I took the advice of somebody here a few weeks ago, and started saving all
my stuff that would have gone down the disposal in the freezer. Onion tops
and skins, celery heads and feet, that cilantro I bought to make salsa that
I knew would never last until I needed cilantro again, the bones from my
fried chicken Saturday night, the bones from the BBQ pork ribs I ate for
lunch today, etc.

To start my stock, I just boiled all this. It smelled great even then.

Then I strained this all out, added my whole chicken breast, and cooked it.
Then, took out the breast, and cooked my veggies with all the right spices.
Now, we are really smelling good.

Shredded the chicken breast and added it when the veggies were done. Added
the breast bone as well. Simmered it a bit to let everything blend.

Best smelling and tasting chicken soup I have ever made.

"elaich" > wrote

>I took the advice of somebody here a few weeks ago, and started saving all
> my stuff that would have gone down the disposal in the freezer. Onion tops

Glad you liked it. Apt to have been me ;-)

> and skins, celery heads and feet, that cilantro I bought to make salsa
> that
> I knew would never last until I needed cilantro again, the bones from my
> fried chicken Saturday night, the bones from the BBQ pork ribs I ate for
> lunch today, etc.

I call those sorts of bones ;'gently knarfed' or 'gently used' and we use
them in the family (but not on guests who may object).

> To start my stock, I just boiled all this. It smelled great even then.
>
> Then I strained this all out, added my whole chicken breast, and cooked
> it.
> Then, took out the breast, and cooked my veggies with all the right
> spices.
> Now, we are really smelling good.
>
> Shredded the chicken breast and added it when the veggies were done. Added
> the breast bone as well. Simmered it a bit to let everything blend.
>
> Best smelling and tasting chicken soup I have ever made.

;-)

I just made a rustic potato salad. No peeling of the potatoes but i did
peel a small diakon and pulled apart a green bell pepper plus an onion. The
pepper parts I didnt use (insides, seeds and such), onion skin, and diakon
peelings went to the soup saver storage freezer bin. Had i peeled the
potatoes, that would have gone in too.

I have enough for a serious veggie stock (you strain the stuff out after
cooking it).

Takes a bit to accumulate enough for that, but as you see, well worth it!
Besides, why throw it out if you have storage space?

In article >, elaich > wrote:

> I took the advice of somebody here a few weeks ago, and started saving all
> my stuff that would have gone down the disposal in the freezer. Onion tops
> and skins, celery heads and feet, that cilantro I bought to make salsa that
> I knew would never last until I needed cilantro again, the bones from my
> fried chicken Saturday night, the bones from the BBQ pork ribs I ate for
> lunch today, etc.
>
> To start my stock, I just boiled all this. It smelled great even then.
>
> Then I strained this all out, added my whole chicken breast, and cooked it.
> Then, took out the breast, and cooked my veggies with all the right spices.
> Now, we are really smelling good.
>
> Shredded the chicken breast and added it when the veggies were done. Added
> the breast bone as well. Simmered it a bit to let everything blend.
>
> Best smelling and tasting chicken soup I have ever made.

I'm not quite sure why, but that stuff does add a special richness. :-)
I think the tops of some stuff (onions etc.) are stronger in aromatics
than the "body".

I found it made a very rich stock too and it's not like you actually eat
the scraps. They are strained off. <g>

Glad you liked it! I originally got the idea here a couple of years ago
from a European poster. I've still got some smoked rib bones to use up.
--
Peace! Om

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." -- Dalai Lama