RECIPE: Home Canned Bone Broth (AKA Stock)

Coincidentally, I started on this large batch of broth on the eve of Earth Day, a time when there is quite a lot of discussion about food waste and sustainable agriculture. Here's a great way to cut down on waste, and get delicious soup stock in the process!

Let me start by saying there are exact recipes to follow out there on the internet for bone broth. This is not one of those! Over the winter, I collected up scraps from roasted birds and chopped veggies in gallon freezer bags and threw them in the chest freezer until I got enough to fill a 23 qt pot...

There is quite a bit of information out there online concerning the health benefits of bone broth. It makes an excellent medicinal base for soups during cold and flu season, and it's delicious! Making your own is definitely worth the effort!

Ingredients

3 gallon freezer bags of misc. poultry or beef bones
1 gallon freezer bag carrot, celery and onion scraps *

8 cloves Garlic

1 tsp. Thyme

1 tsp. Rosemary

1 tsp. Basil

1/8 tsp. Cayenne

Salt and Pepper to taste

* I used carrot peelings and tops, celery leaves and root ends, onion tops and bottoms. Onion portion should be equal to no more than one medium onion.

Put bones, veggies and garlic in a large stock pot. Pour enough water into the stock pot to just cover the bones and vegetable scraps. Bring bones to a boil. Turn heat down til the pot is just at a simmer, and continue to simmer for 12 hours. Add herbs and spices and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Let the broth cool til able to be safely handled and strain broth using a fine mesh strainer or colander to remove bones and vegetable scraps. Some tiny bits of meat and herbs may not be strained out, that's fine. You may want to let it cool enough to remove solidified fats from the surface if you are using beef bones.

Reheat the broth just to a boil, and fill sterilized canning jars leaving 1" head space. Process the jars of broth at 11 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes for pints, and 25 minutes for quarts. A 3/4 full 23 qt stock pot of bones and veggie scraps made 9 quarts of broth.

RECIPE: Carrie's Homemade Chicken Soup

This savory soup is a favorite around Lil Raisin Acres, Brittney even requested it for her birthday dinner! It's especially popular during the dark, cold winter cold and flu season. 

INGREDIENTS:

10 c. Chicken Broth
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup*
1 can Cream of Celery Soup*
2 Carrots, chopped
3 Stalks Celery, chopped
1/4 c Onion, chopped
2 Chicken Breasts, diced
2 c. Egg Noodles
1/2 tsp. Basil
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Rosemary
1/4 tsp. Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

*Substitute store-bought condensed soups with THIS recipe to avoid sodium and preservatives.

PREPARATION:

Combine broth and cream soups in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add carrots, celery, onion and herbs, and boil for an 15 minutes. Add noodles and diced chicken. Return to a boil, and cook for and additional 10-12 minutes or until noodles reach desired consistency. Makes 12 servings.