The advantage of writing a non-commercial blog is that I can write whatever strikes my fancy. Often, this is based on what has caught my interest in the news or an article I’ve read, or sometimes something in my personal life.
Most recently, I have been struck by the runaway inflation that impacts every aspect of our lives, from purchases to repairs. Many of these costs are unavoidable, with few opportunities for cost reduction. However, I have been trying to exercise some options by doing things that I have never done before. For instance, I’m now negotiating for a lower price for a simple home repair. My plan is to do this reasonably, where both parties benefit. I receive a small discount, and the repair person gets the job. Additionally, I’ll call several shops when I need a car repair, such as replacing my brake pads. In the past, I would use my local dealership as it was convenient. Now, I’m willing to drive to a more distant shop and wait, which can result in hundreds of dollars of savings.
My parents raised five kids on a single salary. Naturally, the times and expectations were different in those days. Things were repaired instead of replaced, and we had only one car, which was typically used. I had few clothes; when I attended a Catholic grade school (grades 1-8), I wore a school “uniform” and had two pairs of navy blue pants and two light blue shirts. During the majority of my freshman year at a public high school, I had one pair of pants. I thought no one noticed until I got a second pair around three-quarters of the way through the school year. My lab partner remarked, “OMG, you have a second pair of pants!” He quickly realized what he had said and tried to retract his statement. I was embarrassed, but we went on with our lesson.
I knew money was an issue at home, but I never felt that we were in danger of not getting our true needs met. Food was always plentiful, thanks to my father’s passion for food and my mother’s expertise in stretching a food budget. My mom was a great cook, and my friends often wanted to eat at our house. Now, looking back, she was able to turn simple ingredients into marvelous meals. Much of this was achieved by cooking foods from scratch and occasionally using convenience foods, such as canned condensed soups, as an ingredient base, to expedite her meal-making process. I learned by watching.
I have had periods where I was objectively penniless. The eight years that I spent in medical school and residency were times of sacrifice. My first marriage ended while I was in medical school. By the time I started my residency, I was living in my own apartment, paying child support, and trying to live as frugally as possible. I was so poor that I survived on the change in my pocket, and I had to take drastic measures for even the most rudimentary tasks, such as buying and preparing food. I rarely ate in the hospital’s subsidized cafeteria as I found it too expensive.
I had roughly $20 for my weekly food budget (approximately $58 in 2025 money), so money was tight. In those days, grocery stores had “generic aisles” that featured basic foods with stenciled labels, such as “Green Beans” and “Flour.” This food was not on par with house brands; it was significantly lower quality. Additionally, I would search for (then) low-cost meats like turkey legs, hamburger with TVP added, and generic baloney, which was certainly something other than real baloney. I would often make enough food for two meals, and before eating, I would separate half of the food into a Rubbermaid container. That container would be my lunch for the next day. My system worked surprisingly well, and I believe that my lunches were often better than those of my richer colleagues, who were buying from the cafeteria.
Part of my ability to utilize my cooking system was my ease of cooking. I believe that this was due to learning by watching my mom cook, as well as my opinion that cooking was simply a matter of practical chemistry. Different methods often shared common roots. If I understood fermentation when making bread, I could apply that knowledge to other processes, such as making yogurt.
When Julie returned to the paid workforce, I took over a lot of the meal prep, but I did it with a twist. My kids became my co-participants, and we all worked on all aspects of food, from shopping to meal preparation to cleanup. I wanted to instill these fundamental skills in them, and I wanted those skills to become second nature.
Now that my kids are living independently, I hear them talk about shopping “the sales” and preparing food from scratch. My one daughter is in the habit of preparing recipes for a typical family of four, dividing that meal into four storage containers and feeding herself for four days on that initial preparation. She is a busy professional who enjoys spending time with her friends and engaging in activities. She doesn’t want to spend all of her time in the kitchen and realizes the cost issues of always eating out.
I have been retired for several years, but it is not uncommon for me to cook for groups of 3 to 6 adults. I have done my best to save for my senior years; when you retire, you spend money, but you don’t make money. I still cook many meals from scratch and use only a limited amount of prepared foods in my cooking. I’m not adverse to using some processed foods, and on occasion, I’ll make a frozen meal, but that is not the majority of the time, as those meals are of lower quality and much more expensive than what I can make myself.
I wanted to share some of the simple recipes that I use to take some of the mystery out of cooking. With a bit of practice and some basic tools, almost any type of meal prep is possible. This will be a random series that I add as my mood dictates.
Today’s recipe is:
Chicken Carcass Soup
I know that sounds horrific, so you can call it (depending on how you make it) “Chicken Soup” or “Cream of Chicken Soup.”
The Costco $5 roasted chicken is a bargain in terms of both convenience and cost. Additionally, it is delicious. I’m able to feed my family dinner with a chicken, but there is usually quite a bit of fragmented meat left on the bone. I developed this simple recipe to salvage this meat, and it has become a family favorite. I usually make the creamed version, but you can opt for basic chicken soup if you prefer. The recipe is very flexible; beyond some basic ingredients, you can be as creative as you wish.
-Refrigerate the chicken carcass with the remaining meat until used. I prepare the soup within a few days of eating the roasted chicken. You can also use your own roasted chicken carcass (not Costco) or just a cut-up fresh chicken. If you do the latter you can add the chicken to the pot as is or brown it first. Browning will add more flavor. I think the skin adds flavor, but you can use skinless if you prefer. Remember, pre-cut chicken is more expensive than a whole chicken. A carcass will yield a soup that is inexpensive to make. A boneless, skinless chicken pack will be more expensive and won’t taste as good.
