Slow Cooker Bone Broth from Kitchen Scraps

A few weeks ago, when a nasty cold bug threatened to knock all seven of us out one at a time, I took action. I headed to my freezer to grab one of my best, tried-and-true home remedies for feeling better faster...a jar of homemade chicken stock.

Now, don't confuse this with what Swanson has been ladling up for decades. No, no, no.

What I'm talking about is homemade, flavorful, mineral-rich goodness that you won't find on the shelves of any grocery store.

A quick aside: America is one of the few countries in the world that does not seem to value the many health properties of bone broth. Grandmothers all over Creation have been serving up chicken soup to their ailing loved ones for years. Yet, homemade chicken soup has fallen out of vogue here in the States and has been replaced with Ramen, Campbell's, or any myriad of canned knock-offs.

While this simple home remedy might seem like an old wive's tale, there is actually substantial research to prove that broth/stock made from actual animal bones...not bullion cubes or chicken breasts, but BONES...has natural healing properties. For more information, be sure to read The Many Benefits of Bone Broth.

As an added bonus, this particular stock is as budget-friendly as it gets. It's made from scraps that I would have thrown out anyway.

Ingredients:

• the carcass of one chicken (more on that later)
• veggie scraps OR 2-3 chopped carrots and 2-3 celery stalks
• 1 onion (unless you have scraps...which I never do)
• a couple of dashes of dried bay leaves
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (to help draw out more minerals)
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or a couple of dashes of dried parsley (optional)
• a couple of dashes of dried thyme (optional)

Directions:

Debone a whole chicken.  

(I typically roast 3 chickens with root veggies at least once a month. As a whole chicken is typically much cheaper than a pack of chicken breasts, it's a great way to get bang for your buck in the kitchen. We have one meal of roasted chicken and veggies, four to five meals worth of shredded chicken to freeze for a meal later in the month, and three whole carcasses for making stock. My husband thinks I "collect" carcasses and that I might need some kind of carcass-collecting intervention. As I've been known to ask around for the unclaimed carcasses of friend's chickens, I think he might just be right!)

If you're not a roast-my-own-chicken kind of girl, you can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Toss the bones in a ziplock and store them in the freezer.  Throughout the coming weeks, begin to add the scraps (tops and bottoms...or other unused portions) from carrots and celery to the bag.  Oftentimes, I can't use up a bag of celery before it begins to grow limp.  When that happens, I chop up all the remaining limpy stocks and toss them in the chicken-veggie-freezer bag.  

Once I have a full bag of one carcass and scraps, it's time to make my broth.  

Toss the scraps and all the other ingredients into a slow cooker.  

Fill the slow cooker with water until it is at least 3/4 full.  

Cook on low for 2 to 24 hours. The longer the broth cooks, the more flavorful it will be. 

After 24 hours, your stock will be brown in color and will have been reduced to about half of its original constitution.

Strain the stock and toss all the scraps.  It's what you would have done with them anyway, right?

Store your flavorful, mineral-rich stock in freezer-safe containers or can it for later use in ANY recipe calling for chicken stock or bone broth. Not only will your recipe taste better, but it will also be better for you.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a bowl of soup calling my name.