All You Need To Know About Stock!

     So, I didn't really know what stock was for until I went to culinary school. My mom makes a great chili and vegetable soup! She uses water to increase volume in her soups. Stock can add a lot of flavor that you wouldn't get otherwise. It can make a recipe so flavorful without adding salt and calories in general. At college, we always made our stock, naturally. However, looking at the stock's  ingredients these days in the super market is crazy to me. They have added so much extra junk that is going to harm you more than help you. I want to help you make your money well spent at the grocery store.

Ways To Use Stock:

• Boiling pasta

• Poaching an egg

• Soups calling for water

• Sauces calling for water

Main Ingredients For Stock:

• Chicken Bones (if Chicken stock)

• Beef Bones (if Beef stock)

• Onions

• Celery

• Carrots

• Tomato Paste

• Herbs

Quality Stock Brands:

Medford Farms

In Oregon, there is a really cool farm that not only makes great stock with real ingredients such as celery, onion, carrot, tomato paste, and herbs. This farm also takes in troubled kids and let the m come to work in the farm. The non-profit program is called Kids & Critters Inc.

Organic Imagine

This brand has a really neat website! They will let you build recipes with their products, and they also have online coupons you can print out. Imagine understands the value of organic vegetables in their products.

Harris Teeter Organic

This is my favorite super market! I do so well with their double back and triple back coupon honorings. HT have a wide variety of all-natural and organic products; their new organic stock is one of them! This is totally different then just Harris Teeter brand. 

Kitchen Basics

There website is very informational including the history of stock. This brand understands that they cannot consider themselves quality when they add artificial flavorings and bulking ingredients.

Rachael Ray

Ok, this one I'm pretty surprised about simply because Rachael Ray irritates me with throwing salami in this and that. Her stock is not organic, but it does not contain artificial flavorings and bulking agents.

     So, why doesn't Progresso and Swanson make my list of quality brands?Progresso has added yeast and artificial flavorings. Swanson contains less than 2% of vegetables when vegetables are one of the main ingredients in a natural stock.

Hint: When you are reading labels in a grocery store, and you sometimes come across a label that is hard to read. Somehow the font is different, the color makes your eyes jump, and you get tired with the big words.... The company does this on purpose! They are hiding things from you. This is no mistake. They are marketing geniouses!

     If you find a brand that is not on here, flip it over. Check the ingredients! If you find bulking agents such as wheat gluten, salt, milk and/or egg yolks, you are not holding a quality container of stock in your hands! Cage-free, Free-range, and Low sodium are all clues that this brand cares about their consumers! Read your labels my friends! I hope I have made your stock purchasing easier. Enjoy your grocery shop findings!