5 Things that are Cheaper and Healthier to Make Yourself #3

With our wonderful veggie box has come a lot of veggies that need to find uses before they go bad. This past week we tried our hand at making some wonderful chicken stock, since we also had a chicken carcass around. It was sooooo easy, and even better you can change it up however you see fit. It's also a great way to use veggies that are a little wilted like carrots, celery, etc. Best part: none of that MSG and other not so exciting/healthy stuff. Here is the bare bones recipe:

Chicken Stock
Ingredients
Chicken Bones/Carcass
Veggies
Spices
Water

Directions
1. Prepare any veggies and any fresh spices by cleaning, peeling, and cutting them into pieces that can Fit in the pot. No need to make small pieces.
2. Put chicken and veggies/spices in pot.
3. Fill with enough water to cover.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a long time (we did about 8-10 hours). Skim off any fat that rises to the top and stir occasionally. Your house will smell amazing!
5. Pour entire contents through a mesh or other fine strainer into another pot or large bowl.
6. Allow to cool and then refrigerate. Remove any fat from the top.
7. Freeze in whatever portion size you wish.

Now what kind of veggies and spices can you use?
Here's what we put in ours (what we had on hand):
Leeks, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, dill, parsley, basil, pepper
Other veggies/spices that work well:
Parsnips, bay leaves, scallions, thyme, mushrooms, turnips

You can also make a veggie stock in a similar way.

How does it compare cost wise? Hard to say. But if these are thing that normally would end up in your trash (who wants to snack on limp celery and carrots), then it saves you money. You use something you would have thrown away and you gain something you would have purchased. Win-win in my book!