Two "real food" replacements were fairly easy for me, since my Dad taught me how to make Gravy from scratch before I left for college and my Momma taught me how to make Chicken and Dumplings. Chicken Soup from a can cannot compare with fresh made Chicken and Dumpling soup made with scratch made biscuits and chicken soup. The one thing I did not always make from scratch was the chicken stock. Usually I chose to boil a bird and then just remove the chicken, debone it, and add the meat back in along with some sauteed vegetables. This is quite a process and it takes a while to make dinner. I have since learned to roast a chicken in the Crock-pot for dinner one night, then debone the remaining chicken (or Turkey), saving the left over meat and putting the bones, grissle and everything else back into the pot, fill it to the top with water and cook it again on low for another day. Not only does this spread out the cleaning up process so I don't have to wash a Crock-pot right after deboning a chicken (Both of which I find labor-intensive or at least tedious,) but I also get a free .75 gallon of homemade-additive-free chicken stock. Not to mention the smaultz that I can then cook my vegetables and eggs in -saving my delicious and expensive butter for toast and pancakes.
This process saves me time making the chicken soup and money since I can now, not only make soup with my stock, but also delicious gravy.
I like to let my stock cook a night, a day and a night, straining and bottling it the second morning. About an inch of water will have evaporated and the extra time cooking seems to produce a more rich broth. I have to say though, any longer time cooking diminishes it's good flavor. I can then clean up the mess afterwards while I'mfeeling fresh and ready to work instead of after a long day after putting away leftovers etc.
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