The greatest bargain going is a full roasted chicken at Boston Market for under $7.00
It even beats supermarket prices for an equivalent uncooked chicken and is ready to eat - to boot.
Well, lets see…
I can get whole roasters for ~.79c per lb.
I like to get 3 pound or under birds as I like the taste a little better and if I decide to fry them they will work as well.
So I am up to around 2.75 considering I usually have to get a bit bigger one.
A couple potatoes = .75 at most.
Some fresh corn on the cob= another dollar
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Heat the oven up, prep the bird, chop the spuds, soak the corn.
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Put bird in oven, turn down heat.
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boil spuds, drain and set covered on top of oven to stay warm.
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Check email.
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Take bird out of oven, let rest. turn broiler on.
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Broil corn on cob while mashing spuds, dressing with a little cream and cheese, and finish under broiler as well.
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Eat. Rent video with leftover money.
I don’t consider my time when cooking as if thought out, it is quite easy and I like to cook.
If you are paying $7.00 for a raw chicken that does not come with anything, I would check out some new grocery stores!
For bargains, I look at the complexity of the dish. For example, I love the Chicken or lamb biryani for 4 bucks by my house…hard and a pita to make.
Then I think about the huge vat of Hot and Sour Soup I can get for 5 bucks at the Chinese BBQ place- this is many hours of work in itself if you count all the stocks, soaking and prepping of all the hard to find ingredients ( this place makes its own preserved vegetable)
Plus you get the MSG for free!
So after paying 2.00 each for my little "Uncle Ben's Classic" packages that yield about 2 cups of cooked rice I was strolling through Sam's Club the other day and what did I behold but a 25 lb bag of rice for about 20.00. I am willing to bet at this point that the packaging, shipping adn marketing costs for Uncle Ben’s exceeds the price of the contents.
At our local grocery stores, we can get whole roasted chickens for under $5. And, as MikeG said, you can get a fresh bird for around .79 a pound, roast it yourself, save the drippings and concoct a wonderful soup. OR, you could get an 8lb bag of frozen chicken breasts, and roast as needed.