I buy organic food as much as I can. While the price of organic meat has made me start making more vegetarian meals, I do budget for organic roasting chickens because you can get more than one meal out of them. When our family of four sits down to a roasted chicken for dinner, there’s meat left over that I can use for a chicken stir fry or enchiladas the next day.
But the best way to use a whole chicken is to make stock out of it. Making your own chicken stock is a little time consuming, but worth it because store-bought chicken broth often has unnecessary sugar and sodium. When we make chicken stock, my husband cuts the breast meat off the chicken to sauté or grill for dinner. Then we put the rest of the chicken in a pot with cut up a cut-up onion, a few carrots and stalks of celery. Plus we add thyme, a bay leaf and whole peppercorns for seasoning. Cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Let the stock simmer for an hour and then cool. Remove the cooked chicken, dice the meat and save it for a future meal. Strain the stock into a bowl and let cool overnight the refrigerator. The next day, the fat has congealed to the top of the bowl, making it easy to remove. Once the chicken stock is defatted, I pour one cup each into Dixie cups. I usually get about 12 cups of stock, which I store in the freezer.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday Tip is to make the most of your Coleman organic roasting chicken by making chicken stock from it. Click here for more tips.
But the best way to use a whole chicken is to make stock out of it. Making your own chicken stock is a little time consuming, but worth it because store-bought chicken broth often has unnecessary sugar and sodium. When we make chicken stock, my husband cuts the breast meat off the chicken to sauté or grill for dinner. Then we put the rest of the chicken in a pot with cut up a cut-up onion, a few carrots and stalks of celery. Plus we add thyme, a bay leaf and whole peppercorns for seasoning. Cover the chicken with water and bring to a boil. Let the stock simmer for an hour and then cool. Remove the cooked chicken, dice the meat and save it for a future meal. Strain the stock into a bowl and let cool overnight the refrigerator. The next day, the fat has congealed to the top of the bowl, making it easy to remove. Once the chicken stock is defatted, I pour one cup each into Dixie cups. I usually get about 12 cups of stock, which I store in the freezer.
So my Thrifty Green Thursday Tip is to make the most of your Coleman organic roasting chicken by making chicken stock from it. Click here for more tips.
9 comments:
That's a great idea. I've never been a very good cook. Making dinner is the chore that I hate most.
My husband does this too. He grew up in a house where his mom made all of their meals from scratch. I grew up in a house where my mom made all of our meals from a box. Guess who does most of our cooking? My husband!
I just tried this recently as well and it went great! One thing I do is save my celery ends and carrot ends in a container in the freezer and just use the pieces I would normally throw out in my stock.
Great tip! I've been freezing it in large glass jars which makes it tricky to use. Saving it in dixie cups, or maybe even ice cube trays, would be so much more convenient. I also am going to add some of those savory seasonings you described. Yum! Thanks for joining us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday!
Sounds delicious! I've been buying more and more organic produce lately. I'll have to look for organic chicken as well.
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I just started doing what emw suggested--saving veggie odds and ends in a bag, so when it's time to make stock, I have a bunch of "free" things to add to it. Of course, I tend to stick to vegetable broth!
Joy, I think storing the broth in jars is a good idea! You should just take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge the day before you want to use it. This saves energy twice: first, defrosting stuff in the fridge actually helps cool the stuff in the fridge. Second, you don't have to use so much energy heating up something that's frozen.
I love using ice cube trays, once they set i gather them up and put them into a ziploc bag so i can re use the tray. good tip
Thanks for the info on making stock! I've always wanted to try making it but just thought that it would be difficult.
You have inspired me to try it!
I make chicken stock too but I am glad to read what you use for spices. I think I need to add more to mine to make it more flavorful.
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