Chicken stock definitely falls into the category of something from nothing. It's ridiculously easy to make, costs next to nothing and tastes much better than the commercial versions of the stuff. Plus, there are no labels to read or GF varieties to hunt down!
Simply take a few pounds of chicken bones* out of the freezer, place them in a 400F oven and roast them until they get browned, but not burned. Truth be told you can skip the roasting of the bones, but I think it adds some added flavor.
When done, place the bones along with the drippings in a crockpot, add a carrot (or a handful of baby carrots), an onion crudely cut in half and a couple of pieces of celery and fill it up to the top with cold water. If you want to get really fancy, add a few cloves of garlic, bay leaves or parsley. Then set the crockpot and cook for 12-14-16 hours or so. The cooking stock does tend to make the house smell like chicken. So, I place the crockpot in the garage to avoid that.
Once it's done cooking, remove the bones and strain the solids from the liquid. If you don't have a sieve, you might want to line a colander with a coffee filter to keep 'the gunk' out of your stock. Refrigerate until chilled and skim off any fat the rises to the top. Then use as desired or freeze. I like to freeze it in 1 cup and 4 cup portions.
* I 'collect' back bones, neck bones, rib bones, leg bones, breast bones, etc. and store them in a zip top bag in my freezer. Carcasses from a roasted chicken or turkey are great to use as well and they don't require the roasting step.
