I’ve planned for quite some time to share my homemade chicken stock recipe (I even took the photo shown here a very long while back).

Anyway, after my 12-year-old son saying how much he loved my broth at least four times tonight during supper, I felt inspired to share it with you all because I believe good chicken broth is the key to making delicious soups….and it’s so easy to do.   It literally only takes a couple of minutes to toss everything together; after that there isn’t much maintenance at all to do.

(Next week I’ll share my egg noodle recipe to make Homemade Chicken & Noodles!)

Tips:

*I use celery to munch on during the week for snacks…so no use wasting the tops!   I save all my celery tops with the leaves in a baggie or plastic container and use them for making my stock instead of a whole celery rib.

*If the carrot cooked in the stock is still fairly firm in shape, I save it to slice up in very small pieces and add it to my homemade chicken and noodles when they are finished.  You won’t need to add your carrot until your noodles are completely finished because your carrot is already cooked.  It’s also easier to slice it in very small pieces for your soup since it’s soft.

Easy Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe

1 Chicken Carcass including the neck.

1 large carrot halved

2 ribs of celery halved

1 onion halved

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

4 whole garlic cloves

1 heaping tsp. salt (or none if you are on a salt-free diet).

*Additional items only if you prefer: toss in some thyme and parsley.

Place items in large pot.  Pour 1 gallon of water over content and bring to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil, turn down to low or medium heat and let it simmer 2 – 3 hours.  *For the first hour, skim off any scum every 15 min. or so.

*The longer you cook your stock, the more concentrated it will be.  Once your stock is finished, run it through a strainer in order to pour clear broth into your container and refrigerate.  Discard the rest.

*To make bigger batches of broth in a large stock pot, save your chicken carcasses in the freezer and cook 2 – 4 carcasses  at once and increase some of your other ingredients.  Turkey carcasses also do just as great!

You don’t have to wait until Feb. 14th to enjoy a simple romantic dinner with your hubby.  If you need some one-on-one time with your hubby,  you can plan a special dinner date night at home.

Set up a separate table somewhere for your kids…with pizza or their favorite fingerfoods…or double the recipes below (or plan to take them to a babysitter).  Next, whisper sweet nothings (and place a secret love note or coupon underneath his plate in advance).  Okay, so you probably have better plans for the romantic part…but here’s a few simple recipes that you might be able to use:

Simple Pasta for Two
* 1/2 pound linguini
* 6 Roma Tomatoes – Cut into large dice
* 6 cloves garlic
* 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
* 1/3 cup fresh basil
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Few turns of fresh ground pepper
Heat oil in a medium-high skillet, add pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute (don’t brown the garlic). Add the tomatoes and cook till tomatoes start to wilt. Add Basil and cook for 1 more minute. Add cooked pasta to skillet and toss.  Serve along with chicken breast or favorite meat and a lettuce salad for a complete meal.
*You can substitute with cherry tomatoes that have been roasted for an hour or 2 in a 250 F oven (like sun dried tomatoes).

Sweetheart Apple Crisp for Two
* 2 cups sliced apples
* 1 teaspoon honey
* cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
TOPPING:
* 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
* 2 teaspoons honey
* 1 teaspoon real vanilla
In a baking dish, add apples, and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, drizzle the 1 tsp of honey over the top of the apples and spices. Next, mix the ingredients for the topping all together and spread over the apples, spices and honey. Place in 300* oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Great with French vanilla ice cream or topped with whipped cream.

Late evening treat…

Love Potion
* 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, slightly thawed
* 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, slightly thawed
* 1 cup white grape juice (or apple juice)
* Maraschino cherries, for garnish
Place the first 3 ingredients in a blender and mix on High until you have a uniform color. To make the potion thicker, add more fruit; to make it thinner, add more juice. Garnish with cherries.

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Some more optional recipes…

Chicken Lasagna
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 no need to cook lasagna noodles
1 cube chicken bouillon
1/4 cup hot water
1 (8 ounce) package low-fat cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring chicken just covered with water to a boil. Allow to boil for 15 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Drain chicken and shred. Dissolve bouillon in the hot water. Once dissolved mix bouillon with shredded chicken, cream cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese being sure to mix together well. In large baking dish spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce across the bottom. Layers chicken mixture over sauce and place 3 noodles over chicken. Repeat layers ending with sauce on top. Put the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until lasagna noodles are tender.

Triple Strawberry Cake
* 1 (18.25 ounce) package strawberry cake mix
* 1 (3 ounce) package flavored gelatin
* 4 cups water
* 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 2 cups strawberries, sliced
Prepare cake according to package directions. Bake as directed for a 9×13 inch pan. Allow to cool.
Prepare the strawberry gelatin according to package instructions, using the 4 cups of water. Pour over cooled cake while still in liquid form; the cake will absorb it. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until gelatin is set.
Spread whipped topping over cake and top with sliced strawberries.

Pink Cloud Heart Cake
* 3 packages (3 oz. size) Jello
* 2 cups boiling water
* 2 packages (10 oz. size) frozen strawberries, partially thawed
* 1 angel food bar cake, broken into bite-size pieces
Dissolve Jello in water; add strawberries. Beat for 4 minutes. Add cake to Jello mixture pour into heart mold. Chill until set.  Serve with whipped topping if desired.

