Good cheap food: Baked Chicken

I found organic, free ranged chicken for .99 cents at my local grocer the other day. I bought two of them and this is what I did with one of them...

Before and after

Ingredients:

1 chicken (doesn’t have to be organic or free ranged) about 3 to 4 lbs.
¼ cup kosher salt
3 potatoes
1 eggplant
3 carrots
1 lemon
a little season all

Recipe:

1. The night before the meal, make a brine solution and marinate the chicken in it. All you need to do is fill a large pot with water and the kosher salt and bring it to a boil. Let the solution cool down to room temperature and put the chicken in the pot and the pot in the refrigerator.

2. The next day, chop up the potatoes, eggplant, and carrots and throw them into a pyrex or some kind of cooking pan.

3. Take the chicken out of the solution. Pat it dry with a (clean) towel or paper towel. Rub some seasoning all over it (there are a lot of seasonings and rubs out there... I use this McCormick’s Chicken Rub).

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken breast side up and bake for about 50 minutes then turn it over for another 20 minutes back side up.

5. When the chicken looks nice and golden brown, it should be ready. Take it out gently, carve it up however you like and add any sides you like. I side of rice and salad is perfect for me.

Summary:
My chicken ended up costing a little under 4 dollars and I think with the ingredients and sides this meal cost about 6 or 7 dollars total. It ended up being enough for four meals (served two people for dinner and was enough for two lunches the next day).

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Extra money: Market Research Studies

One of my favorite ways to make extra money outside of work is doing market research studies. Companies have always been interested in understanding their customers. These days they are putting even more emphasis into knowing the trends, habits, and wants that drive consumer behavior before launching a product or service. As a result, there are more opportunities for consumers like us to offer their opinions in exchange for cash.

I’ve participated in a bunch of different research studies including car studies, food taste tests, audio equipment calibration tests, neuro brain equipment tests and more. From my experience, one to two hours of time can net anywhere between $25 to $200 dollars depending on the type of study. Certain studies will ask you to prepare some “homework” while others will offer raffles for people to show up on time or to fill out additional questionnaires after the actual study. My favorite studies are the food taste tests because I get paid for trying new food.

How to find them

The best way I find these studies are through Craigslist or other local postings. Market research companies like Nichols Research also have Facebook pages where you can updates on the surveys they are doing. There are a ton of other companies that operate locally. Most surveys have pre-screening questions that ask you some basic questions to make sure you qualify for their particular survey.

The key to finding and getting surveys is to be persistent! I check Craigslist a few times throughout the day for studies I may qualify for. You will have to wade through the many egg, sperm, blood donor adds to get to the market research study, but those are interesting to read as well. Side note: I am always tempted to participate in these donor programs, but I am too squeamish to give blood, am weirded out by the idea of having a kid I don’t know about roaming around, and do not possess any eggs...

How to get and keep them

The key is to finding and keeping them always keep an eye out for these opportunities. Some of the studies have follow up studies, for instance food studies will often have one set of flavors one week and another set the next week. Some other studies will have raffles to get people to show up on time and will have additional focus groups after their studies. These are all opportunities to make more!

Beware of scams

When looking at online postings, there is always a small possibility of deals that are just too good to be true. While looking for surveys, I’ve come across adds that ask too little information and offer too much money. Someone offering $300 for 1 hour of your time and asking for just your name, address and phone number with little description of the study is too sketchy for me.

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