Inexpensive homemade stock & broth
September 25, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under food, recipes
Stock (meat or veggie) is a huge money saver because you can use fresh or frozen stock for so many things and make it out of items you already have laying around, including leftovers. Of course before you can do anything with stock, first you’ll need a good stock recipe. Here are some stock recipe ideas…
Now that you’ve found your favorite stock recipe, you can do all sorts of awesome things with it such as…
- Use it in soup – yeah, you knew this one. Toss any leftovers meats, some noodles, some veggies and some herbs in and you’ve got quick and easy soup. However, you can also use a really nice and flavorful stock as a starter for a dinner party. Place clear stock (skim all the fat off then squeeze well through a cheesecloth) into a nice bowl and top with a sprig of herbs.
- Use for basting meats or veggies.
- Use for steaming veggies instead of water.
- Use for cooking rice, other grains, or noodles.
- Use a stir fry sauce base.
- Use piping hot to cure the common cold – ok, not cure, but it will make your patient feel better and less congested.
- Use to make homemade baby teething cookies – yup.
- Use in stuffing.
- Use in mashed potatoes for low cal flavor vs. butter.
- Use for sauteing shrimp, veggies, or whatever you like.
- Use Asian stock for an egg roll dipping sauce.
Some inexpensive recipes that use stock…
- Vegetable fried rice
- Chicken in Black Bean Sauce
- Chicken and Noodles with Rosemary and Swiss
- Turkey Roll Ups
- Hot and Sour Soup
BONUS TIP: If you want to make stock even cheaper try making it in a pressure cooker, which save time, energy, and cash!
Stock is versatile, easy, healthy (if you make it less salty) and if you’ve got it on hand it’s a money and time saving cooking essential. What’s your favorite way to use stock?
[image via stock.xchng]
Perfect tips for the new season change. Mmmmm!
Thanks for the mention. I love making my own stocks when I have time. I freeze it in ice cube trays, then dump it into containers when they’re frozen. Then I can thaw out as much or as little as I need.
I was recently inspired by Jessica V. Psalidas’ latest book, “Financial Purity” to become more thrify. This book has taught me so much… for instance, I was amazed at the things I was doing that literally sucked money away from our family. Since finishing this book I am more aware and am on a mission to save wherever I can. I have started cooking all of our meals (instead of eating out). Making my own homemade beef/chicken stock is one more way that I can save. Thanks for the great tips. I am going to make some tomorrow- will be a great way to kick off fall.