I don’t think there is anything better than good old fashioned bare bones (pun) cooking. Food is comfort for our mind, body and soul. Food and lets be honest just the smell of some foods, can evoke comforting thoughts and put us in a happy mindset. Take Thanksgiving for example. How many of you have smelled the turkey cooking in the oven closed your eyes and took in a long deep breath taking in the savory scent and remembering the goodness the meal has brought you before and will bring you again? I don’t think I’ve met anyone that doesn’t smile when they think of that. I even know people who don’t eat meat but still have those same kinds of memories that are brought to the forefront just from the smell of roasting turkey.

I’ve made chicken stock/broth from scratch for years but it wasn’t until recent years that I’ve done it the way I do now. Primarily because I honestly just never thought about it and then along comes my planner. Our oldest daughter, Samantha, she is the planner and what a planner she is. I think if she could schedule every moment of her life she would. This is my child who was born on her due date, is never early or late, she is on schedule always has been and likely always will be.

It was on a visit to her home in the Maine Northwoods where she was almost an hour away from the nearest market, and it was a small market, that we talked about how she plans meals. The driveway to their home was 4 miles long and that was after 9 miles down a logging road. Forgetting an ingredient meant you went without it. There was no running to the store to pick it up. Part of what she did to save money, eat healthy, save time and waste as little as possible was to keep all her vegetable scraps. All the peels, cores, skins, tops, bottoms, any part that didn’t get used for whatever reason in a meal. She stored them in the freezer. Usually once a week she roasted a chicken for dinner. After cleaning as much of the meat off the chicken she would take all the scraps from the freezer and the chicken carcass add water and simmer it overnight and there you have it… The best healthiest bone broth, chicken stock you can get.

What did she do with it after that? She would strain it, allow it to cool, put it in canning jars and freeze it. Anytime a recipe would call for broth she always had it on hand. I adopted the practice which makes total sense to do and that is how I make my broth on a regular basis today. I will also make beef, vegetable and ham stock as well. (FYI a pint jar up to the freezer line is 1 3/4 cups.)

Freeze? Canning jars? Yes. Ball makes wide mouth jars that are freezer safe. The box says it right on the packaging. Of course don’t forget to wash all the pieces in hot soapy water and have them ready. There is a line clearly marked on the jar for freezer use. Liquid expands when it freezes so it is important to not overfill your jars. Having a wide mouth funnel to fill your jars is very helpful as well. Don’t forget to label those jars. I use painters tape. You know the blue or green stuff. Mark with permanent marker what it is and the date. You don’t want to be guessing when you go to use it. This way the tape peels off easy they get washed and can be reused. I try to only use lids I’ve already canned with. They are a one use lid so this is a way to recycle them and not add them to the landfill. At some point I will have to get rid of some but until then this is what we will do.

In addition to all the chicken parts; bones, skin and meat. All the veg scraps you collect and have waiting in the freezer I also will add a little salt, some fresh ground black pepper and a couple of bay leaves. If you start your stock early in the morning, I mean like 5/6 a.m., and allow it to simmer all day you will have stock by evening ready to go. If that time doesn’t work for you put it all in a crock-pot. Use the low setting and come back to it later. The ideal length of time to cook it is 24 hours. This allows time for all the healthy collagen to come out of the bones. I’ve successfully made fabulous stock in 8-10 hours as well.

I hope this was helpful and gets you thinking more about what you can do with all those scraps from cooking.