Homemade Broth

Soup 411:

• It takes the same amount of set up & clean up time to chop one onion as it does to chop 20 onions & 20 peppers, 10 heads of broccoli, cauliflower & cabbage.

• I NEVER chop or cook JUST what I need for one meal.

• You can put the extras in the fridge for the rest of the meals for the week.

• I put extras on a cookie sheet & freeze them.

• After they are frozen, I put them in containers in the freezer so I have ingredients ready to go

• You can dehydrate the extra & keep them in jars in your cupboard.

• Every time we cut up vegetables, we rinse the scraps in our Thieves Fruit & Veggie Soak.

• We take those scrapes & spread them on a cookie sheet so they freeze without sticking together.

• After a few hours, I dump all of them in a big mason jar in the freezer.

• When I am ready to make broth, I scoop out a few cups & toss it in the broth.

• When I get too many scraps, I will just put water on & start a veggie broth!!

• I think the reason we feel like it takes so long to cook is because we do not prepare ahead…

Ingredients

• 16 – 20 cups of water – do not add salt until you are ready to actually use the broth in a meal. As you reduce, it will become very salty.

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar – YES you will want to add this! Trust me! It pulls the minerals from the bones.

• 3 garlic cloves peeled & squished – just set on counter & press down with a cup 

• 2 large onions, unpeeled & cut in 4 big pieces

• 2 cups vegetable scraps – or celery, carrots, spinach … literally ANY vegetable

• 4 lbs. meat or poultry bones

• You can purchase bones at the butcher or you can save bones from meals. We usually debone everything we serve & I have a bag for beef bones, one for chicken bones, one for turkey bones & even a bag for pork bones.

• When I am trying to save time, which is ALWAYS!! I just put a whole frozen chicken in the pot or a full roast.

• You can add spices like parsley, cumin, cilantro & bay leaf according to your taste or you can keep your broth generic so you can flavor it when you are using it in a meal. I do both!!

Directions

• Add all the above to a huge stock pot & bring to a boil. Turn down to med low & put the lid on the pan.

• Stir it once in a while & add water to the pan as needed to keep bones completely covered.

• The last 4 – 6 hours, turn heat up a bit & remove the lid to reduce the broth.

• Cook: 24 hours – Chicken & Turkey or 48 hours for Beef & Pork – for a deeper flavor, you can roast beef & pork bones before you follow the above directions

• Once completed, strain the broth. Be sure to have a pan under the strainer so you do not dump the amazing broth down the sink… I’m not saying it happened to me, I’m just saying get a pan or bowl!!

• When we use a whole chicken or roast, pull all the insanely tender meat out at this point & save it in portions for another meal.

• You will want to cool the broth quickly for health reasons but putting the hot pot directly into the refrigerator will raise the refrigerator temperature to unsafe levels for food. Instead, take the whole pot and put it in a sink filled with cold water.

• After it has been cooled, separate what you plan to use in the next 3 -4 days and put it in the refrigerator.

• Store the rest in the freezer in one cup or 2 cup portions so you can defrost them as needed.

• Use an ice cube tray & fill it with broth for those times where a recipes calls for a bit of broth. After they are frozen, I put them in containers.

• It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it, you will simply dump some stuff in a pot & stir it a few times a day then drain & repeat.