I follow many homesteads and I’m always inspired by the information they share. But for a long time I have felt that I don’t have an expertise that I can share to benefit others. We do many things on the homestead but I don’t feel like I do any of them well enough to teach others. Then it hit me the other day: I am really good at not wasting anything. I spoke to Kathryn and we decided to create No waste Wednesday. Each Wednesday I will share a way that we don’t waste. It might be related to food or things around the homestead. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear it!!

So first up is bone broth made from a chicken carcass. A little back story. We lived in Durham, NC for three years and I met a dear friend while we were there. We were both new Mom’s, each with a baby girl and we would have play dates often. I was at her house one day and our time together extended into lunch. She said “let me make broth real quick and then chicken soup for our lunch.” My mind was blown. I was raised in the suburbs and as far as I knew, broth came in a box or can from the grocery store. That day with Christine was my first introduction to homemade broth and it was the best chicken noodle soup I had tasted in my adult life. She used a chicken carcass from the store and some vegetable scraps and she made it look so easy! Fast forward to our homestead.
One of the reasons we love raising our own meat is that we use every single part of the animal. On processing day, the dogs sit around the processing table waiting for the gizzards, lungs, blood and feathers. We set aside the livers, hearts, feet and heads to use inside and the other organs and scraps get buried in the garden. The blood goes in the compost and the feathers are scattered by the dogs.
Adam cooked a whole chicken on Sunday for dinner Monday and today I had time to de-bone the carcass. I typically try to put a variety of bones in the bone broth. Today I pulled out pork neck bones from our pigs. I pulled out 4 bones: one for each dog, one for the broth and one to cook peas with tomorrow. I typically have veggie scraps in the freezer that I set aside for bone broth. But August is a pretty bare month for us with veggies. Instead I picked herbs from the garden, dehydrated mushrooms from our mushroom logs, and a lone pepper from the garden. I always add in two chicken feet, a chicken head and a few livers. We eat liver when we have ground meat or soup but we have an abundance of livers so I also add some in the broth.
I am typically not a crafty or artistic person but I love making beautiful, nutritious food. Every batch of bone broth is different and I enjoy getting creative with what I add in. After everything is in the pot I add apple cider vinegar. It helps soften the bones and pull out the nutritious collagen from the bones. Everything goes in the Instantpot with water and I set the pressure on high for 2 hours. After the pressure releases, I simmer the broth on the crockpot setting for another 24 hours. I de-bone the carcass again and then the dogs get the carcass, organs, feet, heads and pork bones when it is finished. They look forward to the day after broth making!

We make bone broth at least once a week, sometimes more. A few helpful hints: when you eat ANY meat with bones, put the bones in a gallon size ziploc bag in the freezer. You can add to the bag until you have enough bones for a batch of broth. You can do the same thing with vegetables. When you peel and chop vegetables, save the scraps in the same bag with your bones. You can keep adding to the bag. Then when you feel you have enough for broth, just dump the contents of the bag directly into whatever pot you are using. You can use an Instantpot, a Crockpot or you can just simmer it on your stove. Get creative with what you put in the broth and have fun.
You can substitute bone broth in place of water when you are cooking. We use it as a base for all soups, stews and rice. We don’t have a microwave so we heat up food on the stove. We add broth to the pan so the food doesn’t burn. Bone broth is a healing beverage and drinking it also an option! It is delicious and soothing and it gives your body the nutrients it needs and craves.
Feel free to reach out with any questions and I would love to hear about your journey making bone broth!