Serious DIY Series! Taking Stock of the Situation

“Eat Mor Chikin” broth.  Okay, maybe it should be “Drink” more chicken broth, but I love Chick-Fil-A’s advertising campaign!

I don’t know about you, but for me, in my busy stage of life, there is something to be said for convenience.  Even when convenience is the word of the day there are times I will forgo convenience for a purpose.  When our home is in the ravages of cold, flu, or allergy season, there is one item that I will make from scratch in order to help my family heal.  That food is chicken broth.

Now in another post, we talked about making bouillon for food storage purposes.  I still highly recommend that for long-term food storage.  When you have access to either frozen chickens or you have one of your own chickens that you are wanting to butcher and make soup with it and you need to use the broth for its healing qualities homemade broth is unequaled.

Why do I make chicken broth?

1.) It’s super simple to make!

If you can put some water in a pot, drop in a frozen chicken, and chop up some veggies, you can make broth.

2.) The healing abilities of chicken broth are more than just old wives tales.

An article was published in the University of Nebraska Medical Center which states that chicken broth has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

Another article says that one of the substances found in homemade chicken broth (collagen) can actually help people who suffer joint pain.

Bone broth is one of the main elements in two gut healing diets: The Bone Broth Diet, and GAPS.  It promotes proper gut health which in turn controls much of your overall health.

Even in the past hour, I have read articles that tout even more benefits of bone broth, but I think you get the idea…bone broth  =  good for you!

3.) It’s better for you than store-bought chicken broth.

So I’m going to be completely honest, there are times that I’ve considered starting a website called, “The Lazy Gourmet.”  I hate to spend hours in my kitchen.  The faster I can do what I need to do in my kitchen so that I can leave it behind the better!

When I’m just making dinner that contains chicken broth, I will generally buy it. If I’m just looking for a cooking medium to enhance a soup, then I don’t mind buying it.

If I’m looking for a golden liquid that will actually help my family feel better though, I don’t buy it.  I make it.  Many of the store bought chicken broths though, contain engineered flavors instead of pure ingredients.  Those that do contain ingredients need to be canned.  The canning process can destroy beneficial elements in the chicken broth.

So what’s a girl (or guy) to do?  Make Your Own!

One of the things that I’ve already mentioned is that it is super easy to make.  You can go about it one of two ways:  (1) You can buy a whole chicken either frozen or fresh.  (2) You can buy a precooked chicken, eat the meat and use the bones and sinews.

If you are buying a whole chicken, just one chicken will do.  If you are using the bones from one of those precooked chickens that you can find in just about any grocery store now, then I’d use two or three of them.  And unless you’re a larger family like ours (there are seven of us), you may not buy two chickens at a time.  After you eat the meat off of a chicken, you can throw the carcass into the freezer in a storage bag.  Once you’ve amassed two or three, then you can make your broth.

(1) Start with a chicken (see above)

(2) Roughly chop an onion, three stalks of celery, and four or so carrots.

(3) I add 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic, 2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp pepper,  1 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp basil.

(4) Simmer for 12-24 hours.

(5) Strain out the solids.  If you cooked a whole chicken, then you can pull the meat for another meal.

(6) Further season your broth to taste, and enjoy!