Making Free Chicken Stock & Bone Broth

Because I make most of our meals from scratch, I probably go through a lot more chicken/turkey/pork stock than most people. But because I do a lot of cooking, I also have all of the ingredients to make my own stock. And the best part is? It's free!

There are lots of good reasons to make your own stock or, as new trendy healthy cooking proponents call it, bone broth. The traditional distinction between broth and stock is that broth is made with meat and stock is made with bones. Those lines are blurring, but using bones to make your stock is the best way to get all of the minerals, gelatin, calcium, and other goodies out of them.

To make good stock, you need to start with bones. I use the bones left over from carving a chicken or turkey, or even steak and roast bones left over. Don't get grossed out- you're going to be boiling it! If I don't have time to make stock right away, I toss the bones in the freezer for later.

For the vegetables that give stock its rich flavors, I use all the ends of veggies I cut up for other uses. So, for example, every time I cut up an onion, I save the top and bottom in my veggie bag in the freezer. The same goes with celery bottoms, carrot ends, parsley stems, garlic tips, and other fresh vegetable detritus. When I have enough veggies and some bones, I make a batch of stock.

Start by pulling out your largest stock pot or dutch oven. A chicken carcass can make 16-20 cups of stock. Put the carcass in the pot and cover with about 6 quarts of water. Add a quart bag full of your veggie scraps along with some salt and pepper to taste. You can keep the pepper in whole corns because you'll be straining it later. Also keep the skins on the onions as they will impart a deeper color to the bone broth. Add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the pot to help pull the calcium out of the bones.

Bring the stock to boiling, then reduce to a simmer for a minimum of four hours. If the water level recedes, top it back up, but not within the last hour of simmering. Taste the stock as you go and add more salt or pepper as needed. Let the stock cool down then strain it through a pasta strainer into a large bowl. Package into 2 or 4 cup containers (or quart Mason jars), label, and freeze. Be sure to leave at least one inch of headroom in the containers as frozen liquids expand.

Use your stock as you would any commercial stock. I use mine as the base for soups, as the liquid to cook rice in, or even as a nice hot drink before bed. Enjoy!

Piggy Biscuits

This is a fun and easy project for kids to do on a rainy afternoon. You could use refrigerated dough, but it's so easy and less expensive to make your own. My daughter and her best friend made these recently and they were yummy!


You'll need 3 sizes of biscuit cutters or drinking glasses: small, medium, and large (roughly 1", 2", and 3" in diameter). Take a batch of regular bread dough and roll it out to approximately a quarter inch thickness. Be sure to use flour underneath so that it doesn't stick to the board.

Cut large circles out of about 2/3rds of the dough by flouring the cutter and twisting into the dough. Once you count how many circles you have, cut half as many small circles and a quarter as many medium circles. So, for example, if you made 18 large circles (the body), you would cut 9 small circles (the nose) and 5 medium circles (the ears). Cut the medium circles into quarters.

Place 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce and 1 tablespoon of shredded Italian blend cheese in the center of half of the large circles. You can change up the ingredients for the filling but keep it to about 2 tablespoons in total. Dip your finger in water and paint the edge of each circle to moisten. Place the other large circles on top and press down the edges to seal.

Beat an egg in a small bowl. Use the egg as glue to attach the other pieces. The small circles (the nose) should be brushed with the egg and applied about 2/3rds down in each pig. Make 2 vertical slits in the nose to look like nostrils. Attach the ears at the top of the large circles with the points facing inward. To finish off the piggies, use black peppercorns for eyes and press into the dough gently.

Place on a baking sheet. With a pastry brush, brush egg over top of each pig. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until browned.

Solar Oven Bread

We've had bright sunny days around here lately- perfect for hauling out the solar cooker and baking some bread.

I've tried a lot of solar cookers and this Sport is my favorite. It came with the graniteware pots (they have lids too) that fit perfectly inside. It's not heavy at all and can easily be taken to a picnic or the beach.

On this day, I made a rye bread and an Italian garlic and herb bread. Because I make bread often, I cheat a little with most loaves. I let my breadmakers (yes, I have two of them!) mix the dough and perform the first rise. Then I give it a knead and set it into the pans, which have been warmed in the solar oven. Bread dough hates the cold! Then I put the lid on the oven and let the loaves do a final rise as the oven heats up and then bake. The dough is pictured above right after it was placed in the pans.

The day was cloudier than I expected so there were more fluctuations in temperature than I would have liked. Nonetheless, after 2 hours, the bread was light and fluffy and fully baked. Had I known it was going to be a bit cloudy, I would have put the reflectors on the oven to concentrate the sun's rays and raise the oven temperature. Today is going to be another beautiful day outside so I may make a Moroccan stew and some cous cous.

If you don't have a solar cooker, consider getting one. It's another alternative if the electricity goes off and it's perfect for beaches and parks that don't allow cooking fires.

This week's marmalade-making didn't quite go as planned. The first batch (made mostly with oranges) didn't set using its own pectin. The second batch with tangerines needed powdered pectin to form a good set. At least I'll be able to use the first batch as "orange sauce".

There are still about a thousand citrus fruits on my neighbor's tree and I'm trying to resist "gleaning" them. My neighbor passed away over two years ago now and the house is still up for sale. His son doesn't seem particularly interested in the trees but I'm sure someone will come along and strip them bare. Hmmm...maybe it's time to preserve tangerine slices.

Make Your Own Yogurt the Easy Way

Making Your Own Yogurt Can Save You Money and Make You Healthy

As the price of yogurt in store rises and more people begin to understand the benefits to their health of eating live-culture yogurt daily, it makes more and more sense to make yogurt at home. Making your own yogurt can seem like a daunting task, but I have developed an easy method that results in the least fussing and least mess. 

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