Frugal/healthy/green/easy?!

Okay, I have one tip that falls into the frugal, healthy, AND green categories....and this one doesn't require excess time or patience.

Home made stock (broth).

Anyone who cooks with fresh vegetables knows that there are lots of 'unusable' bits - the top of the carrot, the bottom of the celery, the stems of the herbs, vegetable peel (potato, sweet potato, squash, carrot, etc.) In the past, I've put these items solely into my worm bin or compost....which is good, but I can go one better.

Now I have a bag in my freezer that I save scraps for, including chicken bones. I peel carrots and put vegetable scraps into a bowl on the counter, and then when I'm done, I dump it into my freezer bag. When the bag is full, I'm ready to make stock.

So - next time you're making soup....

To make this easy-peasy stock, you simply saute an onion and maybe some carrots in olive oil. Then, while they're cooking, begin making your soup. You'll probably end up with some vegetable scraps as you prep the soup, so save them, too. When the onion is sauteed, add your vegetable scraps and saute a little more (maybe five minutes). As they saute, keep prepping your soup.

Add water to cover, and a liberal dose of salt, and a handful of whatever fresh herbs you have around that suit you (parsley is good in just about everything, but not the dry flakes that add little specks of color but not much else). Keep this simmering for about 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes, use a slotted spoon or a colander to remove the veggies and chicken bones. The liquid that is left is your broth - voila!

No waste. Healthy. Prevents another container from going into a landfill. And all from ingredients on hand!

YES it's easy. I promise. (If you are a cook. If you eat at McDonald's most nights, then I agree, this isn't for you.)