posted by:TtownMom

Before you officially check me off as the weirdest person on the planet, let me explain.  Because for crying out loud!  Who has time to make their own chicken stock?  And, why on earth would you?  It comes in these handy, dandy little packages at the store.  Even Rachel Ray, queen goddess of all quick cooking, says that store bought stock is fine. 

Much like all my funky food, my chicken stock story begins with Landon's food allergies.  Chicken stock is great to cook with when you are trying to sneak nutrients into a limited diet.  The problem is that ALL store bought chicken stock has carrots in it.  Landon was allergic to carrots.  What's a girl to do?

This one called her mother-in-law.  My MIL was a rock star in the kitchen.  She cooked fearlessly, rarely checking recipes and could create food that would make you cry.  And she also screwed up recipes so badly they had to be chunked and tried again.  It was really the latter that allowed me to learn how to cook well.  Knowing that even a great cook can make some really awful food.

She handed me a 3X5 notecard with instructions on how to roast a chicken.  What a minute!? I want to know how to make chicken stock.  Apparently this task requires some steps.

But easy steps; steps you already do, but this time you are going to join them together in one beautifully cohesive moment of cooking perfection.  Thanks Carla!!

BTW, I use my crockpots for each and every step in this process.

Buy one whole chicken(because I'm going to get three meals and 10 quarts of chicken stock off this bad boy, I buy organic)

Rub 'em with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and coat with your favorite dried herbs(I used Italian herbs)

Place chicken breast side up in your crockpot, pour about 1/2 cup water in the bottom, turn on low and leave it alone for about 6 hours.  It will make your house smell so very nice.

Once the bird is cooked, pull it out of the crockpot and let it rest for several minutes.  Then cut all the meat off of it.  Or make your husband do it.  We usually have chicken breasts for dinner on the nights I do this.  Then I put the rest of the chicken into two freezer bags to use for later dinners.

Now for the fun part.  Take the bones and put them in your largest crockpot.  Start tossing in veggies.  I use a whole red onion, an entire bulb of garlic, all the leaves off a bunch of celery and the yucky inside section no one will eat.  You can also use leeks, or carrots.  Then I toss in about 2 T of salt, some pepper, and more of that lovely Italian herbs.  Fill the crockpot with water until just below the top of the container.  Cover, turn on low and leave.  Overnight.

When you wake up, your house will smell like your long lost great-great grandmother has moved in and has dedicated her life to cooking for you.  Because she loves you.

Now you need to strain your stock.  You can buy cheese cloth and "do it right" or you can cheat like I do.  I take a colendar and put it over a big bowl.  Then using a slotted spoon I scoop out all the veggies and bones.  Once you have strained the stock, get out the quart size freezer bags and load 'em up.  Lay them flat in your freezer and you will be set with stock!  If you are feeling extra frisky, freeze some of your stock in your silicone muffin tins.  These will measure, depending on how big your muffins are, about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup per muffin.  Once frozen, turn them out into a freezer bag.  These are great for those recipes that call for 1/4 or 1/2 cup of chicken stock!

Why go to all this trouble?  Above and beyond Landon's allergies, it's money.  Since we are going to eat chicken anyway, I don't count the cost of the chicken.  I use the part of the celery no one in my house is going to eat.  Water isn't actually free, but that's really cheap.  So basically for 10 quarts of stock, I'm out one red onion and a bulb of garlic.

10 Quarts of Homemade Chicken Stock+=$3

1 Quart of Store Bought Chicken Stock=$3.50

As for the time spent........not bad.  Because I used my crockpots, I wasn't watching a stove top or stirring anything.  Besides I have two kids under 6, it's now like I was going to get to watch a movie I wanted to and I can look at my husband and say, "I'm cooking, could you do the laundry?"