Homemade Chicken Stock

i have a confession to make . . .

i don't make my own chicken stock.

there, i said it. i am a personal chef and am supposed to be blissfully happy making everything from scratch. but, i don't. i take short cuts - lots of them. of course i have made chicken stock before but it seems like such a colossal waste of time and ingredients to me. shove a whole raw chicken into a stock pot, throw in lots of fresh veggies, herbs, salt, and pepper and cover with water. then, 5-8 hours later, viola! chicken stock.

enter my dirty little secret:

i have found boxed chicken stock at wegmans and at $4.99 for 4 cups, i'll take it thank you very much. this stuff is very tasty and the lowest in sodium of any of the other stocks (even the reduced sodium ones). check out the ingredient list:

but wait, it gets worse . . .

i don't even always use the canned chicken stock.

i sometimes use "better than bouillon". this stuff is so ridiculously easy to use it almost seems wrong. the nutrition isn't quite as good as my favorite wegmans chicken stock (some added sugar - at least it's only 1g per tsp), but it's so nice to have on hand for when i don't have any chicken stock in my pantry.

a teaspoon of paste

whisked into a cup of hot, hot water

and i am back in business.

so there you have it, my confession for today. i hope my secret is safe with you.