Thursday's Tip of the Day

Our family is on a very tight budget, as I am sure most of you are. I try to make everything I can from scratch or as close to scratch as possible. This allows me to have some control over what is going into my children's body and it saves me some money. 

Today's tip of the day is probably one of the easiest ingredients to make. What is said ingredient you ask. It's stock or broth. I use a lot of chicken stock. I use it to boil my pasta, make soups, to add flavor to some breads, or in any recipe that calls for it. You would be surprised at how much you can use this. 

Start by going to the store and buying a whole chicken. Bake the chicken however you like it. Let it cool and then pick as much of the chicken off as possible. 

  Next, I take the chicken and divide it up into freezer bags. Most of the time I will put two and a half cups of chicken per bag. Write the date and shredded chicken on the bag and pop it into the freezer. Next time you need shredded chicken it's ready to go! 

 Chicken Stock:

2 Stalks of Celery

4 Carrots or a handful of Baby Carrots

1 Onion, quartered

2 Tsp Minced Garlic

1 T Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

1 Tsp Parsley

1 Tsp Oregano

1 Tsp Seasoned Salt 

1 Tsp Cilantro

1 Chicken Carcass

 Now comes the fun part! Get celery, carrots, onions, garlic, and your favorite seasonings out and ready to use. I use about a cup of celery and carrots. Chop the celery in half and throw the entire thing (leaves and all) into the pot. You see the chopped celery in the background because I was making another dish at the same time. Rough chop about four carrots and throw them into the pot. Next, take your onion and quarter it. Throw it in the pot with everything else. Add your chicken carcass and fill the pot up with water leaving about three inches at the top. Add two teaspoons of minced garlic, season the water to your taste and away we go. 

  Bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and let it simmer for three to four hours. 

Put a large bowl in the sink and place a colander on top and pour your mix in. The colander will catch all of the big things and let all the broth go safely into the bowl. Take all of those big things (carcass, celery, carrots, etc) and throw them away. Let your broth cool.

  I like to freeze my broth in one cup servings. I use a large muffin tin, pour the broth into the tin, and pop it into the freezer. Once it is frozen take the broth out of the muffin tin and place it in a freezer bag. Next time you need some broth, BAM! It's ready to go in one cup servings! 

Enjoy!

Froggy Mom