Pink Frozen Fruit Salad
* 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 1 quart strawberry ice cream, softened
* 1/2 cup miracle whip
* 2 cans (17 oz size) fruit cocktail, drained
* 1/3 cup chopped nuts
Combine cream cheese, ice cream and salad dressing, mixing until well blended. Fold in fruit and nuts. Pour into 9-inch square (or heart) pan.  Freeze until firm. Chill until serving.

Cherry Love Pudding
* 1 Box of vanilla wafers
* 2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding
* Milk
* Cherry pie filling
Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of a cupcake liner.
Make the pudding according to directions. Pour pudding over vanilla wafer to cover. Chill until set. Just before serving spoon a tablespoon of cherries over the pudding.  A dollop of whipped topping can be on top if desired.

Valentine Pie
* 1 cup Water
* 3 ounces Strawberry Gelatin Powder
* 1 pint Vanilla Ice Cream
* 1 Chocolate Crumb Pie Crust
* Hershey’s® Kisses
In a 4-cup glass measuring cup stir together water and gelatin. Cook, uncovered, on 100% power (high) for 1 1/2 to2 minutes.  Add vanilla ice cream to the hot gelatin mixture, stirring till ice cream is melted. Chill mixture for 35 to 30 minutes, stirring twice during chilling (the mixture should mound when you drop it from a spoon. Pour chilled ice cream mixture into pie shell. Chill about 4 hours or till ice cream is set. Arrange milk chocolate kisses in a heart shape on top of pie.

Fresh Strawberries with Chocolate Cream
* 2 cs. vanilla lowfat yogurt
* 1/2 cup light hot fudge topping
* 4 cs. strawberries, hulled and halved
Combine yogurt and fudge topping in a bowl and whisk thoroughly. Serve strawberries in individual serving bowls topped with chocolate cream.

Of course, you’ll need a flirty apron for the occasion. *wink*
Check out the aprons from my selected affiliate sponsor:

We usually have pizza on Fridays, but pizza can actually be enjoyed just about any night of the week. To make it healthier you can use less cheese, use extra tomato sauce and add your favorite veggies, etc.

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of flour

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For Yeast Liquid mixture:
1 cup very warm water
1 pk. of yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp. of jarred yeast)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp sugar

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2 tsp. olive oil (optional)

Instructions:

To make your yeast liquid mixture, use a measuring cup.   Measure 1 cup of very warm water.  Add your yeast, salt, and sugar and stir until well mixed.

Place flour in  a medium-sized bowl.  (I often use half whole wheat flour and half white flour.)  Next, pour in your yeast liquid mixture and knead it until it makes a nice soft dough.  If you prefer, add 2 tsp. of oil to dough to make it richer and easier to work with.  I usually just oil my hands for kneading the dough.

Set dough aside in a warm spot and cover with a towel for 30 min. or longer.

While the dough is setting, I usually prepare the meat and pizza sauce.

Tip: Watch for clearance meat.  I happen to buy some Jimmy Dean’s Turkey Sausage Links on clearance.  I quickly cooked these and cut them right up in the skillet.  My boys absolutely loved the outcome of this “meat lovers pizza” that I made.  Hmmm….I’m thinking how great it might be to have some “hot spicy links” on there!  lol

For the pizza sauce, you can quickly make your own.  Open a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle in some garlic powder or garlic salt,  Italian seasoning, oregano (I use lots of oregano because I love it so much), and any other seasonings you might really like.

Next, oil your hands and begin to spread the dough onto your greased pan.  You can also use a small round glass to spread it.  I find using the palms of my hands works well enough.

Then, spread on pizza sauce on and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Add all your toppings and pop into the oven.

Bake pizza at 400 degrees 15-20 min. until cheese melted.  Let cool 5 min. before cutting.

Enjoy.

We try to have fish at least once or twice weekly.  This recipe is quick to make and I usually serve them on buns.  (I use Nature’s Own Wheat Sandwich Rolls ~ 100% Whole Grain, sugar free, no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors, no high fructose corn syrup)

Family Size Preparation:

• 2 Cans of Alaskan Pink Salmon 14 oz.

• Whole Wheat Saltine Crackers  (around 15)

• 2 Eggs

• 1 TB Lemon Juice

• Black Pepper to season

Instructions:

In a bowl, combine salmon with 2 eggs and stir thoroughly, breaking the meat in small chunks.  Next sprinkle your lemon juice and pepper over mixture and stir thoroughly.  Finally, crush your crackers over the top of the mixture and mix together.

Heat Skillet on low heat until hot and add oil. (I usually use olive oil.)  Form patties into portions about the size of your buns.   Fry lightly until browned on both sides.  This usually takes less than 10 minutes.

Top with your favorite mayonnaise or tartar sauce. (I use Kraft’s Mayo with Olive Oil)

Using leftovers:

Leftover salmon patties make great cold sandwiches for lunches.  I usually crumble one over a salad to make a delicious hearty salad that will easily ward off hunger until supper.  I’ve also used leftovers to add to macaroni and cheese the next day for the kids.

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