Chicken Noodle Soup!!

Occasionally, on those really hectic days, I swing by the grocery store to buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner. After my family has devoured most of the meat, I use the left over scraps (bones included) to make chicken broth. Lots and lots of chicken broth that can be froze and used for any future recipe.

I should first note, that some of these pictures contain ingredients like ONIONS or GARLIC (I was making it for humans, not dogs). Never give you dogs onion (or garlic). It's poisonous. And when in doubt about your ingredients, you can always double check on this Humane Society link.  Here are some ingredients that are good for dogs that would be good in any chicken stock:

• Parsley
• Greek Oregano
• Basil Thyme
• Carrot
• Celery
• Green Beans
• Peas 
• Squash

and of course:

• Chicken scraps and bones 

Now for the chicken broth steps: First grab a giant stock pot with a colander that fits inside of it.

 

Next grab your ingredients. In this picture, I have some carrots, green beans and kale. I also added celery. As a general rule of thumb, celery and carrots are a good base for any soup stock. Chop your ingredients into big chunks. There is no need for finely dicing anything. That will just waste your time.

 

 

Next, throw all your chunks into the big stock pot...including the chicken scraps and bones (p.s. the secret to any good soup stock is having BONES). Add your seasonings and fill up the pot with water. Please don't use salt if you are going to give it to your dog. ***The below photo has ONIONS. DON'T USE ONIONS (this was my human version)***

Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer (uncovered) for a couple hours and the liquid has reduced a couple of inches. Your house will smell AMAZING and you might have trouble keeping your dogs out of the kitchen!

Once the stock has cooled enough that you won't scald yourself or end up in the emergency room with serious burns, take the pot over to the sink and carefully lift the colander out. TAADAA!! You have beautiful chicken broth that is WAY healthier and cheaper than grocery store bought.

 After that, you can make wonderful Chicken Noodle soup for your dog... and you (you might want to add some salt to your own bowl...)