Resourceful - making my own chicken stock!

A few weeks ago I decided that instead of buying a roast chicken at the grocery store almost every week I was going to make my own and really maximize the bird... We use roast chicken a lot - to make Jody's Pot Pie (yum!), to make meals for Baby F, to make delicious dishes like Nikki's Green Chili Soup, and other quick weeknight meals. Last week I decided to go one step further and use the chicken carcass to make my own stock. I know people who have done this - but it was my very first try.

I followed a basic recipe that I had from a baby food book, but embellished a little and made use of what I had in the fridge.

I started with the picked over chicken carcass. Yum (not.)

I added some veggies - including onion, carrots and celery. TIP: I had some leftover baby carrots and celery from a veggie platter we had at a party a few days before. They were perfect! I had very little prep work to do.

Finally, I added water and some seasonings, cranked the pot up to a boil then down to a simmer for 3-4 hours.

If you know me - you know that I sometimes get these great ideas late in the day - so as it got closer to bed time I decided to move my stock into the Crock Pot and let it stew overnight.

Here's what it looked like in the morning!

In the morning I used some cheesecloth and a strainer to remove all veggies and chicken bones/parts from the stock and then portioned the stock into baggies measured at one and two cup measures. I have since used a few portions and I have to say - it's tasty! I've backed off of roasting one chicken per week (it was a little excessive...), but I will definitely make good use of the next chicken I roast - and for about $6-7 per bird I'm getting several meals and about eight to ten cups of stock! Pretty good deal, if I do say so myself.