-If using a carcass, remember that chicken is already thoroughly cooked, but you want to cook the vegetables. You can simmer the soup for an extended period to achieve a richer/deeper flavor.
-I often use a pressure cooker at high pressure for 15-20 minutes (quick release), but you can also use a big pot or Dutch oven. If you are using a pot, bring the contents to a boil and then immediately turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook for around 30 minutes or longer (slow simmer) for a richer flavor. A slow cooker also works for around 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
-To make the basic chicken soup, I’ll use (very roughly) ½ of a chopped onion, anywhere from 2-4 stalks of sliced celery, around 3-6 cut-up carrots, and some salt and pepper. The vegetables can be a bit past their prime. In a pinch, I have used dried celery and even dried onions, but they are not quite as good. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll slightly char the onion, which adds flavor and depth. I’ll always add a broth extender, usually “Better Than Bullion,” but in a pinch, a few bullion cubes also work. I’ll add anywhere between ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt and a similar amount of black pepper. I am always very sparing with salt, as bouillon contains a lot of it, as does the chicken. I adjust the salt after the soup is cooked. I’ll add water to cover the solids, about two-thirds of the way up the carcass. You need enough water to cook the bones and vegetables. However, too much will make a diluted soup. You can always add water at the end of the cooking process if your broth is too concentrated.
-You can add all sorts of additional vegetables if you wish. Add some chopped, overripe tomatoes (not moldy, of course), or a can of tomatoes. Add fresh, frozen, or canned peas, corn, green beans, carrots, or any other vegetable of your choice. If using canned vegetables, drain and add them at the end of the cooking process. However, avoid strong vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower. Some soups do use strong vegetables, such as cabbage, and those soups can be delicious. However, chicken soup is not one of them.
-If all you have is salt and pepper, that is fine. But to add additional depth and interest to the soup, it is easy to add some spices. You can add some or all of these, depending on what is in your spice cabinet. I usually add ½ tsp to a scant teaspoon of each spice. Here are some dried herbs that I add: oregano, basil, parsley, 1-2 bay leaves, and thyme. I’ll also add a little MSG. By the way, all of that stuff about MSG causing medical issues has been disproven. Lastly, I add around one heaping teaspoon of jar garlic, because I love garlic.
-I’ll often break the carcass in half (or more) to easily fit into the pot. Sometimes, I’ll use a trick from my sister-in-law and wrap the carcass in cheesecloth, which makes bone removal easy. Otherwise, I’ll just “tough it out” and use a colander to separate the solids from the liquids. Using my hands, I’ll pick the meat off the bones, discarding the bones, and then return the rest to the pot for “stage two.” I’ll let the soup cool down a bit before removing any bones manually.
-I always add a starch, which can be anything I have on hand. You can cook the starch in the broth or make it separately. Both work, but you have better control and a better product if you make the starch separately. What starch? Anything. Any type of pasta, including noodles and even spaghetti. Potatoes cut into chunks (if it is a thin-skinned potato, all you need to do is wash and cut), rice, or other grain. When it comes to rice, I usually add it to the soup bowl and pour the soup over it. Rice disintegrates over time if it sits in soup for too long, and will turn to mush if you freeze leftover soup. However, you do you.
-When you get more confident in your soup making, you can add a little “acid,” which brightens up the soup. A small amount of dry white wine, dry sherry, hot sauce, or even vinegar can transform a soup (just use one). Think ¼-½ cup wine/sherry, a few shots of hot sauce, or a tablespoon or less of white vinegar.
-I often make the soup in the morning and then let it cool. I’ll use a colander and separate the broth from the solids, and then pick out the bones from the meat and vegetables. The bones are discarded, and the rest is returned to the pot. Conversely, if I have some cheesecloth, it is easy to place the carcass in the cloth, remove the fabric after cooking, and pick off the meat to return to the soup.
-If you are making a simple chicken soup, add water (if needed) to the desired dilution (this is usually none or a cup or two, don’t go overboard), and adjust the salt level carefully, ½ teaspoon at a time. Add and taste until you are satisfied.
Cream option
This is the version that my kids go for.
The first part of this soup making is the same as above. However, don’t adjust the soup concentration as you will be diluting the soup with dairy products. I may use slightly less initial water when cooking the soup.
-Put roughly 1 cup of sour cream in a bowl and add about ½ cup of broth and stir it in. This will make it easier to incorporate the sour cream into the soup. Stir the sour cream mixture into the hot soup. Add approximately ½ to 1 cup of half-and-half or whole milk, and stir it in. You can adjust the sour cream and milk/half-and-half to your preference, as I’m just “guesstimating” the amounts. Adjust the salt level, add a little more pepper if desired, or a shot or two of hot sauce (we like Frank’s). We don’t like “hot” foods, so we just add enough to add warmth and interest.
If the soup is too thin, I’ll mix a heaping tablespoon or two of cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water and pour it into the boiling soup in a stream as I stir the soup. This will thicken it nicely. Sometimes I’ll add a sprinkle of powdered garlic (remember, I love garlic). The secret is to taste and adjust in increments.
We will serve the soup with a variety of bread products, ranging from tube refrigerator rolls to homemade savory muffins to crackers. It is all good.
We usually have enough soup to feed everyone, plus leftovers. The leftovers will often disappear, as they are great for lunch the next day. If there is still leftover soup, I’ll freeze individual portions in vacuum-seal bags that can be reheated by boiling.
One simple, cheap $5 chicken yields two full meals with leftovers for several lunches. How can you beat that? The results will taste better than any canned soup. How good is it? My kids get excited when I make it, as it is a taste of home.
Bon Appétit
Mike
