Homemade Chicken Stock, From A... Carcass

Chickens, guys.

We roast chickens around here every couple of weeks, especially after I discovered this recipe, that made it seem so beautiful and easy.

Easy? Relatively.

Beautiful? Definitely not... mostly because, at some point during the process, you're going to have to use the word "carcass."

Carcass.

Gross.

It did eat at me (not literally... not like the poor chicken...) that there seemed like so much waste when we were done with our chicken. We got a good couple of meals out of it, and enjoyed the meat immensely, but then... there was this...

Carcass.

Then I heard tell of this thing you could do with a... carcass.

Chicken stock!

So that's been my most recent undertaking... chicken stock.

And my world has been rocked.

Rocked by stock.

The process has all of my favorite things... it's easy, cost effective, and crunchy granola at it's best!

Not only is broth great for your immune system (which is the thought process behind chicken noodle soup when you're sick... though the stuff in a can really isn't doing you much good...), but it's also high in calcium and magnesium, and can aid digestion.

I concocted my own recipe, which favors good clean chicken-y flavors. You can add it as much salt and herbs as you like, but I think the recipe is actually better without all the muss and fuss. (Better without more salt??? Yes, yes, it's true.)

To begin, you're going to need a... carcass. Some recipes I saw talked about using three or four, just keeping the extras in the freezer until you needed them.

One: ew, creepy. Carcasses in the freezer.

Two: remember that whole apartment thing we've talked about? My freezer is full of food, and there's no room for a stand-alone one. Goals for the future, I suppose.

So my day involved only one... carcass.

Put the entire thing into a pot, whatever bits and bobs, odds and chicken-y ends you have left after going all carnivore on that thing.

Add in coarsely chopped celery, carrots, and carrots, enough water to cover everything (I started with 4 cups, but added 4 more throughout the whole process), and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

Whaaaaat?

Yup, apple cider vinegar! Ask me why. Go on, ask me.

...glycine.

Things are about to get crunchy, guys.

Okay, so the ACV helps the glycine (it's an amino acid) leech out of the bones of your... carcass. Glycine is pretty awesome for your health.

It can help keep your liver functioning, improve your memory, regulate blood sugar, and help your blood vessels reduce cholesterol buildup. Now some recommend taking gelatin supplements if you're not getting it in your diet, but why do that when there are chickens to roast and stock to make?

For a more in-depth conversation about bone broth and all it's crunchy goodness, check out Paleo Mom here.

So now you're going to bring everything up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about four hours. (Some people advise 24 hours, but ain't nobody got time for that. Some people advise one hour, but you want the glycine/gelatin goodness to have a chance to leech out... yes, seriously.)

As everything simmers, you want to scoop off any foam that forms on the top. Ew. Luckily, this shouldn't happen much if you're using high-quality, clean meat (re: crunchy, grass or veggie fed, natural, well-adjusted, watered with unicorn tears meat). You can also add more water if things start to boil down too low.

After that's all done, you need to drain out the solids. I used a fine mesh strainer, and drained right into a measuring cup.

Mmm...

You can discard your solids, though I'm taking suggestions for how to use them. (Darn the lack of compost pile, yet again...)

Once everything cools down, store that stuff! Keep it in the fridge for up to five days, or in the freezer for a couple months. I kept half in the fridge for immediate use, and froze the rest in two-cup portions. Pinterest inspired trick: liquids in quart bags, frozen flat, then stacked neatly like books.

Seriously, though, this stuff is amazing. The flavor puts even the organic store-bought stuff to shame, and it elevates even my most plebeian of dishes. I used it instead of water to make some Israeli couscous, and again in some soup... Shut. The. Front. Door. I don't want to toot my own horn, so I'll toot the chicken's instead. He was quite tasty!

Give it a shot... easy project, great results, even if it does involve a... carcass.

Homestead Barn Hop

Microgreens! Great Things In Small Packages.

Microgreens, guys.

Basically, these are just baby plants, harvested after the first set of bitty leaves have emerged. They are fantastically awesome, not only because tiny things are just cuuuuute, but also because they're scrumptious and great for you (so many of my favorite things!). They are super high in antioxidants and anti-carcinogenic properties, packed with vitamins, and concentrated with nutrients.

The overarching umbrella of microgreens covers all manner of leafy greens and herbs, like spinach, kale, arugula, beets, radishes, swiss chard, or basil, cilantro, parsley, and chives... to name a few.

Nutritionfacts does a great comparison, saying, "Microgreens won hands down (leaves down?), possessing significantly higher nutrient densities than mature leaves. For example, red cabbage microgreens have a 6-fold higher vitamin C concentration than mature red cabbage and 69 times the vitamin K."

Um, yuhhhmmmm.

Even WebMD has been won over, sharing that microgreens can have up to 40 times the vital nutrients of the grown-up versions.

Lucky for us, the flavor is just as concentrated as the nutrients, so a little goes a long way with these little critters. Try a few sprigs on your omelet, toss a handful into a salad, top a burger, or add them to smoothies. Anything greens can do, microgreens can do better... you know, within reason.

Now obviously, you can buy these little suckers, but why do that when they're so easy to sprout? Chances are you already have everything on hand that you need. You can get fancy set-ups online, but that takes away from your bottom line... and isn't in the thrifty Little House spirit! Really, you just need a container, some soil, and seeds. Simple.

PLUS, they're done in just a week, maybe two. Great for those of us who may not be the most patient gardeners, you know, like kids... or me.

I got a bunch of seed packets to use in my container gardening, but since each pot can only hold one plant, I'm using only a small percentage of seeds from the packet. (Except the broccoli.... that one keeps getting dug up by the neighborhood Bird Bully, and I keep replanting. Must research bird deterrents. Running out of broccoli seeds.) Microgreens sprouting is a great use of the rest of those little guys.

To start, prep your growing space! I chose a Fage container that had just been emptied (By My Bellyyyy), and washed it out super good with super hot water and super strong soap.

Mmm, Fage... I've taken to mixing in chopped up pistachios and dark chocolate chunks for an afternoon snack... but I digress.

You need a few drainage holes so that you don't drown your seeds. (Help meeeee...) That would be sad. I used my trusty IKEA hammer and poked a few holes with a nail. The yogurt lid makes a delightful drainage tray, just so you know. It's like they designed it with repurposing in mind!

Next, gather you seeds! As we now know, you can use just about anything to sprout some microgreens. Sprouts are not microgreens! Microgreens are grown in soil, sprouts are grown with water. Just FYI. Different things are going to have different flavors, so it stands to reason that if you like it when it's big, you're going to like it when it's small. I did a big combination of things (with only a little bit of broccoli. Those seeds are important now, guys.)

If you soak your seeds in warm water for an hour, it's going to hasten germination... not that we're impatient or anything. Not me. Never.

Fill your container with soil, and spread you seeds out on top. Add a thin layer of soil (thin, like a quarter inch at most. Thinnnnn. Giselle soil, right here.)

You can keep your container inside until your little guys start to pop up, they won't need sunlight until then. After that, they'll do great on a windowsill, or if you have Evil Cats like me, a nice sunny spot outside will do nicely.

You'll start seeing things soon! (I think this was about four days in.) Then just let them grow until they reach the height/size that suits your fancy. Snip them off at the soil line a few at a time as needed, or harvest the entire container and have a mircogreens-a-palooza!

Then rinse and repeat! 

...just don't go out of town for a week to help your parents move and forget about your microgreens. Otherwise, your friendly cat-sitter will continue to water them, they'll continue to grow, and you'll end up with Microgreen Forest, which are then just plants.