Waste not, want not

 

I don’t know what it’s like at your house, but at mine if dinner doesn’t include meat people think I’m out to starve them. Honestly. So what’s a mom with limited budget to do? A good place to start is with saving everything and using it all. Stock is a great example. I was shocked to learn recently that not everyone makes their own stock. Do you know how much salt is in a bouillon cube? Last I checked (a month ago) the price of boxed organic chicken stock was $3.99 per quart. A quart really doesn’t go far, you know? So here’s what I do:

Every time I peel veggies or clean fresh herbs the trimmings go into a gallon sized plastic bag in the freezer. Parsley stems, potato peels, onion skins, bits of garlic, mushroom stems: everything! If you want chicken stock then you need another bag for meat. Making wings? Wing tips go in the bag. Cooking a whole chicken? The gizzards and neck go in the bag. The carcas goes in a second freezer bag that includes cooked leftovers that don’t disappear quickly enough: no one wants the last turkey drumstick? In to meat bag #2 it goes.

When you’ve got two gallons of frozen vegetable trimmings and 1-2 gallons of the frozen meat, buy a couple (or more) of those little chickens (not the roasters) that are often on sale for .89 cents per pound. You can roast or boil them: whatever you like. (I usually roast three - one for sandwiches tonight.) The point is to take the meat off and save for later. Put your frozen ingredients in the ‘frig overnight so they’ll thaw a bit.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday is usually good for me) the four gallons of leftovers plus chicken bones from last night go in a big pot. Cover with cold water. Let it sit for an hour or so (you want everything at about the same cold temp so that the water draws out flavors). Throw in a few bay leaves, a few cloves of garlic, some peppercorns and bit of course sea salt. Put the cover on your pot at an angle so that some steam will escape and bring water to a boil. As soon as it boils turn it down to a simmer. If you want a clear broth remove the foam that rises to the top within the first twenty minutes or so (this isn’t necessary and I don’t usually bother).

Stir every once in awhile, but otherwise that’s pretty much it for the next four to eight hours (let it go a few hours longer if all your meat and bones were raw to start). The house will be warm and smell great all day. When you turn the pot off, strain the solids and reserve the liquids (of course!)…walaa! Homemade chicken stock.

So now you’ve got a giant pot of stock and the cleaned meat of two chickens. What can you do with it? I’d make two meals this week and freeze the remaining stock.

Chicken soup: heat a little olive oil, throw in diced carrots, onions, mushrooms, sweet peppers (or whatever is in your vegetable bin). When carrots soften, add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add cooked chicken and some fresh herbs, give it a few minutes to heat, then enjoy.

Chicken in gravy on rice (or on noodles or toast). Self explanatory, right?

Freeze leftover stock in quart sized (or smaller) bags. You likely have enough to get you through a month’s worth of recipes where you add just a bit of chicken stock to the pan.

This has easily cost less than $10.00. What a deal, eh? And you know what they say about mom’s chicken soup…