{Waste Not} Vegetable Broth

Two weeks ago I made my first homemade chicken broth. I am totally hooked! So when I read this post from Simply Frugal on making your own vegetable broth I knew I had to try it. I think that what I love most about this is that it is frugalness at it's best...not only do you save money by making your own broth versus buying it, but it doesn't cost you anything to begin with because it simply contains all the scraps from the vegetables you are already using! I am so smitten with any thing that lets us pinch that penny a little further {my husband works HARD for those pennies and the more I pinch them, the more I have him home to pinch as well} so I knew this would be right up my alley. Plus, anything homemade is just better.

Have I lost some of you already? Those of you who hear homemade stock and imagine slaving over a stove for hours and doing 20 different steps...have you tuned out? Don't! Trust me when I say this is easy. Don't believe me? I dare you to keep reading. Don't make me bust out the double dog dare!

First step: Save all of your veggie scraps. Really, anything goes just make sure it is clean and not rotting. Throw said scraps into a resealable bag and keep in freezer until full. Here is my first full bag from the last week or two - celery stalks, cucumber and mexican squash peels, onion and garlic skins, cauliflower bits, bok choy stems, pepper tops and some other random stuff.

Second step: Once you have a bag full of scraps you are ready to make your stock. Dump the bag in a stock pot and top with water (don't even have to bother defrosting!).

Third step: Put it on the stove, add black pepper and a bay leaf and put it on high until boiling. Then turn it down and let simmer for an hour {this is where all you busy folks walk away and get an hours worth of stuff marked off your to-do list}:

Fourth step: Let the broth cool down, strain out the veggies and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator or in the freezer. I am saving large yogurt containers for keeping this in my fridge. For freezer storage try putting the broth first in ice cube trays and then into a ziploc bag will allow you to grab the amount you need without defrosting an entire batch. Want to keep those veggie scraps working for you? Add them to your compost!

So...did I keep my promise? That was easy, huh? Let me know if you try it and for those of you who are light years ahead of my homemaking and already do this, feel free to share how you do it and what you use it for. I am planning to use part of this first batch in cooking some dried garbanzo beans for homemade hummus. I think it is going to be great in some veggie chili as well!