I USED to waste it but now......

[mightybooboo]

Chicken Bones.For some reason Ive just gotten in to boiling every left over bone from our chicken meals and freezing a little broth.

Adds up,and so handy.Cooked up bones is Doggie treat supreme too.

You?

[NewGround]

Good tip...

Saved my ham bone recently for a second pot of beans before the dog got it. Freezing hmmm...

[mightybooboo]

Yup,I do a couple 1 cup or so containers,then into a big ziplock when frozen,boy does that beat that crummy canned broth,and its free but for the gas to cook it.

[manygoatsnmore]

Yup, even bones that have been eaten off of can be saved frozen to cook for stock. After all, boiling kills bacteria and neutralizes oral enzymes. I usually forget and toss them to the mutt, though.

[oz in SC V2.0]

I like buying whole chickens when on sale and then parting them out,the breasts go to us,the thighs and drumsticks go to the dogs(on a raw meat diet) and the carcass is then used to make stock.

I also buy spiral sliced hams,partition it into small zippy bags for sandwiches,then take the part that isn't sliced and cube it for soup or to throw into dirty rice or the like and use the bone to make stock with.This is actually the cheapest way we have found to get sandwich meat,we buy the hams for less than $2/pound compared to the price you pay for processed sliced ham.

[mightybooboo]

Yes to all of the above,we do those too.And on the pre chewed bones too,they get 'de germified' in that boiling pot.

[oz in SC V2.0]

If you live where you get shrimp with the heads still on,you can make great seafood stock that way.
We used to use the shrimp shells but it is much better with the heads,more fat in there.

Another benefit of doing this with the chicken and the ham is the fat that congeals on the top,great for cooking with.
Also you can roast the bones to get more flavor....you do this with veal bones to make demi glace,although no-one really does it this way anymore.

[Honduras Trish]

Originally Posted by mightybooboo

Chicken Bones.For some reason Ive just gotten in to boiling every left over bone from our chicken meals and freezing a little broth.

Adds up,and so handy.Cooked up bones is Doggie treat supreme too.

You?

Yes, we definitely are cooking down our bones for broth or soup. However, I've heard that cooked chicken bones are bad for dogs. They can splinter inside the dogs digestive system and cause injury. So, my dogs get the skin but not the bones.

I looked it up. Here's a link: http://www.ehow.com/about_6577085_ch...bad-dogs_.html

[oz in SC V2.0]

We are wary of cooked bones as well,we do however give the dogs raw bones,although I don't like to give them the little rib bones from chickens but that is me being overly worried most likely.

[mightybooboo]

Im a big bone feeder.Raised that way,never seen a problem,the little sliver bone,dont get that.

[mightybooboo]

I was wondering what OTHER things folks dont waste that they did before....Got any?

[oz in SC V2.0]

Coffee cans...the plastic ones with sealable lids,although I confess to throwing some away,they were starting to take over.

[Cyngbaeld]

Yes, I make bone broth. Toss in the onion peels, the carrot tops, clean potato peels, carrot scrapings (if you scrape them, I wash but don't scrape), a few dandelion greens or some nettles, maybe a few grape leaves......

Have you tried tumbleweed soup? It doesn't grow here, but it did where I lived in CO. It is rather like split pea.

[NickieL]

I've known two people who used to feed thier dogs bones....


USED TO. They quit after spending thousands to save thier dogs with surgery.

[oz in SC V2.0]

Originally Posted by NickieL

I've known two people who used to feed thier dogs bones....


USED TO. They quit after spending thousands to save thier dogs with surgery.

We feed ours raw chicken bones,well raw chicken with bones is more accurate.

It is much more natural if you think about it.

Cooked is a different matter.

[texastami]

I go one step further and after boiling and picking the bones I boil them about 10min on high and then I throw them in the blender and make a slurry... I dehydrate it for 8 hrs and have my own bone meal for my garden!!

[soulsurvivor]

The most bones come off racks of pork or beef ribs and make excellent stock to freeze. I still prefer chicken stock to make garden goulash, but it's just as good to make it with beef or pork stock.

I usually wait until the garden is near to ending before starting the goulash. I put chicken stock in the crockpot and start adding all the stray and leftover garden harvest in it and keep it simmering for a couple of days. Best stuff ever.

We don't subscribe to any newspapers, but I save any we get for free to use as rugs for wet boots etc. Also use newspaper for inside the plastic bucket toilets to help absorb odors.

Never throw away bread ties, but need some good ideas of what to do with a big supply of these.

I've been collecting plastic soda bottles from neighbors for years and I keep these filled with water. Some go into the freezer to help hold the cold temp. Half full bottles go in each of the vehicles for emergency water supply. By being half full the bottles don't bust as easily in freezing temps.

I love the plastic coffee containers. They hold car emergency kits and are easily tossed in the car prior to travel.

[mightybooboo]

I have one,we shred all the mail and use in cages and in the garden.

[lemonthyme7]

Originally Posted by mightybooboo

I have one,we shred all the mail and use in cages and in the garden.

We have old newspapers that were used in an attic as insulation in a house that my in-laws recently moved into. There was quite a bit. We have been shreding it with chipper shredder along with rotted hay and using it for mulch in the garden. The pile was covered with plastic and when we pulled it back last night there were at least 10 garter snakes from big to small in there which I didn't mind.- good rodent control! I hope to get them all used up this year though. Brother has lots of rotted hay so we can get a trailer load of that also as I'm about out. My soil could really use some enrichment!

[earthkitty]

Anytime I boil chicken, whether it is to grill later or cooking a whole chicken for chicken and noodles, whatever, I boil down everything, bones and skin, to make broth. Do the same thing when I have left over beef juice from the crockpot or what-have-you. I have a whole freezer full of broth.

I save the tupperware things that deli meat comes in, and use those to hold the broth. They stack well and are a great way to measure out what I need.

Another good way is to pour broth into ice cube trays, then put the cubes into ziploc freezer bags.


And good for you!!!!