by Julia Asper

This is part 2 of memories from Germany with real food.

Today, I’ll also teach you easy steps to make your own chicken broth. What a great superfood you can easily make to boost your immunity and even help your hair look shinier.

After my visit in Frankfurt, I rolled my small carry-on suitcase onto a train for a ride through the mountains to Bavaria (Southern Germany). Passing apple trees and sunny vineyards, I made it to the small German town where my great Aunt lived.

My family in Bavaria gave me many cheerful greetings. Amber grains of wheat surrounded the village. My Tante (great aunt) excitedly took me to her kitchen, speaking much German, a little bit I could understand.

For lunch, she sat me down in her kitchen, and really encouraged me to eat the “Kartoffel Suppe” which is potato soup. I felt really cared for with a nice homecooked meal, so far from my American home, yet so right at home here in her kitchen.

Make the Most Nourishing Chicken Broth You can Find

Speaking of soup, chicken broth is so valuable and easy to make that I want to make sure you know you can.

Plus, it has collagen and gelatin that is wonderful for soothing frizzy hair and nourishing dry skin. No wonder we drink more soup in the colder, dryer months.

We have a bigger size family of 7, and making chicken broth can be easy.

When I invest in quality food, I like to extend it as much as I can so we all have enough to eat and we all have good nutrition.

Chicken broth can be used to make your own base for soup or for cooking your rice. In fact, it’s a nourishing drink, especially for motherhood, with a sprinkle of salt right out of the crockpot.

When you make your own, you can have an abundance.

You truly have the ability right at home to make a powerful, nourishing food.

Store bought broth pales in comparison and you cannot control the sanitary conditions as you can at home.

Plus, you can easily make extra and store in the freezer, especially if a surprise illness pops up.

First, Have a Whole Chicken or Save Bones from Chicken/Beef Recipes

To make chicken broth, you first need to cook a whole chicken, but you can also…..

save the bones from any bone-in chicken dish, or any dish with bones, and keep them in a ziploc bag in the freezer until you have a gallon bag full.

Even though it may sound gross at first, you can save the chicken bones that others in your family used at the dinner table.

It will get cooked.

You can even pop those on a pan into the oven for a little bit for peace of mind.

It actually increases the flavor.  (Not from others eating off them, but from the roasting in the oven. Sigh, I try.)

Materials

1. Crock Pot
2. Water
3. Gallon bag of bones or the bones from a cooked chicken (or rotisserie)
4. Splash of Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions

1. Put the bones in a crock-pot. The more bones you can fill, the better, so save up bones from your meals.
2. Cover with filtered water just over the bones.
3. Add a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar (for minerals, the vinegar flavor will go away.)
4. Let sit for 30 minutes (optional).
5. Turn crockpot on low, forget about it and let it cook for 24 hours.
6. Optional: After 24 hours, add in veggies and/or herbs NOW for another 12 hours. The brown peel of onions will add a nice amber color.
   • Pro TIP:
     • Save the ends of carrots you remove,
     • the center of celery leaves you don’t use,
     • the ends of onions you don’t use all in a ziplock bag in the freezer to add to your stock at the end.
7. Strain in your pot directly for cooking or into containers for the freezer: ziplock baggies or plastic containers. Leave room for expansion.
   • Pro TIP: If you store in a ziplock bag, seal and lay flat on a cookie sheet to avoid leaks. Once frozen, you can store in a basket in your freezer upright. Label beforehand.
8. Season to taste: Add salt at the END of cooking, not at the beginning, because the broth can condense and it can taste too salty.

A Second Batch?

Technically, you can remove the veggies and cook the bones again for another batch, yet, it tends to not have as rich of a flavor.

To achieve more gelatin, you will want to add some clean chicken feet or neckbones plus more bones. You can request these from your processor to keep in the freezer as well.

Since I mentioned using a whole chicken,

in an upcoming post…

why don’t I share some easy ways you can cook a whole chicken to feed your family, plus save leftovers for another dish.

See you next time!

Recipe Idea: