Homemade Chicken Stock

Making your own chicken stock is easy to do and can save you quite a few dollars with not a lot of effort.

If you have a slow cooker, that is the simplest way to make it as you can set and forget it and leave it simmering away all day (or all night). Otherwise, you could make it on the stove in a saucepan.

RAW CHICKEN

Place whole chicken in crockpot with desired seasonings* and cook as usual. When you have removed the flesh from the chicken, return carcass to crockpot, top with water and simmer for 10-12 hours.

Allow to cool a little then strain out the bones, flesh and skin. This will leave you with mainly liquid.

Place liquid in the fridge.



Chicken fat is still slightly liquid at room temperature so you want to chill the stock to allow the fat to rise to the top of your container. When cold, scrape off fat and you'll be left with a delicious, thick stock to use. Freeze in usable portions.

* You can go as simple or as fancy as you like with seasonings. I tend to add some shallots or onions and parsley and occasionally some chicken seasoning.

COOKED CHICKEN

Contrary to popular belief, you can make chicken stock with the carcass of a chicken that has already been cooked. The advantage of store bought cooked chickens when making a stock is that there are already many flavours added so it's simply a matter of boiling the carcass, skin and any other pieces in water to absorb as much of the leftover flavour and goodness as possible.

The stock won't be as thick or as strong but it still makes a tasty stock and is a great way to squeeze an extra meal out of any chicken.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe

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This sweetened condensed milk recipe works well and is a great way to save money easy. It's one less thing you need to keep on hand in the cupboard as well and means you can make a recipe requiring condensed milk without having to plan (or duck to the shops).

SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

This recipe makes the equivalent of 1 can of condensed milk. Most recipes use either a full can or half a can.

1 cup milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine

Put butter in a bowl or jug and add hot water. Stir. Add milk powder and sugar and stir until smooth.

It takes only a minute or two to put together but can really save you money!

Powdered Milk Saves Money Easy

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Not everyone is a fan of powdered milk for drinking. However, one place I find it easy to use is in cooking. Some of my most common recipes I have actually done a conversion in my recipe book so that when I am cooking, I simply add the powdered milk and water separately to the dish (rather than having to make up the powdered milk).

It's only a small change to make and may only save cents per use. Those cents can add up to dollars over time.

This also means that I don't use up our supply of fresh milk when cooking which saves me having to run to the store to purchase more (and inevitably buy several other items that you weren't expecting to buy when entering the store).