Waste not, want not

Gram was raised during the Depression.  A lot of great stuff came from this, like neat ways to reuse stuff, before it was cool and called "upcycling".  But, some of it just made sense, and laid the foundation for greater things later on.  Like soup.

When you roast a chicken for supper, eat what you will that night, strip any other meat you'll eat off the bones (perhaps a chicken salad, or tetrizzini?), and put the carcass, skin, and remaining meat into a zipper-style freezer bag or one of those ice-cream buckets from that awful sherbet with the handle, or a tupper-ware like container (you get the idea) in the freezer.  When you peel or trim carrots, onions, celery, or any other veggie, throw the trimming in the bucket with the bones.  When the vessel is full, turn it out into a stock pot, add water, salt, a few allspice, copious amounts of garlic, and the lid.  Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.  Gram simmered her soup for a day or two, on low, on the stove, on the back burner.  So, that's how I do it.  When it's done, strain it through a colander, portion it out in freezer safe containers, and there you go- no more broth in a box.  Oh, and feel free to add more onions, or celery or the like to the stock if you think it needs it, but when you're done, strain all of those veggies out.  At this point, you've cooked all the nutritive value out of them, anyhow.  Provided you used only bones, and not meat, you could grind everything and put it in your compost pile if you have one... (I've been known to give the meat scraps to the dogs).

Oh!  And if you want just a little stock for thinning gravies and such, fill a muffin tin with stock, then pop it in the freezer.  When it's all frozen, run warm water over the tin, pop out the "pucks" of stock, and store them in a zipper freezer bag or plastic container.

By the way, here's the recipe for the best roast chicken ever.

Gram's Roast Chicken
an iron skillet large enough to hold the chicken
a chicken, the best quality you can afford- and keep in mind you're getting 2-3 meals at least out of this bird, so even if you're paying $15 for an organic roaster, you're still doing ok
garlic, about 4 cloves (or to taste)- preferably organic and fresh
a yellow or white onion- preferably organic
a lemon- preferably organic, if not, well washed

a coupla tablespoons of cornstarch

preheat the oven to 450F
lightly oil the pan with olive oil
Rinse the chicken and place it breast up in the skillet
cut the onion and lemon in half
peel the garlic and
squeeze the juice for half of the lemon over the chicken, and shove the lemon inside the chicken, followed by half the onion
flip the chicken over, breast side down
squeeze the other half of the lemon over the back of the chicken
shove the other half of the lemon inside the chicken, followed by the other half an onion
scatter the garlic around

shove the whole thing in the over at 450F for about 15 minutes to seal the skin
after 15 minutes, add a little water to the pan, and turn the heat down to 350
cook for about 15 minutes a pound, until the temp measures 165F on a meat thermometer
pull the chicken out, put it on a platter to rest, and put the pan on the stovetop on medium heat
add a cup of water or so and perhaps a little wine, some salt and pepper, and use a whisk or fork to deglaze the pan
mix the cornstarch in a  few ounces of cool water, and add in
just keep stirring

while the gravy is thickening, you can cut up the chicken
dump any leftover juices into the gravy
sing or hum
have a glass of wine

we always have this with smashed potatoes, and green beans