Day 2: Manager's Special

One of my favorite secrets at the grocery store, though it may not be that much of a secret these days, is the Manager's Special section in the meat department.  Here I find all sorts of goodies from lamb, to elk chops, to discounted ground beef.  Everything in this section is very discounted, more so than in any other department, and thus is perfect for those on a budget.  I usually try to only select meats from this section and have saved quite a bit of money by doing so.

The items in this section are NOT spoiled.  They are about to expire the shelf life allowed by government regulation, but if you scoop them up and put the items in the freezer right away, you extend the life of any product.  Plus a lot of rarities and gems that are not always stocked in the meat coolers can be found here.  New items that the manager has tried, game meats, or other goodies.

Tonight, I'm cooking my Manager's Special Chicken.  This whole roaster was originally marked for 4.59 and I got it for 3.65, that's almost a dollar off! Which doesn't seem like much at face value, but since I once got grounded for throwing away my pennies, I now know that it all adds up.  Plus these food items are wasted if people like me and you don't scoop up these good deals.  What a shame that a chicken should be wasted.

For this manger's special recipe, I'm using all of the manager special items that I have.  That includes canned tomatoes, an eggplant, a green pepper, an onion and some frozen Raviolis.  We'll see how this goes.

Manager's Special Chicken

(It's different every time.)

1 eggplant, peeled and diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes

1 whole fryer chicken (manager's special)

1 package of cheese ravioli

Preheat the oven to 425.  Dice all of the veggies and place into a bowl, mix in the can of tomatoes and stir together.

Stuff the veggie mix in the chicken and rub the outside of the chicken with italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan and bake until temp reads 165.  Boil the ravioli per the instructions on the package.  Serve sliced with veggie sauce from inside the chicken!

Yummy!!