I wish I came up with more original ideas once in awhile. But frankly, I'm thinking "Why reinvent the wheel?" and besides, I'm at a place in my life where I'm content to let the other guy have the spotlight and applause. All I want to do now is pass on the good news and the best-of-the-best information when it comes to cooking and health.

So that said, I do wish I'd thought of this. I didn't. Jenny over at www.nourishedkitchen.com did. Each week, usually on Sundays, she roasts a chicken. After trussing the bird and seasoning its skin with ample salt and herbs, she lines the roasting dish with whatever vegetables happen to be in season and easily had.

A typical pan lining would include new potatoes, garlic and lemon wedges. And other times she's lined the pan with summer squash and eggplant. Let your imagination run with this.

Now we all know you can get more than one meal out of a whole chicken-but what fascinated me was how she gets 4 meals, and how gourmet-ish her ideas are. The first meal, as mentioned, is roasted chicken with vegetables.

The second meal uses 2 loosely packed cups of shredded chicken and lots of nuts and fresh veggies and some grapes to make her favorite chicken salad. I did this as well, stuffing tomatoes one time, croissants another time, and I added sour cream and salsa yet another time to create an incredible topping for cooked brown rice.

And Jenny reminds us to not forget to tuck that chicken carcass into our slow cooker for perpetual broth or chicken stock-another frugal and healthy way to extend the meals.

The third meal combines that broth with white beans and a little more chicken meat for a simple White Bean and Chicken Chili.

Finally, Jenny puts the rest of the broth that's been simmering in her slow cooker to one more use-soup. Green chilies, white beans, oregano, broth and leftover chicken make an excellent taco soup. Or chicken noodle soup, or chicken and wild rice soup, or?you get the idea.

With a little planning and some tried-and-true recipes up our sleeves, we can stretch the grocery dollar and create some wonderful meals at the same time. 4 meals from one chicken—hmmm, I think this is the start of something brilliant. I wonder how many meals we could get out of a Sunday pot roast? If anyone can come up with more than 4, let us know!