so the random abandonment of the blog was my bad. no excuses.
anyway, roe and i made some chicken stock. one of the best things to ever make homemade ever. you control the salt. no questionable ingredients. and really fun to do on a saturday afternoon. second only to napping.
there are infinite number of ways to make chicken stock, but this is how we like to do it, because it knocks out cooking chicken and having tons of stock all in one. word on the street is, this can also be done in the crock pot. i have yet to try it. not sure why, because i love crock pots with all of my heart. so here we go.
so, a whole small chicken, celery, onions, carrots, salt, a few cloves of garlic. and some herbs. let's be real here. after some research, i was debating whether or not to do the herbs that we did, because it can always be flavored to tailor whatever you're making, but we decided to do it anyway. thyme, parsley, and oregano, i believe. turns out, adding parsley makes the stock have a weird greenish tint when it set out to cool...which i wasn't a fan of. i'll leave it out next time. after frantically hopping on the computer, hoping that my green chicken stock wasn't rotten and diseased, i realized that it was only the parsley. no big.
the amounts are really "precise" here... chop up some celery into 3-4" pieces. do a few really good handfuls of those
take off the papery skin, and throw in a few cloves of garlic whole
quarter a few onions. we like red onions, so we use them. but use whatever kind you like.
ideally we'd use whole carrots and chop them like the celery, but why buy carrots when you already have baby ones?
then the herbs...but skip this step if you don't like green chicken stock.
salt and pepper. again with the precise measurements, just about a tablespoon of each.
now for the fun part. basically pretend like you're a mad scientist and cut your chicken into parts. cut off the legs, the thighs, etc. we took out the insides. i can't handle using them in actual cooking. i've heart they're delicious if you prepare them right, but i can't make myself. the struggle is real.
throw all of this stuff into a big tall pot. one day we impulse bought two of them at walmart and never looked back. and cover everything with water. enjoy everybody swimming around in there about to get cozy.
bring to a boil, and then let it simmer for about an hour, or until the chicken is done. that's the main thing. and if you're just using the bones and other leftover parts, then ask someone else how long to simmer it, because i have no idea.
voila! yummy. yummy. yummy. give your face a steam bath when you take off the lid. just kidding. you'll burn yourself and sue me.
STOP HERE. if you're making chicken and noodles, take out just the chicken, shred it up, and throw it back in along with some of those yummy thick, doughy noodles and cook them for a bit longer and you're done. however, if you're going to freeze/can all of this, keep reading.
....i know the suspense is too much to handle.
here's our setup. we're going to drain the stock from the chicken and veggies, freeze and can the chicken stock, freeze the chicken in roughly one cup portions, and freeze the veggies, too. we are taking donations for deep freezes. i'm still convinced we can put it out in the stairwell landing and nobody will care. like a community deep freeze. don't steal the idea, people.
and here we go. well on our way to deliciousness.
here's all the chicken and veggies. throw them onto a cookie sheet and take them to your dining room table for some good times.
but for real though, look at all the chicken! it's so moist and delicious. i think i was mysteriously full after we did this project.
while you're sitting at the kitchen table, picking through all of this delicious chicken, separating it from the bone, and shredding it, (it takes a bit longer than just a few minutes...) tell funny stories. flirt with your hot husband, watch an episode of the office on netflix. it can be really fun.
warning: small diversion ahead.
this is our kitchen table. we took a few forks and separated the chicken from the bones, shredded it, and put into a bowl. we froze the veggies in two gallon bags, and the chicken in smaller bags. done.
from my point of view, this is easy peasy. from others' this is the most labor intensive thing ever, and ridiculous why someone would do this if you can buy this stuff from the store (i get that). homemade is a quality that i value. people spend their time and money on things that they value, and much of mine goes to that. making things homemade is NOT easier than buying them from the store. we can try as hard as we can to say "look! this is so easy! just as easy as storebought!" and it's simply not true. the reality is, it takes more time to make a homemade dinner, and other things. if your values don't lie within the homemade category, then heck, please go buy chicken stock from the store and don't feel guilty for not making it! enjoy napping on saturday afternoons!
guilt will run people into the ground. pinterest is not your god, nor is being just as homemade and crafty as someone else. do not serve it. comparison kills. truth is, we're never good enough. that's where Jesus came in. well, he was there the whole time, but you know. because of His sacrifice on the cross for sin of your's and mine, children of God are seen as holy and blameless before him. isn't that humbling and awesome? we don't have to worry ourselves into the ground about not making homemade chicken stock. or having the most pinterest-y of kid's birthday parties, or whatever. ALL of our needs are met IN CHRIST. not in the approval of your friends. look to Him, people. be filled with his love. be freed from guilt and condemnation.
while you're soaking in the words above, enjoy some pictures of the chicken stock. (before it turned green). what we froze suffered the fate, but what we canned did not. i knew i liked canning.
up next, roe and i take on the monster of pressure canning. aka: saving space in our freezer for other things, like waffles and broccoli.
praise God that the gospel frees me to buy store bought waffles. i just despise homemade ones...
No comments:
Post a Comment