Using meal plans to save money. Make Chicken Broth/Stocks at home.

I have just started to make my own stocks at home. I have made chicken stock and veggie stock and love the taste of the "real" deal. Last night was our Roast Sticky Chicken night and boy was it good! Juicy, fall apart good. Even Michael ate a fair amount. We did baked potatoes instead of mashed and had a wonderful green salad with lots of chopped herbs from the garden. After that meal I reserved the extra chicken for Simple Hearty White Chili and saved the bones, cooking juices and onion for a stock. To a large soup pot I added the bones, juices and onion with about 1 1/2 cups of red wine, 2 cut carrots, 2 stalks celery, a raw onion quartered, 2 cloves garlic, peeled, about 8-10 cups of water, some chives left over from the baked potatoes and salt and pepper. I would have added more fresh herbs but I was tired and didn't feel like picking herbs in the dark. Oh well. I let the whole thing simmer over medium heat for about 2 hours then let it cool. When it cooled I seperated the fat and poured the stock into a rubbermaid pitcher. It's now in the fridge waiting to be used through out the week on the other yummy recipes that are lined up. This stock cost me next to nothing extra (really maybe $2 if you add cost of the wine that I had left over anyways). I love that I know exactly what went into it, no MSG, yeast extract or extra sodium. I highly recommend making your own stock at home.