Good luck and enjoy! (and way to go on the mozz and butter!) Katie

I was wondering though….Out of all of the comments, I didn’t see anyone say that you can, can the stock or broth in canning jars and store them on a shelf. Is there a reason why everyone seems to freeze it instead?

Oh just wanted to add that the other day, I learned how to make homemade Mozz. cheese and homemade butter. I never realized how easy it is to make your own healthy stuff.

My two cats each lived 16 years and only became sick about a month before they passed; my dog lived to nearly 14 years and my current pup doesn’t know what it’s like to eat anything other then homemade food as well. She’s 2 years old and I’m hoping to have a lasting relationship for many years with her, too. She even knows when I’m cooking her food, she stands by the stove and watches me the entire time!

After I’m done making my own stock I set a few cups aside in another pot and add all the leftover vegggies. At this point I then add about a cup or so of barley (depends on how much liquid you started out with) and add one or two peeled and diced sweet potatoes and anything else I might have on hand, such as diced celery, fresh parsley and chopped carrots -make sure to leave out onions and garlic because these are not something they should eat, and continue to simmer until everything is soft. The sweet potato is a must because it’s got likes of fiber and vitamins for them as well.

By this point, the carcasses have cooled substantially and are ready to be picked. It depends on how many chickens you’ve added to your original pot to begin with (I usually have two minimum) and I do make sure to always have at least two, because some of the meat is set aside for me and the remainder is for the pooch. Like I said before, I don’t give my pets anything else therefore you can understand why I don’t mind sharing this plentiful stock with them).

Now that I’ve set the meat aside, I turn off the heat, let cool slightly and grab my emulsion blender and blend until it’s almost a slurry. Once this is done, i then add the diced chicken and let it cool completely before portioning it out and freezing it for the next two-three weeks -depends on the size of your dog. There are some vitamins that can be added and sometimes I add bonemeal (for calcium) just to ensure they follow a proper nutrition. A small bottle of this can be picked up at the vitamin section of wal-mart and literally lasts forever.

I guess I must be doing something right because my pets have all had a beautiful coat, nice strong teeth, clear eyes and nose, no skin rashes or irritations and as Caesar Milan would say, are well balanced in mind, body and soul. Just as humans, our pets are what they eat too, and quite frankly it disgusts me to think we’ve all been brainwashed into believing that pets can’t eat what we eat -my pets longevity are living proof that they in fact, should be given a healthy diet as well.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to reuse instead of throwing out next time you make your stock.

All the best,
Charlotte

We have a lot of Asian supermarkets in my area (Northern NJ) and they sell many “select” animal parts that most folks aren’t accustomed to eating. While I’m not a fan of some items, I do find the chicken feet stocked in their poultry section and I pick up several to freeze for later use when I make my own stock. The feet are already cleaned so there’s not much to it aside from giving them a good rinse and tossing in the pot with the rest of the ingredients.

If Asian markets aren’t an option, you can always speak to the store manager/ store butcher directly to see if they can get them in for you as well. Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll be very impressed with the results.

I’ve been making my own stock for some time now, but just recently learned a few new tricks. One is I keep a large baggie in the freezer and save all of my vegetable ends, peels and cores. Each night as I’m cutting up or peeling my veggies for dinner, I just toss the peels and ends and the cores in the baggie. Cabbage core, tomato ends, asparagus ends,parsley stems, carrot and celery ends and peels, squash and zucchini and onion ends and peels. When I get a baggie or two full, I’m ready to make stock. I also roast 2-3 chickens at a time. It takes no longer to roast 3 chickens than it does 1. I pick all the meat off the bones and package them in freezer baggies in 2 cup portions. Then I can pull one out for a casserole or tacos or soup. I save all the bones in another baggie just like the veggie ends. When I’m ready to make stock I dump all the veggies, the bones, a couple of cloves of cracked garlic (if I have none in my frozen baggie) some salt and a few peppercorns. I turn the crock pot on low, add about 10-12 cups of water and let it go all night. In the morning I turn the crock off and let it cool down, I dish out all the veggies and bones for a treat for my dog, and line up my jars/bottles for storing. I use a funnel with a small sieve placed over the top and just ladle it it into the bottles/jars leaving plenty of headroom for freezing expansion. The sieve catches any loose bits. This also works great for beef stock too, but it takes me a while longer to save up enough bones for the beef, sometimes I just get a package of beef ribs or beef short ribs to use. If I do the short ribs, I use the meat that night for stroganoff or beef and noodles or some other recipe. Nothing goes to waste when making stock this way. I hope this helps. P.S. My mom gave me the super large crock pot for Christmas one year, but I’ve seen them around for about $20.

The crockpot won’t boil dry and is really effortless – give it a try.