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Whether I cook a whole chicken or chicken pieces, I save the bones and skin and any liquid and make homemade chicken stock.  The other day I cooked a whole chicken in the roaster.  I used some of the meat for dinner that night and stripped the rest off the bones and froze it.  Then I put the bones and skin back in the roaster with what was left in the bottom of the roaster.  Covered with water and cooked on low for about 6 or more hours.  Then I strained out the bones and stuff and chilled the broth in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day, skim off the fat that hardens on top of the broth.

I used to freeze the broth, but since I got a pressure canner this year, I prefer to can the broth to keep in the pantry.  Bring the broth back to a boil.  Then pour into the jars and can according to your canners instructions.  I got 5 pints of broth from this time around.

You can add vegetables during the cooking time, carrots, celery, onions, whatever you like.  I generally keep my broth plain and simple and I also don’t add much salt.  But if you cooked a chicken and it had seasonings on it, that will give it a little more flavor.  If you only have a few bones you can save them in the freezer until you have a large pot full, then make your broth.  Do add the skins also.  After you have strained your broth, if it is watery tasting, just cook it down to condense it.

Having homemade chicken broth in the pantry is great to have around for things like rice cooked in broth, soups, casseroles, dog food.  I sometimes keep the hardened fat for using when I need a bit of grease for cooking.

The other day I made some tomato jam. Its a sort of ketchup type thing with a little kick. The great thing was I did not need to peel and de-seed the tomatoes!! Just chop and put in large pan. Sugar added, spices – cinnamon, cloves, red pepper and cook till thick. I did the pepper very light and it gave just a hint of peppery. I think it turned out very well.

Today I made 7 pints of applesauce (10 lbs apples).

Yesterday I tried canning some dried beans so I could have some ready to go when I need them. I had read to be sure to leave a good amount of liquid in the jar before processing. I soaked 2 kinds of beans overnight (black-eyed peas and black beans). Then in the morning I cooked them for about 1/2 hour and then put them in jars to process. The black beans are small and I think they were cooked a little more than the black-eyed peas and they do have a bit of liquid left in the jars. But the black-eyed peas I think I over packed as they have no more liquid in the jars. I will use one of the jars today and see how they are and adjust the way I can them next time around.

Note: I opened a jar of the black-eyed peas. They were properly cooked and not dried out even though there was no liquid left. I used them in some garlicky chicken/broth/vegetable combination left from the other day and the resulting soup was very delicious!