Chicken Stock/Soup

I love homemade chicken stock.  Nothing tastes quite as good- and I hate spending $2.50 or more for a few cups of the stuff Swanson makes.  But that's mostly because I'm cheap. :)  A pot of chicken stock helps you stretch your dollar!  You use all stuff you'd likely throw out anyway to make a savory broth that fills your house with delicious smells and your freezer with usable chicken stock!  Once I explain this, you'll never go back to buying store bought again!  Unless of course, it's in a stock emergency. ;)  I make stock the day after I roast a chicken, but if you don't have time to do the two things sequentially, just freeze your bones until you're ready. :)

Ingredients:

Chicken bones from a roast chicken

2 carrots

2 onions

1 tomato

handful of fresh parsley

thyme, fennel, celery seed and garlic to taste

2 peppercorns.

Throw everything in the pot and add water til you are about 5-6 inches from the top.  No need to peel the carrots.  Just slice the tomatoes and onions before tossing them in.  The tomato's real purpose here is to give the broth a beautiful color.  Bring the water to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, turn down the heat and allow to simmer on the lowest setting for 6 hours.  If you're freezing the broth, you can allow it to cool and then transfer to a freezer safe bag or can.  If you're canning it, pour the hot broth into the jars and use a water bath to seal.  (Thanks to Bonnie for explaining that for me!)  To use stock as a soup, simply add noodles when heating to serve.  This will keep the noodles from becoming mushy and denigrating.  

Enjoy!