Making the most of things….unexpectedly good days, blogging and stock

I expected to have a mediocre day yesterday.  I had a medical appointment yesterday morning, and I knew I was going to be receiving a painful injection in my knee.  I have a bone spur…yucky I know.  I prepared for this mediocre day, I baked my favorite bread yesterday morning, I went to my medical appointment, I came home. I rested.  I was surprised and honored to receive award from a wonderful blogger I follow. Chica Andaluza <~~~ wonderful blog that you should totally check out BTW.   Tanya is an wonderful lady with a great husband, beautiful garden and really interesting recipes to share.

The award Tanya gave me totally made my day. 🙂 Thanks again Tanya.

After I picked up the kiddos from school we went to Sam’s Wholesale. Why? Rotisserie chicken,  I wanted an easy dinner. I made green beans and potatoes to go with the chicken and we had a nice, easy dinner…with homemade bread.

After dinner I placed the chicken carcass, water, veggies and spices into my slow cooker and it simmered on low all night long, making a wonderful homemade chicken stock/broth that I will separate into 2 cup servings and freeze today.

I like making the most of my leftovers. I use a lot of chicken broth/stock each week, so why not make some of my own with whats left of the chicken? Why not indeed!

Have you wondered what the difference between stock and broth is? Yes?  Food network has you covered then, here’s what they have to say about the difference between broth and stock.

“Chicken stock tends to be made more from bony parts, whereas chicken broth is made more out of meat. Chicken stock tends to have a fuller mouth feel and richer flavor, due to the gelatin released by long-simmering bones. ”

So, meaty bones must equal stocky broth…stoth or brock…ha!  I love mashing words together.  Don’t let me get started…I can mash words for days…It might be a disorder, I might need professional help! 😉

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Here is my easy chicken stock/broth recipe, the slow cooker makes it simple to make and allowing it to slowly simmer over night gives the broth a deep, rich flavor.

• 1 chicken carcass
• veggies (I used 1 bag of baby carrots, 1 cup chopped onion, 3 celery pieces diced, 1 green pepper diced and seeded)
• garlic (I used 3 TBSP of roasted, sliced garlic)
• 2 tsp of sea salt
• 1 TBSP of rosemary
• 1 TBSP parsley
• 2 TBSP tarragon (did I mention that I LOVE tarragon? I do, I do, I do love tarragon.)
• enough water to cover the chicken and veggies

Place the chicken in the slow cooker, cover with veggies, add spices, cover with water and set the slow cooker on low for 6-8 (or more) hours.

Allow to cool before straining. Strain the broth, toss the chicken and veggies (they’ll be mush), and place the broth in small (I use 2 cup sized) containers. They can be frozen for up to one year.  Here is a great resource for ideas on how to freeze broth.

I like the ice cube tray idea, very cute!

From the picture, I’m sure you can see that I got 7 containers of brothy stock from this recipe. I got 14 cups total.  Yes,  I used a 1 cup measuring cup to ladle it into the bowls so I know.

Each container has 2 cups of stocky brothy goodness.

I hope your yesterday was as great as mine turned out to be, and I hope your today is fantastic.

• Posted in: blogging ♦ Cooking ♦ food ♦ homemaking ♦ Meal planning ♦ slow cooker
• Tagged: Broth, Chicken, cook, Home, Simmering, Slow cooker, Stock (food), Tablespoon