my own broth. this is good. literally and figuratively.
ecological sense: well, i think buying chicken breasts 2 at a time at the deli counter is about the worst packaging waste wise so i often opt for a trader joe’s frozen bag with a number of breasts that last us a couple months. this is an ok option but the plastic bag doesn’t normally get recycled because i’m too lazy to wash it out. with the rotisserie chicken it’s fresh and i’m in control of getting the most use possible out of the remains. the packaging of this chicken will be much easier to rinse out and will definitely make it into recycling, or possibly repurposed into a small green house for seedlings.
the long & short of it is that i think i’ll definitely opt for this approach again. i’ve found that i always enjoy being more involved with our food and this helped foster that. or…i might just go vegetarian and cut out the meat budget all together.
now, some taco pics:
^^^ i always sneak some veggie goodness into our taco meat: carrots, kale and onions get added. ^^^
^^^ real yum yum ^^^
^^^darla’s pickle taco ^^^
^^^ and just for grins, a shot of darla shotgunning milk from a travel cosmetic bottle because that was THE ONLY option for beverage conveyance that she was going to entertain. whatevs dude. ^^^
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i’ll be posting a few more eco-friendly posts this week in honor of being in the running for Circle of Moms Top 25 Most Eco-Friendly Mom Blogs. If you would be so kind as to vote for me, click on through to the badge below. Thanks! 
momjeanz 
I too have embraced the whole chicken in recent years despite historically not liking chicken on the bone. Shredded chicken is SO versatile and a whole chicken is really economical. Just wanted to share that I usually just buy a whole chicken and either roast it in the oven (my husband really enjoys eating roasted chicken) or I will just cook it whole in the Crock Pot (love that it’s no fuss!) and then shred it up to use for various recipes. I often freeze some of the shredded chicken for future use too. Also, I toss the bones and scraps back in the Crock Pot with some water and veg and voila! Homemade stock! You could do the same thing with the scraps from a Rotisserie chicken, I’m sure :)
freezing some of the shredded chicken is a great tip. i was feeling a little bit on the chicken overload by the end of the week. thanks!