Tasty TidBit Tuesday: Chicken Stock in the Crockpot

I'm making a Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup tonight that I plan to share the recipe for next week as long as it turns out yummy! :-)

The base of this chicken noodle soup calls for 4 quarts of chicken stock- but I have been trying to stay away from chemicals and preservatives so I decided to make my own stock in the crock pot instead of buying a dried, boxed or canned version!

I like to purchase the hormone free, free range rotisserie chickens from Earthfare for one of our meals every couple of weeks and I keep the carcass (bones, fat and skin) in a freezer bag until I make my broth. Of course this can also be done with any leftover chicken bones!

It's ok if you don't have every single ingredient on this list- the nutrients and the majority of the flavor come from the chicken fat and bone marrow as it breaks down- so feel free to improvise!

Ingredients: 

• Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
• 1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
• 1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig fresh parsley or 1 tsp of dried
• 1 sprig fresh thyme or 1 tsp of dried
• Salt, to taste

Directions: 

1. Place carcass or bones on the bottom of Crockpot and cover with veggies and spices. 
2. Cover with water until only 1/2" is seen around the edges at the top of the Crockpot.
3. Turn Crockpot on "Low" and allow to simmer for 8-10 hour or overnight. 
4. Allow to cool then remove all chicken bones and veggies. 
5. Strain the broth with a fine strainer into a large bowl which can be placed into freezer bags to store for later date (which is why I let mine cool first!)