What speaks more of a winter day than a warm bowl of soup? Chicken soup has long been known as the Jewish Penicillin, it is one of the first things our grandmothers and mothers gave us when we were sick or on the mend from the flu. The soup that is said to cure colds does not come from a can of condensed soup that we add water to, heat and serve. Those soups are laden with monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lots of other preservatives that do not lend to healing.
You need the real stuff, a good, nourishing broth made from bones, egg shells, fowl feet, hooves and vegetables. When cooked on low for hours in a crock pot or on the stove, the results yield flavorful broth full of gelatin, sulphates, glucosamine, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, silicon, phosphorus and trace minerals that are easily absorbed into the body. These properties aid in soothing colds, sore throats and stuffy noses, treating arthritis and joint pain, cancer, tuberculosis, muscle disease, peptic ulcers and infectious diseases.
With all the amazing benefits of bone broth, how could you not want to use it in your cooking? Not mention how tasty it is too! It is an essential for cooking so many dishes. I use it for cooking noodles, dumplings, soups, rice and gravy. It is also a perfect way to waste less using bones, egg shells, a vegetables that are starting to go bad that would normally end up in the garbage. Next time you bake a chicken or crack an egg, get out a container or ziplock and freeze to save for later to make nourishing and delicious stock!
Nourishing Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- Chicken bones (preferably pastured)
- Egg Shells (preferably pastured)
- 2 chicken legs (preferably pastured)
- 2 carrots
- 4 stalks of celery with leaves
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 4 quarts of water
- 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cover and simmer for 12 to 48 hours.
Soups that I use my stock in:
This post is part of Hearth and Soul, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Sunday Night Soup Night, Teach Me Tuesday,
If you’re trying to save your egg shells for future broth, where do you store them and for how long? I have tried saving them in a bag/in the fridge, but it’s always so gross to me when I open the bag.
I rinse them out let them air dry. I keep then in a bag in a cupboard until I am ready to use them.
What a great idea to add eggshells! I love the info about the benefits of stock that you give in your post. Thanks for sharing this with Sunday Night Soup Night, look forward to seeing you again soon!
Healthy and yummy! First time I heard about adding egg shell when making soup, thanks for the great idea…
http://treatntrick.blogspot.com
I just left a moderate life, stopping by to say congratulations on winning your award.
Thanks Alex!! How fun!!
Hi Katie! Awesome stock! I adore making this, but your idea of adding in the egg shells is GENIUS! I wanted to stop by and tell you that I am giving you a Stylish Blogger award because you are so awesome! stop by a moderate life on friday to pick it up! All the best! Alex
Egg shells are loaded with calcium. The slow cooking and vinegar is what helps pull the calcium out. I only use organic egg shells and I’m always sure to rinse them first.
I have seen lots of chicken stock recipes (have one myself on my blog) but have never seen anyone add egg shells – it just never occurred to me. Maybe it is because I don’t think of the shells as clean – considering where they come from! LOL – why do you add them? Thanks for a great link to the Hearth and Soul Hop!
That’s really cool, I had never heard of adding egg shells to my stock. I’m so glad you posted this one at the hearth and soul hop so I wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be adding egg shells to my freezer-stock-bag from here on out, thanks Katie! 😀